Onward and Upward...

Upward, as in stairs? Okay, so I'm stretching for post titles. Any better ideas?

The stairs now have their carpet installed, and I think it looks pretty nice. Once the dust from all the woodworking is off the stair treads, they ought to look really great. When we did the addition, wayyyy back in 1983, we couldn't quite afford an oak staircase, so we went with oak for the endcaps, the banisters and newel posts, and the stair molding. The treads were left to be carpeted, and the spindles (which don't show in this picture) are pine, stained to match the oak.

The backsplash tile is in. The colors on this look pretty close to what you'd see if you were standing there. The colors are a mix of grey, brown, taupe, and "indescribable." The orange splotches are tape where Sam-the-painter had "touchups" or "fixups" noted. Still some work to be done: there's going to be a lazy Susan in the cabinet, and the handles need to go on.

Um, yeah, I did get handles. Pewter, with just a little bit of detailing. After trying out many many many MANY knobs (I think Great Indoors and Expo are reconsidering how many they'll let customers try out and return now) the inescapable conclusion is that knobs just aren't going to do the trick. Let's hope handles will. 64 is a lot to find! And, with numbers like that to buy, it kind of leaves out the ones that are super gorgeous and $11 or $15 each...

Just so you can see how those babies are growing:
here's Nate, looking fascinated by the camera and by his great-auntie, who was making faces for him.
Cousin Audrey has learned to roll over onto her tummy from her back. First she did tummy-to-back, and then the reverse. Now she can't seem to remember how to do the tummy-to-back. But she's very pleased with her tricks!
(This picture is from Auntie D4's Flicker sets. She has lots more if you're into gorgeous baby photos.) (Also if you follow the link to her blog, there is some great A video. Think baby giggles.)

And yes, there has been some knitting. The lavender Shedir is coming right along and I'm planning on having it done soon.

Because once the contractor's crews are done with the house, there is going to be one heck of a lot of work moving stuff back in, and sorting through what gets to stay and what needs to go. Nothing like living without all this stuff for 3 months to give a person perspective on what really matters!