Decided to advances things a bit and hired a guy to install the fir flooring on the upper floor.  Next step, in a few weeks, will be a different crew to sand, fill, seal and finish the floor.  The flooring was obtained from a mill that went out of business – it is about 5 years old, and most of it is vertical grain 7 or 8 foot pieces.  Am thinking of using two pieces of flooring as baseboards, stained dark, with a bevel on the top, and other pieces to build the bookshelf/barrier around the stair opening.  Still no decision on the stairs.  Once the  floor and baseboards are done, I will have a functioning den and can put up art and photos, a desk, etc.  Good project for the upcoming holidays.

Put up a few Christmas decorations in our new house, as we are expecting a visit from Santa. Decided to not do a tree this year but to begin to select and trim trees for future years. We have a lot of trees.