The house has a hearth

Yes! Finally, after about a year of talking about it, I got my wood stove installed. All I gotta do now is fax the installation certificate to my insurance company. And then get the city inspector in to get his A-OK. And he's gonna pleased to see my new handrail:

Affix handrail

Done. Well, the short one anyways. Still gotta do the long one. And attach the spindles. Hey, small to-do items get done quicker ;) I found myself actually using it this morning. These stair aids will help get up to my bedroom after a long night of drinking... so hopefully less setting up "base camp" on the couch.