Overdue update

It is inex­cus­able that I have not posted an update for more than six months! I do apol­o­gize and have no excuse other than to say that I was doing some­thing I was good at: pro­cras­ti­nat­ing.
A lot has hap­pened since my last update:
Toward the end of sum­mer, we put our per­pet­ual task of mak­ing handrails on hold. In antic­i­pa­tion of installing our doors and win­dows, we com­pleted prepa­ra­tions for these. This included fin­ish­ing the exte­rior sid­ing on the three rear dorm­ers that would house two win­dows and the door to the fire escape. Once the win­dows and doors were ordered, the installer gave us spec­i­fi­ca­tions for the rough open­ings (the holes where the win­dows and doors were to go). We took sev­eral weeks to adjust the open­ings that had been built (the plans were incor­rect in sev­eral cases.)
Over the Christ­mas hol­i­days, our win­dows and doors arrived and were installed. The effects were dra­matic. What had looked like a shell now looks like a real build­ing!
From the time that the win­dows and doors were installed, we have been seal­ing the large gaps formed by the roof and rafters rest­ing on the walls. In about three weeks, the build­ing will be sealed to the ele­ments, with the excep­tion of some small areas that need to be caulked or put­tied. We are mak­ing prepa­ra­tions to arrange for plumb­ing, elec­tri­cal and HVAC con­trac­tors to do their work. We are still a long way from being granted a cer­tifi­cate of occu­pa­tion by the county, but these are huge mile­stones nonethe­less.
This past Fri­day, rain drove us inside where we removed some heavy scaf­fold­ing that had been placed on the rafters. It is amaz­ing to look up and see the ceiling…what a beau­ti­ful sight!
My wife has taken lots of pic­tures and I will upload them soon. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement.