The walls were built with local pebbles, sand, chalk and earth. Also my lovely green stones are used here and there. And, this very nice yellow with black spots one!
Someone must have held it 200 years ago, and thought "what a beautiful stone!, I must use it in this wall". And yet 200 years later the plaster is removed, and someone else wonders again "what a beautiful stone!".
I have not seen any yellow stones here of this yellow, until this week when walking the dogs in the sierra above, the sister stone of the stone in my wall!
For a stone sitting in a wall 200 years is not a long time, I guess. It must have been sitting in the ground for a few million years, until a few monkeys put it in a plastered wall. And who know how long that will last. 200 years more? 500? These stones will outlast us, and the house, a long long time.
I wonder if the stones enjoy to be together again, after 200 years..
Curiously, the yellow is just a thin layer.
When you remove the plaster from a 200-year old house you are bound for surprises. Like old openngs in walls that were there in the past. This one is in the back wall of the house, and a lucky one. We wanted a new ventilation opening for the toilet,
as we used the old one for the pellet stove exhaust pipe, just around the corner at the same height. If only we'd known!
This we'll use as the toilet ventilation. And a nice big cap stone! Perfect!
Same with the front wall. We want a solar air heater there, that needs a pipe inside. That needs a hole in the wall. And it's already there! Near perfect spot!
Other surprises are that some people use old cement bags to "fill" holes, and simply plaster that over.
We call that "ansteystyle" work, after the previous owner, who used this kind of "finish" in more places.
Also at the back of the house: the donkey ring. That was used to tie your donkey. And that happened often,
as the ring is well worn. And see how it is attached to the wall? Smithy work around a pebble, and that set in mortar. Sorry the pebble is broken while removing the plaster.
I'm using the opportunity to treat all woodwork of the windowframes that are now accessible, with the plaster removed. Permethrin against termites and woodworm, and a few treatments with tung-oil for protection against water and humidity.
Around all window frames there's actual plaster (gypsum). That is traditional here, but also a bad idea. Gypsum is not waterproof. On the contrary, it attracts water. Lucky we have a dry climate here, and all woodwork is in very good condition. One exception is the lower beam of this window frame. It has been nibbled in the past. Now it has permethrin on/in it, and every termite or woodworm that sets its teeth in it will be taught a lesson.
If you look carefully you can see there was a door here, once.
The wooden beam is still in the wall. Just a bit of tree trunk, complete with bark. The bark is all gone (eaten), but the center wood still has some strength.
