Shelves and more shelves

We found the perfect "church" bookshelves for the book nook at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. They are either made from an old piano or else designed to look like they are.

We are repurposing the old pie shelves from the kitchen into windowsills for the basement windows. The thick old varnish needs to be stripped off and the wood (we think it may be cedar) restained. We must have spent two hours debating which colour stain to use, and I'm now convinced I have no sense of colour at all. We set up a table outside to do the sanding until heavy rain and lightning sent us scurrying back indoors. It's going to take a lot of sandpaper to remove the thick layers. It was lovely working out there with my husband, each with our own sander, the sawdust powdering everything and drifting gently down on Brio, who lay contentedly underfoot. I did the bulk of the rough removal and my husband did the fine detail work. At one point he stopped to take my picture lest readers think I sit around reading while everyone else does the work on this place...