If you give a mouse a hammer....

One of my boys' favorite books growing up was "If you give a mouse a cookie." It starts out... If you give a mouse a cookie, he is going to want milk to go with it. If you give him a glass of milk, he is going to get a milk mustache. If he gets a milk mustache, he is going to need a napkin....." And on it goes... what I cannot show you are the photos that go along with it and all the shenanigans the mischievous little mouse gets into along the way.

Well, my son Benjamin called last week and I informed him that I had ripped off the back deck. His first comment, "What happened?" (with that all too parental tone) I informed him that I was tired of the nails popping out of the old boards so I decided to put new boards on. Before I could go any further he blurted out... "If you give a mouse a hammer." (with that all too parental tone)

So here is my version of the story, thus far....

If you give a mouse a hammer, She will want to bang the nails back in.



After 10 minutes of banging the nails back in, She will rip the boards up. In the process of ripping the boards up, She will realize that the wood frame on the privacy wall has rotted and should be replaced... and while she's at it.....the hand rails should go too.



While moving the boards so the grass doesn't die, beginning to build a bonfire the boys would be proud of and surveying her efforts with pride, she realizes that if she were going to redesign her deck, now is the time.




To redesign the deck, she would have to remove the spindles, take off the lattice and sand the remaining posts.



While sanding the remaining posts, She decided that now is the time to build the pergola that she has always wanted. To build the pergola, She would have to dig holes to fill with concrete for support. While digging the holes to fill with concrete for support, She realized that some of the remaining posts needed to be removed to make room for the new supports.





While waiting for the concrete to set, She realized that it would take some time for the supports to be delivered. So while waiting for the supports to be delivered, She decided to start re-decking the surface.



While re-decking the surface, She got tired and decided that this was the night to burn...













While burning, She realized that, "Yes" this WAS a bonfire her boys would be proud of!!!! ....and there is still a whole other half of the deck to burn....to be continued......