Chapter 10: The Bannister and Handrail and Time to Celebrate!
Whew! It certainly has been an adventure renovating our second floor. I will say, more often than not, it has been a pleasant and fun adventure, but there have been times that the nasty side of me has surfaced–especially when it came to our bank loan. But we completed the work and beyond that our bank required and the remaining funds were released upon my presenting them with a Certificate of Compliance, so as far as I am concerned all past “sins” are forgiven. I thank hubby David for forgiving me for my occasional outbursts (for there were several).
Jerry Martin, owner and operator of FL Staircase, not only installed our new stairs, but built and installed our new bannister and handrail last week. Painter Jennifer helped me pick out the bannister spindles from photos of 19th century bannisters on-line, and I couldn’t be more pleased!



Since 95 percent of the work was complete, we celebrated with an open house this past Sunday. Had a GREAT time with plenty of food, good friends, and just plain fun gushing over Dave Irwin, our builder, and all our other fine craftsmen and women (that means you Jenn and Nicole)!
WE INTERRUPT THIS RENOVATION FOR THIS SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!
I am sure many of my readers think I completely abandoned our soap business, but never fear, I haven’t!!! Just completely side-tracked for the past seven months–sorry! BUT, we are still in the soap business (still time to order gifts for Christmas or how about New Year’s?!) And speaking of the new year–our very special announcement is our SOAP OF THE MONTH CLUB! You read right, I thought, “Hey, there are fruit of the month, wine of the month, cheese, flowers, all sorts of things of the month, so why not SOAP of the month?!” So let me tell you about it.
I have been very excited about this as you may be able to tell. For $30 per month (which includes soap, tax (for New York State residents), and shipping), you can get between two and four limited edition soaps or soap products each month that centers around the particular month! I have the first three months chosen, and I think they are awesome! I think you will, too. You can order three, six, nine, or twelve month subscriptions OR just one month at a time! So get ready for January–I’m thinking New Year’s celebrations and champagne! If you have any questions, please ring or e-mail us!
Oh, and one last thing, prices and current items are a little out-of-date. I have a new web man, and he is currently in the process of making our site a little more navigable, which will include a site search engine, the blog more user friendly, and the order form more easily downloadable (folks have had trouble in the past).
I think that about does it! The renovation project will pop its head up again from time-to-time, but won’t be so involved as this initial one has been!
Have a splendiferous weekend!
Blessings,
Lorraine