Barn Raising

 Sunrise on the first day of summer. Our homestead project has been sitting idle, all this while.... We poured the foundation in early November, and then waited out the rainy season. Scott started a new job in February, teaching woodworking at the local high school. So, we have patiently waited for summer break--- Scott adjusting to the demands of his new job, Penny turning three and beginning pre-school two mornings a week, and Annie picking up a bit of part-time work. It all sounds so 

ordinary, and it is. We've become accustomed to our tent & camper living, and life just clips along. We skated through another extremely mild winter with plenty of extra firewood and a buttoned up little tent-cabin that felt cozy and warm and comfortable. The camper did not fair so well. The dampness of the cooler months made it a place we went to only to bath and prepare meals. We ate, slept, read and lived almost exclusively in the tent. Though the camper did not leak, the condensation and continual use took their toll. There are signs of deterioration showing up here and there, and we are ever more conscious of the fact that it is a Temporary Living Situation. And we better get our act together.

 Then- BANG! The first day of summer and it all begins. The framing materials arrived from the lumber yard on Scott's last day of school, and the next day he was up  at 6:00 am laying out the sills. Not even one day of sleeping in.

But this is really the fun part. This is what everyone pictures when you say you are building a house. Yet it has taken us three years to get to this point. And it has been two years since we moved into our little platform tent without electricity or running water. But here we are, and now that it is summer, things are moving at lightning speed!

 We have been overwhelmed by the kindness and support and energy that our families have given us. My parents came for two weeks and helped raise the first walls. Scott's brothers carved out time away from their lives and families to donate their muscle and sweat, my dad pushed through days and days of heat and long hours to keep pace with Scott, and now Scott's dad arrived today, and has already been put to work raising the first wall of the second floor...

So, here it is. The sequence of events.... how a building arises out of a stack of wood and a few boxes of nails.









Scott built the walls on the ground, squared them, and then we raised and braced them all in one day.









Next came leveling and plumbing the walls. As I had to explain to my father, Scott frames like a finish carpenter- perfect squares, precise cuts and exact measurements. But that has also meant that when things went up.... they fit together! At least so far....

 The sheeting was fast. I felt like I went inside to put the little one down for a nap, and when I came out, we had a building! And I was ready to start moving in. There is something about having those walls that makes living inside feel so possible... so tangible. Why not at least install the toilet right now? Why not? We have walls!

Then there were joists.... and now there is a floor. The footprint of what will be our studio apartment.  Our rent-free studio apartment.