A Cycle of Increasing Snow Blindness

April 18, 2016

I've spend DAYS now on a cycle: fill, rub down, paint, fill, rub down, paint etc. I've persevered, despite becoming increasingly snow blind. I have also stumbled upon a new universal law: If you are determined not to get any white paint on the dark oak beams, then, the greater the care taken, the greater quantity of white paint on the beams. After the twentieth 'accidental' daub, I stopped worrying, and hey, the daubs became less frequent. As dictated by the universal law.

Cast your eyes upon the photos below, which tell a tale of six coats of white paint, and all the nonsense in between. Luckily, a 25 litre pot from Brico Depot costs just 6 Euros; unluckily, it is like watered down breast milk. Kevin, saved the day, and my sanity, by finding a big tub of Crown paint from the UK somewhere in the murky depths of the hayloft. Just in time for the sixth coat.

Like the Karate Kid, with dedicated repetition, I became skilled in these noble arts: fill, rub down, paint. I no longer needed the tarpaulin to protect the floor, as I became dripless. My skin, eyes, lungs and hair seem to have learnt to deflect the plaster dust and paint. Actually, I've worn a white cap for the duration, and that may have done the trick. My arm and shoulder muscles are ready for combat. Which is good, as I need to sand the floor next.

There's been an upset with the plaster. We brought old plaster from England and used that to start with. When it ran out, we bought a bag of plaster from M. Bricolage. It was two months out of date and it went hard before it even got to the wall. A replacement bag did exactly the same. The man at M. Bricolage said that it was plaster for modelling and was supposed to go hard immediately. Uh-huh... Kevin showed him the picture on the back that showed a man with a trowel applying it to a wall.

We bought some from Brico Depot. It did the same. Imagine a very unhappy bunny. With bared teeth. That was Kevin. We have now learnt that there is only one type of plaster available in France that gives you more than five seconds to get it spread on a wall. There it is- it's from Point P. We don't normally go there, as its car park has room for just four cars, but we will chance it tomorrow.