Life in the Isaan Boonies.

[Sotonowl]

Oh, Happy New Year Owl and to all readers and contributors to the thread.

[SnapDragon]

  On 12/31/2024 at 4:15 PM, Sotonowl said:

Is Mildred buying you new hats her way of keeping you away from the hat lady? I reckon Anna will be getting a visit next year when you have nobody riding shotgun.

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Ah yes! Ting the hat lady. Not seen her for a while. But not to worry as she is saving herself for me. Too busy at the farm to go on the wander at the present. Will try to visit Anna's Cafe though. Be a shame to go there alone.

The hat that Mildred bought me is on me head as I type this post. Bit like one of those skull caps our Jewish brethren wear. Hope my ears don't get burnt when I'm out in the sun later today.

The Owls have an easy match today. TBH, I was shocked to see the PNE result. I reckoned after grabbing a point at Boro, they would march on. The harder of the two aways I thought.

Orient continue there run of good form. Five wins and a draw from the last half dozen. Only leaders Brum can match that.

I am already fearing the worst for Aveley village (National league Sth). Disappointing to see only 700 at the game, for the local derby with Hornchurch (which is little more than a village, but within a much bigger catchment area). They have it all to do getting out of the relegation zone. Also in that lowly mix is Enfield Town; a team i have connections with as I played for their predecessors many moons ago. Enfield Town FC is interesting, as it is owned by the fans. I wish them well for 2025.

[Sotonowl]

  On 1/1/2025 at 2:38 AM, SnapDragon said:

The Owls have an easy match today. TBH,

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Windass scored probably the best goal of the year on the first day of the year. But it was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests, could quite easily have been 5-5. Great game for the neutral mind. I tried to upload it but it's to large, well worth searching for it though, truly great goal.

[Sotonowl]

  On 1/1/2025 at 2:38 AM, SnapDragon said:

Ah yes! Ting the hat lady. Not seen her for a while. But not to worry as she is saving herself for me. Too busy at the farm to go on the wander at the present. Will try to visit Anna's Cafe though. Be a shame to go there alone.

The hat that Mildred bought me is on me head as I type this post. Bit like one of those skull caps our Jewish brethren wear. Hope my ears don't get burnt when I'm out in the sun later today.

The Owls have an easy match today. TBH, I was shocked to see the PNE result. I reckoned after grabbing a point at Boro, they would march on. The harder of the two aways I thought.

Orient continue there run of good form. Five wins and a draw from the last half dozen. Only leaders Brum can match that.

I am already fearing the worst for Aveley village (National league Sth). Disappointing to see only 700 at the game, for the local derby with Hornchurch (which is little more than a village, but within a much bigger catchment area). They have it all to do getting out of the relegation zone. Also in that lowly mix is Enfield Town; a team i have connections with as I played for their predecessors many moons ago. Enfield Town FC is interesting, as it is owned by the fans. I wish them well for 2025.

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Here you go Owl, not sure if you can view it or not. The other Owls goals arent too shabby either but we rode our luck and the defence is all over the shop at times. Just not enough there for play offs, but we're into January transfer window now so who knows.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/13282493/sheffield-wednesday-4-2-derby-county-championship-highlights

[SnapDragon]

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

[rattlesnake]

  On 1/5/2025 at 12:39 PM, SnapDragon said:

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

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Cool hat indeed.

[SnapDragon]

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.

[BigHewer]

  On 1/19/2025 at 7:16 AM, SnapDragon said:

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.

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We were going for 10. Eddie Howe can’t take a trick against his old club. 

Top 4 finish still in sight.

Great post Snaps, always a top read.

[SnapDragon]

  On 1/19/2025 at 7:38 AM, BigHewer said:

We were going for 10. Eddie Howe can’t take a trick against his old club. 

Top 4 finish still in sight.

Great post Snaps, always a top read.

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10 was it BH? My bad. Sorry everyone.

Had another look at the fixture for the next FA Cup round (4th). Some great match ups. If it goes all wonky for the EPL clubs, which is possible, there could be as few as 4 top doggies left in the last 16.

[AussieBob]

Just curious guys - how do you guys watch the EPL - what network/broadcast service do you use??

[SnapDragon]

  On 1/19/2025 at 10:16 AM, AussieBob said:

Just curious guys - how do you guys watch the EPL - what network/broadcast service do you use??

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TBH Bob, I have not watched live English match for years. If I can; I listen to 'Sammy football' live commentary on YT.

I do watch highlights on True a few days after the event. But the Mrs has total control over the TV, so I get some glimpses when she is out or busy.

[BigHewer]

  On 1/19/2025 at 10:16 AM, AussieBob said:

Just curious guys - how do you guys watch the EPL - what network/broadcast service do you use??

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I have an IPTV subscription, 5 quid a month all in for Sky, Fox, Netflix, Amazon Prime. 

[AussieBob]

  On 1/19/2025 at 2:23 PM, SnapDragon said:

TBH Bob, I have not watched live English match for years. If I can; I listen to 'Sammy football' live commentary on YT.

I do watch highlights on True a few days after the event. But the Mrs has total control over the TV, so I get some glimpses when she is out or busy.

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If you can get the internet (fibre or satellite) check out AirTV IPTV service. I have been using them for years - since that IPTV service in Thailand was raided and closed - they operate out of China. The best package is the 'Extra' package - that gives you the ability to watch later any event recorded for the last 7-10 days - and they record all the EPL matches. I mainly use it for Golf, Cricket, NFL, and some Footy - and of course Movies and TV Shows on demand. I rarely ever watch live events - except the LPGA in Thailand and when in SEAsia.  But even then, I prefer to watch 'catch-up' - because I can watch when ready and fast forward past the woke liberal khrapp ads and other rubbish.

https://www.airtviptv.shop/products/iptvsubs

Below is a screenshot of one day back in December I sent to a mate, The list is all the events ready for playback from earlier that day.   

  

I just took a screenshot of EPL channel for the matches on 20Jan. 

[AussieBob]

  On 1/19/2025 at 11:22 PM, BigHewer said:

I have an IPTV subscription, 5 quid a month all in for Sky, Fox, Netflix, Amazon Prime. 

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May I ask what is name of service and does it have catch-up for the sports channels?

[BigHewer]

  On 1/20/2025 at 5:43 AM, AussieBob said:

May I ask what is name of service and does it have catch-up for the sports channels?

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Gateway TV based in Dublin. Catch up for everything available. 

17000 movies, 7000 channels, updated daily. I have it anchored on my home TV and also on Google chromecast, connected to hotel TVs when I travel. 

[AussieBob]

  On 1/20/2025 at 6:22 AM, BigHewer said:

Gateway TV based in Dublin. Catch up for everything available. 

17000 movies, 7000 channels, updated daily. I have it anchored on my home TV and also on Google chromecast, connected to hotel TVs when I travel. 

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Cheers - I might give it a try for a month - cheaper than my current IPTV Service.  Does not look like it provides Sky Sports UK channels though - which is where the golf and NFL is shown.  But being so cheap it might be worth it as a back-up - and until you try these things you never know what is really provided.  

[BigHewer]

  On 1/20/2025 at 10:54 AM, AussieBob said:

Cheers - I might give it a try for a month - cheaper than my current IPTV Service.  Does not look like it provides Sky Sports UK channels though

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Has all the Sky sports Channels. Actually Sky Sports News UK comes on by default when I turn on the telly.

I don’t watch NFL but just had a look and there are 35 NFL channels, Sky, DAZN, ABC, ESPN etc 

[AussieBob]

  On 1/20/2025 at 12:21 PM, BigHewer said:

Has all the Sky sports Channels. Actually Sky Sports News UK comes on by default when I turn on the telly.

I don’t watch NFL but just had a look and there are 35 NFL channels, Sky, DAZN, ABC, ESPN etc 

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Thanks - looks good.  For how long are sports events available for playback later. Can you today watch sports matches played last weekend? 

[BigHewer]

  On 1/21/2025 at 3:51 AM, AussieBob said:

Thanks - looks good.  For how long are sports events available for playback later. Can you today watch sports matches played last weekend? 

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It depends on the sport. Premier League games stay up for two weeks, boxing a few months. 

I checked NFL and it looks like they stay up for a week.

[SnapDragon]

Hi all.

A bit windy yesterday. Chilly in the early morning. No rain since the last day in September.

Solar system number 4 completely finished. Getting good water. Pump starts up at 08-45 and stops at 16-30.

Keep the rings topped up with stone.

Water everywhere.

Control showing readings. Can set it to various, but I keep it on voltage. During the day (11 to 3ish), any reading over 75 volts gives water. But being DC, the pump gradually slows as the sun goes down. So after 3 in the afternoon the pump struggles unless there is direct sunlight. I reckon - on a real sunny day - the output is 20k litres.

The house, next but one to us, had their warming party last week.

I sussed it straight away. The leader led the procession around the house three times.

Then it was food and drink time.

Just 100 metres from our farm 2, they are planting corn cob. They too have a solar set up.  Plants looking good.

Tree planting on the 2022, just outside of Ban Dung.

Look forward to seeing them thrive.

 

The other death in the village was well attended. It was an elderly lady in her 80s. I didn't know her.

Stage set up. Trampolines at the ready.

And suddenly there were 100s.

Village restaurant did good business.

Children at play.

Mildred attended a school 'English Camp' on both Saturday and Sunday. I took her in the mornings and Mrs Snaps brought her home.

Called into the southern 7/11 to use their loo. Couldn't resist having a butchers at the fish in Amazon's little pond.

I had a bit of pellet with me, and it was not long before the kois showed.

Went over to Bella's farm with some food for the chickens. Snapped the area where the birds perform their stuff. The far ring is where the top fowls do their prancing. Think the near ring is the warm up area.

A gala due soon?!

Seems like animal cruelty to me. But what do I know? I go fishing.

I've been busy filling in the undulations on our farm road. Had a stone drop in the corner. I've been doing a bit every day. 

+++++

File size exceeded. Continued in Part two.

[SnapDragon]

Snaps in the Boonies back with Part 2.

Still Monday the 27th of January.

Been sorting out the road undulations. When the divots were close I used the wheelbarrow. Further down the road I lay sacks at the back of the pick-up and piled on the stony soil. Then pulled it off at the right place. Still not finished. Maybe this week.

Oh dear! Can't upload any files. Have to have my allowance increased. I'll contact BH and post later.

Only one thing left to say. Come on you Cherries.

Big match coming this w/e. Form team Bournemouth vs top doggies Pool. I'd like to be there.

[rattlesnake]

  On 1/27/2025 at 2:10 PM, SnapDragon said:

Oh dear! Can't upload any files. Have to have my allowance increased. I'll contact BH and post later.

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My workaround to this was to delete my older stored files (which means they no longer appear in their respective threads) but please do post if there is another way to resolve this issue.

[dawg]

If you dont feel like killing off some old stuff then maybe go for images that are a bit more compressed using something like irfanview.exe to squash the images ( IIRC 60k - 70k is enough space for most images )

.

.

Ooops !  Sorry, was going to post a pic before & after the squish but all sorts of stuff seems to get in the way :(

Please do keep posting. Its all fascinating :)  and a great antidote to the endless winter storms coming in off The Atlantic here in Northern Europe

[AussieBob]

Looks great snap - and your post reminded me of an 'issue' with living in the West and why Thailand is so much better in so many ways.  The kids playing on the trampoline - like we all did many decades ago.

A mate of mine threw a Father's Day party many years ago. He provided a jumping castle for the kids. One of the kids did something stupid and was hurt (broken arm, twisted ankle/knee and general bruising). The parents sued my mate for expenses and damages/pain - the legal arguments and issues dragged on for over a year - everyone's lawyer blaming everyone else.  The company that hired out the castle went broke and shut down - the owner lost a lot of money due to 'maintenance failure' - and my mate ended up paying out a few thousand himself and his annual house insurance premiums almost doubled.  He calculated that in the end, the kid's parents got about 15% of the money - the majority went to all the lawyers.  That is what happens when any society allows lawyers and the 'legal rights' they create, to over-rule common sense. Long may Thailand allow people to sort things out in their lives between themselves, with no need to get lawyers involved.  

[AussieBob]

  On 1/27/2025 at 2:10 PM, SnapDragon said:

Oh dear! Can't upload any files. Have to have my allowance increased. I'll contact BH and post later.

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The post itself maybe has hit a size limit - if that is the case, then it is time to start ----- Part 2 (The Isaan Boonies Strike Back)