It took the two of us nine days (including one day spent in Elko taking care of business, and two half days in West Wendover, buying lumber), using only hand tools, with one minor exception: Greg did an angle cut on the short boards between the rafters with a circular saw, back at Home Base in town.
Step one: dig post holes. Water helps with the digging.
"Post holer: digging holes for posts." -- River Tam, in Firefly
Posts and girts frame my Mountain.
Add a top plate and rafters,
Put on some siding,
And close in the roof. Finishing touch: photograph the moon on Easter morning.
Then turn around and photograph Easter Sunrise.
We also put together a chain-link kennel to give Rosa a coyote- and hawk-free place to hang out. It has a chicken-wire top, indoor-outdoor carpet and the Puppy Palace, a doghouse I cobbled together out of leftovers from the Bunny Barn. To my surprise, once she realized she can jump on top of it, Rosa decided it was okay after all:
"If Snoopy can do it, so can I!"
The main challenge we have here is the wind. After five and a half years in southern New Mexico, we're no stranger to wind, but riding it out in a travel trailer is rather different than living in a house. But mostly it stops us from working when it gets too strong. Good thing we don't have deadlines to meet.
