I ended up buying a cheap gazebo from Lidl so I could leave the saw out - otherwise I would have done myself an injury putting it away everytime the rain threatened - and it threatened a lot.
It was my first foray into using Google Sketchup too and I really enjoyed it. I pretty much cut every piece of wood from plan.
The decking I installed at our old house was a simple floor frame that was laid on the floor to line up the post holes and then lifted into place once they were set. I liked the idea of making piers this time and resting the floor frame on that and it was so much easier. Which was good because I had no one to help me on this one. It feels much sturdier too.
I just need to sort the steps out now and add some decking fascias to it. Then wait for a gap in the clouds and have nice cold drink with my feet up on it. Heres hoping anyway.