Baled Out - Saturday morning

Saturday 21 December 2013

Well, would you believe it.  Day Three, and the Smiths were coming back for more.  Today we had an even fuller house, as the new arrival, Robin, on holiday from his job in Barcelona, decided it would be fun to join us.

Dave spent the night wondering how well plaster would stick to the bales.  I slept like a log.  Dave was up early making clay plaster to try it on the dips and bumps in the bale face.  I crawled out of bed, aching all over, and washed up again - it's quite a marathon to wash up for so many people when you're boiling hot water in the gas kettle and rinsing in ice water from the tap (sympathy, please).

 Dave electric-drill stirring the clay plaster.  It took quite some effort to make the plaster, but when he tried it on the bale face it just fell off in lumps.  This was a serious low point, and it was only just 9 am.  Worried that we'd have to take the bales all down again if we couldn't get plaster to stick, there was only one thing to do - make a mix of lime plaster - extra sticky for a first coat, the books say.

 Paris arrived and gave the music room north wall a quick shearing to trim the long straws.

 Lime plaster sticks - hurrah! hurrah!  Crisis over, Dave happy again ...

 ... until Rowan discovered this - he was scoring through a bale to put supporting legs under the kitchen window frame, and found it was full of dry mould, just powder inside - horrors!  Dave and I looked at it helplessly - it was in the lowest course.  

 Rowan and Robin, however, levered the upper courses up with my enormous crow bar (I said it would come in useful for something!) slid the offending bale out and slid in a new one.  Job done.  Dave and I open-mouthed in awe.

 Rowan, Jade and Robin, taking it easy for a moment in the sun.

Lin, Pete and Paris, clearing up after lunch (more chicken soup, with spinach pies this time).