Ah, the smell of iron in the morning

There was a lot of screaming at the house Thursday morning, but fortunately it was just a saw against rebar.

All those iron "flowers" that bloomed where the new addition will go -- the ones that got flattened by the backhoe on its way to dig the pool -- had to be pulled back up, trimmed to length, wired to little square collars and then surrounded by forms, to prepare for the pier pourings.

After the sparks flew -- and the strong smell of hot iron wafted through the neighborhood -- Ref, Brantley, Steve and I formed some production lines to cut and assemble the forms. Measure, snap, cut. Measure, mark, cut. Nail 2-by-4s. Nail more. Assemble.

Twelve forms later, and after some leveling, adjusting and extra staking, Ref called for the inspector. He'll tackle the piers under all the decks later. Right now, he just wants to get a jump on the new addition.