It took us a week to fully strap the roof. Mostly because weather kept intruding. Wintertime, after all. We’ve had far more rain than snow — haven’t had to use our snow blower even one time yet — but the wind is semi-consistently a problem. The good news is, even though this area sustained higher gusts recently than the hurricane caused here, we suffered no damage. The tent held up to it, the bus didn’t blow over, the structure was untouched. We spent those days not here, just in case, but everything was fine.

The ridge boards on the tall wall had to be completed also, and then the rafter ends had to be re-angled to parallel the structure and capped. We figured out the short wall ones okay. It required purchasing a new ladder, but with the jigsaw and a lot of patience it got done. The tall wall was more of a problem. Our ladder just wasnt tall enough, and the overhangs are deep enough that one couldnt climb a ladder from the loft and reach the ends. We managed to get the challkline up, but it was awkward.

Eventually, my husband ended up hauling up all the extra 2×8’s (in awful, snow/rain conditions) and creating a temporary platform on top of the rafters that he could lay down on and do the necessary cutting.

While he did that, mom and I started splitting the firewood.

None of the work is enjoyable in gross weather, but we don’t really get to choose, do we?

At this point, we had gone as far in the build as we could go alone. It was time for the steel to begin to go up, and the guy who was going to teach us was away for the week. So, the waiting game continues.