We haven't done much of anything outside since our shed building blitz this January. For the last two months, we've been hunkered down in our camper, keeping warm as feet of snow accumulate on our land. This morning, a crack appeared in winter's armor and we seized the day, summoned outside by glorious blue skies and temperatures climbing into the forties.

We started work with our neighbor Charlie who generously came up on short notice to give us a tutorial on how to install siding. Once we got the hang of it, he headed home and we dove in, sheathing the exterior of our solar shed. The process was a blast—it felt like we were on our bicycle tour again, just Tara and I, laboring together outside. Sinking into the rhythm of measuring, sawing and hammering can be just as fun as pedaling!

Later in the afternoon, Mike, our neighbor from down the road, drove his tractor over to help us move some of the trees we cut down last month. (If weather permits, we're going to start building our little cottage next month, and most of the logs were completely blocking the drivable path to our homesite.) By the time we were done, all of the logs were in a little huge pile, out of the way on our clearing.

Mike's help was a godsend! If we ever get around to writing the second part of our "lessons learned after one year of homesteading" entry, it will pretty much read: the first thing we should have done was buy a tractor. I'm really hoping we'll be able to afford one before next winter rolls around. Thank you so much for your help, Mike!

It was a busy day on our little slice of earth. Hercilia and Roscoe came over to check out our progress, and so did Mike's wife Kendra and their daughter Edie (somehow we didn't get pictures of them, though).

All in all, it was a wildly successful day. Our little shed is turning out great!