Today was the day I was to finish taking the render off the walls. It was a beautiful day. After breakfast, I got on the ladder, ready to knock out the last bits. Of course, what looked soft and easy to pick off had withstood a hundred years of tunneled winds, and was hard as cement. Where I could, I used the pneumatic pick. However, I couldn't take it all the way up the two-story wall, due to its weight and tendency to kick back at times.
Just before lunch, I finished. Still full of momentum, I went to the garden and pulled out some tenacious vines, flowers, and a tree that persisted after being cut down in full years ago.
We ate lunch in the garden, and then took a siesta. I read in the hammock until I dozed off for a few. When I got up, I swept and shoveled the lyme into buckets, ready to take to the dump. Garth and I dumped the render, and stopped by Alvin's. He and Andrea have made a lot of progress on the swimming pool, and it looks great. After inviting them to dinner for tomorrow, and requesting a haircut (as Alvin was a hair stylist for 14 years before he became a photographer), we headed to the Roquetaillard dump to look for metal scraps. The first thing we found was exactly what I was looking for: a pitchfork. We rummaged around, collected a few bits of interest, and saw a huge green lizard. We drove up the hill, back home.
Looking at the two metal gardening utensils, I decided that curling the tines instead of attaching steel balls to the ends would be more elegant. I started up the fire, and waited for it to heat up. After a short tutorial, I got to work. Metal work in the fire--could I be any happier? After working for an hour or two, it was time to clean up. After a shower, Garth and I dragged the massage table outside. I gave Garth a massage, while the veggies were on the grill.
We had dinner, and then played a vicious game of petanque. Garth took the lead early, and kept it, beating me this time around. After coming very close to finishing my book, I fell asleep.
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