French apartment renovations, Day 127: Supplies, saignées, and soup

9,615 steps

We inventoried the pallet of electrical supplies that arrived last week...and discovered that we were missing several major items, and had received some items that we hadn't ordered. I spent much of the morning going through each item, checking it off the order list, and then compiling the total of what we still needed. It's communicated to the supplier. Now we wait.

We were hoping to start installing electrical cables but we're missing one of the sizes. Instead, I decided to map out the entire kitchen wiring and mark where all of the saignées (wall channels) and outlet boxes need to be cut. I finished that part and started drilling out the first few outlet holes.

Since we're working with cement and/or lime and/or plaster on top of rock, I used a diamond-tipped drill bit. After getting less than 1" deep, I hit solid rock. The cement "plug" fell out and you could see the stone underneath. I drilled...and drilled...and still only got a centimeter deeper. I'm going to try to chisel out the interior of each hole tomorrow. The electrical boxes are almost 2" deep, so I need to somehow empty out each hole.

And then I looked at my watch and discovered that it was well after 3 pm and I hadn't eaten yet. Time to stop for the day!

I had "lunch" and turned right around and started prepping dinner: zucchini Parmesan soup. Not really a recipe, just something I invited. I think I've made something similar years and years ago.

Eric got invited to a pickup soccer match, so I picked up the kids after school. They went to play at the park with friends, so Zari and I went on a walk around the port. We enjoyed looking at all the enormous yachts and speculating how many smaller yachts could fit inside the biggest one, "Quantum Blue." It's still not as big as the "Lady Moura" that I went inside last summer.

Zari loved the soup and said I needed to share how I made it. So here goes:

2 onions

a few Tbsp butter  
4 zucchini
1 liter/quart chicken stock
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper, & herbs to taste

Chop and caramelize 2 onions in some butter and salt. Once they're a nice golden brown and taste sweet, add 4 chopped or sliced zucchinis. Sautee on high until the zucchinis start to brown. Then add about a liter/quart of chicken stock (I had some homemade broth in the freezer) and a bit more salt, maybe some herbs too. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until everything is tender. Puree until smooth and add the Parmesan. Season to taste.

I just finished Tan France's memoir Naturally Tan. I've also read Jonathan Van Ness's, last year maybe.