Novelist Cynthia Thayer lost her family’s 153-year-old barn in a fire earlier this year, but readers and writers have rallied to help her rebuild.

As you can see by the photo above, the barn is steadily rising. The Maine-based novelist has been writing about the rebuilding process on the farm’s blog. Author Kristen Britain also wrote about the effort. Here’s more from Thayer:

On Saturday and Sunday, we had the best barn raising ever. On Saturday, over 25 inexperienced and seasoned carpenters decked the hay floors and began putting up the siding. On Sunday, about 23 folks built 90% of the stalls and doors. It is simply astounding what got done here in two days. We also had lots of food donations and help in the kitchen, which made for some very hearty and delicious meals. We went through over 80 cups of coffee on Saturday, along with four dozen donuts. Mac ‘n cheese, chili, pork roast, pasta salads, ham sandwiches, brownies, decadent chocolate cake, filled up the workers and they went back at it until supper time.