He's at it again

Now that it has turned cold outside, Dave looks for things to keep him busy indoors. We have been discussing painting this fireplace wall since we moved in. Yes, then no, then yes again. For five years we debated, and then it just went straight to yes. The fireplace is going from espresso to white too. We'll just have to wait til the painting is done to know if we made the right choice.
Obviously I am not sentimental about rock, even tho this rock came from this land, collected by the previous owner.
  He had a coal burning stove here, rather than a gas line which we put in later. The coal stove stunk up the place, despite all the air fresheners sprinkled about. He's lucky (we're lucky too!) that we overlooked the sour sooty smell and bought the place anyway.

I busied myself in the kitchen making biscotti. I've decided that this is a Christmas cookie, and make a different version every year. This one has cherries, apricots and almonds in the mix. I like a hard biscotti, which won't fall apart when dunked in coffee or tea. These meet my desired crunch.
And I've finished knitting my latest cardigan, blocked it and am waiting til it's dry. Hoping for the best.