In Case Anyone Was Wondering Where I've Been...

The trouble with taking pictures of your house is that you notice things you might not otherwise be bothered by (or you spouse will). Things like the huge piles of books you could glimpse in the background of the most recent pictures of the mustard doublet. Needed bookshelves? Needed to build a library actually.

You see, I used to run a bookstore for one of the major bookstore chains.

Dreaming of someplace else for all those books to go...

Now, you might think it a dream job, especially for someone like me... then again, you might be mistaken. I stuck it out for five years, promotions, transfers to new states to open newer bigger stores in more obnoxious shopping districts... Anyway, five years of bookselling amounts to taking home a lot of books. Add onto that my collection of fine firsts and my penchant for trolling booksales and used bookstores... and it adds up to a house full of books.

It all amounts to this... For years we've been lugging these crates of books all over the country as we moved from state to state, and all that time I've been promising myself a dream library when we finally settled down. More to the point, I've been promising Kristin the same thing, someplace for books to go that will get the stacks put away (finally). Bay window with a window seat, built-in bookshelves (handmade by yours truly), French Doors, new lighting and insulation, wainscoting... the to-do list seems endless.

Kind of like making noble garb. And - much like noble garb - as the man said "God is in the details."

To think, a hand-rubbed finish that requires actual hand-rubbing!
The very idea!

So I've been busy the past few months making good on my word... In case anyone was curious.

My beloved wife pulling up carpet tacks...