Leaderboard

Snaps in the Boonies here. No rain for 60 days now. This season could be the worst I've experienced since rooting down 17 years ago. Plenty of the wet stuff down south. Ponds are holding their own though. Can't complain. Number one has dropped about 15 inches. The ponds further up the gentle slope are doing OK. The water filling them is not that much - about 20 thousand litres a day - but it appears to be keeping up with evaporation. At least for ponds 5, 6 and 7. Moved the water pipe from pond 7 to pond 4 though. First had to service the waterway, and put the top ring in. That some dippo had reversed his pick-up into and smashed the original. Just enough gap for the water to flow easily. At the business end. All done. Mildred says to run the water as it is until this w/e coming, then revert back to number 7. Sounds good to me. The farm next to us held a big chicken gala last week. About 30 vehicles and 100 plus people attended. Plenty of encouragement, for the chickens. A wagon selling food and drink did a good trade on site. Chickens waiting their turn to perform. Only stayed for a couple of minutes to take the pics. I was assured by the wife that it was all just fun. No gambling what-so-ever took place. Only gamboling. I was certainly relieved to hear that. Went to Udon's IO for my 12 month visa a week or so ago. Everything went smoothly. Afterwards I met up with a gentleman I had met through the AN and TT threads. Spent a great couple of hours chatting over food and drink in the MAKRO restaurant. On the way to Udon I called into Sum Sao Wat to see build progress. Looked into the ground floor. Didn't go in as last time I was constantly hitting me head. That's what yer get being 2 metres tall, and the place is built to accommodate Thais. New flight of stairs leading up. And down of course. I didn't like them one bit, and used the wooden ones. The 'going' was just too steep for me. Back wall was built up. Gold everywhere. And it's real stuff. Not paint. Windows in place. Sad to note that the smashed items outside had not been fixed. Only requires a blob of cement and a lick of paint. Rice harvest last month. 27 sacks for us. had to give two to the thresher for the work. Farm next door. The Buddha farm used the harvester. Work done. Unload the rice and get the harvester onto the carry-away truck. We finished up with 54 sacks in storage. 8 more to come from a late sower; for a total of 62 sacks. About half-half Thai rice and Isaan.. The village square put to good use. Buffs will not move for Mrs snaps on her leccymobile. It was the big day. Float the little boats out across the pond, and make a wish. There was a big do about 6k away from us. Mildred, the Mrs, her sister Pook and Wow were all keen. Unfortunately I had a hairache. And couldn't make it. Mildred took charge of the snapping. The Mrs doing the honours. The offering will soon get the feel of water. Ladies head straight to the food tent. Mrs Snap's favourites. Traditional dancing ladies entertaining the masses. And then, the gong was sounded, and it was all over to the lake. Family shot. Mrs Snaps, Wow and Pook. +++++ Pool are running away with it. Ten points clear. Just hand over the title now I say. City playing relegation footy. Good win for the Owls yesterday. Change at the top of The Championship. Blades in control. Two of my old local clubs won through to the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Orient and Dagenham n Redbridge. Now! Who would you like in the 3rd rounds chaps? I'm sure the 'O's would settle for The Irons, while D & R would like Man City at home. Be sure to get through there. Barca lose at home. I'm not one for women's footy. It's alright i guess; alongside ladies cricket and boxing. I much prefer mud wrestling ad beach volleyball. But!! I have taken to one team in particular. No! Not Bradford, Burnley or Forest. I'm now a big fan of Long Itchington WFC. A small village near Brum, with less than 70 ladies of football age to pick their team from. I'll send you my love and kisses. Go to it girls. And that's not all. Right in the middle of their village is a delightful pond. When I go there, I'll take me rattle and some bread. +++++ Been right down in the dumps recently. The Mrs has been giving me hell. Yak, yak for this; and yak yak for that. Can't seem to do anything right now-a-days. One morning last week I didn't even get a cup of Rosy. Mildred says to keep calm and in a few years everything will be OK. Can't wait for the day. Three deliveries today. another water pump, and controller, for me next water project. A 20kg sack of dog biscuit and a solar lamp for the farm. As I type there is a big commotion outside with a herd of buffaloes. They are taking over. Mildred is outside with the camera. Pics next post. The village had a big party. Dancing girls and everything. Also two processions through the village. Have lots of pics to sort out. Mildred is off school today. Also Thursday and Friday this week. She don't know why. I'm not unhappy about it one little bit. When Mildred is at home her mum is not so volatile towards me. Went to pay the land tax last week. At the same place as they float the boats (above). Got 'fined' 89 baht for late pay. Number 4 market on Wednesday. Have a couple of things to get. Will probably get a koi ot two. And yesterday we (Mildred and I) saw the black long-tail carp for the first time on 6 months. Also on Thursday I'll pick up some PVC pipework and fittings for the new solar project. Still have it in mind to grow some Durians. in the area where the rice is grown, I reckon we could grow about 40. They would need water every day. So I've got it in mind to used a 1000 litre tank on stilts and pump water from the pond to fill it. I'll put in an overflow, that will run back into the pond. The idea being that the extra 'umph' from the water tank (2 metres up) will allow water to get to all the Durian trees at the same time. I'm working on it. Fell into deep water with a mod on AN. Posted 'misinformation' I was told. Only upset me for a week though. I've cheered up a bit today. Thanks for visiting people. Take care out there. Robert. Miss Lala. Lttle Jack Wagger. Mimi.

Snaps here. It's Wednesday the 12th March 2025. Got the car back. Very nice it looks too. Complete respray. Total cost for the car; 28k. Yesterday went to insure it in Ban Dung. 8.200 baht. A bit late. Sort of shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. Showed the insurance lady the vid of the incident. She said we wouldn't have had to pay anything at all. Did the m/c guy have insurance? This month we went to the number 4 market. Mrs Snaps bought a heavy-duty cover for the car. The one that she was using was getting ripped to bits by the cats. Didn't get anything at the plant section this time. Always does good business. The clothes section is getting bigger than ever. Hundreds of strides, shirts and women's stuff. And so cheap. You could go to this market and get a completely new outfit for about 300 baht. That's hat, shirt, strides, shoes and underwear; if yer don't go commando that is. Like most farang here. Could come out looking like a Big cheese. Although some of the designer stuff is a bit pricey. Mildred picked out a few lovely kois. The lizard was not for sale. Just used to glean lottery numbers. And I got them. '2's and '0' for the 16th of this month. Easy money. Get in there. The deal is; if you win the lottery, come back and give the stall holder a few baht for the lizard's good work. Sad news at the week end. Found a once beautiful cat, dead at the farm. Don't know how it came to grief. Found a nice place to bury it. Gave it a good send off. Kun reckons it could have been a dog. There are loads around. Maybe one of the Buddha dogs. Thy roam about at night looking for prey. Killed one of our ducks a few nights ago. Mrs snaps got talked into buying her mother's house. 400k baht. From her older sister who lives in Oz. Took the fridge out for our own use. Didn't work so good. So onto the Mazza, and off to Ban Dung. They delivered it next morning. 1.800 baht all told. Filled it with drinks; mostly water. What a posh farm gate. That'll stop the bar girls. Lots of chickens in our soi. The chicks have more to worry about with the cats than dogs. Not yet taken the election posters down. Traffic stops for a chicken family. This house has some great ducks. Only about 50 metres from us. And a big white cat. On his way over thinking I've got some food. Mildred letting the kois go into number 6. Out of all the ponds, this one, number 4, is the most active at feeding time. The fish go crazy. The Mrs started whacking my for nothing. So I walked to the farm to get some peace and quiet. Was gonna stay there all night. But she turned up at just after 19-00 with a cup of Rosy. Millions of little flies around the light. Came on just before the Mrs turned up. Don't ya just love cats. They always make yer smile. +++++ Pool out of the Champion's League. Leaves the door open for The Gunners or Villa. Both should romp home tonight. Owls come from 2 goals down to win away; and gobble up the canaries. TBH. I was gutted for the Cherries. Letting two points slip away at Spurs; after going 2 in front. Just love to see the 'also-rans' doing the bizzo. Bad for my faves though. Worse than bad; a catastrophic week end. Luke Littler takes the Belgium Darts Open. That's three titles so far this year. Two nine-darters in the competition. +++++ So! The Mrs agreed to pay her older sister 400k baht for their mother's house. A down payment of 200k, and the rest in 12 months. Had to sell 5 little blocks of gold to get the money together. Got 46.100 baht for each baht gold. Confusing for sure. I could see trouble ahead however, so I insisted (? sort of) that the wife get a guarantee paper filled in. Never know what could happen. Plane crashes global warming, WW3 even. March! Can be the hottest month. Usually April, but a couple of years ago it was March. Absolutely scorching early afternoon this week. Not yet got that sweltering night temperatures. It's all happening in the US. The Don wants the files. The FBI, CIA, AID and the others don't want to part with them. The USAID lady boss, said to her outgoing staff, to shred and burn any evidence. Quite exciting for onlookers. Will Greenland go independent? If they do, will they be tempted to pocket the million US dollars each to join the US club? The dosh is gonna be put in trust for any youngsters and babies. Others will get the cash. Take yer lady to the bedroom now! 55 Billion for the 6th biggest country in the world! Wow! How much for Scotland? Got a leak in one of the water pipes at the back of the house. Will try to put off fixing it until the week end. Too busy this week. Gonna get off to the grape plantation later today. Will get ready after posting. One of the ducks has gone. Kun is pointing the finger at the Buddha dogs. TBH, I thought the ducks could just swim out of harm's way. Perhaps they were taken by surprise in the dark. Started with 12. Now down to 4. Have to do the Mazza's MOT this month. I'm sure it will fly through. 265k kms on the clock. As good as ever. Still keeping up me Bathroom Yoga. Have cut sugar out almost completely now. Just one spoon in each cup of Rosy. Don't touch any cola, or cakes, even though I'm sometimes tempted. No beer for 3 years. Stopped smoking in 1977. Didn't do my monthly fast in March. Simply forgot. Too late now. Next month for sure. That's it for now folks. Only one thing left to say; bye y'all.

Snaps in the boonies here. It's Sunday the 5th of January 2025. No rain for 95 days. A little chilly in the mornings but warm sun about 10ish. Number 4 market yesterday. I was all set to go, but wifeee starting to yak, yak me over something, so i thought I'd give it a miss. Mildred went along with her mum though, and bought two long-fin kois. Mildred let them go into number seven pond later that day. We had a surprise visit from a lady in a pick-up on Friday. She had 30 sawai in a concrete mixer in the back. Wanted 800 baht for them, Handed over the dosh and rescued the fish just in time. Got two big containers ready and half-filled them with water. Took them to the farm straight away. Stopped at Kun's place first and gave him a couple for his small pond. Put 4 into number 1 & 2, and put the rest into number 6. Think we got them into the water just in time. They are a sturdy fish though. They seemed happy enough and soon swam away. Been wearing my new hat. Mildred says it makes me look younger. Must remember to take it next time in Ban Dung. I reckon Ting the hat lady would like it. The lights have now had a full day's charge. Word is that they come on at 6pm and stay on til about 5ish in the morning. That's not bad at all. Fixed up the last of the four on Thursday. Do I look suave in that hat? Or what? Ducks are doing fine. They head straight for the water melon when I put the food out. Then the chopped chicken. Then the rice. And what is left just gets scattered all over the place. Hope to have their house on the lake done this month. Calamity with the Mazza. A few years back I went to a garage to sort the lights, because they were not as stable as they should have been. The technician said the sticky tape would outlive the pick-up. What nonsense that was. Nearside light the same. Anyway. I did a permanent fix with some silver metal tape. And we were good to go. Can't trust that sticky tape over here. Not like the Selotape back in England in the 1950s Connected up the solar panels for system 4. This afternoon me and Mildred wired up the Deep Well Pump. I've already done the other safety wire. So it's next Saturday or Sunday for the launch. +++++ Luke the Nuke did it. 7 sets to 3. Was pretty easy for him. He was fabulous in the final against MvG. The half million squids will come in handy too I reckon. 200k for the runner up. Orient still on the march up the league. That's five wins on the trot. Someone has died this evening. Mrs Snaps and Mildred have gone to the house to help with this and that. Only one thing left to say; take care out there people. +++++ Mildred's latest painting. www.mildredart.com

Life in the Isaan boonies 06-08-2024 BR Number 4 Market last Sunday. We were there for about 10ish. It was as busy as I've ever seen it. Had to park way past our usual spot. Finished up outside Kubota. They have dozens of tractors for sale; maybe hundreds, as there is a big parking area at the rear. Not a lot of spare dosh floating about in these parts. BR BR On to the market. It had been a bit wet of late, and it showed. BR BR BR No tree, or plant, purchases, so it was straight on to the fish man. BR BR Finished up getting 100 pinkies , 5 lovely carp and 3 small terrapins. BR Some interesting stalls displaying stuff. Like this giant vegetable. Or is it a root? A fruit even? BR BR Glasses. Prices range from 50 baht an economy pair, to the top, designer end, at 200 baht. BR BR Found what we were looking for. Cutters for the palms. BR BR Not cheap. Bought 2 for 1,200 baht. Mrs Snaps inspecting the quality. BR BR Budgies and rabbits. Have kept both in the past. Didn't end well. BR BR Beautiful Mekons for sale in the food area, Sad to see! BR BB Somebody brought their pet along. BR BR The mud took a prisoner. BR BR We are cutting nuts. But first we have to trim the fronds off the trees in the top section of the farm. The curved cutters, that had been bought at the market came in handy. BR BR We had Kun, Rooney and their son (don't know his name) cutting today. BR BR Two different methods on the go. Ladder from Lazada. BR BR And with the slicer bought from the market. BR BR Back at the village, work was on the go at the house build; next door but one. BR BR BR BR Outside the Leccy place on the 2022, next to VOA, there is something afoot. BR BR This leccy station has been without a wall for yonks. What is going on? Do they expect an event? BR BR BR The motorcycle is almost finished. Gonna pick it up tomorrow. BR BR Mildred releasing the pinkies into pond 7. BR BR Wasn't sure where to put the kois. BR BR Ended up going into the first concrete tank (right). Put some veg in there for them. BR BR Seems to be an ever growing of wires in some Ban Dung sois. What is a collection of wires is called. A cluster? A swoop? BR BR Had the grass cut around the solar system area. BR BR Much better. But not for long. Give it 2 months and it will as dense as ever. Then the dry season kicks in and no more growth to speak of for 5 months or so. BR BR BR =========== BR Sport round up. The GB Olympic squad have won a few golds. Best, for me, was the Men's 4x200 free relay in the pool. I know we have won on the track. If I find time I'll investigate. BR Those two men/women have made the finals in the boxing. The thing for me is; a/ can they father children? Or; b/ can they give birth? Seems simple enough. Or have I got it completely wrong? BR Footy starts up later this week. The top doggies the following week. BR =========== BR The Mrs lost her glasses at the market Sunday. BR =========== BR Only one thing left to say; seez ya on the next post. BR B========== BR A bit of beautiful Isaan nature to end with. BR

Life in Isaan - 29-07-2024 BR Another week of eventfulness. On the whole it was a decent week. Been made a very good offer (well I thought so), for the euca trees, although Mrs Snaps wanted 10k more. I planted the trees is in June of 2020, so just over 4 years old. Total cost of planting then (trees' labour etc); 52k baht. Been offered more than four times that; just yesterday. Make a decision today. BR The build next door is doing OK. Been on the go for about 6 weeks now. Worth reminding ourselves of progress. BR Area marked out and ready to go. BR BR Started on the foundations. BR BR Rain came. BR BR Not to fret about the wet stuff. The concrete will sort it out. BR BR Out with the formwork and the acrows. BR BR BR A couple of dry days and it was all ready for more concrete. BR BR BR Another downpour. BR BR Last concrete below ground level. BR BR BR Services all taken care of. BR BR Just fill it in using the machine. R BR And just put the concrete on top. Job racing ahead. BR BR Columns next. Hope they have a plumb-line handy. BR BR Absolutely poured down when they were filling the columns up using buckets. BR BR No problem at all. Strike the column shuttering and wrap them in plastic film. BR BR That's us bang up to date (as of today). BR Mildred was a bit upset over her cat. Somehow the whiskers have;;;; gone!! BR BR In times past. BR BR Talking of cats. Our two are very finicky about their grub; especially Poo. But, I have found a tin of 'something' that they really like. Never seen this brand before. 39 baht a can. A tad on the expensive scale. But if yer want yer cats to grow big and strong? Although they would much prefer a mouse; fur and all. BR BR Regular readers of the 'Owl Log' will know that I've had great success growing pineapples. (Not so good with the avocados). Planted four 'tops' in the week. BR BR High hopes. Will report progress as usual. BR BR Mrs Snaps has been on the plant again. She puts them into the ground and it is I, who has to look after them. Because I go to the farm every day. Mrs Snaps; once or twice a week. Fixing up he chog-chog. BR BR BR A young farmer honing his chog-chog skills. BR BR ======= BR Sport round-up. Olympic footy. Don't care about that. English clubs are playing friendlies. Three weeks to go. Can't wait. BR Adan Peaty couldn't make it three golds on the trot in the 100 breast. Just a silver for perhaps the best breast-stroker of all time. Although David Wilkie might have a shout. Big one later; the men's 200 free. BR Hamilton wins again. What has happened to Red Bull's dominance? Karma works in mysterious ways. ======= One of the little kois died in Mildred's big concrete tank. Not really a nice place to keep fish, but she wants to keep them there for a few months. ======= Saw one of the pot-belly piglets in the this morning, when I was on my daily task of picking up soi rubbish. Didn't have the camera with me unfortunately. Next time. ======= Mildred not at school today. I much prefer her to be at home. Learns much more. And the Mrs is much calmer when she's around. ======= Poo s about to drop her kittens. Mildred is making her a little den out of cardboard. Hope the kitten's father(s) have straight tails. ======= Conflicts all over. This world is big enough for all to enjoy. Plenty for everyone. But no! ======= BR That's it for now. Seez ya all next post. BR ======= BR Must end with a little bit of wonderful nature. BR BR

Hi all. Been in Thailand for about 17 years. Moved out to Isaan almost straight away. Had a lot of different jobs in my life. Teacher, salesman, soldier, builder, www developer, wine-dealer, local politician; but never a farmer. And what an experience it has all been. And still is to this day. Join me for my week-to-week experiences. Often funny and enlightening; amazing even. Sometimes very sad; when the three kiddies drowned in the village just two months ago. And mostly just plain hard work. Have two solar systems on the go and plan two more later this year. 12,000 eucalyptus trees. Eight big ponds. 400+ oil-palm trees. Plus the yearly rice. Not forgetting the cats and dogs. Or the wife and daughter. The rice season is with us. Only have two rai to tend. That's enough! What with everything else. This is the rice to be planted. Sort of rice-nursery. This is where it is going to be planted. Some tractor work required. A fish or two to be caught. And there we have it. Ready for the planters. Team of six planted the whole lot in 6 hours. By the time I got there at 15-00 they had gone. Not too much water until the rice gets going. The solar system in Number Two pond is getting the grass treatment. Grows like crazy. So out with the chog-chog. Farm dog 'Happy', always willing to lend a paw. That's better. Now for the solar panel weeds. Bloody tough stuff. That's enough for today. The house by the bus stop has a pigeon problem. So set up a 'scarepigeon' to get them away. They fixed up the monster and the pigeons left. But not that far. Next door but one. The roof-monster went AWOL, and they soon came back. The monster was 'Woody'. He had simply been blown down. Soon got put back up. Pigeons scared away for good. There is a set of twins in the village. Just 60 metres from me. I can't tell them apart. They are learning English from me. 'Good morning'. And 'buy me ice cleam'. Bought a terrapin at the market last week. Only 100 Baht. Let him go in pond 7. Not seen it since. Are the trees ready for cutting? Unfortunately they are not all as grand as this lot. Measured one of the biggest. 64cm around, at one meter off the ground. The ponds looking South West from the road. Eucas in the distance. Beautiful nature is everywhere in Isaan. Seez ya next post.

Hi all. Snaps in the boonies here. It's January 19th 2025. There was certainly a chilly a week ago. Just 5C one morning. Villagers were huddled around their little fires. Even Robert and Oscar were suitably dressed. Hey farang! Where's my coat? Finally finished the solar system 4. Spent a couple of days getting all the wires connected. The water pump has two eyes to hold it in place down the well. First job. Some installers do not use the eyes, but rely on the PVC, or in some case metal tubing to keep everything held up and secure. The pump is the same as the other three. 750 Watt. Pumping 2 litres a second at 30 metres, in bright sun, giving at least 120 Volts. As the sun gradually goes down the voltage drops and the pump revs drop accordingly. Giving less output. The pump at the farm stops pumping at just after 4. The other two at 4-30. Had a challenge with joining up the pump wires. This time I opted for three individual cables. They had to have the Snaps' securing method. The deal was to join each wire individually. Secure them with heat-shrink, and slide the PVC yellow pipe over the whole thing. Then pump mastic into the pipe. Let that set and the next day bind the ends with waterproof tape. Last job was to whip the tape with a thin plastic rope. Seems like a lot of fussing. But if any water gets into the wires, it's game over, and the lot has to brought up and done again. Had another 6 x 4 metre sections to take to the farm with the pump and wires. Once everything was on site, the three of us. me Mildred and Kun, got cracking. Put in the control box. Dropped the pump down to about 31 metres. Mildred wired up the control box with three sets of wires; seven in all. The panels were connected up and all was turned on. As soon as the water came up, it was job done for the day. Mildred's part was finished. Me and Kun would sort the pipework out later. The following couple of days were spent connecting up the pipes to take the water around the farm. The water system brings water from the ground into a 'T' section. It can go left or right. There is a valve on both. Also another pipe for filling a bucket is need be. The pipes then go underground of a metre or so. They resurface in concrete ring full of stone; to add stability. Me checking that everything is tikkyboo. Wearing me Man City shirt and special hat. Robert a big help. Three systems in a line. About 70 metres part. Water strong. Two deaths in the village this year so far. One was the wife's aunt's ex-husband's new wife. Not that new though. About 80. No-one had any dosh for the mourning. Got away with donating just under 10k. Another old-un passed away yesterday. No relation to us. Don't know the details. But there was also joy, as there was a marriage. The road blocked off for a while. Little Jack Wagger, Mimi and Miss Lala, having a well-eared rest. Mimi having a stretch. The tobacco growing is underway. I'm not in the know about how profitable it is. But was told the growers get about 120 baht a kilo for the dried leaves. Was told the baccy plants are water greedy. Already started drying out the leaves. We have had the ducks for over a month. It was time to move them to a fresh home. Right next door to their old one. They have settled in OK. What a house-warming feast they had. Watermelon, chopped chicken, chopped cabbage, boiled rice and a few other tasty morsels. Ducks can be messy sods. Mildred shows me how it's done with the chog chog.. +++++ There was Toon ready to celebrate a record 9 wins on the trot. Who was coming to town for the slaughter? The Cherries from the south coast. Didn't turn out quite that way; 1-4. Pool still have a 6 point lead. Put red ribbons on the trophy. USA put Venezuela to the sword 3-1. The Trump effect already. Orient win through against The Rams. Can look forward to smashing Man City in February. Some very tasty matches for the next FA Cup round. Pool, Forest, Toon and Chelsea all have tricky looking away games. Tennis underway in Oz. Did you see that 16 year old lad Gout Gout run that fantastic 200m? Wow! We are gonna hear a lot from this chap. +++++ Warming up a bit. 12C at 6 on Friday morning. Lovely during the day. No rain for 111 days. Last year there was a 119 day wait for the wet stuff. This year could be a longer. Gonna be a very decent nut cut this month. At least half the palms have a bunch or two. Mrs Snaps has been really nice to me of late. No screaming. No threatening. No whackings. No cat throwing. What is coming around the corner? Mildred was feeding the fish in number 6 pond and saw some of the sawai that we put in a week ago. Brake lights have failed on the Mazza. Have to sort that before i next go to town. Only one thing left to say; take care out there.

Snaps in the boonies here. It's Sunday the 15th of December 2024, No rain for 75 days. Plenty down south though. Some pics of the number 4 market. Kois for Mildred's favourite pond. Into number 7 pond. Still planning to plant the Durians. Checked at the plant section for the prices. Monthong variety is between 200 and 300 baht a tree. I'm gonna plant around 40. Found these little bundles of fun. Couldn't resist getting a dozen. I had the job of looking after the goodies while the wife went to get the car. One of the two solar lamps at the rear of the house. New hammocks at the farm. Great for relaxing after a hard half hour feeding the fish. Mrs Snaps treated herself to a cart for the farm. Don't know where she got the dosh from. Could it possibly be the money that slipped out of me pocket a while back? No! Well perhaps. Don't like that poly money one little bit. Bring back paper I say. Jealous I was. So next time at the PVC shop, on the 2022, I bought myself a cracking 10 metre tape. A bargain at 120 baht. A Monqiqi. Well known for their quality tools in China. Even has a little place for putting a drop of oil. Pretty accurate too. Nut scavengers at work. A couple of ladies gathering up any old nuts. I'm told they are great for getting fires going. That little bit of residual oil does the trick. Nut cut. 850 kg of big nut bunches. This lot from just half the farm. Getting there! All secured with a net; for the first time. Usually use posts and rope. This is better though. Don't wan't a 20kg bunch of nuts running loose on the 2022 highway. Price had dropped a little to 7-80 baht a kilo. This wholesaler also buying in cassava. Some of the salt-beds, to the north of the town, that have put Ban Dung on the world map. The sign is up. Building coming along. Will be buying stuff there in a year or so. What is that? Looks like a bamboo stake with a plastic bag on top. It's the special spot for the water drillers to so their bizzo. They arrived PDQ too. Told me two days and they arrived that afternoon. Supplies arrive on cue. The two topping-out pipes. 700 baht each. Heavy duty. water come. Job done. Pack away. Next job for us, me and Kun, was to prepare to cap the well. A solid 80cm concrete plate was the first thing put in place. Have so spread the load as wide as possible. Then a ring. Then a bit of concrete. The well head is capped. A bit more to do, but that can be done later. Me and Kun marked out for the solar base. Next job will be to secure everything for the posts, that will hold the solar panels. (pics next post) Meanwhile; my job to get all the deep well pipes ready. The female ends are cut off and a screw filling glued in place. Never been lucky in raising ducklings. Out of the 12 bought, we have just 6 now. But they are looking good. Mind you, they all looked good when I got them. But 50% success. Not bad for Isaan. The plan is to make a duck-house, and fix it onto one of the floating frames. Then, when the time comes, the ducks will be secure in their home; in the middle of the pond, and be able to go and come as they please. Around the New Year for that I reckon. So much other stuff to be getting along with, Cats doing what cats do. Scratch anything that is softer than their claws. Mrs Snaps moaning and groaning. Good job we have plenty of tape. About once a week I give the 4 palms at the farm house a really good water. The ground is hard in these areas and will just run away. So I use my special spiker to get the water 3 inches down. The kids from the village school were on the move. Lovely to see. Very disciplined, incognito marching. No music. No school uniforms. No chanting. Princess leading the way. +++++ Footy question of the week. What two clubs, from the same town, scored 37 goals between then in the WFA? You guessed it. Rangers and Celtic. 13 for the Ghirls. And 24 (twenty-four) for the Blue Belles. Looked Westdyke up, and they are named after a sports centre in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. They merged with Cove Ladies a few years back. Can't find what their nickname is. Maybe they are called The Ducks? Anyway; well done The Ducks for scoring. Highlights on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTRVv4MB3g I've got to put the 7th goal down to a goalkeeping error. She will have nightmares about that one. The Owls are gradually creeping up. Gunners and pool both drop points at home. New world Chess Champion. 18 year old Indian lad. In the PDC; the battle of the Lukes; goes to Humphries. What a final!!. +++++ Busy, busy busy. Unlike years past, I find it hard to go at it all day. 2 or 3 hours is quite enough for me. Although it helps that the weather has been mild. Ordered the solar panels and pump wire. Gonna do the PVC pipes tomorrow. And early this week will get the steels for the panel structure. Then start construction. Fed the fish with Mildred this morning. They look good. The ducks are OK. Cats are doing what cats do. Charging about. Robert and Oscar are well. With this beautiful nature all around; do I sometimes think it would be nice to be back in Essex; spending quality time behind the power station at Dagenham dock!? Only one thing left to say; take care out there. . = Westhill, Aberdeenshire

Life in the boonies. Wow!! It's been hot up here. More like March weather than October. It normally don't bother me one bit if it's very hot. But! Working in it is a different matter. Started on the third of the solar water systems last w/e. Didn't want to get behind the curve, so ordered the DC Pump and solar panels the week before. Panels arrived. Mrs Snaps likes to take charge. Not made in China; but in Thailand. Cheap enough. But no paperwork; or protective packaging. However on the back of the panel there was a little sticker showing the important things. Max voltage 49v. 550 watts. Weight 28kg. Dimensions; 2278mm x 1134mm x 30mm. Cell Tecnology; TOPCON Made in Thailand at Pilot Plant Development and Training Institute. King Mongkut's University of Technology; Thonburi. And most importantly; only qualified persons should install, or perform maintenance, on the modules. I contacted the supplier to ask where the paperwork was, and why no packaging. Her reply; paper shortage in Thailand. Send details on email. Not so far. So there we have it. Get into trees. Paper is the new future. Got the supplies from the local hardware shop. Still not finished the big chicken. Supplies ready for action. Just needed to get the posts over. They had been bought when the last solar system was sorted. And there's Kun doing the bizzo. Before this though, back in the village, I sorted out the more technical things. Getting the PVC pipework ready. Cut the ends off and glued a female screw PVC on one end and male on t'other. Rings mark to spots. Posts in place. Making sure they were upright level at the top to take the steels and square. And in with the concrete mix. Nothing special about the mix. Just chuck it in and add water. All done. Was that you? Waiting for the pump to arrive. Should get the steels bearers and solar panels in [lave next week. There are also other little jobs around the farm to do. Putting up hammocks. And watering pipes. ''Now Mrs Snaps. If you want to water the garden, it would be better to get there when the sun is shining. Five in the evening is a bit late. ''What you talking farang. Don't like to water plants in sunlight.'' ''But teerak. it's a solar water system.'' ''Farang ding dong. Not understand plants.'' I think I'll keep a water tank filled up. I can see some problems coming otherwise. Mildred caught some really big snails. And there she is, putting here beauties onto her Tic-Tok. Put them back in the same pond. The new village restaurant is nearly open. Is that a customer? Not yet. It's the owner's motor. The building just along from us is still going great guns. Most of the rendering is now completed. At the rear. Hubby and wife team. Tractor got stuck on a side road out of the village. Was in a rush so didn't hang about waiting for the rescue. The critters are doing well. Unfortunately the last lost escaped. Ones next door still secure, The leaning tree has had a short back and sides. Any ideas it had about falling are now gone. Another busy week coming up. Tomorrow I'm taking Mildred and her two pals to Waterworld in Udon. Should get some nice pics. Never been there before. So next workday will be Monday. +++++ At last the footy has returned. Peacocks up to second in the Championship. Black Cats top; and could go 3 clear, after their next match against Hull. Sad about Inverness FC. In the welsh Cup. The New Saints 16 - Llangollen Town 0 +++++ TBH, working away in the hot sun takes it out of me. I reckon the days when I could go 4/5 hours straight, in the heat, are past. Mildred's birthday today. I got her an Apple ipad Air 5. Waiting for the delivery. The cats are doing great. Good they get on with the dogs. Have had a massive clear out. Both inside tand outside the house. Filled the Mazza up with junk twice; and took it to the farm. Gonna burn it all soon. I'm not into dumping stuff like Mrs Snaps wants . Day of rest. As soon as I've posted I'm gonna listen to Tony Gosling and Martin Summers' last evening's show out of Bristol, England. It's bloody hot here; even at 4 in the afternoon. Not cooling down one bit. More to follow. Thanks for visiting. Sky last night on the way back to the village from the farm. Firework night. The Mrs is in the pic somewhere. Hhonest.

Snaps here. It's Tuesday - 18th March - 2025. Ban Dung is gonna be the new Bangkok. Works to the North and South of town are steaming ahead. Another Global House. There is one in Udon. One just out of Udon on the H2 toward Khon Kaen. Another at Non Han, on the Sakon Nakhon Road. They are taking over! Just a stone's throw, further north, there is another big build. Don't yet know what this is gonna be. South of town, opposite Big C, there is a huge building going up. Mrs snaps says that Ban Dung is gonna have its own province soon. We will see. But she is never wrong. Not a particularly nice structure this. But I've seen three such building around. It's the colours. Must be a Peacock fan. The salt fields are in full swing. Nearly all the salt is now collected in black holders. Then it's put into sacks. Each sack weights about 40kg. There are thousands of them. Once the rain starts, they move onto the other gathering method. Cooking/boiling. I kid you not. I'll get some pics once that starts. They told me they were gonna wash the Mazza. I said 'no'. I explained that the pick-up don't like being washed. Would you Adan and Eve it? The next day there was a short burst of rain. Here's Poo. Mother of the triplets. Of course, if yer pick needs a new shaft, you just look around for a suitable branch. There ya go. Saw a little pick-up - very little - in Ban Dung. Think it sits two in the front. Will not get a lot of nuts in the back. The bit of spare land nearly opposite us put a sign up. I'd like to rent it, for a cat's home. Told the Mrs my idea and she went to have a gander. Not for sale or rent she said. So I've no idea what the sign is about. Keep cows away perhaps! The bulb had popped on the outside light. Soon had it sorted with an empty biscuit container. A bit of mastic to make in waterproof. And it was good to go. The original broke years ago. Big market by the river last week. I didn't go, but Mildred did, and took some pics. Quite popular this once a year market. That's money blowing in the breeze. Donations. Mrs snaps went for the Buddha good luck. Buffaloes. There is something going on around this area. They have diverted a biggish river, and started major works. I'm gonna investigate as soon as I'm able to get over that way. About 10km for us. It was me yer honour. I was manouvering the Mazza over to use when I fixed the light. And!! Who put the pot there in the first place? Never mind. Got a ring from the farm and sorted it. The Mrs said she didn't want the neighbors seeing my handy-work, so covered it. Another job on the 'to do list'. The new car cover the Mrs got at the market. A guy dropped into the village restaurant for a nibble. What parking?! My pineapple is showing again. This will be the third one from the pineapple head planted three years ago. A well earned rest for the farang. +++++ Well done Toon. are Pool on the slide. Bad little spell for them this month. Forest keeping the top 4 a reality. Seagulls earn a good point at City. What happened to Cherries? Dear me. Lost at home. Orient win away after 6 losses on the spin. Can't afford any more dropped points if they are gonna get into the play-offs. Blades beat the Owls. F1 started up in Oz last week end. I was interested in the sport a few years back. Even went to Brands Hatch a couple of times. And Doddington. +++++ A vid of some people supposedly catching kois to eat has surfaced in the UK. Sad. I remember about 25 years ago, a couple of Polish guys put a net across the Grand Union at Tring. They got caught because someone was watching from an upper window at the pub. Killed hundreds of fish. Think they got fined. But no worse than some Kiwis who shoot carp with a bow and arrow. It's a cruel world. The first half of Mildred's holiday has raced by. She goes back to school at the end of the month for 4 days, then another month off. There is a thread on AN about making chocolate. I'm gonna give that a go. Seems simple enough. Want cocoa powder, coconut milk and honey in equal measures. Then into the freezer for a few hours. Then into the fridge. Mildred loves chocolate. Not done a reishi brew for over a year. Must visit the hat lady, Ting, to get some strips. Got to keep my strength up. Anyone a fan of Van the Man? Check out his Eden Park Concert. Brilliant. Especially the Parchman Farm song(s). No luck on the Thai lottery. No '2's, no '0's. Stupid lizard. I'm gonna stick to my own methods. Been a couple of leccy cuts recently. The latest was this morning, when it went off a couple of times, between seven and nine. Not so hot today. Off to the farm for the second time in a short while. Have to keep feeding those ducks. Only one thing left to say; bye y'all.

Snaps in the boonies here. I was concerned the ducks would not like it in their new home. Could they swim even? given that they had never been in water before. ducks swim 01.mp4 ducks swim 00.mp4 They found the restaurant. Only the best grub for them. Water melon, lettuce and Isaan rice. Evidently they are all males. Don't know how you tell when they are little. Kun knows what to look for though. Nut cut a few days ago. 725 kgs. Price has dropped to 6.5 a kg. Kun loading up. Kun and his nut-cutting wife. Getting unloaded at the wholesaler. While I was waiting, a pick-up with 3 tonne came in. The tobacco farm is getting bigger and bigger. About 6 rai this year. The price the farmers get is - as of last time I inquired - 120 baht a kilo. they seem to have plenty of kilos. Cutting is ongoing. Looks like they are doing OK. Hope they don't smoke away the profits. The garage at the top of our road has a new fence. Good to see. I go there to get benzine. Grand-pa taking the grand-children out for a spin. This grape place looks interesting. Mildred and Adjung went along. The way in. Any Isaan budding winemakers interested? Mildred is off school for 3 weeks. She knows where the place is, Must go there and buy some. The humble grape; king of fruits. Who is that? Where did you get that shirt? Overloaded or just a big load? Common sight on Isaan roads. Bought myself a new mouse. Used it for a few hours. Didn't like it at all. Went back to the old one. Gonna keep it as a spare. That's Big Orange with Whitey Long Tail. Big O is getting on for 18 inches long. A magnificent koi. Members from AN might recall the leaning tree by pond 6. Gone fishing. Started at 4ish - too hot earlier - and by half 5 we had caught 30 eaters. We usually have a competition. Can't recall the last time I won. Years ago. I do have the job of unhooking though. That slows me down. Mildred don't like the sun. Mrs Snaps doing her bit. Gave away a dozen or so. Happy, the adopted farm dog, tucking in. Still not processed the pics of Mildred's school visit io Khon Kaen Zoo. They all seemed to enjoy the day out. Mildred reckons there were half a dozen schools visiting. Next post hopefully; for pics and report. +++++ Easy 5th round of the FA Cup predictions. 8 matches, I got seven right. PNE unexpectedly smashed Burnley. Ruined my accumulator they did. Great match ups in the 6th round. Cherries v City my pick. Back with EPL this w/e. Liverpool are running away with it. They have two away toughies in May. But they also host The Gunners on the 10th of that month. It's all gonna be over, except the moaning and groaning, by then I reckon. Could be over right now. Cherries for top 4??!! +++++ Trump has everyone guessing. Looks like Greenland, Canada and Gaza are gonna be the new US States. Strange world for sure at the present. Sir K Starmer wants to get a posse together to protect Europe's interests. Dear me! Couldn't even protect youngsters from Jimmy Savile +++++ The farm next to us has just done a solar set up. Went and had a look. Their main cable from the water pump is 3x2.5mm2. If they are using the same pump as all mine the cable should be 3x4mm2. Also they have no water sensor attached. That could cost them a new pump. The sensor on paln system 2 kicks in every 20 minutes on high sun. I've got the delay at 5 minutes. Then it starts pumping again. Gonna investigate. That's 8 systems within an area of two footy pitches. We have three of them. Just hope the table holds up. We got a bit of rain in the night of 26th Feb. So that spell without the wet stuff was 149 days. Certainly the longest since I've been here. Last year 119 days. The year before 117. Wow!!! The March heat has arrived so early. Lovely at night. Nice in the mornings, but after about 11; absolutely scorching. Calms down about 5ish. In a couple of weeks it will be hot all the time. Robert has been getting out and about. Pics next post. Mildred has finished all her exams for the school year, Her best subject is English. Her worst; Thai history. The Mrs was definitely upset with me. Didn't speak to me, or do me any grub, or make a cup of Rosy for nearly 3 days. I asked Mildred what was the matter. She said mum was upset about having to pay for the car, by selling a bit of gold. Walked past the Hat Lady's shop a couple of times on me last visit to Ban Dung. Should I have popped in to see if she had saved a nice hat for me? Perhaps next time. Only one thing left to say; bye y'all.

Snaps here. Dark and dismal outside, but no rain yet. Last rained during the early hours on the 1st of October. That's 147 days ago. Longest spell without rain since I arrived in Thailand Two major occurrences this month. The car saga and the release of the ducks. Mildred had to go on a scout day. So no morning bus as usual. The Mrs picked the daughter's friend, Adjung, up on the way to Ban Dung. Went to drive across a road, to go into the car park, when a m/c hit the near-side rear. Vid in earlier post. Fortunately no one was hurt. Lucky escape all round. The m/c damage has been sorted with a donation of 13k baht. Injuries to ther rider 3.5k baht. Biggest problem is the rear light assembly. Need a new bumper too. Offside rear OK. Gonna have to wait a while for the repairs to get done. Getting the two smashed bits (rear light and bumper) will be a challenge. Not a new car. Have to look around the scrap yards. We had the ducks for 10 weeks. Started with a dozen. 6 died and one mysteriously escaped. Time to build them a nice house and let them free. Brought pipes back from Ban Dung. I had already made the skeleton waterproof. It was broken in a couple of places. Had to fix them. No good if it don't float. Cut the 1.5 inch PCV pipes up and glued a cap on each end to make them watertight. Put them in place with cable ties, ready for proper securing. Bound them up good with plastic string. Coming along. Put on the braces for the roof covering. Same fixings with the bamboos as the PVC before. Bound them on tight with plastic string. Time for the covering. Plastic string again. The floor had been bought off Lazada. 200 baht for 10 metres. And all was set for launch. Got 5 sacks of straw for bedding. Leftovers from the rice harvesting. Have to keep it away from the edge in case dogs nose around. Secured both side with light rope. And it was all done. The last day for the ducks, before letting then go into pond 5 (next post). Somehow the camera went missing. Was it in the car, which was in the garage? We called them to check. No! Not there. looked everywhere. Mildred found it under the seat of the Mazza. Dear me! Started processing all the pics for posting. Have over 200. +++++ Liverpool have it all sewn up. If they don't win the EPL, it'll be the biggest collapse since building 7. That Championship is a real yo-yo. Three clubs especially, are having nightmares. The Black Cats were running away with it in November. Now they are 13 points behind The Peacocks. The Rams (do they want Rooney back), stuck at the bottom, with just 2 points from the last 18. And Boro. Looked good at before Xmas, now lost their last 5. +++++ Someting is going on down the soi. A new house?! We had our final soil drop last week. An ordinary soil load is 500 baht. Stony soil 700. Very stony soil 900. Get the use of a tractor with those. What a mess. At the rear of the Ma in Law's place. One of Mrs Snaps' brothers responsible. I'll not be clearing it up. Got enough to do keeping our soi clean and tidy. That's good boys. Your food will come soon enough. Robert has a new pal. Wagger and Mimi on the rear wall. And they are best mates with Robert. Main bus stop. Pigeon take over. Next post: Tobacco plants all over the place. A vinyard I didn't know about. Mildred goes to Khon Kaen Zoo. Only one thing left to say. seez ya next post.

Life in the boonies. December 6th. The buffs certainly took control of our soi. The lady in charge was not at her best, and the buffs took advantage. In between our gaff and the small shop next door. Outside Mrs Snaps mum's house. Getting close. And they were off. down the soi. Now the big thing with buffaloes is not to let them do poopoo on tarmac roads. Concrete OK. Stone OK, Soil paths OK. Grass fine. But tarmac could get them and their owner into hot water. The Mrs reckons the poopoo must be picked up, or washed away, inside 3 minutes, or the road has to be dug up and relaid. Or is it relayed?. Big party a while back. Great singers. Wonderful dancing girls. Appreciative crowd. Straight afterwards, there was a march through the village. Celebration of local insects? On the way to Udon last week, I passed through an area that creepers had made their own. Nature conquers all. Just the same on the other side of the road. View from my computing corner. Daughter had an 'Art' test the week before last. There was a Kiwi fruit and a half on the table, and the students had an hour to present their interpretation. Mildred's effort. Six months ago; all we had for transport was the Mazza. Now we have the Ford, the Leccymobile. The Mazza and a motorbike. Spoilt we are. The Mrs has taken her saloon to the farm a couple of times. Just don't ring true with me. Only gonna water the plants. On the way back from Udon, I was looking forward to seeing progress on the strange structure on the 3016; about half way to Nong Han. Nothing! Has an 'eree' feel about it now. Someone had big plans. Probably best part of a million pizzed up the wall in that project. House, next but one to us, is looking the biz. Tiling underway. Probably waiting for the doors and windows to arrive. Baloons at the Thursday Market. The Buddha next to our farm is expanding. For those not as familiar with Thai as me; it says Monastery Residence. Activities include meditation, hiking and tree climbing. +++++ The FA cup draw has not been too bad for my two clubs. One easy and one very hard. Dagenham & Redbridge travel to The Den. That's a toughie for any club. And Orient host The Rams. Every chance there, My pick of the rest; Tamworth v Spurs. City, Gunners, Pool and Chelsea all have easy home matches. All kicks off in the second week of the new year. Pool drop points at Toon. City back to winning ways. What is the matter with some of these clubs in The Championship? The Baggies have drawn 10 of their 18 matches. And once run-a-way leaders Sunderland, have drawn 5 of their last 6 games. Win one, lose one, is better than draw, draw. +++++ Another hectic week. Water drillers are at the farm. They said they couldn't start til next week. But I've just arrived back and they are nearly finished the first bore. Delivery also. 24 sacks of stone 10 posts, 6 rings, 8 bags of cement and a few other bits and pieces. Total spend 6.7k baht for the supplies. 11.400 for the drillers; that includes the two 5 inchers. Delivered a pick-up load of nuts to the wholesaler today. Price dropped 20 satang to 7-80 baht a kilo. Still very good though. Mildred came with me. On the way back through Ban Dung we bought two 5 inch, heavy duty PVCs. for the topping out at the drill head. No rain for 66 days. Went to number 4 market on Wednesday. Bought two pair of designer shorts. Just couldn't resist them Bargain at 5k baht each. I'm jesting of course; 100 baht for the two. Got some ducks as well. Spent 200 baht on 4 lovely kois. Pics nest post. Set the solar light up. Was supposed to be for the farm, but the Mrs wanted it at the back of the house to deter intruders. In case Robert and Oscar couldn't wake up.. Fixed it up. All seems good. It runs at 30% brightness, and if anything gets within 5 metres it goes on full beam for 5 minutes. Cats are having so much fun. And talking about cats. They have ripped Mrs Snaps' car cover to bits. Bitcoin topped 100k dollars US for a while. What should I do with the 100 I bought for a dollar apiece way back? AN have closed the Owl Diary thread. Never mind. We are still alive and kicking on here. Only one thing left to say; bye y'all. That tree keeps leaning.

It's October 6th 2024. Snaps in the boonies here. I didn't win the lottery last time. Never mind. What would I do with 6 million extra baht. Just give it to the Mrs to buy gold. Always another time. Went to the number 4 market on Friday. Bought a new pair of specs. Rated -1.25. Paid more than I usually do. Mrs Snaps got a pair also. Two baht change out of 200 for the two. Not yet worn them. Gonna keep them for a special occasion. Also bought 200 big pinkies. Mildred looked after them while I went for the car. Went straight to the farm after we finished shopping. Put 100 in number 7. 50 in number 6. 25 in ponds 3 and 5. A couple of days earlier, went to the daily market in Ban Dung. Was as busy as I've seen it. Plenty of fish. I was looking for live creatures. I was tempted by the frogs. Mildred explained that they would jump away and we would not see them again. So decided against getting them Finished up buying 7 terrapins. 50 baht each. Kept them in the mazza over night. Let then go next morning. Mildred was at school, so Mrs Snaps did the bizzo. The wall at the front of the Leccy place is finished. Don't know what it supposed to be for. Just a waste of moneyl Anyone wanting to get in to help themselves to free leccy, just has to go to the side. Must have cost best part of million baht. Bought my cheese in MAKRO last week. That's my breakfast sorted of a couple of months. Found an interesting item while I was in there. I asked the Mrs to spill the beans. She said the stuff kills 99.9% of viruses. Interesting! Best not to let Billy G know. Long time followers of the thread will be wondering if the leaning tree is still upright. Well not upright exactly; but continues to lean. Must be about 45 degrees now. It was once a upstanding tree. Honest!. I blame the catfish. The new restaurant is doing great. Ready for business this month for sure. Shutters to keep out the road noise and dust. Just need a new floor and all will ready. Cm't wait to get me noodles. Me and Mildred were waiting for the bus on the last day before the holiday. A little girl was collecting some flowers. Came over and gave them to me. How lovely. On the same morning, after the bus had departed, I spotted a little dog sown the soi opposite. So cute. It came over, and let me stroke it. Lady saw me, and came out to talk. I asked her what breed of dog it was. ''It is Pekan.'' Never heard of that one. Nice dog though. Tiny little thing. I reckon our cat Ginger is much bigger. The house in our soi is nearing the stage where it could be moved into. Just a guy and his wife working now. Doing the rendering and fixing up the electrics. Someone is having soil dropped. I have ordered a load for the palm farm. I do need some stone for the damaged road. This stuff not good enough for a road surface. though Kittens have found a way to get up on the table. Mum must have shown them the route. After the market on the 4th, we popped into Big C for a few items. Water festival still on the go. There was a new exciting contraption for the kids. Three now; and a trampoline. A young lady was watching me take some pics. She came over and I was surprised when she asked me in good English; ''Where are you from?'' ''Hi!'' I replied. ''I'm from London; England. Where is your father from?'' ''Pattaya.'' She said, and then swam off. Funny; but nice. +++++ What is it with the number 5 recently, And in Scotland there were just 3 matches. I'm streets ahead on my forecasting of the Championship. +++++ Marked out the foundations for the third solar system this afternoon. Bit tricky this one as it's right on the edge of our land, has an underground PVC pipe right in the way, and has water running through the very bit where I plan to erect the cells. More on this later. Kun is gonna try to divert the water. Rain has finished. Went from wet every day, to nothing any day this month. Me and Kun had a look at the underground pipe. Seems it is not damaged as we thought it might be. Don't know her name, but we know her as Boyz's mum. She came on the borrow again yesterday. The Mrs was telling me she will never give back any dosh she borrows. So she has arranged for her to clear up round the house. It's a fair bit of work. But better to get a job sorted than just give away money. Mildred is already travelling 'free', on her bus, for the next 18 months. Really pleased to see a koi, that Mildred released into the pond a week or so ago, come up for food today. Didn't see any of the pinkies in pond 7. Takes a few days for them to get confident and be seen. Did a 36 hour fast last week. Feeling quite good. Although my left hip is stopping me walk normal. Have to keep on with the magnesium. Still doing my bathroom yoga. It's gonna be quite busy this month. Busy?! Wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for viewing. Seez ya next post in just a couple of days. Creepy skyline. Creeper take -over.

Snaps in the muddy boonies here. Monday 16th September. It has been a wet spell. The ponds are full, the trees well watered and the farm roads completely muddied. Outside the farm house. Main road to Bangkok. Truck can't get down to load the logs. Been stuck three times. Can't make out what is going on on the south part of Bandung. They are putting in a central barrier along the 2096 road. It was organised chaos at the number 4 market. I'm not against dual carriageways. But forcing vehicles to continually do 'U' turns, is just plain daft. Is there money to waste here in Isaan? Just down the way there is Tesco and Big C. Any cars or lorries wanting to exit Tesco, and go to town, have to do a U. And worse. If a vehicle comes out of Big C and wants to head south, they have to U turn at the main road junction. Looking north towards Bandung. Had just seen Mildred off to school when I noticed a very smart truck outside Guy's Supermarket on the outskirts of the village. There is a new lady coming around selling meat. Every morning at about seven. Yum yum. Mrs Snaps had to go to the bank to get dosh to buy some gold. But!! Her ID card had expired, and that meant a trip to the government office. While she was inside I had a mooch around. The town park. Don't keep the grass cut as well as they could. I bought a wall fan for the bedroom at the Bus station. When I arrived back, the fountain had been turned on. There are some small fish in the pond. Didn't have any food with me unfortunately. What a fantastic tree! Also in Bandung, work is still underway putting in the service pipes. They dig up the pavement and leave it for a week or so. Along from Mrs Snap's bank. In our soi, the house next door but one, is taking shape. With the block they are using, there is no need for any cement. So laying the rows is fast. The fast food take away on the main drag has gone. The Mrs reckons it is gonna be a proper restaurant. Our village will be the number one place to stop when going to Udon or Nong Khai. Creepers taking over. Road to village from farms. The kittens are getting out and about. We have; LaLa, Wagger and Mimi. It has been wet lately. Udon has had its fair share. But the village has been spared the worst of it. The under-road pipe leading from the paddy to the palm farm has been smashed. As soon as the remaining logs have gone, I'll sort it out. +++++ Only Man City, out of the seven professional leagues have a 100% record. Owls simply must to better. Was that first 4-0 game a rogue result? My tip for the top - WBA - are; well, top. Aveley Village get bundled out of the FA Cup. Orient win away. Toffeez are doomed. Didn't I say that Sinner would win the tennis! +++++ Mrs Snaps is doing me a cup of Rosy. Been waiting 30 minutes for it. Fed up with whistling. I had one of those little yellow chickens a while back. When I wanted a cup of tea or coffee, I would make it squark a few times. Didn't always immediately get me cuppa, but better than having to continually whistle. However, Mrs Snaps was sleeping and I gave it a few squarks next to her ear. Next thing you know it's been chopped up. Tried to glue it back together. But never the same again. Can get them in the 20 baht shop. Will get one next trip. I can feel it in me water. Number '6' for today's lottery. Easy money. Run out of cheese. No trips planned for Udon, so it's Lazada for a couple of kilos of best Cheddar. Will order today. Mildred only has three weeks to go until her annual school holiday. Simply great. And it's her birthday next month. She would like an 'ipad'. Apple at 40k. Levono do a top notch one for 6k. Or, we can get one at the number 4 market for around 2k. No guarantee with those though. We will see. Still doing my bathroom yoga. Been at it now for all this year. Paying dividends; big time. The kittens are making friends with Robert and Oscar. Robert wants to play games, and Oscar just lick them. Got me tea. Just arrived. Whistled for it at eight. Now 9-45. Teaching these Thai women can be hard work. They don't seem to able to master even the most basic stuff. I do dislike, no it's more than that, hate. What am I on about? Plastic bank notes. They are so slippery that they slide out of yer pocket. Had a 1000 baht one and a few 20s, in me pocket yesterday, Today; gone! Have some great pics of the farm. Next post. Thanks for visiting. Until the next time; bye y'all. A bit of nature's magic.

It's Friday the 6th of September 2024. Snaps here. They got the lorry out. By the time I arrived it was all sorted. Had a wander round with me camera. It has been quite a wet spell. There is mud and water everywhere. This is the spot where the wheels of the truck went down. The solar area is very wet. A lot of this water comes from the paddy next door. They run the water off into our farm. Perfectly acceptable at this time of year. The cutting was steaming ahead. About 70% of farm one now done. After that it's farm 4, and lastly, the two rows of eucas along the roads; about 150 trees there View from number eight pond. Looking over to where they are loading the truck; about 200 metres away. Temporary rest area. Just cut. That's a big un! Ladies come over to collect up the bits that the cutter team don't want. They will finish up in the little fires as charcoal. Might call these collectors; 'euca tooters'. The trimming guy. The tractor brings the logs over from afar, piles them up, and the grabber does the next bit. First load for the truck's rear compartment. Front is full. Number 8 pond from the end away from the road. This was our first pond. 12 months before the others were dug out. It was only about 20% of this size originally. Water level goes up and down as the water table dictates; unlike the others. I was wandering around the ponds and found one of the terrapins that were released a week ago. Over to Bella's farm to feed the chickens and give Mango and Curley Wurley some dog biscuit. Neighbor Chai is doing a little walkway into his farm. Gonna be real cute. All the planted pineapples are doing great. These 3 in the same pot as the dwarf avocado. Life goes on in the boonies. Thanks for visiting. More soon. Til next time.

Thanks but I’ll skip the testing and will try to minimise the risk by not having unprotected sex with monkeys, promiscuous homosexuals, children or dogs. I accept that, to some, this is too high a price to pay but I think it’s worth trying and saves the govt some money. Wish me luck.

It is August 21st. Snaps in the boonies here. A busy week. Some of it good and some not so. Mildred said one day that the Mekongs were sad, and that they were not enthusiastic for their food. The following day I fed them and only saw six tentatively come up for the pellets. There were 23 big Mekongs in the pond last year. The fish in pond one were also not to be seen. There was word going about (teerak got to hear) that we were being visited in the night. So! What to do? A few of things were considered. Go there at night hoping to catch the pilferers? A fierce animal perhaps? Movement detector lights? Start a rumor about a vindictive peelaw? Cameras? Decided on having someone stay there at night. Kun and his wife Rooney were game. They do work for us, so an additional 1,500 baht a month would be handy for them. On Monday, we spent a couple of hours cleaning the house and making it nice. Out with the junk that had accumulated for a few years. Mrs Owl took charge, and dragged everything over to the furnace. ''Not sure the fan will burn that easy teerak.'' ''What you know farang? You English; not Thai.'' Put in a new staircase. Kun and his Mrs were working away in number two farm, cleaning up the trees, ready for nut cutting. We went over to iron out the fine print of the new deal. Kun to the left. Mrs Snaps in't middle. And Rooney far right. Business sorted; Mrs Snaps replaced her dead tree. The front of Big Mango Lady's house has changed. Obviously secret stuff going on in there. Made a Reishi Brew Monday. Didn't have any garlic, but had plenty of other ingredients. Reishi strips, ginger powder, limes and dried cranberries. Simmered for a couple of hours. Gave 4 litres when all bottled. My favourite chog chog came a cropper. It wasn't my doing. Kun picked it up to do a bit of work and,,,!!! Not to fret. I had a spare. Unfortunately not as robust as it might have been. Split down the seam as soon as I started to put in the bamboo handle.. Get one in Ban Dung next visit. Which happened to be; Friday. Visited the daily veggie market. Bought some spicy sausages. Yum yum. Had a couple on the spot and the rest for supper. Lots of sea food stalls. This one the largest. Busy! Plenty of kadek-kadeks (the wife calls them) stalls also. No terrapins to waste my money on this time. Children's play area next door; deserted. Market finished. It was off to Big C for the weekly shop. Car park truck. What a cracker!? Very well looked after. Walked Mildred to the school bus stop one day last week. Turned out to be quite an eventful morning. Far more comfortable like this.. Mildred safely away. I was on my way to our soi, to pick up trash, when I heard a strange sound. Sort of deep trumpeting. I went back to investigate. Not seen an elephant in the village for a few years. Was intrigued to see how it got out the wagon. Easy stuff. Might have done that before. 'Sing-a-song' man trying to get out of the way. Would see him again later. Rider on board. And they were off. I had been down the soi doing my thing and I saw the two piggies just round the corner. Digging up buried treasure. And there, way down the soi. Going off to Buddha I reckon. Bumped into 'sing-a-song' guy again, fixing up the village notice board. Will be used to inform the villagers of events. That's the bizzo. Much better. Just outside of the village. Found a post invaded by creepers. The leaning tree has still not fallen. A pic from the past, when it was still upright. No eucas to be seen then. Ponds are full. Rice is thriving. Chickens and pigeons share the garden opposite us. +++++ The footy is underway. Brighton top after round one. Owls keen on the number 4. Leyton Orient get off to a dreadful start. I'm taken with Bromley. Most people wouldn't know there was such a place. Hope they do well. Some great darts down under, in the Kiwi and Ozz PDC championships. Gerwen Price whacked Luke Littler 8-1 in one final. A new Thai PM. Her father back in court for something he said 10 years ago. Mildred not at school today. Had a dodgy belly last evening. Went round to the bus stop at 7 this morning to inform the driver. The kittens are starting to get about. Get some pics this week. Can't get tea anywhere in Ban Dung. Ordered 200 bags from Lazada. I was in Germany in the 1970s. Stopped at a cafe and ordered tea. Came in a little bag with a string attached. First time I ever saw such a thing. That will never catch on; I thought. Building work in the soi has finished for now. Maybe waiting for the window, and door frames, to be made.best. Gonna fix up me new chog chog as soon as today's post is done. Only time for me to say; see yerz all in the next Snap's Log. Local nature at its best.

You really have a weird brain... Why on you on a Thai forum when you have such a disdain for the place? All you do is post negative bullshit

Thanks for those kind, and rejuvenating, words Rattles. I'll be 78 this year. Don't feel a day over 76! I'm getting a hiding on the JFK Bird Flu thread on the AN sister site. Derogatory words, insults and one even - well more than one actually - say I should seek medical help. The funny thing is; I do my best to stay away from it. But at least the posts are staying up; this time. CharlieH must have had a word after a mod removed 20 in one hit. I love my life here in upper Isaan. Beautiful nature is all around. Have dogs, cats, ducks, wife, daughter and fish that rely on me; for their well-being. Although, for sure, before long I'll be relying on them. Fortunately my health is holding up well. But!! I've lost some of my insightful outlook on life. Now, when I see a nice looking bit of fluff, my first thought is; 'can she make a nice cup of rosy.' Not that I look at bits of fluff that much. At least not while the wife is about. Want to see my next birthday. This elderly body can't take the whacks that it did previously. Went fishing yesterday. Caught 20 eaters. Five to Kun, 5 to Sister Land - who cares for GrandMa, at her house - and the rest will do us for a while. Fished in pond 2 for a short time before calling it a day at 5-30. There are only two Sawai it that pond, and would you Adam and Eve it, one took me bait. It was a much bigger fish than the Nin we were catching, so couldn't 'swing' it in. And we had no net at hand. Mildred went down the bank to unhook it. Here's the top fish catcher; adjusting her float. a stiff bit of grass with a few poly balls stuck on. Don't like any sun. Have to improvise with the tackle here. Let's hear it for pencils and cable ties. Talking of fish. Just before she broke up, Mildred had to paint a picture on the theme of 'Creatures' for her art exam. All the children, well, not all, but the ones doing art as a subject, had two and a half hours to do their stuff. There was another exam painting. The art group each had to copy a part of the school. The teacher kept that one. So can't upload it unless she gets it back at some stage. There was no time limit on that one. Just updated her www. www.mildredart.com

Thanks for that DM. Just went over to AN and read the post from CharlieH. TBH, Charlie has always treated me fair and square. And I'm sure that if I'd asked for guidance over this particular matter he would have set me straight. But not this time. It is true that I will not acknowledge the warning. And until I do; I cannot post. My take, is that it was misinformation that I was responding to. I think my last post was something like; ''Show me a medical/scientific paper where a virus has been isolated.'' There were other posts too about covid testing. One poster in particular didn't like what I had to say; and the rest is history. I will miss putting up topics on the footy thread. But onward and upward for TT.

Reading his rant-response, I cannot help but conclude that Charlie the AN Mod that closed Owl Sees All's unique and long running Isaan Diary thread on AseanNow has clearly lost his marbles... How can Charlie rationally explain that comments made by Owl (known as SnapDragon here on ThaigerTalk) on AN's Covid-19 sub-forum, can result in closing his Isaan Diary thread in another AN sub-forum? I checked and all of Owl's posts on the Covid-19 sub-forum have been removed. And note that Owl has NOT been banned, as the AN Mods - contrary to their previous enthusiastic use of that 'punishment' - are now much more reluctant to ban one of the members (otherwise my alter-ego Red Phoenix - that other thorn in AN's Covid-side - would also have been banned long ago already). It's nothing more than a spiteful demonstration of Mod power-play. Look, we can close your very popular thread here, for your 'thought-crime' posts on other parts of the Forum, and there's nothing you can do about it. So we Arrogant Mods are shutting down this unique and one of the most popular - and much appreciated - Thailand centered threads, for the sole reason that Owl has a different opinion on Covid-19 and without banning him, we clearly don't want him to be part of our Toxic Cesspool community! What a sad bunch of petty losers on the AN Forum...

That turtle didn't do so good. Predicting the winning lottery numbers is not so easy as it thought. Said '7's and '8's. I went out and bought any ticket that had both the numbers. They didn't even come up once. Stupid turtle. But! Maybe it got the dates mixed up. So I've plunged in again with the same two numbers. Not quite so confident this time though. 12-11-2024 This is SnapDragon. This is life in the boonies. Solar system number three is up and running. But not before some minor hiccups. When I originally ordered the cables back in December of last year, both came in 100 metre rolls. That would be enough for the 3 systems; I thought. However; because I'd used more than a third on the first two, the last one was gonna be a little short. I knew this, but thought that the pump going down the well 24 metres would be OK. But first; get everything to the farm. I'd already glued on the screw ends. Three 550 watt panels. Frame was already prepared. Me and Kun put on the panels, and with the DeWalt cordless drill, set about securing them. Had two fully charged batteries on hand. Must say the drill performed very well. Easily up to the task of 60 minutes hard drilling. On Saturday 2nd, me, Kun and Mildred put the pump down the well and wired it all up. We were going down 24 metres, maybe xlightly less. According to the pump data, it would give a flow of about 2 litres a second, with a strong sun. With the pump on the go from 9 in the morning, to about 4ish, we were gonna get something like 20k+ litres a day. Sounds a lot, but this pump had to service over 70 trees. And these palms are greedy sods. Mildred wiring up the control unit. Turned it on and the water came out faster than we had hoped. Too fast! I was in no rush to put in the permanent pipework. I wanted to observe the system for a couple of days. And? It didn't go exactly to plan. The system runs on solar panels. They, linked together, produce about 130 volts. The system pump is rated at 750 watts. Amps are 11ish. So as long as we got a volt reading of about 70 (with sun) the pump would run. The pump works on propellers; driving the water up the 1.5 inch PVC pipe. At maximum volts the propellers run at maximun revolutions. What was the basis of the problem? At full sun, and with a voltage reading of over 120 volts, the pump was at maximum output. Getting fantastic flow; but!! After 4 minutes the pump would stop for 5 minutes. This came up as E6 on the control unit. No water. Then start up again. I took the readings over the next few days, and found that when the voltage dropped below 90 volts, the pump didn't stop at all. On Wednesday of last week there was some cloud cover between 12 and 2. The pump didn't stop once. What to do? I thought the problem lay with the replenish rate of the water in the deep well. At maximum revs (of the propellers) the water was being pumped out faster than it was being replenished in the pipe. I checked the water table. 8 metres down. The other pump was just 100 metres away. That had never stopped once. I reckoned that there was a layer of permeable rock/stone lower than the 24 metres down where the pump was. Solution? There were two options. One was to adjust the settings on the controller, so that the maximum propeller revs were reduced. That would mean less water being pumped; but no stopping. The reason I thought this, was that under cloudy conditions, there was no stopping. The reason for the stopping was the sensor one metre above the pump, saying there was no water. That would have been a solution, but I figured that later in the year, when the table went down as low as 15 metres, the problem would come back. So; the pump unit had to go lower. That was two sets of wires, the holding cable and the PVC pipework to sort out. Decided to splice in a 6 metre section of cable; rather than simply add to the length of the cables. The reason being that I didn't want to disconnect the control box wiring. On Saturday last, the same three of us, got stuck in. In my wisdom, I also thought I'd put on a protective polyvinyl tube, to protect everything from the blazing sun. This proved to be a challenge, but was eventually mastered. Still not completely happy with the protective coverings though. I'll sort it out this week. The permanent pipework had also to be fixed up. Before last Saturday. After working on the PVC pipes and cables. This system water delivery, was a different one again. Ten years ago, when i put in the original underground pipework, the water came from the ponds. One 150 metres away, from pond one, and the other 400 metres away, from pond eight. There were a few very dry years, and during one, pond eight almost went dry. Also the price of nuts had dropped to just over 2 baht, and it was not even worth bothering with. So, as is the way here, it was just left to be reclaimed by nature. Anyway; hooked the whole thing up to the original pipework, and with fingers crossed; run the system. It all went well. Underground pipework still good. There are still 132 trees without water supply; next solar project in January. Saw a big snake skin on the road at the farm. Not seen any big snakes this year. The clear-out at home continues. Even more accumulated junk taken to the farm and burnt. The Mrs was nagging me about having a tidy up. To be fair; she was right. But should I have told he that it was her job? Perhaps I will next time. Everything looks so different without the euca trees. The Big Mango lady was frantic! I kid you not. Some of her critters had escaped. 'Don't just stand there farang; help me catch them before they jump away.' Soo and his wife are back from Bangkok. They are mum and dad to Bella, who has been in Singapore for yonks. Not heard anything about her. He went straight to work trimming the house trees. There he is. The kittens are growing fast. Little Jack Wagger, Mimi and Miss Lala. Lovely little things. Leccy to a farm. Are those posts PVC pipes? Looks like it. Did a nut cut last week. Not so much; just 775 kilos. The price is going up and up. On the day; 8 baht a kilo. Yea!! These farm pineapples are not growing as fast as the others. These ones doing much better. Could it be that the poorer ones are in the blazing sun for much longer? The avo tree still alive. No fruit yet though. Found some more ducks in the village. Very untidy gaf. Buffs on the move. Where are they off to? Just wanted to have a cool down. +++++ A bit traumatic for the EPL Champions. Since the last Boonie post they ain't won a game. Pool top. I reckon they will stay there all season now. The Lions doing well in The Championship. Black Cats and Blades equal top. Owls are so, so unpredictable. Great win vs The Canaries. Next match! Hammered at home by The Hornets. To be fair though; they are one of the form teams in that division. Then yet another loss to their neighbors. Verstappen won the Bazillion F1 from 17th on the grid. That has to be good day. Don't happen that often. Sad that Raygun has called it a day. The world's number one break-dancer forced out by jealous girls. A pig's head was chucked onto the pitch in a match between San Paulo and Corinthians in Brazil. People starving in the world. Waste of good food that. One of those 'orrible International breaks this week end. +++++ A more relaxed week; this one. Just checking and monitoring. We are gonna grow durians. Honest! Can't stand the things; smell or taste. But the rice growing in our spare two rai seems a nonsense to me. Been researching the smelly things on the www, and it's not easy to grow them up here. The 5/6 month long dry season is just too harsh. I've nothing against the tree itself. It's just their offspring. Rice harvesting in full swing. Ours next week. Party in the village this Friday. Then the usual procession around the village with all the money trees. I'll ask Mildred to go out and capture the magic moments with me camera. Visa next week. Made an appointment for the IO for Wednesday 20th. I'll visit a couple of places on the day. Be on me own so no yak yakking when I want to stop to take a pic or two. Now the important thing. How to become 6 million baht richer. It's number seven folks. Don't want no commission. Just buy yer Mrs a new car. Bitcoin and gold doing well. Pound and dollar US better against the baht at the mo'. Just been told that the election was last week. Sort of passed us by here. Who won? Not that Thaksin guy again was it? Of course I jest. Trumpey got in with lots to spare. I'm puzzled why 10 million Dem voters didn't bother this time. Perhaps they were not too keen on WW111. WW111. What? I'm well prepared. Have rope ladders going down the well at the farm. My advice to all; dig a well. Get some stout rope. Yer never know what unpredictable Donald might be thinking.. Only one thing left to say. Take care out there. +++++ Isaan beauty. Seen in Ban Dung.

Lottery day soon. Have two tickets already. One with '2's and '4's and the other with '3's and '7's. I'm sure one of them will do the bizzo and make me considerably richer. Not told the wife I have them. Or they would go walkies. Such is life in the Isaan Boonies. Went to Water world, in Udon, as planned. Started the day at 9 and after picking two of Mildred's mates up, the other side of Ban Dung, we pulled into the car park at 11-45. Not so many people on the site. Maybe 30 or so, As we walked in, there were super-heroes awaiting. Hulk needs a lick of paint. Well; he is supposed to be green. First structure, was the huge tower. Any kids wanting to go down the slide had better be fit. There were a lot of kiddies by the edge of the water. I went to investigate. Beautiful fish. And of course I had to buy some fish food and feed them. Didn't expect to see shoals of koi carp at Water world. In days past it was a fishing resort. Around the far side were at least 30 fishing huts. I hung about near the big slides for a dynamic pic or two. And down they came. At a fair old speed. Plenty of other slides for the less brave or fit. Me and the Mrs went off to do some shopping in Udon. We returned just before 4. The gang had had their fun and were ready to go home. More kids at the place when we arrived to take the children home. Maybe 50 or so, Mildred said that the speedboat ride was not available on the day. Shame that. Perhaps not enough customers? But just 160 baht for those wishing to get wet. Free for watchers. On the way home we passed the old Home Hub. It had closed down about 12 months ago. I had been in there a few times, and on a couple of occasions I was the only customer. No wonder it shut up shop, what with the popular DoHome just up the road too. The new place is called 'BnB home'. Have to go to the IO for my 12 month visa in November. I'll pop in and have a butchers. Now the euca cutting team have gone; it's been a big clear out, and clean up. Mrs Snaps has done a fine job in the farm-house kitchen. A lot of toot had been accumulated of the last few years. Had a big burn up. Looks much better. And we have a new farm dog. Mrs Snaps fbinks she is part wolf. Anyway, she is nice enough. I've named her 'Tin Tin'. The pineapple outside the house is growing like Billy Hoh. The good thing about buying a pineapple, is that you can plant the top and get another. Easy to look after. Just give a drop of water every few days. Gradually getting there with the solar system. Unlike the times before, I'm doing most of the steels at home. When I get them to the site the steels are already cut to length, and pre-drilled. Plan to finish the panels tomorrow and Friday and get the whole thing operational on Saturday. It's been busy. +++++ That draw at Arsenal sent City top. Is this the start of the push for 5 in a row? Black cats are running away with the Championship, Just like the Foxes did last season. My teams; Orient, Aveley and Hornchurch are all struggling. +++++ What a spectacle in Dortmund in the European Darts Championship. Richie Edhouse beat the German guy in the final. Great stuff. All the favorites went out early. Mildred back at school this week. Done me best to talk her out of it; but?! Think she wanted to see her mates. Light has gone out in the Foyer. Have to sort that soon. Quite dark in the mornings when i get up. Got Mildred a new bed mattress. Bought them on Lazada. Two for 600 baht. One for daughter; one for the Mrs. Someone left the bathroom tap running when we last went to Ban Dung. Flooded the bathroom and the kitchen. Both the outlets were blocked. I got the blame of course. The car is doing OK. No big problems with it so far. Although Mildred says there is not enough cool air for the back passengers. So the Mrs has sent away for a mobile fan. Runs off a USB. Hope we have one. No rain at all this month. Not quite as hot in the last couple of days. The elections soon in the US. What shenanigans lay in wait? Due to start my fast in two days time. Only for 48 hours. The Global House construction site in Ban Dung is coming on leaps and bounds. Only one thing left to say. Take care out there. +++++ Mildred's latest painting. www.mildredart.com

Snaps here. It's Thursday the 5th of September 2024. The cutting team have certainly made themselves comfortable. Only one person that spoke any English that I could understand. She told me her job was to wash and cook. Solar panel for something. The little panels were for charging mobiles. Also brought their chickens. Not for eggs I was informed. They are fighting chickens; from Buriram. Lady told me that there are two things in Thailand that Buriram is best at; fighting chickens and football. And here is the English speaker doing her chores. Plenty of machinery ready to go. One of the two trucks. Each can hold 40 tonne of logs. Let the cutting begin. Two teams. The ladies pull the trees down, as the guys cut. Once felled thay are cut to lenght. The ladies trim them. The guys stack them ready for picking up and loading them onto the lorry. Machines take over. Put them in big heaps. Lorries get loaded, and they are off to the factory. Sometimes things don't go to plan. This was yesterday evening. Gonna pop along shortly to see progress. Might have to take out the logs to lesson the load. That's the wet season for ya. Brings life and relief. Sometimes makes things difficult. Thanks for viewing. More to follow shortly.

It's Tuesday the 27th of August. This is Snaps in the boonies. It's happening at long last. The first nut cut for about 10 months. Kun and his wife Rooney did a great job collecting the thousands of fallen nuts. They used their Kubota to ferry the bunchers to the store area. To be honest, went beyond the call of duty last month. Hope this good-will continues. Things are looking up for a change. The first cut of nuts took place last week. Took a load to the wholesaler on Saturday and another on Sunday. This was Saturday's load. And Sunday. Then off to the wholesalers' The unloaders make quick work of it. All done in under 5 minutes. On arrival the first job is to get weighed. Then drive off to where the nuts are to be unloaded. Once unloaded it's back on the weigh-bridge, to get the weight. This is the biggest wholesaler business in these parts. although this is the first time we have been there for over 5 years. We usually go to the son's depot, about 10 km away, but Mrs Snaps wanted to go somewhere different. They take in about 15/20 tonnes a day. Load up the big wagons and take the nuts to the factory south of Khon Kaen. Our next cut should be in the middle of next month. Spotted a couple of interesting things over the weekend. About 50 tonne of eucas on their way from farm to wholesaler. Ladies trimming their bush outside Big C. Kittens still in the spare room. Hope Robert and Oscar take to them. Roof finished. Work on the loo area started, but they got rained off. Been a fair drop of rain last few days. Only at night. Dry during the day. The village notice board is up and running. Easily understood what it said. ''The village has been awarded ten million Baht. Anyone wanting some free dosh; see the boss''. Lovely to see the soi animals at play. A couple of dry days was enough to dry out the trash for burning. Finally fixed up me chog chog. To be honest, it was a bit of a disappointment. Got blunted first time out. Got some rice from the store at the farm. Mrs Snaps done the biz. She wanted to jump down, but I insisted that I brought the Mazza closer. Kun stays at the farm nightly now. He takes his dog for company. Our farm dog and his getting to be friends. The Big Mango Lady is at it again. Not only are they busy harvesting the critters, but hubby Som has build another factory. Catching the little jumpers is an art. Som does the catching and Big Mango Lady is in charge of packaging. Sell uncooked at 100 Baht a kilo. Som had one jump in his gob. So while he was choking away, I went inside myself. Plenty more in there yet Som. Market day again. I like these big oranges. Bought a couple of packs. And some spicy sausages for me supper. These critters look familiar Fish, toads and terrapins. Just couldn't resist them. Let them wander about in the back of the Mazza overnight. Took them to the farm Sunday Morning, before loading up with nuts. Taking an interest. There ya go guys; or ladies. 250 Baht well spent. +++++ Can The Seagulls keep it up? Burnley looking good. My number one and two teams - Orient and Aveley Town have awful starts. Tennis underway in the US. F1 returns. +++++ Not yet heard from the euca people. They have paid a deposit of 20k Baht. Maybe they are waiting for the 'dry season' to kick in. Can hear the kittens. They have not ventured out yet. There was a shop on the front in Blackpool selling personalised rock. The only thing was; you had to but the whole batch. Sort of ''Gazza woz ere'' type of thing. I've been thinking. Would there be any money in personalised loo paper. Something to read on each sheet. 'Please keep clean' or 'Julie's saviour'. Could order a batch and give them out to family as Xmas pressies. I'm not in Mrs Snaps good books at all. She wanted to go 50/50 on the nut sales. 'What!'. Said I. ''I have expenses teerak. Bought the cutters. Paid for Kun's Kubota diesel. Two round trips to the wholesalers!'' ''You are no-good farang. Not give wife nothing.'' That was Sunday. Tuesday now and I'm still too scared to speak to her. Had enough whacks. Controlled war in Middle East. Seems to me, this recent Izzy and Hezzy stuff was all negotiated before-hand. I can feel it in me water. Number 8 will be big on the lottery this time round. Overall it has been a reasonably wet August. Rain mostly at night. No traditional monsoon afternoon downpours. The drums are ringing out in the village Buddha. Must be another 'big Buddha' day coming soon. Still doing my bathroom yoga. No more fasting til next month. Had tons of deliveries from Lazada last week.20 tubs of Aloe Vera. 48 cans of cat food. A couple of parcels for both Mildred and Teerak. And the forex rate is woe-full. Dear me. And Sir Kier says it's gonna get worse. Before it gets better again; of course. If you can recall the 'again'! That's it for now. Snaps signing out. But must finish with some special Isaan nature.

Snaps in the boonies 12/08/2024 BR Raining! Good for the farm and the ponds. Traditionally, the 'monsoon season' starts this week, so even wetter rain can be expected for about the next 5/6 weeks. BR Bought some designer clobber last week. Only shorts. Couldn't afford their socks. BR BR I like wearing designer stuff. I like the village ladies admiring my taste in clothes, and thinking how suave I am. BR BR Bought 5 pairs for 400 baht. The first thing in buying shorts is to check the pockets. See if they are deep, and robust enough, for all me dosh (left) and the camera and mazza keys (right). BR We had a couple of rain-free days, at the week end, and the house construction materials were brought on site. BR BR BR BR BR BR Roof sections next. About 9 metres long. Have to be careful when these are fixed. It can be very hot here, and metal expands. Could be interesting to see if they allow for movement. Should I give them advice? BR BR There is also some work being done in town. BR The sections are welded together. Machine under cover. BR BR These pipes are for water? Or cables? BR BR BR I was concerned about the blue netting housing the critters. I told Som - big mango lady's hubby - that the blue dye, could be upsetting the grasshoppers. I explained that they could be breathing in toxins. and of course they would finish up in the food chain. BR BR So, it was heartening to see they had been transferred to more natural surroundings. Much safer to eat now. BR BB Not our soi, but just around the corner, they have a pet duck. And what a beauty it is. BR BR At the other end of the soi, the little pig is getting braver, and venturing out. BR BR BR We had 10 of these pot-belly pigs some years ago. We also had two buffaloes. I wasn't as confident with them as perhaps I chould have been. We had a guy looking after them 24/7. But he sometimes went walk-a-bout, and it was left to me to supervise them. When they decided to wander off, I couldn't stop them. A couple of neighbors moaned and we sold them for 13k baht apiece. BR Really the buffalo thing was a huge mistake. They have to be watched all the time. Can't just leave them to do their own thing. BR BR Got the bike back. Mrs Snaps testing it out. BR BR The mechanic did us proud. Repair bill just under 3k baht. Considering it hadn't been used for 3 years. A bargain. BR Mildred giving it a go. Not on the highway though. Just round the farm. BR BR At the bus stop 'Woody' the scarepigeon has fallen off again. The pigeons have taken advantage. But not so many. Where could they have got to? BR BR Soon found out. They have flown 100 metres and finished up on the roof of the house next door to us. The house in between us and the new build. BR BR Why do they find our area suddenly so attractive? Because Bella's hubby opposite rears dancing chickens. Everyday he lets them out to graze, and feast on the food. The pigeons soon found out what was occurring. Very opportunistic they are. Some call them scavengers. 12 in this pic. BRound out what was occuring BR And here is the chicken chief, ensuring his number one is in tip-top condition. Ready for the big 'chicken gala' day. This is the same guy who killed our farm dog some years ago. Humanly done with a chog-chog (I was informed). BR BR Went along to the local hardware store, on the 2022, a couple of days ago, to get some PVC parts. The boss was creating some artwork. BR BR Robert joins me every time I do a local trip. Just have to tap on the tailgate and he jumps up. BR BR This area of our soi is a wilderness. Some trimming taking place. But as of this morning; hardly any difference. I much prefer it in the wild state. Better for the insects and small creatures. BR BR =========== BR World news round-up. BR Wayne Rooney says he is disappointed, angry and frustrated. BR My predictions for the three teams to get promoted into the EPL. Owls, Baggies and Hatters. BR The Olympics are finished. Two trannies win boxing golds. US top medal doggies. BR Ukraine advance well into Russia. But, can they get back; even if they wanted? BR New US lady boss says too many civilians are being killed in Palestine. BR Sad incident in Southport. Leads to big protests. BR Pound/baht rate drops dramatically. 47 down to 44 in a week. BR =========== BR Plan to start cutting the nuts this week. It'll not be a great harvest this time, as we are still getting the effects of 18 months ago, when it was very dry. This time next year yields should be much better. Not a quick fix this palm farming. BR =========== BR Mildred off school today. In the last 5 Mondays there has been no school for three of them. BR =========== BR The three kittens are safe and sound in the spare bedroom. Don't want to disturb them. Will be a few weeks before they venture out. Good to see they all have long tails; unlike their mum. BR =========== BR Mrs Snaps has gone Bam Bam (GOT 7) crazy . All I've heard in the background is his latest songs. She tells me he is going to be PM of Thailand soon. We will see. He is very popular (she says). BR =========== BR Unless I've got stuff to take, I'm using the motor bike to go to farm. It don't like mud though. Plenty of that around the farm. Nearly been off a couple of times. BR =========== Still keeping up with my diet and bathroom yoga. Not made a reishi brew for yonks. This week perhaps. BR =========== BR Only one thing left to say; seez ya next post. BR Some wonderful Isaan nature to finish with. BR BR BR BR

Life in the Isaan boonies 02-08-2024 BR The Mrs accepted the offer for the eucas. The deal is, that they will cut the trees within the next two months. The new thing now, is that they (the cutters) want to rent the farm for 6 years. Just the euca part. Nothing to do with the ponds or farm house. We will see how it all stacks up. BR The place where all the local eucas finish up is absolutely huge. Must be a million tonnes of eucas on site. A fleet of lorries are constantly on the go taking logs to the site and then to the factory; that I think is in Khon Kaen. BR BR BR BR The Mrs getting the euca-dosh low-down. BR BR There have been a couple of dry days, so work on the house next door is racing ahead. Time for steel. BR BR All done from the ladder. BR BR Weld on the little pads and fix the sections on top. BR BR What secret stuff is under the cover? BR BR Did a very silly thing at the farm the other day. Switched the valves over to run water into the concrete fish tanks. BR BR That was about 2ish. Went off somewhere and forgot to turn them back. The result was that the tank overflowed into tank one, and the rest went onto the floor. BR BR Tank one is actually the better of the two. It keeps the water far better. The one we have the fish in leaks bad. BR BR Fish are doing OK though. Mildred says to keep them in the tank til later this year. I'm OK with that. BR BR Noticed the house next to us has attracted pigeons. After watching them for a while, I worked out that they were swooping down to eat the chicken offerings in the garden opposite, whenever Belle's hubby fed them. BR BR BR The rain has come just at the right time. The rice is just about perfect. Have to keep just a little water in the paddy until harvest, when it is drained. BR BR Looking from t'other end. BR BR Those beautiful trees will be gone this year. But it'll not take long for the off-spring to appear. BR The overflow from the paddy into pond one is now capped. BR BR The only pond not full is number 4. That has a run-off from the road so it will be OK. BR Every morning the food man comes around at 7ish. Does good business, even in the rain. BR BR Stops in the same places, every day; rain or shine. BR BR BR Nearly out of cow poopoo. Put another sack under the solar water. BR BR When the pump kicks in, the water takes the goodies down the farm to the trees. BR BR In the top section there are 5 routes for the water. Every day me - or Kun - change the pipe over. Just takes 5 seconds to swap them. On a sunny day I reckon 20k+ litres go down the farm. The most trees that are on one section is 24, so they each get a fairly good drink. BR BR Every tree is mapped. BR BR Same was with farm 3; but that was sold to pay family debts. BR BR Had another go at clearing the immensely tough foliage around the water tank and solar area BR BR Mildred fed the fish yesterday evening. BR BR =========== Sport round-up. Actually managed to watch some of the Olympic swimming. Only if the US swimmers were involved however. Set the Opera VPN to Nth America and went onto NBC. Good vid about Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky. Known in the swimming world as Kate Ledecky. A vid of her swimming, and a little interview, when she was just 8. BR No idea who has won anything else, from other sports, from any country. Like many; just not interested anymore. =========== Think Poo could drop soon. Maybe this week. =========== The news about the selling of the eucas has got around. Two locals came to borrow money this morning. =========== BR Only one thing left to say; seez ya next post. BR Always best to finish with a slice of Isaan nature. BR BR BR

The thing that decided me to move over was set last week. I had been followed by a mod, who took down more of my posts than was left up. That's not what I believed was a good thing on a forum. I was never an abusive, or rude, poster. Just had views that were not always mainstream. Anyway; received my 15th ban. . Don't intend to post there again. Hope the AN supporters/contributors of the thread can find the new here on TT. (If any TT poster could go onto the AN thread and point to here; that would be great.) . I'll sometimes post pics from the past so as to contextualize the pics of today. A bit of history to a present story. . Together we can grow TT. Thanks for your support.

Given the maximum fine is 20,000 Baht for overstays - I make it that he will have paid 800 Baht a year - plus he has avoided all the 90 days reporting (about 100 times) - and he has avoided the annual begging to stay another 12 months process for 25 times - and he has no change of address notifications. Well done mate - credit where it is due.

Love this thread. Thanks for sharing your adventure. Appreciate it

A tad off topic (apologies Snaps). I’ve been making tin signs as decos for my garage recently. And just knocked one up for Sheffield: Note that Blades and Owls are equals, at least on my design anyway

It's Sunday. Snaps in the boonies. Eighth of September 2024. I bit late in posting about it; four days ago now. Busy with the farm news. Went to the number 4 Market last Wednesday. Bought 4 long tail kois, and ordered 200 pinkies for next month. Two blacks, a platinum and a yellow. Mildred said to put them straight into pond 6. Which we did. Also bought some floor mats for home. Fed up with tripping over old clothes. And anyway, I told Mrs Snaps to give any she didn't want to poor people. Didn't get a whack for suggesting that. Things are looking up. Bought six mats for 300 baht. There was one stall that was particularly busy. Some very decent clobber on sale for 40/50 baht. Ladies stuff. But there were some bargains for the guys. Always an unusual animal there. Music. Spicy sausages for me supper. Try not to get too near this stall. Can't stand the things. But did buy some pineapples. At the farm we had a little bit of contention. I wanted three trees to remain. The big one. And my two favourites. One on the main road and one in number 4 farm. The Mrs took the side of the business. I think I've won. Not been cut down; yet! I marked the two with old sacks. A couple of the pineapples have been eaten. I put the tops in a ring next to a little lime tree. Looking forward to seeing them grow. They are so easy to look after. All they need is sun, water and love. Bit like us humans. The other 5 pineapples are doing great. When in Ban Dung Wednesday I spotted a little Italian job. First one I've seen in these parts. What a beast!! The Ma in Law's house is empty and locked up as she is at her daughter Noi's place; just along the way. So it is left to me and Mildred to look after the cats. Either me or Mildred gives them food every day. Have six coming round now. +++++ Was looking forward to watching Russia v Thailand. Got cancelled at the last. Both the Highland and Lowland Leagues are smashing in the goals. Both have averaged 5 goals a game this month. Roll on the footy this week. The Champions League starts mid-week. Come on you Villa. I was champion of the whole world in last season's predictions. Well; of the 4k who entered the competition. From all over though. Won a luvvely trophy. Should be with me this month. https://www.predictthefootball.com +++++ Went to the farm this afternoon. The cutters are on the home stretch. Started number 4 today. They keep at least two days in front of the loaders cause the trimmers and stackers get stuck in next. Some hefty trees in this next farm. Pics next post. There have been 7 - not including the one that was half loaded when I got there today - truck-loads. Another 4/5 to go. That will make 12 or 13 loads all told. averaging out at over 25 tonne a load. The overflow pipe, that runs under the road from the paddy to the palm farm, has been smashed. That's a new job for me and Kun, when the euca cutters have departed. Nine metres of concrete 4 inch pipe to get. Also want to put stone down where the big wagons have damaged the road. Plenty of work later this month. Next month - October - there is the third solar system to put in. And a fourth the month after that; in November. No rest for the farang or the wicked. +++++ The lounge is filled up. The big bedroom is nearly filled up. Where to put Mildred's art? Her latest. Called 'Moonhead girl'. www.mildredart.com +++++ Thanks for visiting.

And let's not forget the many arriving at BKK from the Middle East, in their proud National Dress, getting changed into T shirts and jeans in the airport toilets, and heading off to Walking Street and Soi 6 bars in Pattaya, to drink and sxxg their way through their holidays, and in their hundreds. I just love religious hypocrites. I just wish they wouldnt then return home and start to criticize, mouthing off, about western decadence. Let's at least have a bit of honesty in this debate.

I normally use an agent for my annual Retirement extension, but she is now insisting on me obtaining all the required bank stuff in advance. I concluded that if I'm doing that, I may as well save her fee and do it all myself, for the first time in 6 years. Here are my observations, which may inform others. I stated at home by downloading the TM7 and photocopying every page in my passport that had anything on it. First thing, well 11am, I went to the bank. They were excellent, SCB in Big C South. I updated the passbook, got the letter and 12 months statements. All done in 15 minutes for 400 Baht. I then went to immigration, at around 1230, That I think was a mistake. If I had waited until around 230 pm the numbers waiting would have been greatly reduced. The new aircon buildings are a great improvement and the new pre checking procedure in the outside building cleaned out a lot of confused Russians who don't understand the system and who like to try to jump the queue. The IOs were having none of it. They did a quick check of my paperwork, gave me a ticket and passed me into the main building. I waited around 15 minutes to be called to desk 8, where the IO did a very good job of going through every bit of paperwork. He especially concentrated on the 12 month bank statements and passbook, making sure that I met the 2 and 3 month rules, which I did. I was obtaining the extension 3 weeks in advance of the due date, so I made sure that the 800K was in there an extra month early to account for this. He did comment on that, saying good move. I tend to let the account float a bit after the 3 month point and he warned me to beware of dropping that too early or not topping up before the 2 month point. I assured him that I was very mindful of the rules. I then received a ticket to collect my passport 24 hours later. The whole process, including waiting time came to one hour and 30 minutes. overall time, including the bank and a coffee in S and P meant that I had left home in Sattahip at 10am and I was back home by 230pm. Overall, its a very clear and efficient service there now and a little more customer friendly, with aircon and free water. I will probably now continue to do my own extensions in future and save the agent fee. I hope thats of interest to some other Members.

Everybody knows that there is an absolute correlation between having received an mRNA vaccine (or any other vaccine, at any other time, for that matter) and dying at some point after, therefore vaccines can be proved to be the cause of all deaths.