March 5, 2008—More wire and more wiring
These are the bracket pieces which were stacked in the living room last week. The painters came and finished them with the same sealer used on the carport rafters. They will need to be installed before the plastering is done, because the stucco tucks into the notches along the sides, to give a seamless finish.
Here is Kai, talking to someone while I took this picture of the coffer, now complete and ready to install.

Here is the open side, which you will see from below. The whole thing will be covered with drywall.

Last week, the drywall contractor came by with a bunch of sample finishes. I knew exactly which one I wanted, which was a finish that everyone has a different name for, but I will call “country smooth wall.” Basically, they cover the whole wall with drywall mud and smooth it out so it’s almost perfect but with a few tiny, little skips. The effect is very much like veneer plaster but much less expensive and will look great in our space.

This picture is of the exterior plaster sample for the house. It is sitting up against the cottage with the original paint swatch on top. I put it against the cottage so I could see how the colors coordinated. Originally, I wanted the cottage and barn to be one color and the house a different color. Then we decided to use the dark brown for everything.

Now I feel the dark brown would be too oppressive on the house, so I decided to go with a more traditional adobe color. The paint swatch is from the same chip page as the cottage color, but a few shades lighter. The plaster is slightly redder than the paint swatch, but I like the sample a lot and think it looks fine with the cottage, so as long as the County Planner approves it, we are a go on the color.

The weird shadow is my hand with the camera in it and my head with glasses showing.

By the end of the day, the plaster crew had finished more of the paper and wire. Here is a shot from the courtyard toward the front door.
At the living room, they have almost covered the "ears." (There is a little controversy about calling them ears. Jim insists they are battlements.)

By the back door, the roof flashing is on and the wire is complete.

Notice the slanted piece of flashing above the back door (slightly camouflaged by the scaffold). That is the flashing for the connecting walkway from the back door to the carport.

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