See it was like this. In all the past years we've been together, Bill has provided some kind of tent gazebo so we could dine in pleasure without the company of bugs. If we're lucky, the tent gazebo would last two seasons. This year as he was putting up the gazebo he wasn't happy with how it had fared from last year. There were rips and tears in it. And he didn't like how it took up so much room on the porch so he got this brilliant idea of making a new frame for it. He wanted to make a straight-sided form and use the plastic top from the tent. After measuring twice, he fashioned his frame to fit and then discovered that he couldn't get the canopy over his new frame top. He cut off all the sides of the tent and just left the top part. I helped him manuever it in place on the inside of the framing accompanied by much cussing (on the male's part) and the two stupid dogs two yards over constantly barking making it harder to think straight. That's it, we'll blame it on the dogs.

With the tent sides gone, the next idea was a logical one. The sides of his frame had to be screened in. Todd came out and surveyed the work and added his usual suggestions on it. He asked if a door could be put in it so it would be easier to get in and out of it. So, Bill next went to work on framing a door while commenting that he learned how to do this when he helped his dad build the cabin they had at Hall's Lake. As usual, all this resulted in the traditional six trips to the nearest Lowe's for supplies. After the door was built and the screening attached, in which I helped hold the screening while he stapled, there was one section not screened because the roll had run out. I sat down in a patio chair to assess the work in progress. Looking through that last unscreened section towards the sliding glass doors of the house, another idea was generated. We have always yearned to let the cats out on the deck but needed to do it in a way where they wouldn't get loose. Ah ha! I said to myself. "Hey, Bill," I pondered, "wouldn't this be a great way to be able to let the cats out here with us? Slide this structure over against the patio doors and they could come out." It was one of those moments when you knew a brilliant idea had been achieved. And, thus, the Catbana was born.

So, that's when the plastic cone of the tent gazebo was taken off so he could slide the structure over against the door and under the little lip that hangs over the patio doors. He knew then that he would have to put screening over the top of his cage. Todd comes out again. He was apprised of the situation and his next suggestion was to put rafters over the top to hold the tarp that would keep the sun and rain out. Envisioning the tarp over the top, another idea sprang to my head. I liked the dining gazebo for its practicality but I hated having the roof over my head. I'm stuck in the house long enough all winter. I needed to get out under open sky and have lamented this for years. So, I asked if there was some way the tarp could be put on so we could roll it back when we wanted (more like when I wanted). Sure 'nuff, there was.

Like I said, this project spanned over several weekends but you can see the finished results in the picture I've provided. Bill strung up lights around the inside so now we also have atmosphere. It's wonderful, it works well, it's lovely...but...it's a little too small for the Fat Family. But, you see, if we had known when we started that we would be shoving the whole eidifice against the house it would have been built in a whole new direction.