I created the default layout for the website.

I created the _layouts/default.html file to render the default layout
for web pages. I refactored the homepage to be dependent on the layout
specified by the default layout.
I started creating the website. I added a notice to readers that the blog is temporarily down.

I started to build out the website structure. I didn't finish in time
over the weekend, so I posted an alert on the homepage to let visitors
know that the website is temporarily offline.
I created a new homepage and posted an alert to tell visitors that the website is temporarily offline while I rebuild the website.