Let there be light (reprise)

Sometime back in April the tracks were fitted for new track lighting. Once everything else was done, we went hunting for track lights to match ones we already had from pre-renovation days. It turned out that this was no simple task. We had an eBay disaster when some that looked the same in the photo turned out to be HUGE, industrial size. We found tracklights in lighting shops which not only didn't match but were also wildly expensive. Finally we found what we wanted at Lawrence and Hanson for a modest price. But they had to order them in, and we bought the globes on the internet at a fraction of the asking price at L&H. It all came together today - lights picked up at L&H, globes collected from our post office box, and we spent time today assembling them and climbing ladders to put them up.
I now have a brightly lit kitchen, and all the recently re-hung art is appropriately illuminated. After weeks of being in gloom it is a big improvement. Three more pictures to hang, and we really will be all done.

Our turn to work now

With the builders and tradies gone, it's time for us to put the finishing touches in place. Pictures are finally almost all up, although the Chief Picture Hanger thinks that some are too high. The Assistant Picture Hanger thinks they are fine as they are, and as the Chief has 'done his back' (picking up The Age from the front verandah!), her view is prevailing at the moment. The Sound Engineer has done a great job of ehancing the little cabinet we bought on e-Bay so that it holds TV, tuner/amp and most of our DVDs and some CDs. He has connected up our ancient but very good Sonab speakers wirelessly, so we now have wonderful surround sound for TV, radio, or recorded music.
We have finally found and ordered tracklights which a) fit the new track and b) match our old ones - they will arrive Monday and finally our living area will be lighter by night, as well as by day. Still to go - blinds (jury still out on whether we need them) and the garden. We are trying to get three quotes for a new fence, so that we can then negotiate with our neighbour to get it fixed. Hopefully that will happen next week, although getting the quotes has been an extremely slow process - has been going for several weeks already.

Finished! It's official

Michael from Zeev Kitchens came on Saturday and Sunday, working for hours to put the sealer round the splashbacks and the kickboards of the cupboards in the kitchen. He did a lovely job, so by Sunday evening we were really all done. On Tuesday we handed over the last payment to Profast and had a ceremonial removal of the signs from the front fence.
We began re-hanging the art on Monday, starting with the pictures in the hall, then the two big pictures came out of the garage. On Wednesday we hung them in their former places in the living and dining areas. On Thursday, the one in the dining area fell down again, punching a small hole in our nice new plaster, but no damage to the painting. So much for stick on hangers. It's now back on the wall, resting more securely on screwed in hooks. Still got our smaller pieces to re-hang, but with the big ones in place, it looks terrific.