Does it get any better than this?

Adam got started with the edger, and I am just so pleased with the way this is turning out. I'm sure I've probably just jinxed the whole project, but seriously...considering the way this entry looked not so long ago, with its 3/4" worth of ugly flooring and that horrible black mastic-- I'm thrilled!

Its not all good news. There was a thin black strip of linoleum that went around the room as part of a border. My understanding is that this stuff was heated up to adhere to the floor. It looks like maybe that particular little strip burned the floor a bit during application:
But you know what? I can't even be bothered by that. At the very worst, we'll put a dark stain on this room only-- it does look like the POs may have replaced some boards with oak strip and there's definitely some water damage on the other side of the room, as well as some slightly more prominent burn marks where the fridge will sit. I just don't want them stained so dark that the beautiful grain-- the reason we went through all this and didn't just put down a new floor-- is hidden. But I'm certainly ok with rustic. In fact, I'm ecstatic for rustic. I was so ready to throw in the towel with these floors about half a dozen times through this whole process. Adam kept me moving, though. And now no one's happier about this than I am.

And on another kitchen note...Ta-da!
Upper cabinets! They look better in person. And the two on the right aren't fully installed. We'll have to shim out the one on the far right to bring it even with the others and to compensate for the extra space created by replacing the plaster with drywall. The black and red stuff on the solid masonry wall is old backsplash mastic, soon to be covered up by...this is yet to be decided, actually...