Fireplace 2

We started stripping the paint off the "new" fireplace. It's taking a lot more coats of nasty glop than I was expecting, but we are nearly there on most of it - just two flat sides on the two big uprights yet to be started; we didn't want to wedge these stones (100kg each?) upright in case they fell! There has been some crystallization, that worried me, but it seemed to brush off quite nicely with a wire brush, so I am keeping fingers crossed that I'm not doing any damage . There are still patches of nasty brown (and some black in places). We have been mixing lessive de soude and wallpaper paste, and painting it on, leaving it for half an hour (or so), before blasting it off with a pressure washer. Repeat as necessary!

I'm not sure if it is caustic soda or liquid washing soda (but I think that's just a dilute version of the same thing?) that we're using, but everyone has told us to wear gloves & be careful. We saw some (delightful, Kermit-coloured!) gloves in the supermarket that said suitable for bleach & "aggressive" products - that sounded just what we needed, so we bought a pair each.

David was doing the first coat while I planted an acer (palmatum dissectum, if you're interested) and some cyclamens (coum, I think, but they might be hederifolium), wearing shorts & a t-shirt. A bit later we decided that I should carry on as I was wearing gardening clothes (combat-style trousers, long-sleeved shirt & ancient cricket hat) and wellington boots (found a lovely lavender coloured pair; also have a pink pair with yellow & white daisies in the next size up for wearing over thick socks in winter - the neighbours think we're a bit weird anyway [all strangers are in rural parts of the world, I think?], so why not?). Coupled with the plastic safety glasses and the green (seriously green) rubber gloves, I felt I cut quite a dash!

I wished I'd asked David to take a picture - but as we still haven't finished, there's still time (as I don't have a mirror in France, I may not look as fetching as I'd imagined, so reserve the right to withhold any picture!!)


The man from Duchesne arrived to deliver our patio & gravel while I was cleaning of one of the layers of gunk/paint; I never think it does my image any harm when someone arrives and my husband is in the kitchen doing the washing-up and I'm in the barn using power tools!

Actually I'm not a complete cow!!

The last two photos show what a mixture of lessive de soude and wallpaper paste (and probably soot, nicotine, tar, distemper as well as paint) will do to your paintbrush if you are naïve enough not to wash your brushes out immediately after use!!

I ended up applying the stuff with a really heavy-duty scrubbing brush - added benefit of working it into the crevices!