What's taking so long?

... you may be asking.

well, I have more excuses than most people would have the patience to listen to.

Basement ceiling finished and painted: check
Workbench complete: check (all 26 feet of it)
Garage door trim installed and painted: check

The back of the cabin is a mess. Old lumber lying around, blocks littered here and there, but most obvious is the massive slope on either side of the cabin that is slowly eroding away. Slowly, because the wonderful red gumbo clay is like concrete. While a total, sloppy mess when wet, it is almost immune to erosion. It still looks bad and I've started to address that issue with a stepped retaining wall.

The first step will be 32 to 36 inches tall: enough for a comfortable raised garden bed. It is also in the shape of a lightning bolt... don't ask... it'll look great.

I'll start the second step on the dirt shelf where the drain tile is currently perched.

Before:

After and ready for rebar:

I've compacted a few more inches of sand on what is shown above since these photos were taken, so it's ready for the rebar. Don't make fun of my footer forms and braces: it's all re-purposed lumber that's left over from the original cabin footer. I had to work around the drain tile and allow it a place to drain, so that's what the pvc and black plastic wrapped pipes are.

I did the other side of the cabin as well:

The new garage and workshop/storage room ceiling... (with lights: super modern, right?)

Disregard the junk please.

Notice the workbench is already unusable. This is the correct state of any work area. If it's clean and neat, it's a sign of mental illness.