It's Getting Very Near The End...

We are now in that part of the construction job that feels like Zeno's Paradox. The contractor takes 5 months just to get started on the job, then another 2 1/2 to do the bulk of the work, then another 1 1/4 to do some finishing items, then gets stuck in a phase where every week, a few minor items are done, with the number of minor items completed gradually reducing...

Well, you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, here's one of the urbanite that replaced the concrete sidewalk:

The Lovely Wife filled the cracks with tumbled, recycled shower door glass, looks a little like tiny cubes of ice. Quite nice I think.

The gas fireplace is together, except for the door over the control box:

We tried it out briefly. It puts out an incredible amount of heat, and the fan is a bit loud, but we don't expect to be using it much (we didn't use the old pellet stove at all).

We replaced most of the lighting in the house. Here's what we put in the hallways:

It's nothing special, an Ikea Pult, but we like it and it fits in with our minimalist, more modern decor. The old lights were shiny brass with panes of glass like carriage house lights.

Unfortunately, the chandelier chains were too short, but the electricians hung them anyway:

I can't imagine where their common sense was with this. Also, as you'll note, one of the bulbs I bought didn't work, but still they hung it. This chandelier is a Varaluz Aizen made in the Philippines from recycled iron

The pendant lamp  suffers from the same altitude sickness as the chandelier:

It's a Possini Euro Deco, in brushed nickel.

In two of the upstairs bedrooms which we use as workrooms, we put in sconces. These rooms formerly had spots in them, and were always dark. Now they are filled with light. Here's my office:

The sconces came out the best of our lighting choices.

And on that note, I'll finish this side excursion into interior decorating. I have a couple more posts on more serious topics brewing, but lately I've been so busy at my day job and preparing for the annual Going Native Garden Tour (the high point of the year for The Lovely Wife, who is an avid native gardener) that I haven't had time to post anything.