Diary of a farang in Isaan

[owl sees all]

6 hours ago, sotonowl said:

Any advice on the cyber attack that Southern Water has been exposed to and leaked mine and many others personal details? 

As you know Owl, I'm a wizard at the old webmastering. So! I'll take a butchers and report back.

Easy 3 points coming up this w/e.  Could possibly lift the Owls out of the rel zone; if QPR and Stoke lose. Rangers at Foxes. Stoke have toughie at home.

[sotonowl]

1 hour ago, owl sees all said:

As you know Owl, I'm a wizard at the old webmastering. So! I'll take a butchers and report back.

Easy 3 points coming up this w/e.  Could possibly lift the Owls out of the rel zone; if QPR and Stoke lose. Rangers at Foxes. Stoke have toughie at home.

I'm apprehensive rather than confident Owl. They really hate us, not sure why though and they'd love to get one over on us. They have been losing but they've also been scoring goals recently.

The ground will be full of Wednesdayites all over, in with the home supporters and if they do beat us them Wednesdayites will smash the town up and cause a million pounds worth of improvements.

Plymouth and Leeds in quick succession after that game, I watch every game with bated breath, hoping for the best, fearing the worst. It's going to be touch and go I think but at least this manager has rallied us a bit, the last one was going to break all records for the worst season ever.

UTO & FTB.😉

 

As for Southern Water-well, just can't get my <deleted> breath with that company. At least they gave all affected a 12 month membership of Experian, hopefully that will offer some protection. 

[GarryP]

"Didn't glue any of the 8 PVC pipe sections. Or use sealing tape." What is the reason for that? I would have thought gluing or taping are the norm, but then I know sweet eff all about this stuff. 

[owl sees all]

3 hours ago, GarryP said:

"Didn't glue any of the 8 PVC pipe sections. Or use sealing tape." What is the reason for that? I would have thought gluing or taping are the norm, but then I know sweet eff all about this stuff. 

 

Good point Garry. Me and Mildred cut the female ends off the PVC sections a couple of weeks ago and glued on a male and female screw fitting on each end. On the day the team simply screwed them together, as the pump went down.

 

I have heard that some DIY farmers (include myself here) have glued the section together, only to have to cut them if they had to pull up the pump for whatever reason. Sometimes the PVC is used to hold it all together in the well, instead of a rope. In the US, they tend to use metal pipes with no rope. All sorts of ways to skin the cat.

 

I'm also not keen on those metal caps. At least not in the rural environment. They put the pipework - and often cables - under stress. Because the PVC, cable and anything else attached, will rise and fall as the water fills the pipe them gradually runs away, back down to water table level. Better, IMO, to allow this up and down movement. But that has to be factored in with the ground PVC. We will see. Will change my mind for the next one if I have to. Gonna do four in all.

 

Had a really bad sore throat for a couple of days, so not doing any more until tomorrow. Jest resting up.

[owl sees all]

6 hours ago, sotonowl said:

As for Southern Water-well, just can't get my <deleted> breath with that company. At least they gave all affected a 12 month membership of Experian, hopefully that will offer some protection. 

 

Is Southern Water a foreign company? They should take better care of their customers.

 

Debbie Evans (UK Column) is always on about the terrible service she is getting from her water company. Poor water quality and raw sewage everywhere.

 

Nome of my family back in England and Wales would drink tap water. In fact even cooking with the water is a no, no.

 

[HighPriority]

7 hours ago, owl sees all said:

 

Good point Garry. Me and Mildred cut the female ends off the PVC sections a couple of weeks ago and glued on a male and female screw fitting on each end. On the day the team simply screwed them together, as the pump went down.

 

I have heard that some DIY farmers (include myself here) have glued the section together, only to have to cut them if they had to pull up the pump for whatever reason. Sometimes the PVC is used to hold it all together in the well, instead of a rope. In the US, they tend to use metal pipes with no rope. All sorts of ways to skin the cat.

 

I'm also not keen on those metal caps. At least not in the rural environment. They put the pipework - and often cables - under stress. Because the PVC, cable and anything else attached, will rise and fall as the water fills the pipe them gradually runs away, back down to water table level. Better, IMO, to allow this up and down movement. But that has to be factored in with the ground PVC. We will see. Will change my mind for the next one if I have to. Gonna do four in all.

 

Had a really bad sore throat for a couple of days, so not doing any more until tomorrow. Jest resting up.

 

 

 

 

 

Are you saying that you have lengths of PVC from the pump to the bore cap ?

 

If I understand what you two are saying, my bore pump has 50mm black poly pipe connecting the pump to the bore cap (50mm because of the available water and corresponding pump size) but it also has a stainless steel cable that attaches to the pump (lanyard)

The pump itself originally had a non return valve that held water in the poly when the pump was not running but it is no longer water tight and the water trickles back to the water table.

Its not a real problem, it just means that when the pump first starts it burps and farts a bit…

When the water gets to the bore cap it then connects to 50mm PVC and then to the individual irrigation runs that are 25mm poly.

 

The problem with using the poly from the pump to the bore cap is that when you lift the pump you need someone to walk the bore cap away so as to not kink the poly and if I understand what you’ve done you will need to hold the pump/PVC whilst someone unscrews the assembled lengths…?

Sounds heavy !

Some people use what’s basically a fire hose to come from the pump to the bore cap, apparently it’s easier to pull but it’s very expensive.

 

[owl sees all]

11 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Are you saying that you have lengths of PVC from the pump to the bore cap ?

 

If I understand what you two are saying, my bore pump has 50mm black poly pipe connecting the pump to the bore cap (50mm because of the available water and corresponding pump size) but it also has a stainless steel cable that attaches to the pump (lanyard)

The pump itself originally had a non return valve that held water in the poly when the pump was not running but it is no longer water tight and the water trickles back to the water table.

Its not a real problem, it just means that when the pump first starts it burps and farts a bit…

When the water gets to the bore cap it then connects to 50mm PVC and then to the individual irrigation runs that are 25mm poly.

 

The problem with using the poly from the pump to the bore cap is that when you lift the pump you need someone to walk the bore cap away so as to not kink the poly and if I understand what you’ve done you will need to hold the pump/PVC whilst someone unscrews the assembled lengths…?

Sounds heavy !

Some people use what’s basically a fire hose to come from the pump to the bore cap, apparently it’s easier to pull but it’s very expensive.

 

 

Got the PVC sections a while back. Cut off the female ends and glued on the screw sections.

 

 

From pump to the first row of irrigation pipes it's all 1.5 inch PVC.

 

 

Will get some more concrete posts delivered this week. Gonna change a couple of things for the next two solar systems.

 

 

 

 

[sotonowl]

16 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Is Southern Water a foreign company?

I'm not sure whether it's French owned or not Owl. Think Thames got in a pickle as well although that's gone a bit quiet. Shareholders taking their cuts and the money not being invested in infrastructure then going to the government with the begging bowl. Fact is all these companies either get ripped off by investors or workers depending whether they're publicly or privately owned.

[owl sees all]

35 minutes ago, sotonowl said:

I'm not sure whether it's French owned or not Owl. Think Thames got in a pickle as well although that's gone a bit quiet. Shareholders taking their cuts and the money not being invested in infrastructure then going to the government with the begging bowl. Fact is all these companies either get ripped off by investors or workers depending whether they're publicly or privately owned.

Could well be owned by an 'investment' group. This all started under Maggie and (Sir) Tony carried it on. The biggest problem I see with it, is that different parts of a very complicated, and complex concern, is that different parts are subbed out to different firms. Finishes up that that virtually nothing is decided 'in house', under one umbrella. And the result is that one hand don't know what the other is up to.

 

The thing is, the customers are paying for these essential services. Sometimes they are bottom of the priority list. And as for the 'regulatory' bodies??

[champers]

On 3/1/2024 at 7:33 AM, sotonowl said:

I'm not sure whether it's French owned or not Owl. Think Thames got in a pickle as well although that's gone a bit quiet. Shareholders taking their cuts and the money not being invested in infrastructure then going to the government with the begging bowl. Fact is all these companies either get ripped off by investors or workers depending whether they're publicly or privately owned.

 Scottish and Southern Water are owned by an Ontario Teachers Pension fund. 

Many privatised companies in the utilities and rail sectors are foreign owned.

Indians Mittal own much of the UK steel industry.

The Chinese are into the ownership of UK wind farms and have a big stake in the new Hinckley B nuclear plant.

Buy British.

[sotonowl]

8 hours ago, champers said:

 Scottish and Southern Water are owned by an Ontario Teachers Pension fund. 

Many privatised companies in the utilities and rail sectors are foreign owned.

Indians Mittal own much of the UK steel industry.

The Chinese are into the ownership of UK wind farms and have a big stake in the new Hinckley B nuclear plant.

Buy British.

Hinkley Point B Station, notice the lack of the "c" in Hinkley is in fact operational, I have worked on it prior to the start of Hinkley Point C station construction which you are referring to. The A station is being decommissioned now and had reactors 1 and 2. The B station has reactors 3 and 4. I wonder how many reactors C station will have although I'm not that interested I must admit.

[champers]

47 minutes ago, sotonowl said:

Hinkley Point B Station, notice the lack of the "c" in Hinkley is in fact operational, I have worked on it prior to the start of Hinkley Point C station construction which you are referring to. The A station is being decommissioned now and had reactors 1 and 2. The B station has reactors 3 and 4. I wonder how many reactors C station will have although I'm not that interested I must admit.

Yes C. I did a small piece of work there myself. Osborn and Cameron went cap in hand to China for some funding. EDF (French) will operate the finished plant.

[owl sees all]

Sorry everyone.

 

Weekly Owl Log on its way, but delayed due to a family crisis. M in Law (Mrs Owl's mum) taken to hospital yesterday morning. And you know what it's like with that. Rushing here and rushing there.

 

Take care out there.

[sotonowl]

17 hours ago, champers said:

I did a small piece of work there myself.

Who was you working for?

[owl sees all]

Owl weekly Log - Tuesday afternoon.

 

Another 'interesting' time. Everything as normal - well as normal as normal can be in Isaan - until Sunday morning. Ma in Law was taken sick. She is not in the best of health, so not a great shock. I was at the farm, and on return, was informed that she had been taken to Udon. The wife said we had to go and take stuff. No problem. We left at 10ish.

Because of the trauma, the wife said she wanted to go to the big Reclining Buddha in Udon. But she couldn't remember where it was. Fortunately I knew, although not having been there for about 10 years. But! Fair doos. Would Mrs Owl mind if I called into Sum Sao Wat for an update on the way? A bit of moaning; but OK.

 

Pulled in next to the Sum Sao Wat and wandered over to the rear area where there was some serious action. On my last visit in 2023, I'd not seen a soul all the while I was there.

 

 

A new flight of stairs! A young lad seemed to be in charge.

 

 

The lower area was being used as an equipment store.

 

 

Upstairs was different. New things and even more decorations.

 

 

At the upstairs rear, it was absolutely magnificent. A fantastic green see-thru buddha.

 

 

 

Other items including glass orbs.

 

 

Lots of new items.

 

 

Gong for summoning the congregation.

 

 

The one thing different at the front was a new water tower. TBH, it spoilt it for me. Why didn't they stick it right at the back; out of sight?

 

 

We were back on our way. Next stop the Reclining Buddha. I told the Mrs that I wanted to call into Do Home on the way back for some pipes.

 

Pulled into the Reclining Buddha Wat, and would you believe it?! There was a concert going on.

 

 

Didn't hang about near the music. Ears were ringing. Head was thumping. Found the buddha Mrs Owl was after.

 

 

Mrs Owl at meditation.

 

 

The whole area is run down something chronic. What a contrast to the wat at Sum Sao.

 

 

Bit of a shame to see a place so poorly. And it's a huge site of 60 rai. A big dose of TLC - and money(?) - needed.

 

Just as we were about to hit Udon centre, the Mrs had a call mobile. Well, well well!! Mother was not in the hospital in Udon. She was in Ban Dung!!?? So back we went. But not before going to Do Home for the pipes.

 

 

Turned out that one of Mrs Owl's sisters was with the mum. So we went home. Took the Mrs to Ban Dung yesterday; and she stayed the night. Brought the other sister back.

 

Still go on with some work on the next solar system. This next one about 200 metres from the first.

 

 

The solar panels will go around there somewhere.

 

 

And here's the spot!

 

 

Me and me new mucker Kun, got to work.

 

 

Bit of levelling before putting in the posts.

 

 

Check for square. Check for upright. Check for level. And concrete the sods in.

 

 

The panels will be about 4 metres from the well.

 

 

 

Will pick up the metal bearers this afternoon. Gonna do things a little differently with this second one. Not so many bearers and less brackets. If it all blows away in one of the really strong winds later in the year, well!!!!!!!

 

Job for me and Mildred yesterday, was to put on the male and female connectors, and take the PVC to the farm.

 

 

Have ordered the same panels and DC pump as last time. Have got the wires already so if the deliveries come; maybe this w/e?!

 

+++++

 

The Owls won at neighbours Rotherham. So it looks like survival is more than possible. And if they stay up, next year they will be facing soon to be demoted Blades. City easily came out on top in the Manchester derby. Lucky Liverpool. An outrageous ref' decision led to their goal. Arsenal hit 6. 0-0; Aveley v Yoville.

 

Gorgeous George did the bizzo in Rochdale with something to spare. Will he shake up the 'two party' lot at the next election? Workers Party hope to put in up to 80 candidates.

 

No rain for another week. Will think seriously about pumping water into number 5 pond, if I'm not sure the solar system will be sorted this w/e.

 

Family events have taken over in the last few days. Trauma all round.

 

F1 started. Red Bull win. Is that guy coming back to hear the music?

 

Off school for two days. Mildred starts her exams tomorrow. Today and yesterday are supposed to be revision days. I'll go over some maths with her this afternoon. Her art has taken a back seat this year. But she has two paintings nearly finished. And she has been my right-hand on the solar.

 

Waiting to hear if I have to go to Ban Dung or not.

 

Only one thing left to say; bye y'all.

 

 

 

[champers]

12 hours ago, sotonowl said:

Who was you working for?

Balfour Beatty, outside the nuclear plant site.

[owl sees all]

It's the afternoon of Sunday 10th of March. This is the weekly Owl Log.

 

Mildred finished her last day of the school year on Friday. Off for seven weeks. Let's hope she can do other things other than watch the telephone for 12 hours a day. Her art has certainly taken a back-seat in the last few months.

 

Had a bit of a surprise when in Ban Dung last week. Went along to see the new build progress and, see if they had started fixing up the old neglected house.

 

 

It had gone!!

 

 

The build is coming along just grand though. Wonder what it's gonna be? Mrs Owl says a fruit and veg market.

 

 

Did myself a reishi tonic brew yesterday. Not gonna lace it with Lao khow this time. Just swig it back neat. Finished up with 4.8 litres. That will keep me active for a couple of weeks.

 

 

Other stuff in there also. I like to add the three 'g's; ginseng, garlic and ginger. Sometime put a chili in too. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 3 or more hours. Thought about making some lollies with the brew.

 

 

Saw a funny looking vehicle on the road leading to the village from the 2022.

 

 

Thought it was a bus from a distance. Unusual to see one in our parts. Only usually see school buses.

 

 

Very fancy.

 

The pineapple will soon be ready to eat. Well, hopefully this year.

 

 

Both me and Mildred were a bit concerned about the level of water in pond 5. We decided to go full throttle on the second solar system. Had originally planned to have a Saturday (yesterday) fix-up. But there was a problem with the solar panel delivery, so it's now Tuesday. But! The delay didn't help the fishes. So on Thursday, we set up the petrol pump and transferred water from 2 to 5.

 

Water very low.

 

 

Around 60 metres of pipe.

 

 

Started the pump at oneish, and I returned to the farm at five-thirty. About 2 litres a second. Got a few inches in there. That will do until later this week.

 

I've so much old PVC laying about at the farm. Must be a hundred metres of both one and a half, and two inch. I'll try to use most of it in farm 2 for the irrigation. Other pipes as well. Will have to have a clear our. See what can be used.

 

 

Not yet worked out how to utilise any of it.

 

 

Just had a call from the deliver man. Last panel due at 0ne today. Will slip it alongside the others in the bedroom.'

 

 

This last solar panel delivery was a bit of a mare. Ordered 3 as one order. Two arrived. Where is the other one? Returned to sender! Came the reply. What? Couldn't really get to the bottom of it. So reordered. 350 baht more; this one. Be here shortly.

 

One of the interesting things about village plumbing is that it's so simple. Confusing for me though. Obviously the Thais know what pipe goes where.

 

 

Stopped to have a butchers at the place where Mildred's cat was made. To see what they were making.

 

 

A lady climbed up and gave the her item a touch-up.

 

There ya go! Much better.

 

 

Wave for the camera dear.

.

 

Lovely!

 

Still some messy pups in the village. But as long as the farm, and our soi, is trash-free; I'm happy enough.

 

 

As soon as I get anywhere near the farm the chickens come running. They certainly love their grub.

 

 

+++++

 

It's so, so tight at the bottom of the Championship. The best contest for years.

 

Rotherham are gone. But from the Owls up to the Swans it's close. Gonna be any two from nine to go down. Who can string a couple of results together?

 

 

EPL is a good contest also. Leyton Orient lose again. Will be difficult to get into the play offs. Aveley the same. Even Cove Rangers lost at home. Not a good w/e for me on the footy scene. All my fave's came unstuck. Well not all. Saints won. Foxes drew.

+++++

Have to un-set the alarm for the 5-45 wake up call. Just imagine; get up when I want for the next few weeks. Mildred had a shock on Friday. She said she was cruising through the maths' exam. Finished with 20 minutes to spare. Went over the questions again; just to make sure. Handed the paper in to teacher., who turned it over. There were questions on t'other side. Never mind dear. Happened to me years ago; the same.

+++++

There is a forecast of rain for later on today. Believe it when I see it.

+++++

Red Bull win again! I'm more interested to hear that the rascal who killed the cop, is coming back to face the music. Been a bit about the case in the news.

+++++

Another death. Lady of 30, with two children. M/c accident in Bangkok, the Mrs informed me. Especially sad that. Body brought back this morning.

+++++

Have to give AN the thumbs-up. A lot quicker today. The up-loader worked without any prob's. No pop-ups during the 60 minutes I was posting.

+++++

Have to do some work this afternoon. Will drill the holes for the main bearers to be bolted onto the posts. And hot-weld a couple of cables ready for Tuesday.

 

Solar panel just arrived. Didn't need it in the end. Have decided to mount two at the farm. That will give 1,100 Watts. The pump is 750 Watts. What I 'think' this means, is that instead of getting water at 11, there will be a delay of about 30 minutes, until about 11-30, when there should be enough voltage coming through, from the panels, to kick-start everything into action. Then it should be water until about 4. We will see. It's all a learning curve.

+++++

Just glanced out the door and saw Mildred is working on a painting. Happy!

 

Only one thing left to say; thanks for visiting.

 

PS. Nearly forgot.

Crossroads gang have a new member.

 

 

 

 

 

[roo860]

How's Oscar doing not seen any pics of him lately?

[owl sees all]

37 minutes ago, roo860 said:

How's Oscar doing not seen any pics of him lately?

He is fine.

 

Oscar is the 'enforcer'. Anyone even thinks about coming thru the gate he is up, barking and ready for action. Robert is far more laid back in that respect. He just wants to play with any children in the soi.

[sotonowl]

12 hours ago, owl sees all said:

But from the Owls up to the Swans it's close.

We'll probably lose the next one as well Owl, away to Ipswich but you never know. At least the manager has put us in with a chance now after all looked lost not so long ago.

 

What is that vehicle you thought was a bus, I can't make it out.

 

Is that the hat lady giving us all a wave.

[owl sees all]

5 hours ago, sotonowl said:

We'll probably lose the next one as well Owl, away to Ipswich but you never know. At least the manager has put us in with a chance now after all looked lost not so long ago.

 

What is that vehicle you thought was a bus, I can't make it out.

 

Is that the hat lady giving us all a wave.

On form of the last 5 games, any two from Hudds, Brum and Blackburn would go down with Rotherham. Bristol city got out of the reckoning yesterday.

 

Yes! That bus. Strange one that. Hope I see it again to get a better look.

 

That lady was touching up her buddha and giving all the crew on the thread a ''hi there'.

[owl sees all]

11 hours ago, owl sees all said:

On form of the last 5 games, any two from Hudds, Brum and Blackburn would go down with Rotherham. Bristol city got out of the reckoning yesterday.

On closer inspection, Plymouth are in the drop mix also.

[sotonowl]

7 hours ago, owl sees all said:

On closer inspection, Plymouth are in the drop mix also.

Quite. On some of the Owls fans forums I go on they were bemoaning the fact that as we'd started to win then so had the other teams just above us but what that does do inevitably is rope more teams into the battle, there's only so many points to go round.

[owl sees all]

On 3/12/2024 at 3:06 AM, sotonowl said:

Quite. On some of the Owls fans forums I go on they were bemoaning the fact that as we'd started to win then so had the other teams just above us but what that does do inevitably is rope more teams into the battle, there's only so many points to go round.

Brum are in deep poo poo.

[sotonowl]

6 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Brum are in deep poo poo.

Yes, I watched them last night against Middlesborough. The Tony Mowbray illness hasn't hasn't helped them at all which may eventually be their downfall. I think he's on the mend and I wish him well, just hope he doesn't rush back too quickly, take your time Tony.😂

I was fearing the worst when they held onto Stansfield and then signed Pritchard from Sunderland but it's not working for them yet, but things can change quickly.

[marty147]

 

I suspect that vehicle it is a mobile music bus that can be hired for your celebration.

Looks very similar to something I recently saw/heard at a local wedding.

They roll up to the venue and start blasting out their wares for everyone in the village to 'enjoy'.

The Thais love their bass!

The one I encountered was also bright red.

 

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, marty147 said:

 

I suspect that vehicle it is a mobile music bus that can be hired for your celebration.

Looks very similar to something I recently saw/heard at a local wedding.

They roll up to the venue and start blasting out their wares for everyone in the village to 'enjoy'.

The Thais love their bass!

The one I encountered was also bright red.

 

Bang on the money there Marty.

 

Since that post another very similar has driven down the next soi to us. Pics later.

[owl sees all]

This is the weekly Owl Log. 17th March 2024. Sunday afternoon.

 

And another one. Two up, two to go.

 

Brought out the sheet to get everything squared up. Marked the metal bearers and screwed in a couple of brackets ready for the big day. That turned out to be Thursday. Put off from Tuesday because of two  empty days, when the village was paying respect to the young lady killed on her m/c.

 

 

 

 

Both coils of cable were sorted out.

 

 

 

One for the sensor and the main one for the pump.

 

 

Thursday morning at 9am we got to work. /four of us. Me, Mildred, Kun and Boom.

 

A little unexpected problem. The two panels were slightly different.

 

 

I had to make spacers to bring the 30mm thick one up to the 40mm one. Would not have bothered to do that, but the top of the concrete posts were too close to the underside of the slimmer panel for comfort.

 

 

Trimmed a few branches, so as to keep the panels in full sun.

 

Lowered the pump 32 metres down and fired it up. Got a decent reading; 79.9 volts.

 

 

 

The pump needs more than it's rating of 750 watts, to get it going. About 20% more, so 80 volts gives 1040 watts. Only two panels on this system. Have another panel in reserve. Hope I don't need it, as the structure is designed for just two.

 

Put in the temporary barriers. Don't want anyone driving round and ruining the water pipe.

 

 

 

As soon as I'm sure we can leave things alone, I'll get the pipe below the road surface.

 

Went along this morning early, to check on everything. Pump started up at 9-40am. Voltage read 77v. It was slightly overcast then, but the sun came out at 9-55am and the reading was 79.9v. Yesterday at 2ish, the reading was 82.4v. Will not get much better that that. But that's enough. Flow yesterday at 2pm was about 1.5 liters per second. This morning at 10am about one litre per second.

 

Have a button on the controller that gives a higher voltage to the pump, if pressed. Don't ask me how that works?! Leave well alone; unless the instructions are in English instead of Thai.

 

Have translated all the 'error' codes to English.

 

Mildred wants to put overflow pipes in from pond to pond. That way we only have to fill one. Let natural leveling do the rest.

 

There is a party at the village tomorrow. We gave a generous donation. I'm sure all the village dwellings did. Last year they raised nearly 100k. That went on finishing the building over the pond. Not sure what the dosh will go towards this time.

 

Lighting being put up all round the village wat.

 

 

 

Everything nicely secured.

 

 

The village was treated to some exquisite dancing yesterday.

 

 

 

Refreshment for the dancers. Not for me dear; thanks. My dancing days are long gone. I'm just the recorder.

 

 

Monk held in high esteem.

 

 

The mystery of the special pick-up has been solved.

 

 

 

 

Tobacco plants are blossoming. 

 

 

Must be a decent business. Found another drying area, closer to the village. Don't know where their farm is though.

 

 

Mrs Owl tells me that a wholesale business arrives and pays 32k a tonne. Sounds a lot. It works out at 32 baht a kilo. It takes a lot of leaves to make a kilo though. Don't sound so good now I've worked it out.

 

There are different varieties. Don't have any more info than that. Interesting though. It's all a learning curve here in Isaan.

 

Evidently some districts of Nong Khai (just north-west of us) are some of the most productive areas in Thailand. That's along Ta Bo/Si Chang Mai way. Along the river to the west of Nong Khai.

 

The farm next to us has added a small water-holder to their system. Will I be doing similar soon?

 

 

At the village, the children are well catered for.

 

 

Am I spoilt? Or am I spoilt? Mrs Owl has even taken to squeezing Vegemite onto to my breakfast cheese feast. Me Rosie is hot too; and don't taste salty. Talk about being pampered. She knows I have some readies hidden away. Don't think she would be that crafty. But then again! Wonder what she will think of next to get me excited!?

 

 

Had to get the Mazza through the MoT in the week. No problem. Flew through. 235k kilometres on the clock. Good for 500k I reckon. But Mrs Owl keeps on about those cheap MGs. She likes the leccy ones. Can't say I've noticed an electric MG. Mildred says the leccy car made her car-sick. I can see a future dilemma there.

 

Anyway me and daughter took the Mazza in. Have to pick up the disk on the 19th.

 

 

The iguanas were hiding. Try to get some pics in the week.

 

 

Out of the 90+ paintings, sketches and CGIs that Mildred has on her www, the one everyone seems to like is 'Stickman' holding the dove. But that was computer generated. In the last few days she has done a stonking good painting. 'Dove of peace needs helping hand.''

 

 

+++++

 

Owl was right. 6-0 to Tractors. Orient won at Stevenage. Puts them in with a chance of the play-offs. Cove won away. Aveley lost😣 🥴.

 

All the Ozzie matches finished either 1-2, or 2-1.

 

32k in the ground to see Rams beat the Wanderers. Best third tier gate of the season.

 

+++++

 

Been having trouble with our front door lock. Took off the lock. Put the lock back on. Took it off. Fiddled with it. Simply worn out inside. I'll try to get a new one when I go to town on the 20th for the MoT disc. Don't hold out a lot of hope though. Another Heath Robinson job coming up.

 

Mrs Owl wants to go to Bangkok to see Bam Bam; of GOT7 fame. He is doing a second show in May. First one sold out. 77k tickets gone in 12 hours. Bam Bam for PM!!??

 

Good to see the ex-rate climbing; albeit slowly. 45.77 Baht to the pound at the mo.

 

Some Euro leaders are talking up a war. That can only mean one thing. The banking system is close to collapse.

 

Had a problem with Oacar harassing m/cs as they pass the house. The Mrs wants to put a muzzle on him; otherwise he can't go out.

 

Noticably hotter last week. The start of the 6 week heat-wave.

 

No rain.

 

Mildred has dyed her hair light brown. She was gonna do it green, but I pointed out that she would have to then redye it for next school term. Came out a gold colour.

 

That's it folks. Stay cool and take care out there.

 

PS

 

Can't get them to play. Someone might have more luck. Both mp4s

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

Both videos play for me Owl .

 

Leeds need a win at Millwall to regain 2nd place, should be easy ….. I think !

[degrub]

Videos work fine on ipad using Firefox, sound too.