Hammer, hammer, pound, pound....

That's been the noise here this morning... the Ken-doll contractor was here before eight o'clock this morning... he and his helper took out the old posts, cemented in the new ones, and now the plan is to wait till Wednesday of this week before building the new roof.

Brownie Points to the contractor for showing up before the time he promised.... and more Brownie Points to him and his helper because they kept working through a dark sky and heavy winds that kicked up in the middle of the morning. I thought for sure that we were going to get a drenching rain here, but not a drop fell........... the temperature dropped about ten degrees, the wind was very strong and the sky got awfully dark, but those two guys kept hammering and pounding.  They kept looking from the gazebo to the sky, from the sky to the gazebo, and I was silently praying in the kitchen that whatever storm was out there wouldn't pass this way until the new concrete around the posts had a chance to set.

The cats went crazy with the noise this morning... Gatsby went under the cottage at first, but then crawled up to the porch (in slow motion with his tail dragging) because he wanted to see what was going on. After watching the two workmen for a minute or so, Gatsby decided that the pounding noise was bearable so he sat there on the porch and watched their every move.

Mickey Kitty ran under the back steps and wouldn't come out... he wasn't at all interested in the work and couldn't have cared less about anything except the loud noises, which he doesn't like. He finally came out when the hammering stopped and I scooped him up and put him into the garage.

And Sweet Pea, our inside cat, kept going from window to window, trying to see everything that was happening out in the yard. The loud noises weren't so horrible in the house here, so Sweet Pea's curiosity got the best of him and he watched every bit of work around the gazebo.

Finally, finally, the work on the gazebo has begun.