The ceiling was the item of opportunity today, Kim said he'd more than happily help and that he would call in the morning Monday. That he did at about 10:15 and announced he was bound with his mum to the market in Lignieres, did we need anything.
No was the answer, what I needed was HIM...ceiling disposal is a major task, hard work, dirty and difficult. I gathered a rake, two shovels, a hoe and a 15lb breaker bar for the task. The ceiling was, in my estimation, barely hanging on to the lath so would take little in the way of urging to break loose and fall to the ground. I started at about 10am and had half of it off and onto the floor an hour later, about the time Kim arrived. I really welcomed his help, the dust, the grit in the eyes were all difficult to deal with. He tore into the remaing parts like a demon possessed, wow! The lath, plaster, horsehair and ages of dirt and seed...SEED! Yes, seed, sveral hundred pounds of either wheat or oat seed, sans bag to help ID it, but yes, SEED! Down it all fell, oh what a mess. Within an hour we were deep into the dirty, gritty mess and looked just like it despite out eye protection googles, ther face masks and helmets. What amess. Only one broken window and I did that myself.
One slip. Gasp! I coughed up crap for an hour afterwards even though we wore masks.
The beams are now exposed, 6X6 roughly, oak, old oak, whole limbs. Some rot but not bad. Tomorrow I'll pressure wash them to rid us of the dirt and grit as well as the spider webs. In a few days I'll seal them witha poison product that kills the beetles that infest them most of the time. Then comes the tiling and painting.
Goodnight all,
H
Monday, July 09, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Wake up and get to work! It's Paradise!
A "Day Off" around these parts means travelling across the French countryside to either Bourges or Chateauroux and buying yards and yards of cloth OR/AND walking miles (literally) in a HUGE Hardware, Lighting, Painting Supply, Tile, Lumberyard Superstore (Hyper-Magazine here) to find something for this huge old house of ours.
All of which means MORE work (of course) doing something (painting, tiling, wallpapering, climbing up and down and LOOKING, sweeping, cleaning) with whatever was purchased. It is the same for both of us, our travels are about our work, our purchases are about our work, our existance is about our work and our WORK is this lovely old pile of rocks.
---
There is no summer this year, no canicule (hot days), just clouds, wind, rain and the occassional ray of sun to remind us that our nearest star is still out there beaming along with it's magical warm light. Temps above 75 degrees (24 Centigrade)
are rare, infact MOST days are in the 60's and nights in the 50's this Summer. Brrrrr. But we are Californians, where the price of electricity is TWICE that of France (13.5 cents/kilowatt hr. vs 7) that to air-condition our home there costs about 10 dollars (7 Euros) per DAY! And summer there can include (and DOES) DAYS OVER 90 or 100 degrees. Here we put on sweatshirts and sweaters and go back to painting or tiling or whatever else is on the menu for the day's activities. Oh progress is being made, remember back to the old GE (General Electric) ads when Ronald Reagan said "Progress is our most important project!" That's how we feel, little is completed BUT we are working all the time towards that common goal...thus we are Progressing. Amen. Summer or not we are having a good time with all of this, wheres my sweatshirt? In the laundry no doubt.
All of which means MORE work (of course) doing something (painting, tiling, wallpapering, climbing up and down and LOOKING, sweeping, cleaning) with whatever was purchased. It is the same for both of us, our travels are about our work, our purchases are about our work, our existance is about our work and our WORK is this lovely old pile of rocks.
---
There is no summer this year, no canicule (hot days), just clouds, wind, rain and the occassional ray of sun to remind us that our nearest star is still out there beaming along with it's magical warm light. Temps above 75 degrees (24 Centigrade)
are rare, infact MOST days are in the 60's and nights in the 50's this Summer. Brrrrr. But we are Californians, where the price of electricity is TWICE that of France (13.5 cents/kilowatt hr. vs 7) that to air-condition our home there costs about 10 dollars (7 Euros) per DAY! And summer there can include (and DOES) DAYS OVER 90 or 100 degrees. Here we put on sweatshirts and sweaters and go back to painting or tiling or whatever else is on the menu for the day's activities. Oh progress is being made, remember back to the old GE (General Electric) ads when Ronald Reagan said "Progress is our most important project!" That's how we feel, little is completed BUT we are working all the time towards that common goal...thus we are Progressing. Amen. Summer or not we are having a good time with all of this, wheres my sweatshirt? In the laundry no doubt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
