First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who has encouraged us on this long journey! For those not privy to Arkansas weather, the rain has returned—and it likes to fall on weekends. That has put a damper, so to speak, on building, but we’re working around the weather, even though it’s mostly a couple of hours here and there.

On a positive note, when it isn’t raining, the temperatures have been pleasantly between the 60s and 70s, a nice change from three weeks ago when a burning 92 degrees plummeted to 41. It felt like our three choices were hot, cold, or wet.

Now, post Daylight Savings Time, we have another challenge: the dark.

Tonight’s sunset will be at 5:11 pm, and it’s only going to get earlier. We need to start packing up by 4:30, which is fine for weekends, but that makes weekday work brief if not impossible.

In spite of it all, we can see our progress and our vision. Here’s our work from last Thursday and Friday:

Reinforcing the frame

Once we figured out how best to nail in the joist hangers, we finished the frame quickly.

Frame Covered

We would have ended our workday by nailing down the OSB board, but we decided to install insulation and run chicken wire under the frame to hold it up. This addition is not included in the $1000 budget, but we felt it was worth it. [5 rolls of R-30 15″ x 25′ insulation @ $14.94 = $74.70; one roll of 36″ x 50′ chicken wire = $30.65.] We also purchased a staple gun/staples, which added about $20. Total: ~$125

The driveway has come a long way…

…since our first attempt to drive onto the land.

Additional gravel pile to finish the foundation for the porches

Coming soon…rainy day DIY: make your own laundry detergent