I stained the top rail : [link] (color is not representative. See some of the other photos for better, if not accurate, representation.)

Looks nice, sarameg.

Impressive, sarameg!

Here's a closeup from a flash camera: [link] Still not accurate (it is more brown than that) but you can see the grain! It was important to me to not lose that- uncovering it was a revelation. It may be lowly pine, but it is purty.

Commiserating with all of you today!

Erika, I feel your pain so to speak. Made yummy veggie chili, which I have eaten for several days, plus the hummus and curried cauliflower wrap I made for dinner. Anyway, that a whole lotta beans, y'all.

meara, grrrr, that is frustrating.

Juliebird, the city/county/whatever doesn't provide the bins? Whenever mine get ucky or busted up I just call or request new ones on line and they drop them off. Maybe I am spoiled here.

Go internet tech lisah! (I knew you had it in you!) Rah rah!

Now I love cabbage soup well enough, but not exclusively. I do have a recipe for caramelized cabbage with pasta and peas I have been looking to try someday soon that looked yummy.

-t, that sounds like a not fun day. I hope tomorrow is much smoother.

Wow sarameg, that looks great. I can appreciate the effort after having gone through stripping and staining our kitchen cabinets. Some of them really didn't want to take the stain well.

I like pine. And that seems like a pretty color.

OK, caught up on The Good Wife. My goodness.

I am so far behind on The Good Wife.

Tomorrow is cerberal palsy awareness day so I am opting to wear green (because that's both the CP orgs color and Grace's favorite).

I told someone who went on the cabbage soup diet that I thought Pol Pot did that to people frequently. But this is Arizona, so she didn't know who Pol Pot is. Man, Laura, I knew what it was, but I guess I can't laugh at the old pols who get gassy and convinced they are having a heart attack anymore--Thursday it hurt almost that much, I swear.

I stripped and sanded the fuck out of this banister; what doesn't want to take stain will not, which is where tinted varnish and possibly sharpies will take over (seriously, there are spots at the bottom of one post with no paint, multiple soakings of stripper, turp and whatnot, well sanded that will not take any stain. I suspect years of waxing have soaked into the wood or something.) But the majority of it is taking very evenly (despite what the pictures show, damnit.)

I didn't know there was such a thing, but I'm clearly aware of CP.