Renovating Plaster Walls

 

The truck pulled on on the port with fifteen 88 pound sacks of plaster powder, plus numerous other sacks that needed to be hauled up stairs.

Manpower is impressive and rather sexy.

 

 

 

 

Pinch myself I do often. A dream come true.

The truck full of plaster sacks is better than a closet full of designer clothes and shoes.

And that view. Amazingly fortunate I feel.

 

 

 

 

Renee, the artisan who is renovating our apartment in Cassis, is young, strong, talented, fast... I am utterly impressed with how he can do it with contagious happy energy.

His father came to help him today. His father looks like his brother. 

Renee's father is an artist one of the many things he does is creates staff moulding by hand. He came to help plaster the walls.

 

 

 

 

 

A massive undertaking in a small space.

Talk about no room in the inn.

 

  

 

 

 

 

My mom tells a story of when my cousin Daniel plastered her dining room. She says that the amount of plaster on the ceiling was enough to cover the entire house.

It stuck, stayed strong and is still there: A ton above the dining room table.

 

 

 

 

 

A biggie bag, as they call them in France full of sand.

 

 

 

Once up the first floor, most things can be hauled up by the electrical pulley.

 

 

 

Those rough walls will be torn down, then chicken wire will be nailed and the plaster process will begin.

The walls upstairs are ready for the chicken wire.

 

 

 

Our apartment, the two blue shutters above Chez Gilbert.

 

 

 

 

The entrance stairs.

Attractive aren't they?

...

 

Our friends from Austria, Lieselotte and Dieter arrived last night. This morning Sacha called to say he wasn't feeling well, he has a high fever, throwing up, worshipping the porcelain god and well feeling miserable. He said he passed out twice. Needless to say, I caught the next train to Paris because that is what moms do. I cannot stand to be sick alone. Our friends are staying for a few days so hopefully I will see them in a day or two. 

.

May peace on earth come soon.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Kipper]

I can imagine the relief on Sacha's face when he sees you. Hope he gets well soon with your love and care.

[Marilyn]

Yes, Peace, please! Get well, Sacha! And your little abode by the sea moves alone so beautifully!

[Kathie]

Hope Sacha's got nothing worse than la grippe, which is bad enough.

[Kate]

"Manpower is impressive and rather sexy."

HaHaHaHaHaHaHa!
Yes, it is.
xo
K.

[Vicki]

Praying for peace.

Your Cassis home is taking form before our very eyes! Thanks for sharing the journey.

[madame in Bangkok]

I love to follow you into this adventure ! Hope Sacha Will feel better

[Momof5]

Hope Sacha is feeling better!

[Andrea]

You're a good muma!
All you want went you're sick is your mum!
....And you are blessed by the most amazing workers!
Phenomenal

[Lana Kloch]

read your story with interest..impressed with all the plastering and planning..

when i got to the part where sasha was sick.. i give you kudos.. what a great mom you are..

hugs to sasha for a speedy recovery.. you're the best..

love

lana cano kloch

[Marilyn M]

Get well quickly, Sacha! So glad you are with him.
Yes, peace for Belgium, Europe and the world.

[French la Vie]

Sacha said I scored major mom points.

[French la Vie]

Thank you.

[French la Vie]

You agree! I certainly do. Remember YMCA, one of those guys was a construction worker.

[French la Vie]

Little by little it is. I wish I could be there all the time. I love watching it, so much to learn. But alas it isn't big enough with half the floor missing and no stairs...

[French la Vie]

I think of you often, Cassis is your second home!

[French la Vie]

Me too, he still has a fever. Hopefully today will point him in a good direction.

[French la Vie]

All is true. He said I scored big mom points.

[French la Vie]

Thank you Lana. Sacha is bummed that he is sick. He had planned a skiing trip and had to cancel.

[French la Vie]

Peace please. From the end of our street we can see the Eiffel Tower, it was red black and yellow last night.

[Our French oasis]

So much of this horrid flu virus around France at the moment and it's such a nasty one this year, hope he feels very much better soon.

[Jennifer Phillipps]

Get well Sacha and please let there be peace....so much carnage and so ghastly. Stay safe in Paris! Cheers

[Kate]

My spouse is a contractor/construction worker, and when he wears his toolbelt ... ooh la la ... still, after 15 years.

[Kiki]

amen to all of this. was in TGV @7.20 this morning and literally everybody in the compartment was sneezing! scary

[Diogenes]

Corey, I am late to this post, but I think having new walls in there is going to make all the difference. Fresh and smooth. What makes this whole project so interesting is how you are tackling such a small space!

[Rebecca from the pacific northwest]

1. I was drooping around the office, feeling tired and my usual crummy sinus stuff, and after lunch thought to myself, "I hope Corey has posted more about the renovation. It's fun to watch the developments." So, yea.

2. Is "worshiping the porcelain god" also a French saying, or did you enrich your children's lives with this US euphemism?

3. A block from my office, where we often walk on our breaks, is a moderne home that's design-build which I'm guessing means the very guys who designed it are now building it. There are only 2-3 of them and they're taking a hugely long time at it. They were doing soil prep last summer while it was quite hot here, which of course required that they take off their shirts and work bare chested, their long lean torsos looking great above those cute carpenter aprons. David would support my interest by pointing out where the guys were, as we were walking by. Very entertaining. Very nice eye candy (and incentive for walks.) We've been hoping that the project would go slowly enough that they are working in this coming summer's heat as well. Probably won't but at least yesterday one guy was down to his tight t-shirt again. (xox your friend, the letch?)

4. Do you not have much to do there, when you're not smoothing Sashas's fevered brow? You seem to be answering many more of these comments than usual!

5. "May peace on earth come soon." Amen, and amen.

[French la Vie]

:)

[French la Vie]

True, that is what the doctor and the pharmacy said. Hopefully I won't catch it.

[French la Vie]

Thank you xox

[French la Vie]

I caught one of the worst colds ever on a train to Paris. Yesterday on the train there was a underline fear... and a deep sensitivity for what had just happened in Brussels.

[French la Vie]

Tackling under a skill-ful eye. Like in Paris constant moving things around for room and construction. Unlike Paris there are three floors so it is a crazy amount of effort. The walls will be smoother, not streamline as the stone walls and age are not flat or straight, but they will look better. Unfortunately I am not there to say yeah or nah... trust is what is at hand.

[French la Vie]

1) Hope you feel better soon.
2) I don't think I ever said that out loud to C &S when they were growing up. The French would say "on the throne" so it is close.
3) Eye candy for sure! Here is hoping your incentive become shirtless.
4) Way too much to do, brought my work with me. Responding when I can.
5) Echo! xx

[Terri N Texas]

Wow, wow, wow! Yes, watching men work is a lovely thing when they are young & handsome! Hope Sacha is ok and you all have a lovely Easter.

[WR]

Take care of the precious baba... Look forward to another episode of 'Cassis Fisherman's Apartment Conversion' soon.

[Rebecca from the pacific northwest]

xox back atcha

[Jan]

Sasha and I are birds of a feather this week, sad to say. I hope he feels better soon.

I love a man who is not afraid to get his hands dirty with good hard work and I often say, "I love a dirty man." I tend to get funny looks when I say this until I explain that I like a man with dirt on his hands, not a dirty mind.

Praying hard for peace.