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Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

2.3K followers 2.2K following 3.3K posts

Cantal-dwelling Fr to En translator, cat slave, baker of sourdough bread, grower of veg, reader of books, walker of paths, loather of greed and intolerance.

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Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Bonus pic from today's walk - a small pony doing garden maintenance.

View through the bars of a metal garden gate. The ground on the other side of the gate is covered in fallen autumn leaves. Beyond the leaves, on a patch of grass, stands a small skewbald (brown and white) pony with a long, thick mane and tail. He is looking at the camera.

November 20, 2025 at 8:30 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

I know. Especially as I had to climb over this.

A large tree that has fallen across a path and is covered in snow.

November 20, 2025 at 4:03 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

I realise you must all be asking yourselves if there is snow on the mountains given that we've had some down here. So I've been out to investigate, and yes, there is.

View across fields with patches of snow to distant snow covered peaks below dark clouds. The sky in the foreground is a light blue. There are cows in the closest field, and a tractor is driving across it pulling a trailer.

November 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

It probably doesn't help, but this is a souillarde (local name) - usually translated as a scullery (more detail in alt text).

Mucky pup seems right in tone and meaning for a dog though.

A souillarde. It's basically an arched recess in a stone wall. They are a traditional feature of houses in the Auvergne (and other surrounding areas - but sometimes with different names). They often feature an area for draining away water. They were also often built into the coolest part of the house (north-facing and/or a wall that was built into higher ground), so they were used to store meat and other foods that needed to be kept cool, but also for mucky jobs - dishes, etc.

November 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Just finished work and thought I'd look outside and see how all the sleetiness turned out.

A garden covered in snow. Not a huge amount, but a definite covering and definitely snow.

November 19, 2025 at 7:35 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Who exactly is shocked by this?

Screenshot of a Guardian headline that reads "'Deeply shocking': Nigel Farage faces fresh claims of racism and antisemitism at school".

November 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Sorry, I replied to this thinking you meant it the other way around (now deleted). However, singular does also have the meaning of single. I'd use it most often that way in terms of grammar. However, it can be used more generally, and it's not new:

Screenshot of the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of singular meaning 'forming the only one of the kind; unique, solitary, single. Also (with the) sole, only.' Following by a number of real life examples dating from 1555 to 1897.

Screenshot of the OED's definition of 'singular' meaning 'One only; one and no more; single'. Followed by real-life examples dating from 1377 to 1765-8.

November 16, 2025 at 9:22 AM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

BTW: This is Salers the village. The bloke whose head you can see on a plinth is the guy you have to thank for your amazing cheese discovery: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_...

A stone paved village square with a fountain and medieval stone buildings (many with turrets) around it. A tall plinth supports a bust of Ernest Tyssandier d'Escous, a 19th-century mayor of Salers (the village), credited with having saved the eponymous cattle breed and thus allowing us to enjoy Salers and Cantal cheeses to this day.

November 15, 2025 at 8:56 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Dragged myself out on a grey and murky morning to go to the market. The cheese stall always makes it worth it though, and the sun had come out by the time I was on my way home.

A cheese stall at a French market. There are lots of cheeses, including Bries, Camembert, bleu d'Auvergne, fourme d'Ambert, Roquefort, tomme, Gaperon, Saint Nectaire visible at the end where I'm standing. You can't really see, but further along are comté, emmental, gruyère, parmesan, and more, and there are huge wheels of Cantal and Salers behind the counter (again, not visible in the photo). The lady serving is holding up a large piece of Brie with a knife held to it to check the size of the 'morceau' (bit) her customer has asked for.

November 15, 2025 at 10:41 AM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Yep!

A French weather forecast showing that sleety snow will kick in on Wednesday next week, snow on Thursday, a brief respite on Friday, snow again on Saturday, sleety snow on Sunday. Temperatures range from -3 to +5°C.

November 14, 2025 at 3:08 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

The bloke down the road finally came and he has taken our pretty little hen visitor away. I'm going to rather miss her, but at least she's safe from foxes now.

A pretty hen, with blond feathers around her head and neck and speckled blond and dark brown around her body, getting gradually darker until you get to her tail feathers which are almost black.

November 14, 2025 at 12:17 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Well, the man about the chicken never turned up. Not sure what we're going to do with her.

November 13, 2025 at 5:40 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

This week, it seems we've acquired a chicken. She's been wandering around in our garden and the neighbour's since Monday (I'm amazed a fox hasn't had her). Managed to get hold of possible owner yesterday - he didn't think he was missing one, but is coming to see later.

A very pretty chicken with very dark brown, almost black feathers at her tail, fading to a sort of flecky mix of dark brown and blond on her body, then blond on her neck and head. She's strutting about a garden next to a house wall and a gate.

The same chicken now turned away from the camera. She looks like she's doing a pirouette.

November 13, 2025 at 8:05 AM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Oh, and as for it 'becoming' a word, well, please see this 1662 quotation from the full OED.

A 1662 quotation from the OED which reads, "Where ever I goe both too and fro, You have my heart alright" with alright spelled as one word.

November 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

It is a word, but in formal contexts, I'd always use all right. My mum hates it too.

Screenshot of the Oxford Dictionary definition of all right, which has 'all right' [a l l space r i g h t] as the headword and below (also alright) [a l r i g h t]

November 4, 2025 at 1:54 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

I personally think it should be a crime, BUT it is acceptable according to the Oxford Dictionary premium.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/e... and as for 'suddenly', if you consult the full OED, you'll find the example sentences in the second screenshot.

Dictionary entry which reads as follows:
Definition of nonetheless in English:
nonetheless [one word - this is the headword for the entry]
Pronunciation: [this is followed by IPA symbols that I am unable to reproduce and an audio symbol to click on to hear the word spoken]
(also none the less) [three words, this is given as a recognised alternative spelling]

Four real-life quotations dating from 1620, 1821, 1847, and 1875, in all of which none the less is written as three words.

November 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

#Caturday

November 1, 2025 at 6:57 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

@franglaise.bsky.social I imagine you'll be needing some art for the walls in your new pad. Spotted this on a ressourcerie's FB page today. I'll bring it down when I pop down for Bret's.

October 31, 2025 at 10:45 AM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

I know. There is so much going on. It's even more fun when you know that what's at the top of the painting is this. They literally built a church right on top of a pinnacle of rock (we have been there, but years ago before the trompe l'oeil was painted - climbed up to the church and everything).

A church built on top of a tall pinnacle of rock. The base of the church is pretty much the same size as the top of the rock, which has very steep sides. Beyond it, a little distance away, is an even higher pinnacle with a statue of the Virgin Mary on it, holding a waving baby (presumably Jesus). Below them is a town.

October 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

I love a good trompe l'oeil. I'm determined that one day, we will make the trip to see this one, about 3 hours away from us.

A trompe l'oeil painting on the wall of a tall building. It looks as though there are steps going up between narrow buildings on either side, with more buildings across the top of the steps, and buildings going up a hill beyond that too to a church and a Virgin Mary statue on a high peak below a blue sky. People, in a mixture of medieval and modern garb are climbing the steps and three musicians are playing halfway up. There are windows on the buildings, with people looking out of the ones facing the camera at the bottom of the steps. At ground floor level, to the right of the steps, is a cafe with people sitting at a table outside. To the left, a man (monk?) in medieval robes chats to a tourist (also male) in modern dress next to a display cabinet containing bottles and other bits. All of it is just a painting on a plain wall, but it looks for all the world like you could walk up those steps.

October 27, 2025 at 3:21 PM

Tania Doney

@taniadoney.bsky.social

Please, fellow women, ALWAYS check who a "man" is following before following back. No matter how harmless someone's timeline looks, if "he" is almost exclusively following women, it's probably a romance scammer. Safest just to report and block.