The start of week eight has us scurrying about trying to ready the interior of the house for the stucco crew, which we are hoping will arrive next week. I have continued to work on the window sills. The original plan to use the garage to do the sanding and finishing fell apart, so the sanding was done in the house and the finishing was done outside. Under the cover of the garage car-port, we set up some saw horses and a chemical mixing lab. For the benefit of my woodworking friends, this was the finishing procedure. Sanded with 80 through 150 grit. Seal coat of shellac. A mix of brown, red and yellow pigments stirred into a water-based top coat and six applications of same, with a light sanding before the finish coat. The window sills are pine, as will the ceiling be, so much thought was given to choosing a color for the sills, but in the end I chickened out and simply toned them slightly to get rid of the really white color of the new wood.
Meanwhile, Andre and Justin have been occupied with applying metal lathe to all of the wooden surfaces which will receive stucco. In between lathe installs, Andre has been running errands. Trying to get the well water tested, bringing his fishing boat out here, paying bills, getting water, etc. etc. Somebody has to keep this operation functioning.
Deirdre has been shaping the window openings. Each window will have a rounded opening, except for the one which will be in the den. It is close to an interior partition wall, so we have opted to make that one square. How boring is that?! Justin got the job of framing out that opening.
