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"She seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if she had surprised a butterfly in the Winter woods"
(edith wharton)


Friday 12 March 2010

so tell me.. just how do you pronounce Lisieux?

not speaking French, I have no idea how to pronounce the word Lisieux.. some say Liss-yer.. others say Liss-you...

here are some pronunciations from the net:
Lee-see-e(The last "e" is pronounced like the "e" in the french alphabet);
Lisieux is a tricky word to pronounce, but the easiest way to describe it's pronunciation is leez-yeu;
Lee- zoh;
Liz-YEW.

I thought it was Liss-i-yer...anyhow, I think I am confusing the issue..

Lisieux, is the name i am leaning towards because the other morning whilst cleaning my teeth.. that name popped into my head.. and I 'saw' a name plate in a mosaic pattern on a wall... but it is still not final. I need a sign from God. But I still need to know how to pronounce it.

we had another inspection of our new home today and I am more in love with it than I was the first time..it has such a good feel and the garden is divine. I have inherited Rhododendrons & Gordonia.. a magnolia and 2 oranges, a lemon and a mandarin. How much like Inglewood this garden is!...
while I wandered around the yard, I took some photos..

this is a view of the front of the house.. there is a lavender hedge growing along one part of the wall. It needs a good haircut and hopefully it will live.. but if not, I will replace it. Lavender does tend to get leggy as it gets older. on the right where the grass is.. we are going to fence and make a courtyard for privacy.

these sandstone steps go from the driveway up to where the courtyard will be and to the front door. I think they are just gorgeous. I cannot wait til I am walking these daily!

on the left of those gorgeous stairs is this beautiful light.. I love it.. my, I cannot wait til we move! dutch husband is as excited as I am

to the back yard....
this is a view of the top level of the backyard. it is terraced because the block is sloping. behind our new home is classified 'bush reserve' with a turpentine tree forest.. which is a protected species apparently. not sure why as these trees have a tendency to explode if there is a bush fire.. but the reserve is beautiful. Our own new backyard has an angophora in it, perfect for shade. on the grass area is where my vegie garden will go. there are some gorgeous plants and shrubs in the garden and some not so nice.. but it won't take me long before I weave my magick over it... and I know there are already nature divas & faeries there.. I saw one through the lens of my camera..

and if you look closely you can see an orb in this photo.. this is a view of the second terraced area..

so, what do you think of 'our house with no name'? beautiful, don't you think?

[and thankyou to each of you for continually commenting on my blog.. I really do appreciate it xo]

16 comments:

Diva Kreszl said...

oh how beautiful it all is...what an amzing yard! I have never seen a Country Living magazine in any other addition besides the U.S., it would be neat to see one of yours!

mxtodis123 said...

How beautiful! So much land. I wish you all the best. You're going to be so happy there.
Mary

Imogen said...

That is a lovely garden - you will have a wonderful time connecting with it and letting it connect with you.

"Lisieux"; may I have a stab at this? My French is in reasonable shape having been kept up by holidays in Paris over the years. How to write the pronounciation of foreign words is I'm sure a specialist skill but I'll have a try.

I'd say "Leez-(i)-yeu". The first "i" is longish, but not REALLY drawn-out - French "i"s are always more of an "ee" sound than English, but not quite so much as an Italian "i". The second "i" needs to be slightly elided, which is why I've stuck it in brackets - not fully pronounced, but it is still there. Then I've written "yeu" rather than "yer" as the sound I'm trying to convey is a slightly shorter, rounder sound than "yer".

Corblimey, what a pedant I'm turning into! Hope the above gives you a laugh at least!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Oh, a terraced backyard, how beautiful! Love those steps and lamp post too!

I do speak French and this is how I would render the pronunciation of Lisieux phonetically:

leeze-YEU

The hardest sound to make is YEU because we don't really use a similar sound in English. It's sort of like "yer" but without any "r" sound. It's the same sound you find in the word "monsieur."

Fire Byrd said...

Oh I'm so envious getting to move to a new house. And one with such a wonderful garden even before you start working on it.
Have you started packing yet?
Hope all is well.
xx

Kathryn Knoll said...

"How much like Inglewood this garden is!..."

This is why I think It should have Inglewood in the name....:)

Manchester Lass, Now and Then said...

Sigh... it is just absolutely gorgeous. I also love the steps, light, lavender, mature trees, in fact everything:) What a wonderful journey ahead of you Robyn. Hopefully you will receive your sign very soon as to what to name your new home♥♥

gma said...

I see the purple orb Miss R....
The garden is fantastic, beautiful,peaceful.

Our home is called "blue bayou"
after the song. Even though it's in the desert it means something to us.

linda may said...

How lovely Robyn. It all looks beautiful, stonework, great plants and room for chooks. Oh, I would love it too!I actually like the centro angelis name in your earlier post.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful house. I can see you potter around the garden already.
Lisieux is ponounced how most of the ladies spelled it, only it is pronounced with a sharp s instead of a z. I have studied French and this is how I learned to pronounce it from a Frenchman.
I can send you a voice recording trought the mail ; )

amelia said...

It's funny, the first thing I saw was the orb! It looks like the most beautiful house but how will this be any easier to keep than Inglewood? It looks a fair size and the garden looks huge!

laoi gaul~williams said...

what a wonderful place robyn~i just know you are both going to make it a very special place :)

Janet said...

Robyn, the photos are beautiful! I love those stone steps. Everything about this house seems to say "welcome" so I'm sure you'll be happy there.

Serena Lewis said...

It's gorgeous! I can't wait for you to move in either!

J C said...

Lovely Robyn. You always made me feel at home when I visited Inglewood, but I think I am going to like the new place as well. xoxoxo

Tina said...

I (German) am thinking of how to describe this French vocal with English sounds :-) well I think Leez-yer without pronouncing the r is quite best or the sound of the “e” of the French alphabet – think of earning or early just more “close”. We could talk on the phone if you’d like and I could tell you – just let me know!
Your future garden looks great indeed, that’s what I miss a bit as ours is new house and the garden was all ours to plant, so no shade, no privacy but we our first year of gardening was quite successful (some lessons learned) and I am so looking forward to this second year.
Lavender should quite grow better after cutting, just think of all those fields in southern France where there is a harvest every year. We have planted lots of lavender, in our garden too, smelling lavender with closed eyes is always kind of micro-vacation to Provence for me.