Friday, September 22nd
Fall is today!
And it shows... the colors arrived very early this year and the hill is a flamboyant mis of reds and yellows. Those who came to help last week-end sure got an eyeful. We got a lot done, a special thanks to our nieces and nephews who participated eagerly. Even the youngest, Christian and Nico, spent 3 hours sifting dirt. You can see them during their well deserved "gameboy" break. We had to remove the larger rocks to obtain a finer mud to cover the tires of the first floor. Yes! we can't see the tires any more and it has the funny look of a "shag" carpet because of the straw in the mix.
This week, we had decided to install our winter quarters in the front section on the first floor and to wait until spring to finish the floor on the second level. I'm anxious to move back indoors and don't want to delay it into November like last year. ALain and I poured the cement for the vertical wall of the staircase and the planter. With everyones help we were then able to level the floor and lay the gravel. For this winter, we'll only cover it with old carpets to keep the dust down and so we can use it as a workspace.
On the impressive list of tasks we accomplished last Saturday and Sunday, we did the fourth coat of mud in the back. It's everybody's favourite job: fligging gobs of goo onto the walls. You really have to use a baseball-like throw to make it stick well. We also moved the rocks closer to the house from the side of the container in order to shelter the wood planks that were still stacked along the road. The 2 Patrick wanted to try out filling tires. Andre and ALain helped them add two rows to the future extension that will keep the cut into the hill from caving in next spring.
Finally, Kim, Jean-Christophe and William, cleaned some rocks and prepared the puzzle for the front face of the cement steps. Marie-Christine worked mostly behind the oven to feed us all while her 2 year-old was under the watchful eye of Veronique. She has a great career as a babysitter ahead of her.
We now have to complete the staircase, the three cement steps; we hope to have time to do that before it snows. We can then fill the gap with six temporary steps while we build the wooden ones that'll finish the job. What is most urgent though, is closing the small sections of wall between the tire walls and the windows on the second floor; ALain is working on that at this very moment...