I began the rebuild of our deck in January and now – almost at the end of March – it’s still not quite finished. But.. and this is a very important but.. it is sufficiently close to being finished that the pups can once again be let out into the garden to do what Beagles need to in gardens, off lead and without escort. Part of the underside of the deck still needs to be clad in wood to prevent Beagle access, railings are still needed on the steps, and there’s a mountain of rotten, rusty nail-covered timber from the old deck that still needs to go into the absurdly expensive 12 cubic yard skip we’ve ordered, but thanks to a few carefully arranged metal dog fencing panels everything is usable once again.
It was a big moment for me when Susan called Monkey and Daisy to the kitchen doors and let them out onto the new deck for the first time. Over the last three months I’d dismantled the old deck, put in 14 new support posts, driven concrete bolts into the side of the house, cut, carried and fixed around 50 lengths of 2×6, applied over 100 metres of joist tape, laid and screwed down decking boards, made brand new super-wide stairs and put together railings containing just short of 100 spindles.
My joints were aching, my eczema was rebelling after exposure to all that sawdust and my fingers were scarred from misbehaving screws and wood splinters, but I couldn’t wait to see how Monkey and Daisy would react to the restoration of this key part of their freedom and independence.
They both sprinted across the deck and down the steps to greet me, tails going like propellers. Monkey slammed his front paws into my groin to provide emergency braking, and as I doubled up from the impact Daisy made a play for my right hand pocket, which is where I tend to keep a supply of treats. I hugged them and kissed them, and then, once they were satisfied that I didn’t have any treats on me right at the moment, they took a look at their new facilities. Monkey crawled under the stairs and went up to the doggy fence panels, probing them for a way through to that big pile of dangerous old deck debris. Unable to find an obvious weakness, he backed up for a wider view, sat on his bum and had a thorough scratch of his big furry bonce; his body language was all “OK, this looks like a decent challenge but I will prevail!”. As for Daisy, well she went back up the stairs, sniffed the deck surface and began frantically scratching at a board. She’s only little, but when Daisy puts her front paws to work she can create a lot of damage in a short time, so Susan quickly grabbed her and then spotted the reason for this attempted act of vandalism. A small chip of red gravel had transferred itself from my boots the gap between two boards and Daisy wanted to be sure it wasn’t a biccie. Right there and then the first commandment for use of the new deck was written: “Thou halt not, under any circumstances, give out biccies on the deck, ‘cos they’re bound to fall through the cracks and cause little Miss Kindling-Maker to go into action”.
Ungrateful little buggers, both of them! Or to put it another way: Beagles, both of them! I did have a big grin on my face the next morning when I let them out though; they went to the top of the stairs then sat side by side for a moment, and that moment said “we’ve got it back, this is ours!”. Instantly all that blood, sweat and instructional Youtube video watching was rendered worthwhile. I don’t have any photos of the (almost) finished deck to show because as I said, there’s still Trash Mountain right next to it, but I do have these:
It only cost a quid but this soggy, mucky crinkly green frog is THE best chase toy ever created!
Monkey poses by the Hazel tree that Poppy pruned almost to destruction. It’s making a great recovery but now Daisy is showing interest in nibbling it. Girl Beagles! Who’d ‘ave ’em!
Apparently girl Beagles also like destroying watering can roses.
And Daisy’s spent so much time..
honing her..
Beagle Judo skills..
.. that she can now wrestle a 20kg hulking Monkulus to the ground!
She’s also fast enough and smart enough to test him during chases!
But my big boy still has an extra gear when really needs it!
And if that doggy fence around the old deck timbers has a weakness, The Monkster will find it!
I’m glad my work on the deck is almost at an end, but I will miss looking over my shoulder and seeing my two little spectators peering at me over the barriers :)
