Why, hello...

...and where has this been hiding? Tasty.

The stain is a pain.

When staining three rooms' worth of woodwork - windows, closet doors, entry doors, trim, baseboards - it is important to remember a few things:

• Foremost, have good tunes to listen to - this helps to alleviate the mind-numbing boredom that can otherwise easily set in.
• Wear crappy clothes - just put the same old things on day after day after day after day.
• Have plenty of rags and rubber gloves. The rags should not be confused with the crappy clothes that you are wearing endlessly - they will be the rags you use on your next project...should you be wacky enough to repeat this. 
• Have plenty of ventilation - wide open windows, the more the better. That warning on the can? They're not kidding.
• Allow plenty of time - something that feels akin to practically forever.

Floored

Ladies and Gentlemen,
There is light at the end of that long tunnel.

New floor in my future office space. 

Looks good. Damn good.

And because I like to leave you with a laugh...

From the Unfortunate Photo Department:

I gotta start hanging out with chicks more often.

Chromophobia

n. An abnormal fear of color.

After studying 45 paint samples plus one 5-page booklet, I chose three innocuous, barely tinted colors for the walls: Cream Froth, Natural Wicker & Pampas Grass.

And on first look, that Pampas Grass freaked me out. No exaggeration. Ask Dave.

Everything is painted. Lights and smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors are installed. Final electrical inspection is complete.

Keeping us safe. 

One per room. Hardwired; if one goes off, they all go off. Our entire second floor isn't very big. If one of these goes off in the middle of the night we may expire from fright.

Now we are working on the woodwork. Extension jambs, window sills, framing entry & closet doors, trim around windows & doors, baseboards. There's about a mile of wood to stain - if we I can ever decide on a color.

Vay-cay-shun!

Dave has two weeks off.
No dumpster in the driveway.
No sledge hammers or pry bars in hand.
This year we focus on detail work.
Paint, framing doors & closets, trim work, laying down flooring, hanging lights, etc.
The blog updates won't anywhere near as exciting as last summer's.