Meanwhile, back at the house

The work goes on

My husband is home today. He was able to see the half-timber motifs in chaux by daylight.

"Tu trouves pas qu'ils sont pas très, très bien fait? Je veux dire qu'ils ne sont pas très lises et réguliers."

"Oui. C'est moi qui ai demandé qu'ils font comme ça. Je ne voulais pas qu'ils soient trop lêchés, tu sais, pour leur donner l'aire du bois, un peu ancien."

"Ah bon?"

"Tu ne l'aimes pas comme ça?"

"C'est juste que les voisins le remarquent aussi. François [the guy who works as the village care-taker, or cantonnier, one of the first government positions created in France under Napoléon to insure that the roads through France and its miniscule villages, peppered throughout a vast and muddy countryside and strewn along the sides of its mountains, remained passable and maintained. It was a post that was highly desirable because it was an appointment for life, with regular income for people without an education] disait que les gars fusaient un travail pas trop super; ça pourrait être beaucoup plus lise et on ne doit pas voir les traces de la taloche."

"Je sais." But I don't want it too smooth. I want to see the traces of the trowel and I want the light to hit the little bumps here and there in the chaux, like the irregularity and organic quality of wood.

Let's hope I am not the biggest idiot on the face of the earth.

Later, my husband came back in from saying hello to Georges and José, and said, "Georges viennent de me dire qu'ils peuvent faire mieux mais c'est toi qui le veux comme ça." He laughed.

Tomorrow, Joaquim returns to make the first batches of the ochre. I swear that he told me that two he made after we had picked the one we want were the same (they weren't), and later he told me, "Oh? Non. Non, ce n'est pas de tout pareil. J'ai fait exprès."

Un-hunh. Well, it's not going on the wall until it is exactly the one we selected!

Meanwhile, my husband, who liked the reds for the half-timber motifs, is not complaining about the brown.

I think he likes it.

Well enough.

....

Anyone else feel like dancing,
with Barack ?

yeah.

Michelle is so lucky.
....