*Lyrics from St. Vincent‘s The Apocalypse Song from their album, Marry Me. I just love them, and since we’ve just lost an hour of darkness (or gained one in the morning) the refrain of this song was particularly poignant. And the Pandora station for her/them is amazing. If you’re into that sort of thing. Which obviously I am.

When we last met, this was how my kitchen entryway was looking.

Since I last updated you on the state of affairs at the ol’ (so happy) homestead soooo much has happened. And yet nothing has really changed. Sort of. Ok, so we changed our entryway decking and stairs, but the overall effect is the same. They’re still just stairs to get inside. I suppose it’s like wearing a grungy pair of pants to paint/stain/joint compound/generally be disgusting in and then changing into a nice pair of slacks. Still pants, but soooo much nicer to look at.

Ta-dah! Look at that! Red cedar decking, stained Burnt Hickory in Cabot exterior oil-based semi-solid stain.

I can’t really overstate the sense of luxury that this new ‘skin’ gives the entrance to the house. Before we were walking over crumbling paint (or stain), cracking stairs and holding onto rotting handrails. It was a depressing march to the inside (which houses our glorious kitchen), and didn’t really do much for the curb appeal of the house. Now we have a flat, well affixed landing pad to step out onto. And even though we have more staining, finishing to do (including replacing the worn and broken storm door), and the boys still have to build and affix the railings (which I stained, as per my instructions for my homework), it’s already so improved that I beam with house pride. Or maybe that’s delirium from spending so much time staining things in the basement (which I’ll fill you in on later this week – things are happening down there, too!).

So, some progress shots for you. The weather here is turning into full-on spring, and with daylight savings ending (or is it beginning?), the sunshine, warmth, and promise of new beginnings is starting to make all this work so worth every achey breaky minute. Enjoy! xoxo