Knock... knock....

We had a surprise visitor yesterday.... one of the handymen that we had contacted last Spring to give us a bid on re-roofing the gazebo showed up at our door.  Not only did he show up one year later than we expected, but he could clearly see that our gazebo had a brand new roof on it..... and when he knocked on our door, it was pouring rain. Had he planned to put up a huge umbrella and start to work yesterday?

When he knocked on our door, he was standing on the porch and staring at the gazebo when I got to the back door. "I see y'all got that gazebo roof fixed...."  (Those were his first words to me.)  I told him indeed we did..... without mentioning that we had waited over a month for the estimate from him and his partner.  He told me that the roof looked "right nice" and he asked me who did the work.  I resisted the urge to tell him that the new roof had been put on by someone who gave us an estimate within a week's time and showed up for work on the day and time he promised. (Silly things like that helped make our decision very easy.)

The year-late carpenter asked to speak to my husband. Fine.... I went upstairs to get him.  When I told my husband who was on the porch, he said "No way." (As if I would make up such a story in the middle of a rain-soaked afternoon?)

My husband went out on the porch and talked to the man, who told him an over-long tale of woe about his ex-partner not taking the work as seriously as he ought to... and then he told my husband that he was available for other work, any work, painting, carpentry, anything at all.

When my husband told him that he may be getting some estimates for painting the iron fence all around our pastures, the man told him that he would "beat anyone else's price by ten percent, no lie."

He gave my husband a business card.... my husband said he may call him in the near future.... they shook hands, and off the man went in the rain.

"Do you believe that?" said my husband.

Of course I do..... we've had such ridiculous experiences with handymen in the past... why on earth would I not expect this particular man to show up a year later, in the pouring rain, intending to get started on a gazebo roof that no longer needed to be replaced.

Give me a blessed break.