Diary of a farang in Isaan

[HighPriority]

I wouldn’t get in that car, you know they both died recently Owl ?

Might be after a traveling companion for a long one way trip !

The cynic in me is surprised that the grifters are allowing you through stages 1 & 2 before whacking you up for dosh!!

[owl sees all]

10 hours ago, bannork said:

Extracting the urine is a national trait for us Brits.

Once extracted, a further source is sought. 

A true Essex man, it is clear Owl, will never move beyond stage one in this project 

Regarding football, hope and despair go hand in hand if you are a true supporter of your local team(s).

Born in Southampton, I cheer on the Saints' attempts to remain in the Premier League, whilst spending my teenage years in Hull, I always look out for The Tigers in The Championship.

Luckily, my loyalty and love for these overpaid performers only stretches as far as a cursory glance at the Saturday results.

Entertaining, attacking football, yes! Otherwise - boring 

Last night I dreamt Queen Elizabeth and the Duke came to my old school. Being the resident farang, I was told to go out and greet them.

My hair was disheveled, I looked rough, but Liz was kind and invited me to sit on the back seat of their Morris Minor. 

' So where should we go then?' she asked. 'I gather you've been here for some time.'

'Ban Dung, ma'am,' I replied.

'Full speed ahead, Giles!' she answered laughing to the Duke behind the wheel  

 

 

 

Amanadha Vollmer. She is the lady to set me free.

 

Stage one - find those little places that need attention.

Stage two - sort out those inner problems.

Stage three - rejuvenation by reverse induction.

 

Seriously Bannork; I am noticing a difference. And it's only week three. Amandha says to wash the urine off each evening during the first phase.

 

I'm with you on the footy. My team suffered their first loss of the season. Just a blip. When they get to the Ch Lg, the players will all be on ten times more a week than they presently are. That's modern sport I guess. Simply big business.

 

As for dreaming! I often dream of Hainault. Sitting by the lake, often in the rain, throwing bits of bread to the geese while I wait for a big fish to grab my bait. A pretty young lady walks by. She stops and stares at me. "Are you Owl from Dagenham Dock?" "That I am miss." "Well, my mother would like a word with you. Dad!"  Luckily a fish runs off with my maggot, and I am fully focused on the angling contest. But the fish gets away, and the lady is gone.

 

Mrs Owl pokes me in the ribs. "Gas has gone. Need new. 500 baht; give me."

 

Such is life.

[owl sees all]

4 hours ago, HighPriority said:

I wouldn’t get in that car, you know they both died recently Owl ?

Might be after a traveling companion for a long one way trip !

The cynic in me is surprised that the grifters are allowing you through stages 1 & 2 before whacking you up for dosh!!

I am aware of the queen passing away. She died of 'Old age'. That's official. A couple of days earlier she was at a dinner party, scoffing the scones. All seems a bit sudden to me. Strange indeed.

 

If Amandha's therapy works, and it seems to be, I'll be sending her some dosh for sure.

 

https://yummy.doctor/

 

Mrs Owl has just arizen and has whacked Poo and Ginger. "Why you let cat in house? Farang ting tong."

[gamb00ler]

10 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Amanadha Vollmer. She is the lady to set me free.

Is that the same Amandha Vollmer who said,

 

"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic hoax, we are cancelling nothing,” read part of a post on the weekend by the owner of Yummy Mummy Emporium & Apothecary"

and

“You can come over here with a fever and cough all you want. We know that germs don’t cause disease,” ?

 

I hope her urine regimen is less dangerous than her thinking about germs and disease.

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, gamb00ler said:

Is that the same Amandha Vollmer who said,

 

"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic hoax, we are cancelling nothing,” read part of a post on the weekend by the owner of Yummy Mummy Emporium & Apothecary"

and

“You can come over here with a fever and cough all you want. We know that germs don’t cause disease,” ?

 

I hope her urine regimen is less dangerous than her thinking about germs and disease.

Yes! That's the lady.

 

She don't go a bundle on the covid narrative it seems. Has her own ideas on health.

 

Let you know about the urine therapy. Seems to be working so far.

[bannork]

I think we've seen the end of the rainy season, Owl.

I can't get my head around the massacre at Nong Bua Lampu. Taking revenge on someone you think has wronged you, I get, but slaughtering young children? The photo today of a bereaved mother placing her child's favourite toys on his/ her coffin just tore me up.

[owl sees all]

25 minutes ago, bannork said:

I think we've seen the end of the rainy season, Owl.

I can't get my head around the massacre at Nong Bua Lampu. Taking revenge on someone you think has wronged you, I get, but slaughtering young children? The photo today of a bereaved mother placing her child's favourite toys on his/ her coffin just tore me up.

We have only just started putting out the Nitrogen and cassava waste around the oil palms. Need some rain to get the nutrients into the ground. Last year the biggest rain was on the 22nd of October. Who knows?

 

I feel the same about the massacre Bannork. Can't even read the reports of it; too upsetting. I feel for all those who are suffering.

 

Just a thought about the copper that did the nasty. I have read that he was not only a drug user, but a dealer also. That was why he was kicked out. Don't know if was still using. I know of a first-time-caught (in Thailand) drug dealer, in Udon Province, who got 4 years in the monkey. I paid for him to get out of jail in Laos a year or so earlier. So why wasn't this murderer locked away; or at the very least sent for trial?

[HighPriority]

Absolute tragedy, the Thai here on Oz are devastated.

I don’t read much of such events, but I did read that he was “caught” with/using drugs in 2019, but continued being a copper until early this year…?

How the F@£€k can that be allowed to happen ?

 

[owl sees all]

 

Owl Log - 09-10-2022 - Sunday afternoon

 

Our pineapple got half-inched a while back. That was grown from a 'top'. Had to start anew. The roots have done the biz.

 

 

Mildred holds up the goodies.

 

 

The scavenger man did his weekly visit. What did he have? Crabs and a new prize. A small bird. 60 baht for the crabs and 40 for the bird.

 

 

Mildred let the crabs go into her pond.

 

 

Mrs Owl saw the bird, and couldn't believe we were going to let it go.

 

 

"Very nice food for Thai. Farang ding dong. You too Milly. Much like father."

 

 

 

 

 

And it was off.

 

Been busy on Laadza. A couple of sets of scales.

 

First to arrive was a stand-on one. Mrs Owl tried it out first.

 

 

"Mearure not right. I am 49 kilos; just." Then, not to be left out,  Poo had a go.

 

 

Next day's delivery was the small scales. I needed one to keep a check of my precious metal stash.

 

 

 

Big scales 99 baht plus P&P. Also included; 2 batteries.

Small scales 150 baht plus P&P. No batteries.

 

While searching for bargains, I came across this little wonder.

 

What a beauty? Just 990.000 baht. I thought I'd get one. Cash on delivery available. And delivery just 38 baht. And if I didn't like it, I could do a return withing 7 days.

 

 

The info said that; "Whoever wears the item, will gain big lucky." Still considering it. Can't ever have enough luck.

 

Mildred's latest painting. Very futuristic and surreal. Don't think I'll ever understand it. But I'm informed the ladies are 'angels'. Must be Thai angels as they have no wings.

 

 

www.mildredart.com

 

In the mornings I often find that a dog has raided the rubbish and dragged away its prize. Was gonna pick it up, as I normally do, but Bella beat me to it.

 

 

Looked in the village Buddha to see how the build was progressing.

 

 

Roof nearly finished. But what did I find as I was wandering around the trees?

 

 

A whole mega-load of reishi mushrooms. But I thought. If I pick this year's supply, I'll not see Ting, the Hat Lady', for ages. Best to leave them be.

 

Spotted our old tractor in the week. We bought it new from a dealer in Ban Dung for 810k. Sold it 18 months later for 460k baht. Quite a loss there. But there was some wheeling and dealing, and we did get farm 4 as a bit of compensation.

 

 

On the way back from the farm on Thursday; got caught in the traffic.

 

 

Milldred accompanied her mother to the veggie market yesterday in Ban Dung. Came back loaded with veg' and also three koi carp. Put them into her little pond when we went to the farm on the way home..

 

 

Mrs Owl had a bit of tree cutting done.

 

 

 

Only 1500 baht! Have to clear away the branches yet. I'm keeping well out of it.

 

The nut man is grafting away putting the cassava waste into the farms.

 

 

 

He is putting 8 or 9 bucket loads around each tree. Have 41 tonne all told.

 

Mekongs looking good.

 

 

Been hot the last couple of days. I think Bannork is right. The start of the dry season is upon us.

 

Footy roundup.

The usual suspects are gradually rising to the top in the English Premier. Irons and Cottagers play today. As do The Peacocks. In the championship, the top two both lose.The Owls have a comfortable win and move up to third. Orient lose their top spot to Stevenage.

 

World focus.

Two terrible tragedies. Police fire tear-gas into the terraces at a footy game in Indonesia. In the panic to get clear, nearly 200 supporters die. A madman cuts loose in Isaan. Many little children are killed. Death toll 40. Rest peacefully to all. And my utmost sympathy the all the parents and loved ones of the victims of both terrible incidents.

 

As I type the Log, Mrs Owl is in negotiation  with a lady in BKK. She wants to sell the farms.The Mrs is holding out for 16 million. Lady has offered 12. We will see.

 

Only on thing left to say at the end of a very sad week; bye y'all.

 

 

[HighPriority]

At what point did Mrs Owl inform you of the possible sale Owl ?

[owl sees all]

2 hours ago, HighPriority said:

At what point did Mrs Owl inform you of the possible sale Owl ?

This sale has been on the cards for a couple of years. Had offers. and then the people are not interested.. a few times. Now! Whether they are offers for real, or just Mrs Owl's interpretation or imagination even, I don't know. But I did send an aerial pic of the farms off earlier.

 

I don't want to sell any part of the farm. What for? The Mrs wants to do this and do that. Changes every month. TBH, until there is leccy put in, I don't think a sale is even possible, not for a realistic price that is.

 

Went to the farm this afternoon. One of Mildred's carp died.

 

 

 

The bigger one with the long tail is OK. But I didn't see it come for food.

[bannork]

This afternoon I was happily prepared to be proved wrong about the end of the rainy season. A large black cloud emerged in the east, accompanied by a large clap of thunder. Great, I thought.

Sadly, Mother Nature was simply extracting the urine, a few drops fell, and that was that  .

 

[owl sees all]

8 hours ago, bannork said:

This afternoon I was happily prepared to be proved wrong about the end of the rainy season. A large black cloud emerged in the east, accompanied by a large clap of thunder. Great, I thought.

Sadly, Mother Nature was simply extracting the urine, a few drops fell, and that was that  .

 

Same here. I was in the farm and a shower started. All over in less than a minute.

 

Speaking of 'extracting the urine; I have shelved my programme for a while. On Wednesday last, it didn't go to plan. Whist showering I got some of the saved stuff in my eye. Quite sore for a while. I'm gonna do a bit more research before starting again.

 

But to be fair to Amandha's system, I did notice changes. And she is so yummy; in a natural sort of way. I'm sure to give it another try; starting today perhaps!?

[GarryP]

11 hours ago, owl sees all said:

This sale has been on the cards for a couple of years. Had offers. and then the people are not interested.. a few times. Now! Whether they are offers for real, or just Mrs Owl's interpretation or imagination even, I don't know. But I did send an aerial pic of the farms off earlier.

 

I don't want to sell any part of the farm. What for? The Mrs wants to do this and do that. Changes every month. TBH, until there is leccy put in, I don't think a sale is even possible, not for a realistic price that is.

I would be very hesitant to sell up. I have heard some horror stories and know a couple of families who sold up their land thinking they would be able to have a better future with money to buy this and that and invest in stuff. It didn't work out. There were no plans for a sustainable lifestyle, it was just the feeling of having a load of cash in hand. The money was gone very quickly and they were then worse off than before they sold the land. One family ended up renting land for farming to make a living, but at least they now have a house and a pickup truck. Sad, but not uncommon. 

 

Money management skills, or rather lack thereof, seems to be a major problem in Thailand and is not taught by parents or in schools. As a result there is a massive personal loan and credit card debt problem here and just about every civil servant is in debt. Crazy situation. 

 

Hold on to the farm Owl. It is also a great place for you to spend time with Mildred, feeding fish, planting this and that, teaching her about wildlife, plants, farming etc. and generally enjoying each others company outdoors. 

 

[owl sees all]

10 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I would be very hesitant to sell up. I have heard some horror stories and know a couple of families who sold up their land thinking they would be able to have a better future with money to buy this and that and invest in stuff. It didn't work out. There were no plans for a sustainable lifestyle, it was just the feeling of having a load of cash in hand. The money was gone very quickly and they were then worse off than before they sold the land. One family ended up renting land for farming to make a living, but at least they now have a house and a pickup truck. Sad, but not uncommon. 

 

Money management skills, or rather lack thereof, seems to be a major problem in Thailand and is not taught by parents or in schools. As a result there is a massive personal loan and credit card debt problem here and just about every civil servant is in debt. Crazy situation. 

 

Hold on to the farm Owl. It is also a great place for you to spend time with Mildred, feeding fish, planting this and that, teaching her about wildlife, plants, farming etc. and generally enjoying each others company outdoors. 

 

Make you right there Gary.

 

Before this last interested entity came on the scene, I'd been saying to Mildred that I'd like to get Tong Ann's farm. And put it in her name. That would join number one with number four. Tong Ann's farm is marked on the map in yellow. Our four are in red.

 

 

In this uncertain world, land is a real asset.

 

 

[bannork]

The end of the rainy season and Buddhist Lent. Lots of fireworks from dusk to 8.00 pm 

A wonderful full moon and stars. Upcountry, nights are an astronomer's delight during 'winter'. A complete canopy of stars, mosquitoes gone, light a fire of eucalyptus logs and enjoy the view.

 

[owl sees all]

9 hours ago, bannork said:

The end of the rainy season and Buddhist Lent. Lots of fireworks from dusk to 8.00 pm 

A wonderful full moon and stars. Upcountry, nights are an astronomer's delight during 'winter'. A complete canopy of stars, mosquitoes gone, light a fire of eucalyptus logs and enjoy the view.

 

Some cracking pic's there Bannork.

[HighPriority]

31 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Some cracking pic's there Bannork.

BOOM BOOM... ????

[bannork]

Technically I was wrong about the end of the rainy season, Owl!

Did you experience the same cold light drizzle we had here from midday to 4.00 pm?

Reminded me of Blighty, persistent dampness, though milder. 

Had to pop in to Ban Dung at 8.00 pm, it was very dead for a  Saturday night. Can't be easy for any night time venues.

 

 

 

[owl sees all]

10 hours ago, bannork said:

Technically I was wrong about the end of the rainy season, Owl!

Did you experience the same cold light drizzle we had here from midday to 4.00 pm?

Reminded me of Blighty, persistent dampness, though milder. 

Had to pop in to Ban Dung at 8.00 pm, it was very dead for a  Saturday night. Can't be easy for any night time venues.

 

 

 

Yes! Same over here. Promised so much, and delivered so little.

 

Has got noticeably colder too.

[owl sees all]

Owl Log - 16-10-2022 - Sunday morning.

 

The farm next to our number four grew cassava this season. All looked good on the top. But it was a disaster. It was the big mango lady's venture. I feel for her.

 

 

No idea why the yield was non-existent. Mrs Owl says there was too much grass.

 

 

She has stock-piled another load of twigs.

 

 

I can't believe she is gonna do it all again. Perhaps in a smaller area. Only enough twigs for quarter of a rai.

 

 

Our cassava waste is gone. All 41 tonnes of it.

 

 

 

 

Me and Mildred did manage to grab some before it all went.

 

 

 

Mildred having a go at spreading the cassava. I'm sure she secretly wants to be a farmer like her dad.

 

 

Top section of the village Buddha is complete.

 

 

 

Walkway soon I reckon.

 

 

A couple of the trees that were energetically trimmed at the farm had to be held in place to stop toppling over.

 

 

Only temporary. As soon as the roots start to stabilize we can take the strings off.

 

 

There was also a bit of tree trimming being done opposite us in the village.

 

 

Bella's father Soo up the tree. Poom keeping an eye on it all.

 

Electric bicycles and three-wheelers are commonplace around the village now. The children like them.

 

 

Five up. Good thing about our super-highway is that it is only sees a vehicle about once an hour. So pretty safe for learning how to ride.

 

Looney's garden looking good.

 

 

Mildred's latest painting.

 

 

www.mildredart.com

 

The delightful twins, Nadille and Nadene, were in their garden playing.

 

 

Not been to Ban Dung since two Saturdays ago. Unless we want to stock up, there's no need.

 

Mildred's birthday this week. I'll ask her if she wants anything special. Get it on Lazada. She goes back to school next week. Had six games of chess in the week. 4-1-1 score. That's Mildred 4; 1 drawn and my solitary win.

 

Footy round up.

The Owls march on. While their rivals, United, squander points at home. Brighton seem to have lost their mojo. The reds put seven past Rangers in the Ch Lg.

 

World focus.

The resident of number 11 gets the boot. Pound is holding it's own for now. Bridge blown up in the Black Sea. Pfizer rep lets the cat out of the bag in the EU parliament.

 

A big scandal in the chess world over cheating. Not the sort of cheating you get with cards; ace up your sleeve and marking them. No! This is to do with ranking. The world champ Magnus is at the centre of it. Watch this space for riveting news. US Championships on at the present time.

 

The weather is letting us down. We want rain and lots of it. What are we getting? Overcast skies and drizzle. There is flooding everywhere it seems. Oz, Crete, Pakistan. Isaan dry as a bone.

 

Went looking for some limes earlier this morning. Visited three shops. Nothing! Even the mobile veggie man didn't have them. But! A very nice lady - who I hadn't noticed before - picked a few from a tree at the back of her mother's house. She didn't want paying, but I forced 20 baht into her little chubby hand. Lovely smile. I can pass that way when I go to the farm.

 

Put my urine challenge on hold. It was playing havoc with my eyebrows. Had to trim them in the week.

 

Crab man came round early today. I've been warned about buying more crabs. Mrs Owl says she will hurt me if I get any more. He had some lovely snails though. 20 baht. Just looked and they are ll over the back of the pick-up. Need to hide them.

 

I really fancy 52 or 25 on the lottery today; or maybe tomorrow 'cause of the holiday.

 

Only things left to say; bye y'all, and take care out there.

[owl sees all]

 

Had to pick up the snails. They were crawling everywhere in the back of the pick-up.

 

 

Some really pretty ones among them.

 

 

[sotonowl]

15 hours ago, owl sees all said:

The Owls march on. While their rivals, United, squander points at home.

The Owls do indeed march on, at the moment, we'll see.

Big pitch battle at Bramall Lane after the final whistle with 2 getting sent off. They are a nasty shower of thugs though down there, supporters and players alike.

15 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Put my urine challenge on hold. It was playing havoc with my eyebrows. Had to trim them in the week.

 

????????????

[owl sees all]

6 hours ago, sotonowl said:

The Owls do indeed march on, at the moment, we'll see.

Big pitch battle at Bramall Lane after the final whistle with 2 getting sent off. They are a nasty shower of thugs though down there, supporters and players alike.

????????????

The Sheffield rivalry must be one of the biggest in English footy. There are many others; and long may they continue. I remember the Scots fan saying on TV. Don't care about the World Cup, as long as we beat England.

 

I see that once mighty club, Notts County, were knocked out of the FA Cup at home by,,,, wait for it,,,,, Coalville Town. Although they are not exactly neighbours, they are not that far apart on the map. A future rivalry brewing?

Coalville Town; I'm your new fan!

 

But some sadness in the cup. Both Hornchurch and Aveley have gone out. On the upside; Dagenham and Redbridge (one club) put seven past Beckenham to march on to the next round.

 

The urine challenge had been shelved temporarily. It was doing the biz with my war wound though. Might start it up today. Not likely to graduate from phase one for a while. When I do, I might skip phase two altogether, and move straight on to phase three. But to do that effectively, I'd need a special kit. Could always make one rather than buy it. We will see.

[d4dang]

On 11/18/2019 at 12:17 AM, owl sees all said:

Just came in from paying respects to a deceased lady; just 4 huts away. She died yesterday aged 97. The household was very generous with the food and drink as per usual. Served all sorts of dishes. I was happy with the pla nin. Although one of the larger ones looked familiar.  Didn't participate with the alcohol as I've got to drive to Nong Khai later. Wife is still there though; scurrying about.

 

I've been considering giving some of my Mekong catfish to the local temple. They have grown well; in fact very well. The biggest two are over 1.4 metres long and all over one metre. I have 19, and they dominate the other fish at feeding time. If I could get some muscle on the job, for the catching, I reckon I could donate 9. 

 

I did have some feeding posts, that just needed old fruit and veg' to get maggots for free. I'm thinking of putting in a few to cut down on the cost of feed. When I do eventually stock with fingerlings, I'll put the automated feeding stations in all ponds.

 

The big mekongs are in pond #5 (from the left).

 

 

The lady next to us didn't plant rice this year. She planted rosella. I knew it as sorrel in the Caribbean. Very nice drink. She is harvesting at the moment and is getting 100 baht a kilo for dry. Interesting!

Rosella makes great wine!

[d4dang]

I have loved Essarn since my first visit in 1984. My favorite temple had a blind crocodile in the bor nam for about 20 years.

[owl sees all]

19 minutes ago, d4dang said:

I have loved Essarn since my first visit in 1984. My favorite temple had a blind crocodile in the bor nam for about 20 years.

What! A live croc?

[owl sees all]

3 hours ago, d4dang said:

Rosella makes great wine!

It does indeed.

 

I would boil up my rosella (called sorrel in Caribbean) for a couple of hours. Let it cool and add 25% Lao Khow. Very good night-cap.

 

Covered extensively on this thread a couple of years back. Think you might have hit the time D4dong.

[owl sees all]

4 hours ago, d4dang said:

Rosella makes great wine!

 

Getting to learn more and more about the rosella system. We have 30 rai spare, and at the moment unsure what to grow.

 

Pic #1 Preparing the flower by removing the seed pod.

Pic #2 Drying the rosella (that's my shadow;  not some daytime peelaw). 

Pic #3 Bagged up.

Pic #4 Drying the seed pods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lowdown on the rosella is as follows. The lady reckons on harvesting 300 kilos from her 4 rai. At 100 baht a kilo. Easier to grow than rice but post-harvest there are many days ahead; de-podding, drying and bagging up. Very interesting this, especially if this drought cycle continues for more seasons. A lot of the Oz folk on the forum would know about rosella already.

 

 

 

[d4dang]

13 hours ago, owl sees all said:

What! A live croc?

Yes. Some Navy guys found it in a river. As it was blind they brought it to Wat Udomkongkhakiriket, Munchakiriket, Kon Kaen and released it into the pond. Baht (dtah baht/blind) lived in the pond for about 20 years until a local killed it for the skin. Baht's preserved body is in a glass cage. Some of the temple's amulets feature a crocodile.

Baht had a alligator gf who may still live in the pond.