Nau Mai Haere Mai!

At the moment Aotearoa New Zealand is welcoming the world to this small stage in the corner of globe (do spheres have corners?) for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

http://www.maoricreations.com/product/19981367/nau-mai-haere-large-door-mat

At the same time we welcome our 27th follower to the blog (whoever you are, thanks for joining us), and want to share the new look of the front of our unfinished villa. As we are surrounded by corrugated iron on most sides, we did not want to have it out the front. We want the house to appear warm and welcoming from the street.

Welcomes come in many forms, such as a Maori haka...

Probably the worst haka ever. No offense meant to anyone.

... or a welcoming committee.

A ducka?

But we have had trouble with a dog getting in and eating three of our chooks. And someone walked through last week and left two back gates unlatched. So instead of open space or iron fortress, I took more of the old native timber deck and made a low fence to help define the spaces around the villa and to create an additional paddock for pasturing our poultry.

No hinges for gate yet. Waiting for some to come up at the weekly auction.

Although this wood has been exposed to the weather for over 30 years, most of it is still solid as. If anyone knows what type of timber this might be, please let me know.

I found a solid aluminium security screen at an opp shop for $8, and used it to frame a gate. I thought this would be more attractive than galvanized wire netting like we have used elsewhere out back.

Plus, this anodized aluminum will last longer in our sea spray zone. Because the screen is rigid, I did not have to reinforce the corners of the wood frame. This saves nails, or nail plates, or diagonals, or whatever approach one might choose. I did, however, shell out for stainless steel screws to prevent oxidation.

To enhance the look of the fence and discourage dogs (very short dogs like the one that ate our chooks) from digging under, I planted some succulents that our friend Mattie gave me in exchange for doing a garden design for her. (She also gave us smoked fish and chocolate cake. Yum! I love bartering!)

And beyond the gate is a walkway I built with some of the bricks that we bought on Trade Me. We used the rest of the bricks as a surround for our multi-fuel stove (thanks Jonah) and a patio and pizza oven out the back (thanks rockin' interns John and Amy).

Bricks will be relaid and leveled by our next intern.

And finally, in the back of the picture below is our new chook yard for our new chooks. This fence consists of galvanized security fencing almost 2 meters high and galvanized netting along the bottom. We bought all of the materials from Haywards Auctions and Trade Me. The treated posts were left on the section as rubbish by someone previous to our purchase a year ago.

So welcome, kia ora, and peace, Estwing