Railings and newel creation

Before the rain came in October, I managed to get all three  coats of stain on the porch railings, up and down and up and down the ladder.  It is necessary to do each section, front and back, one at a time to avoid a "stain line" showing.  This should help MY toning???  This time of year, and being on the west side of the house, I have to wait until after 9 am to get the dew and condensation off the railings before I start and I can only go steady until 1:30 pm because it is best not to work in direct sunlight.   This is actually fine because it leaves the afternoon with a few hours for riding, that's my story and I am sticking to it.

Shown next is a "carved" newel post for the top of the loft stairs.  We prepared it from a cedar that was cut in the winter of 2009 and that was in the stacked to dry for fence posts or lumber pile.  The bottom is squared up to accommodate fitting in the subfloor at the loft, plus it was bored with a 2 inch diameter hole and electrical outlet box.  This post will house a two way switch for the light over the stairs.  We had to be a bit creative to get the electrical "fish" line in place.   The old fishing-line-and-vacuum-cleaner trick did not work due to the  surface of the bored hole, so we used a length of flexible smooth horse fencing wire and small bungie cord hooks to get it through.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  We will complete this installation with the last 2 foot length of railing and extra handrail when Ronn is staying with us again.