With the breaks for bad weather, Sabbath and supply runs, it took us 17 days from first sheet of steel to last. In the middle of such a job, it feels like you’ve been at it forever and you’re never going to finish. But looking back on the job, while it took longer than we wanted it to, it didn’t take all that long at all.

Just having the wall steel up isn’t the end of the job, of course. There are still big gaps for wind and weather in the corners until the trim goes up. It is esthetics, yes, but it is also structural.

Trim in place, our remaining tasks as far as keeping the weather out are expanding foam around the windows and doors and various cracks of that kind, putting a door on the hayloft hole and on the goat exit, and battening a few places where warped wood or lack of experience left gaps to the outside. Basically, at this point, it is a bajillion small tasks that won’t ever show, but have to be done.

Once the little piddly necesssities are done, we can work on actually making the the place habitable. And THAT will be exciting.