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Monday, June 27, 2022

French apartment renovations, Day 551: Je fais la chaux quant il fait chaud

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My title is a little play on words ("I'm working with lime when it's hot.") It doesn't work in English but in French "fais" sounds identical to "fait", as do "chaux" and "chaud."

Anyway...this means it was time to do the lime mortar on the stone wall. It's a job that, once started, has to be finished. You can't just stop and say, "Eh, I'll stop for today and do the rest tomorrow." You've got to finish the entire batch of mortar and then came back and brush all the joints once it has started to firm but it not completely hardened.



The mortar will lighten significantly as it dries over the next few days and will end up a nice cream color (the same as the rock wall in Le Catamaran).



I mixed a big batch and got started. Zari helped by scooping up all the mortar that fell on the ground and putting it back into my bucket. In between that, she sat on a folding chair and read a book.

Eric took over at 1:30 pm when I had to get ready for a meeting. By time I was done, he was just about finished applying the mortar. And it was just ready for the brushing, which I did both afternoon & evening.

We've got two more full days of lime and then the stone wall will be done!

I took Ivy and a friend to the beach after school, but the sea was infested by jellyfish. Eric was spearfishing and said the jellyfish were everywhere--he wouldn't have dared go in the water without a wetsuit. I was SO dusty and sweaty and was very sad that I couldn't cool off in the sea. We went to the miroir d'eau (splash pad). I got wet, but not very cool as the water was warm.

Dinner was Asian stir-fry and lasagna. Then I went back downstairs to finish the brushing.

Dio's last day of school is tomorrow. Soccer practice is done for the season, meaning Wednesday will be totally free. I think we will put the kids to work!

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