Beige?

Saturday morning at 7 am work starts on rendering the end wall (or 'pignon' in French). The end wall is in 20cm clay insulating bricks with an internal insulation, so it needs a render finish to make it weather tight and finish it off.

The render is projected onto the wall under pressure with a flexible hose from the compresser parked in the street. The compresser makes an infernal noise so communication is impossible without shouting very loudly, which the team of 4 builders manages very well. My command of portugese being limited to approximate interpretations of menus, I presume they are only shouting important instructions about the pressure regulation or the mix of sand and cement in order to spare the neighbours as much as possible an unpleasant awakening. I suspect, however that they are more likely discussing a football match or the events of the previous evening.
By the beginning of the afternoon the work is finished and a calm, broken only by the sound of distant DIY, returns to the neighbourhood.

The English Neighbour admires the work and asks when it's going to be painted beige like all the other houses in the quarter. I presume she's just teasing me and smile back....or maybe she really thinks I'd paint something beige?

The timber cladding is finished. All that remains are the fibre cement panels.

Photos to follow when the tropical rain forest effect weather ceases.