Life in the Isaan Boonies.

[Sotonowl]

  On 3/25/2025 at 9:27 AM, SnapDragon said:

She looked at me - what to  say - nostalgically. 'Long time no see', she whispered.

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Does she speak English Owl or did she say it in Thai. We need a pic of her.

  On 3/25/2025 at 9:27 AM, SnapDragon said:

Put the Mazza through the MOT yesterday.

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Now that's a coincidence, got mine MOT'd yesterday as well. £183 mine came to as I had an advisory from last year to sort. He collected and returned, I gave him £190 he said he didn't have change so I told him I wouldn't have expected him to and to get himself a pint. All heart I am.

[SnapDragon]

  On 3/26/2025 at 9:01 PM, Sotonowl said:

Does she speak English Owl or did she say it in Thai. We need a pic of her.

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She's a very educated lady Owl. A chemist. She sells hats and a few toys outside her shop. Knows a few sentences. I'll get a pic soon.

''Now that's a coincidence, got mine MOT'd yesterday as well. £183 mine came to as I had an advisory from last year to sort. He collected and returned, I gave him £190 he said he didn't have change so I told him I wouldn't have expected him to and to get himself a pint. All heart I am.''

Seems a lot? £183. My bill 2267 Baht. And got two hand towels as a customer gift. And a lovely smile for the admin lady.

£7 a pint? Wot? Why so high? And why are they not working in litres? Behind the times over there. When I first went into a pub a 'pint' was two and 5 pence. That would be about 8 to the pound. My first week's wages were £4; at the Aquarium in Southend. Got a job as a chainman on the building of the Victoria Line in London. Wages jumped up to £7. That's a fair lick of beer. And when I turned 18 the wages upped to £12.

Merseysiders were top doggies then. Toffees and Pool winning in successive years. My bestist team - Orient - had gone up with Liverpool, but came straight back down. Tractors won after being promoted the previous season. Only happened once since.

[Sotonowl]

  On 3/27/2025 at 3:47 AM, SnapDragon said:

She's a very educated lady Owl. A chemist. She sells hats and a few toys outside her shop. Knows a few sentences. I'll get a pic soon.

''Now that's a coincidence, got mine MOT'd yesterday as well. £183 mine came to as I had an advisory from last year to sort. He collected and returned, I gave him £190 he said he didn't have change so I told him I wouldn't have expected him to and to get himself a pint. All heart I am.''

Seems a lot? £183. My bill 2267 Baht. And got two hand towels as a customer gift. And a lovely smile for the admin lady.

£7 a pint? Wot? Why so high? And why are they not working in litres? Behind the times over there. When I first went into a pub a 'pint' was two and 5 pence. That would be about 8 to the pound. My first week's wages were £4; at the Aquarium in Southend. Got a job as a chainman on the building of the Victoria Line in London. Wages jumped up to £7. That's a fair lick of beer. And when I turned 18 the wages upped to £12.

Merseysiders were top doggies then. Toffees and Pool winning in successive years. My bestist team - Orient - had gone up with Liverpool, but came straight back down. Tractors won after being promoted the previous season. Only happened once since.

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Funnily enough I watched Orient on Sky last night. They beat Stevenage 1-0.

[Sotonowl]

  On 3/29/2025 at 12:35 AM, Sotonowl said:

She's a very educated lady Owl. A chemist. She sells hats and a few toys outside her shop. Knows a few sentences. I'll get a pic soon.

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What sort of toys would they be Owl?

Pic would be great, believe me, I speak for everyone on here.

[Sotonowl]

Did you feel the earth move at all recently Owl? No, not talking hat lady here, more like a tremor from the earthquake. Did you feel anything at all. 

Them poor people, god bless them. May they all RIP. Really sad.

Wife told me husband and wife working somewhere and had to take their baby which died, not sure what happened to husband and wife though, very sad.

[SnapDragon]

  On 3/29/2025 at 12:40 AM, Sotonowl said:

Did you feel the earth move at all recently Owl? No, not talking hat lady here, more like a tremor from the earthquake. Did you feel anything at all. 

Them poor people, god bless them. May they all RIP. Really sad.

Wife told me husband and wife working somewhere and had to take their baby which died, not sure what happened to husband and wife though, very sad.

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Didn't notice anything unusual up here. Think it's too flat in these parts.

[SnapDragon]

Snaps here.

It's Sunday the 30th March. Soon be April, and hopefully, the slow start of the wet season. Fingers Xed.

This March has been a strange month. We have had scorching hot weather during the day. But only a few sticky nights. Most un-March like. Even a period of cool days and nights.

Gradually getting the ducks to relinquish their fears. I've got within 2 metres now.

As long as Robert is not with me. I'll try to hand-feed them soon.

Done the MOT. Picked up the paperwork. Lovely place if you like creatures.

There are two lizards in the cage.

This one spoke to me. ''Hey farang. Set me free, and I'll give you lottery numbers.''

Brought some fish food with me.

Lovely.

In Ban Dung, the build next to Tesco is coming along.

No idea yet, what it is gonna be. But plenty going on.

Went to Ban Dung Bus Station to get some plastic bags. Thought I'd pop into Ting's shop. Just to say 'hi' of course. She was busy, but handed me a little something. It was a Romantic Moment.

The elephant team arrived when i was there.

Gave the beast some sugar cane.

And it was off.

A bit of something going on outside town.

Thought at first it was tree trimming.

Probably fixing damaged cables.

Kun and wife Rooney doing more charcoal.

First load in the logs.

Seal it up with special mud.

Mrs Snaps watching me intently. Sure to get a whacking later. ''You look charcoal lady!?''

Have to light the fire inside. And a few days later, it's ready for charcoal harvest.

Oscar relaxing. He is putting on a bit of weight.

Corn harvest near us.

The cobs have been cut off.

The vegetation is for cricket food.

Big demand for cricket grub in these parts.

The village held their annual music festival. For the last couple of years it is daytime only. I didn't go. Mildred with the camera.

A few dancers braving the heat.

Top Isaan singers.

Plenty of goodies on offer.

Let the fish go into different ponds. Pla nin into '1' and '2'.

Mekongs into '5', '6', '7'. Minar and Wow doing the honours.

The new solar set-up next to us is complete. somewhere to live is next on the agenda.

From this point, 7 solar systems can be spotted.

4 in this pic. White circles are ours.

Went along to the grape farm.

Not plastic sheeting. A very fine polyester netting.

Pick up yer basket.

Cut off the grapes that take yer fancy.

Go and pay. 200 Baht a kilo.

I got the best ones.

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Footy back. Well sort of. EPL postponed because of the FA Cup quarters. Never heard anything like it.

Well done Forest and Palace. I'll be rooting for the  North Enders and Cherries later today.

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Mrs Snaps saw me with the little bouquet of wild flowers. ''Where you get them farang?'' ''I found them on the side of the track teerak.'' ''You sure lady never gave?'' Whack! ''Would I ever lie to you teerak?'' Another whack from the the back-scratcher.

i didn't feel anything. Nor did the Mrs and Mildred. People felt the tremors as far away and Chiang Mai. Just goes to show. As dominant as we humans think we are, nature can bring us down to earth in an instant.

Going fishing later with Mildred. Very dull today. Perfect for catching fish.

Been asking around about where to get ducks. No one seems tp know. Can get turkeys and  goats but not ducks. I'll keep asking.

Will gold get to 50k Baht a baht this week?

Pound v Baht is gradually creeping up.

That's it. Getting ready for a bit of fishing.

Take care out there. And stay away from those earthquakes.

[SnapDragon]

It is Friday the 11th of April.

Snaps here. Trying to make sense of a confused world.

Wow!! It's been so busy. Stuff I'd put on the back-burner are still there. 

The fishing went well. We caught about 30 in a couple of house. 17 were eaters. Put the others back.

This was the biggest of them. About one kilo.

My ones were caught from a different pond. Not as big.

Shared them out. We kept the biggest 6.

The buffaloes had not been around for a while.

Robert didn't quite know what to make of them.

He found one that he wasn't afraid of.

And with that, Robert's new friend went back into the herd. Oscar looking on.

Cutting the leaves again in the baccy farm. They look like stalks with no leaves.

Had a great nut cut this time.

First day's load. Weighed in at 1070 kilos.

Bigger load still next day. 1300 kilos.

As soon as yer is off the weighbridge, the lads get to work.

At the rear, the loader was at work filling up the big wagons.

They then go to the factory near Khon Kaen.

They loaded me with 1275 kilos of cassava waste. Much easier to drive with the cassava on board, than with nuts. The centre of gravity is lower and the Mazza don't wander about like when it's (very) full of nuts.

The Buddha at the far end of the Super-highway was getting a paint job. Good to see a youngster learning a trade.

Mrs Snaps' new car cover arrived. It is cat-proof; evidently!

Anyone who did any competitive swimming would have one. This one has gone to the cats.

These magnificent statues were mounted just a couple of days ago.

TBH, I wasn't aware of a wat being near that area. They are everywhere it seems.

They are great.

Big event in the village was the major road being dug up. 

The end of our soi was no go for a few days.

A few water pipes took a hit.

The section done was about 250 metres.

Nice and straight.

Everything was soon getting back to normal.

Moved the control box on Solar 1. We had lowered the pump a while back, and the cables were very tight. Moved the box two metres closer to the pump.

When is it Songkran? When all the paddle-pools come out, and get filled. Our one is a 'Happy Pool'.

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Brum are on track for  massive points tally in the third. 95 points in the can. Promoted, with 6 games to go. A possible massive 113 points.

Pool could lose 4 on the spin and still be champs. They are that far out in front. Fulham did the bizzo on them at the Cottage. The Gunners look good in the Champions League. Villa let a decent result go in the dying seconds in Paris.

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Microwave has gone kaput. Ordered one on Lazada. Samsung; 1790 Baht.

Mildred has just finished one if her most striking paintings. (I'll pop it in at the the end). I'm thinking she could capitalize on her talent. No idea how at the mo.

There has been a lot of posts on AN about making chocolate. This evening me and Mildred made about 600 grammes. 250 ml of coconut milk. About 150 ml of honey. Cup of cocoa powder. 100 ml of Hersheys chocolate mix. Stuck it all in the freezer. Will put it into the fridge tomorrow morning.

Did my fast as usual this month. Just 36 hours this month. Still keeping up with me bathroom yoga.

Saw the little dogs running about, at guy's corner shop today. Guy wants 3000 for each. Pics next post. Think we should have the pick of the litter. After all the muttering, and finger pointing, at Robert.

That's it for now. Another post early next week. Don't forget to don yer water-proofs when venturing out, for the next few days.

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Ginger painting his Ma n Pa.

www.mildredart.com

[SnapDragon]

Tuesday 15th April.

Last day of Songkran 2025.

Had to make a decision. Put the solar panels on top of the roof, or take the metal sheets off, and use the frame to hold the panels.

Decided to take the roof off.

 Told Kun what was required. Mrs Snaps translating. Went along next morning!!

No roof. No timber. No frame even.

Not only that, but the tops of the concrete posts were smashed to bits. Dear me! 

Looks like they took some bolts out, and pulled the whole thing over and down.

Everything now stashed away.

Some if the timber is usable.

Now, I'm thinking that rebuilding the tower is not even worth while. Might just leave it, until the dry season starts in October. Make a decision then.

The south end of our soi is concreted over. 

What has Mildred found?

Snail shells. She wants me to drill a hole in the shells, so she can make necklaces for her friends.

Some are as big as a cricket ball.

This palm shows the difference between male and female fruits. Quite a young tree this; just 5 years old.

The pups are looking good.

Mildred with the cats.

Only have one tommy plant. But it gives lots of fruit.

Get a dozen every few days.

Kept up to date with the big builds in Ban Dung.

Global House now open for business.

Gonna have to investigate the big dark building. Is it simply a storehouse?

No signage on this one yet.

It's that time of year.

Mildred looking after the ducks.

They usually get a bit of water melon and some left-over rice.

Charcoal again.

Got the pics just as the fire got underway.

Every couple of days there is a sack of leaves and fallen fruit to dispose of. Just chuck it into the rice paddy area.

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Great stuff Posh. Well done also Orient, Toon and Cherries. 

F1 - can't be bothered to know.

Rory finally got the lifetime slam. Only one of 6 to do it. Took the Masters in exciting style.

Master Gout went under 20 seconds in the Oz 200m. Some talent he is. Just 17.

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The ladies have gone to Ban Dung for the last day of Songkran. Will get back about 7ish. Been taking advantage by playing Van the Man on the TV. I like the live show at Eden Project in 2017. When the wife is around we only get GOT7. 

The chocolate is finished. It's been in the freezer. Still not hard. Never mind, Still yummie.

The paddle pool is filled. No one has gone into the water since the first hour it got water. I reckon Robert will discover it soon.

What s going on with the £ v Baht? This month, went down to 43. Then up to 45. Then back to 43. 44.4 at the mo.

Mildred reckons '111' will show on the lottery tomorrow. We will see. Not won the 6 million jackpot for months.

Off to the farm shortly.

Only one thing left to say; stay dry!