A reprieve, but we are still working our tushes off.....

So, last night we decided we couldn't make it in by June 1.  It's a combination of things, but it sure felt good to acknowledge that we were both feeling too much pressure and starting to make mistakes because of it. We are giving ourselves a week or 10 days more to get farther along the road to completion - our hope is to get most of the indoor doors, some of the trim, all of the railings, most of the plumbing installed and .......  you get the picture.  We had a great day, albeit a very long one.  (The dogs were very happy when we walked in the door about 6:15 and insisted we go out  - that's down 4 floors - immediately.) The long run of railing along the loft and walkway is done - now for the part over the entry way and along the stairs.  Bill will start wrapping the outdoor porch beams and post tomorrow while I finish the interior sections.  Hopefully our plumber will come install the tub and faucets.  I cleaned the kitchen cupboards this afternoon so they are all ready for stuff and we had the cabinet maker install a couple more of those pull out shelves.  He and his crew are great - they've taught me all kinds of wood working tricks. So, here are some pics.......

So the fun thing about this railing is that putting it together is a bit like a
puzzle or quilt.  You have to figure out the size of the spacers, but then its a regular
pattern - big spacer, picket, little spacer, picket, little spacer, picket, etc...

Bill suggested I might be wasting time laying out each panel before actually starting
to install each "panel," but it helps me avoid spacing issues at the end and it
makes for quick installation.

Yay! The right side is done, the left is the framing that Bill finished late today -
I hope to have it all done tomorrow!

Bilie working on the "frame" for the stair railing.  He did a beautiful job - I
hate to cover some of the board surface with the pickets!

The cooktop and hood are in!  We need to add the vent cover to the hood,
but that will take a little work first, so....  But you get the idea!  Boy, do we
need a backsplash of some kind here! Any ideas?

The two new pull-out shelves on the top are great!  I don't know why
we didn't order them in the first place!  I vacuumed and washed
all the kitchen cupboards this afternoon so they are ready to
be filled!  Can't wait to get going on that, but the railings are
calling my name for tomorrow.

And all the appliances are in!  Yahoo!  You'll probably never see the island this clean again, so enjoy it!  It was FULL of all kinds of stuff about an hour before this shot was taken.

Now you can see how the railing relates to the kitchen.  I am standing where the dining/living room is.  The beam  over the island is where the wall was previously.  There is soooo much more light now.

Dad's bevel square!  It sure has come in handy with all the weird angles we
have encountered.  People warned us that in a remodel there are no 90° angles -
I think they are right!  It helped a lot for the stair railing also! Thanks, Howie!