Real farm stuff – a Biosecurity team came from Suva to inspect Austin’s chicken operation. So far so good! He has to re-purpose one chicken villa that is too close to the hatchery, otherwise his set-up is perfect. Now they need to send one officer to draw blood for salmonella testing, and if that is clear, Austin will have the permit to export his Super-Jungli chicks to other countries. Yay!
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It is a mad house here as we get ready for a huge community celebration for the 200th anniversary of Baha’u’llah’s birth (a Baha’i holy day). I planned to bake 10 cakes, and the oven door was falling off. Luckily it is Diwali, and I could hit the DIWALI SALES !
Ta da!
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More getting ready. I was in charge of varnishing the pieces of a beautiful bamboo lamp that a Teitei guest sent to us.
It took all my ingenuity to find a way to hang and separate them: heavy thread, drinking straws, paper clips and indoor clothes lines. (ok, Austin suggested the straws and Monica suggested the clothes lines….) It was still a messy job!
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And now for the gazebo, henceforth known as the Teitei Pavillion – ALMOST ready to be unveiled. The deadline is our celebration on this coming Saturday night. I thought I’d have some All-Done photos, but it is still in progress. Ha ha, Fiji time…
My dear brother Jeswant offered to let Austin buy the beautiful end of our hill, and our friends Patti and Poova Murday generously gave some money for us to build a gazebo. Austin’s plan got considerably more elaborate – and I have a few photos that show the time line.
July 19 First posts in.
August 1 Roof framing up.
August 24 Framing for the cupola up.
September 19 Entire roof is on. This is a view looking up from the middle.
October 11 Floor is poured, benches are going in.
Last night! Here is that beautiful globe lamp. Unfortunately we cannot let it hang because it is so windy on the hill.
And the rope lights that Austin is having installed around the edges of both roofs – to be turned on for the holy days of all our neighbors as a source of joy to the neigborhood. Note: the photo shows work in progress – that will not be the finished look.
Will we actually be done by Saturday night? …. Stay tuned.
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Happy Diwali. Happy Twin Birthdays. And a very happy week to you all.
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Flora and Fauna Weekly Report 
Happy Diwali to you too!
Thank you. The fireworks are going off in the neighborhood as I type 🙂
The gazebo looks great. Best wishes for Diwali, as well as for your Holy Day. Best wishes for your cake making, too.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for the beautiful bouquet! Muchas gracias por las flores tan hermosas!
Hope all your celebrations go well, and that you have an “all done” photo of the gazebo for the next blog. It looks like a special place.
Thank you, Karolyn. So far, so good. I will post an “all done” photo.