A week's worth of work

Heavy nylon, marine grade mesh + 86 linear feet of careful cutting +fusing the edges with an iron to avoid folding and stitching + 18 linear feet of folding and hand-stitching + 50 perfect, half inch holes hand-cut because the grommet punch won't go through the mesh + 50 brass grommets  pounded in by hand + 2 hours of lashing to the poles + 1 hour of stapling the lights back up = the canopy from hell, which will now become the canopy from heaven because that's what it feels like to sit under it and not cook in the hot sun.

If you are wondering why it took me a week, it's because I also stripped and cleaned the basement linoleum, and mudded and painted the walls in the stairwell.

Fourteen days till the outlaws show up and still loads to do! I found the most wonderful lady to take care of crazy kitty over the 4th of July weekend. We felt an instant connection and lo and behold, the cat didn't run and hide at the mere sight of her. Promising.