Ruby, you gotta think fast on your feet, like the Grinch... Tell him you wanted to surprise him... next time...
Mesa, I already only had one option for the posts, just a matter of if and how far to dig etc... it's going to be fit 'into' the existing tiered garden structure and it will have to be fastened to it... heavy duty steel angle braces at the bottom mates... I need to add a couple 8' 4x4 to the materials list for angle braces up top -- 15 bucks... 2 - 1/2" carriage bolts on each pair of 2x8s for the side beams ( 8 total)... and still debating whether or not to notch things, if I notch I need 2x6, if I don't just gonna screw 2x4 across the beams (it's cosmetic anyway) the notching will definitely add to the finished look and completely take away any angular flex... I don't have a band saw so It's gonna be scroll saw city making it "fancy". If I want the 'top' fancy, I will have to use 2x6 in order to scroll a design into it -- more work than I really want to do... I can just taper the 2x4s, and if I don't notch, I have to add horizontal angle braces on top - not a good look... OR, a combination of 2x6 on the ends and 2x4 across the balance... hmm?
I already know a hurricane won't knock it down by the time I'm done... and it should be able to hold down a helicopter... a small one hahahaha
just had to put in a little thinking time on it...