The good kind of drama

We spent the weekend in Gilbertsville. Naturally. This was our main accomplishment:

Those are stairs. The ceiling closing them off from the world is gone, and they are usable once more. It was a terrific, interesting, rewarding project.

We began it last week, with the discovery of all the old railings and wainscoting, in a sealed cavity under the floor. This was where we stood Saturday morning.

I puttered around anxiously downstairs, awaiting the Big Moment, the Breakthrough. I could hear the wrenching of great squeaky nails and the stripping of long screws. And then.

Voila!

Oh, how beautiful. How light, and airy, and full of character. I'd never realized how beautiful an old staircase could make a house.

It's going to take some doings, rebuilding and restoring and renewing this space. We've fitted the railings back into place upstairs, temporarily, to protect our blind dog (and us!) from a nasty plummet.

I love the old wallpaper scraps we uncovered. I would very much like to find a sheaf of that yellow-green one with the flowers.

I love the worn treads, and the chipped paint.

I love the way you can sit at the bottom step and look up, and feel reverent.

The little landing at the top is so cool. I've taken to calling it an inverse camelback. It's going to look SO COOL when it's all reassembled and refinished. Suffice to say, caulk will be involved.

Other Accomplishments

• We painted more trim. The sitting room downstairs is ready for wall paint next weekend. The color is called Parmesan.
• We loaded A TON of junk into Patrick's dad's full-size pickup, including two old dusty carpets (and pads), huge hunks of splintery plywood, a few rolls of tarpaper, and all this wallpaper. Dump fee? $6.25. Yes.
• We made some really awesome baked beans in my slow cooker on Saturday afternoon.
• I taped and painted this room. Now it is very, very green. It's going to be Patrick's music room, and the color is called Dill Pickle.

It's unbelievable that Christmas is only a few days away. Between now and then, I have to finish borders on a few tea towels, finish the binding on a table runner, decorate my snowflake cookies, deliver sea salt caramels to friends and neighbors, wrap presents, and turn 28. I can do all that, right?

We're heading back to Gilbertsville on Friday, and my parents will be joining us that evening. Wine, Pictionary, dinner out, and community caroling are on the docket. I can't wait. I'm so happy to be spending the holiday celebrating in our new home.