Diary of a farang in Isaan

[HighPriority]

13 hours ago, owl sees all said:

If the 'jabs' become 'stabs' then I'll have to worry.

You’re never alone Owl. 

[sotonowl]

Yes, have to be careful with that domestic abuse malarkey. My first wife had me arrested for it and the judge asked me "Why do you keep beating your wife?" I told him I thought it was the extra weight coupled with my foot movement, not to mention the reach advantage.

 

The old ones are the best.

[owl sees all]

7 minutes ago, sotonowl said:

Yes, have to be careful with that domestic abuse malarkey. My first wife had me arrested for it and the judge asked me "Why do you keep beating your wife?" I told him I thought it was the extra weight coupled with my foot movement, not to mention the reach advantage.

 

The old ones are the best.

Indeed HP.

 

But it's not all whacks and pokes and threats. Mrs Owl does make an exceedingly nice cup of Rosy. Have to take the the rough with the smooth.

[owl sees all]

Owl Log - Monday evening. 24-06-2024

 

Was gonna post this morning but the Mrs sprang a surprise on me; and it couldn't be put off. So, If I knew what was good for me, I had to do it. Hence the delay. Turned into a mini-disaster. All sorted now. More on this later. Plenty of pics.

 

My new leads are simply great. No problems since I switched them over.

 

 

The pineapple has been eaten. Very nice too. That's three from the same pineapple-head I first planted 3 years ago. 

 

 

And another one bites the dust. It was a tad, loose, and was getting on my nerves. So it had to come out. It was a bit hard cause the twine kept slipping off. But success in the end.

 

 

Had to pick Mildred up from school last week. Just for the one day.

 Waiting outside the Post Office in Ban Dung, I was amazed at the lack of helmets at kick out time.

 

 

Couldn't have been more than 10% wearing crash helmets. Seemed to be more wearing masks.

 

Saw the car of my dreams on the way back from Ban Dung. No ,not the Tesla Beast; that is due to be released soon. No!!

 

 

Action with the new build 40 metres from us.

 

 

 

The ladies were clearing the front.

 

 

A grass-herb that is used in cooking. I'm informed.

 

 

 

Back to walking Mildred to the bus all last week after my detox week. Pigeons still on roof.

 

 

it's rice time! Everywhere there is rice planting at one stage or another.

 

 

Plenty of water pumping going on. To fill the paddies.

 

 

 

Buffaloes taking a break.

 

 

More rice planting.

 

 

 

Still pumping the water into the ponds. 

 

But have switched ponds. Now running into number 7 again.  The water level is still 6 inches below the overflow in 6. That's pretty good, but some of the water was seeping into number 7 next door. Can always happen with made-up ground. So decided to fill it first

 

 

 

Just for one day. let the water soak the two palms growing by ponds 6 and 7.

 

 

Would you Adam and Eve it? It rained in the night. First rain for 2 weeks.

 

Fill Mildred's carp tank up whenever it looks a little low.

 

 

Twins with Grandparents.

 

 

Next door their cousins at play.

 

 

Running through about 3 sacks of cow poopoo a week. Will have to get 15 more sacks later this month. Nuts are slow.

 

 

Both ponds have a fantastic growth of lilies now. Look great.

 

Pond 5.

 

 

Pond 6.

 

 

+++++

 

Never mind Scotland. There is always another Cup. England march on.

 

+++++

 

Will phone up the fish man tomorrow. For Number 4 Market, and order 400 pinkies. The water is just right for them now. And if he can get any long-fin kois that would be a bonus.

 

What has happened to the tea bags. None in the three different supermarkets in Ban Dung. Looks like Lazada once more to the rescue.

 

Very dull today again. But no rain. Could do with a bit, to kick-start our rice growing. The Mrs is completely in charge of that; fortunately.

 

George Galloway says the UK will be at war within 6 months, if Labour get in with a big majority.. Farage blames the west for poking the bear, in the run up to the Special Military Operation. Rishi wants all the kids to ditch their mobiles and exchange them for rifles. Election chat is certainly hotting up, with less than two weeks to the big day.

 

Still unhappy about the pic quality with the new mobile.

 

That most wonderful day in the English calendar just passed. Yes, the 16th of June. Start pf the fishing season. Don't suppose I'll ever see The Chase or Hainault again.

 

Only one thing left to say; bye ya'll

 

 

Edited June 24 by owl sees all

[HighPriority]

Love your work Owl 👍🏼

That grass herb looks suspiciously like Lemon grass.

 

[owl sees all]

4 minutes ago, HighPriority said:

Love your work Owl 👍🏼

That grass herb looks suspiciously like Lemon grass.

 

Thanks for that HP.

 

Lemon grass eh! That's what they stuff in fishes mouths to take away the fishy smell.

[HighPriority]

Owl, you are encouraged to retain your toothypegs nowadays…

Something to do with eating and losing bone density in your jaw.

 

ps how much did the tooth fairy leave you anyway ? 😃

Edited June 24 by HighPriority

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, HighPriority said:

Owl, you are encouraged to retain your toothypegs nowadays…

Something to do with eating and losing bone density in your jaw.

 

ps how much did the tooth fairy leave you anyway ? 😃

Ah yes! Bone density.

 

As soon as they get a little bit wobbly; they have to come out. Bit like having a broken fingernail. Or an itch. Just have to scratch it. Or stitch up yer own wound.

 

Tooth fairy is gonna get me a new pocket camera.

[atpeace]

On 11/18/2019 at 10:34 AM, owl sees all said:

I've been in Isaan for 12 years and I find it fascinating. Virtually every week there is something that I find of interest or something that surprises me, dismays me and sometimes shocks me.

 

My wife runs four biggish farms and they too have had their ups and downs recently. This year there has been very little rain and the rice harvest was abysmal. Also, I couldn't fill the ponds up enough to risk putting in fish. I have still got 80% water in two ponds, but I've sacrificed three others to get this.

 

A neighbor recently killed our farm dog (because it killed one of his chickens) and someone borrowed 10 litres of diesel from the farm house store without telling us. We found out who it was. Of course, he just forgot to tell us; but he would have eventually!

 

The wife was on the loo and couldn't give rice to the monk the other day. She asked me to give it. No problem! But I didn't get on my knees; just called him over and tipped it into his pot. I got the 'thank you' verse all the same. Later, when the wife found out that I'd not even bowed my head she was not best amused. "You must not be higher than monk," said she.

 

But, there are lovely things aplenty in the village. Dancing and laughter and Lao Khao drinking. Somone had had a bit of good fortune on the lottery.

 

I'll try to update the thread a couple of times a week. Shortly I'm off to Nong Khai to get some grow bags for my avocado trees that I've grown from seed and will soon need potting. I'll put in some pics as I go.

 

 

OOPs -Sorry. This was a reply to your first post on this thread. Need to get to sleep.

 

Dog bit is funny.  A few months back they wanted 40k baht for a prize fighting rooster they claimed our dog killed.  Our dog does and has killed many chickens that get on our property but this was a kilometer away! They were too embarrassed to make the claim to me and went to the village head.  He just laughed and basically told them they were reaching and sorry for their loss.  

 

As for the monk's, I was running fast past one today that he  shouted at me.  Am I supposed to stop and get to my knees when passing?  Maybe he was just having fun with me.  A couple in the area are drinkers which is odd but think that is rare.

 

Most people here are cool but a few don't like me for some reason.  Only a few and I have never said more than a few words to them. Makes me wonder but I get over it quick enough.

 

Enjoy your posts.

Edited June 24 by atpeace

[sotonowl]

3 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Thanks for that HP.

 

Lemon grass eh! That's what they stuff in fishes mouths to take away the fishy smell.

Yes, that's right. There's only 2 things smell of fish. And one of them's fish.

[owl sees all]

8 hours ago, sotonowl said:

Yes, that's right. There's only 2 things smell of fish. And one of them's fish.

As that great English philosopher Roy Chubby Brown once put it; ''what did fish smell like before women went into the sea?''

Edited June 25 by owl sees all

[owl sees all]

8 hours ago, atpeace said:

OOPs -Sorry. This was a reply to your first post on this thread. Need to get to sleep.

 

Dog bit is funny.  A few months back they wanted 40k baht for a prize fighting rooster they claimed our dog killed.  Our dog does and has killed many chickens that get on our property but this was a kilometer away! They were too embarrassed to make the claim to me and went to the village head.  He just laughed and basically told them they were reaching and sorry for their loss.  

 

As for the monk's, I was running fast past one today that he  shouted at me.  Am I supposed to stop and get to my knees when passing?  Maybe he was just having fun with me.  A couple in the area are drinkers which is odd but think that is rare.

 

Most people here are cool but a few don't like me for some reason.  Only a few and I have never said more than a few words to them. Makes me wonder but I get over it quick enough.

 

Enjoy your posts.

 

Thanks for that At peace.

 

Chickens are probably better though of than dogs up here. We paid a farmer 300 baht cause a dog on the farm killed his duck. And as you read, back in 2019, our neighbor put our dog down because it killed his chicken. Humanly, with a hoe I should add.

 

As for the monks; I just keep away from them as best I can.

[GarryP]

19 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Love your work Owl 👍🏼

That grass herb looks suspiciously like Lemon grass.

 

 

Over here in Kalasin, I have seen many people use lemon grass instead of vetiver grass to stop soil/land erosion. Probably because it is cheaper and easier to source. 

[owl sees all]

You are such a stupid farang.

 

But you said to go the quick way teerak.

 

 

 

Mrs Owl directing the action.

 

 

Robert looking interested. But not helping.

 

 

Kabota to the rescue.

 

 

And out.

 

 

Drama over. Til the next time.

 

Take care out there.

 

[owl sees all]

It's Sunday evening - 30 June 2024 - and this is the Owl Log.

 

Fair bit of rain last week. Nothing very heavy. But when it arrived, it was steady for a couple of hours. Not enough, by a long way, to filling the ponds up, but still welcome all the same.

 

 

Little more than a trickle getting into pond one from the paddy.

 

 

At the other end, ponds 6 and 7 are looking not too bad. And although not full, they are not far short. Maybe less than 20cm.

 

 

The last 5 pinkies escaped. So we decided to put the lily into the carp tank.

 

 

 

It is the Number 4 Market this week, and I was gonna order some fish. 400 pinkies and some long-fin kois. Just can't find the guy's number. Don't know why I didn't save it on the mobile. Annoyed with myself.

 

 

Mrs Owl went on a spending spree last week. Bought a load of plants.

 

 

 

Kun and wife Rooney helping out. BeApp looking on.

 

 

Our local Garden Centre is now a real cracker. Watched it develop over the last couple of years to something special.

 

Rear area.

 

 

Front.

 

 

 

 

The Mrs perusing the goodies.

 

 

 

She intends to buy some bigger trees on Thursday at the monthly market.

 

Rice growing/planting still going on everywhere. We have not even started ours yet. Last year we left it late and we did OK.

 

 

Had a strange experience last Thursday; early evening. Me and Mildred were at the palm farm working away, when we heard a big 'whoosh'. Like a big rocket had just gone up. It sounded quite close.

 

On Saturday we went a different way back to the village and spotted a palm that had been subjected to something or other.

 

 

Unusual. Not seen this before. Wondering what caused it. Might find out when the fronds are trimmed in a month or two.

 

 

Ginger and Robert get along so well. Poo and Oscar not so good. But not too much fighting lately.

 

 

 

Kun has finished his charcoal house. Sliding doors; the lot.

 

 

Big Mango Lady started another round of cricket rearing. Mrs Owl calls them Kadek Kadeks. I'm thinking they are either locust, crickets or just plain simple grasshoppers. These were tiny. Just about one millimetre long. Could hardly see them.

 

 

Seems like a good business. When the critters are fully grown they are worth one baht each. And she has 10,000 of them in the cage. She just gives them special grass to eat. Easy money.

 

 

New fast-food take-away opened outside Nang's Corner Shop.

 

 

Tried their sausages and fish balls on a stick. Very tasty. Just 60 metres from us.

 

 

The new house next to us is racing ahead.

 

 

The steel-fixing didn't slow. Rain or shine.

 

 

 

The footings suffered a little due to the rain.

 

 

Concrete wagon arrived, and it was go,go go.

 

 

 

A couple of ladies in the team.

 

 

 

 

All done for now. Expect to see the columns go up this week.

 

 

+++++

 

First match in the EPL for the coming season; United v Cottagers. I reckon the champs (City) should be in the curtain raiser. England play later today. They didn't want to peak too soon. Forecast 2-0 to the Three Lions. Watch the Swiss though. Just dumped out Italy.

 

+++++

 

Drizzle all afternoon today. I want hard rain. If it can't stop a game of cricket; then why bother. Does suppose to be the wet season after all. But who to complain to?

 

+++++

 

My new camera not arrived yet. Present snapper on the mobile; 4.8 megapix. New one 44 megapix. Will take me a while to get used to the settings. But I can expect some pretty decent pics. Hope so anyway. Cost a small fortune. Not the Vivitar I wanted. We will see.

 

+++++

 

Need some more cow poopoo this week. 15 sacks will do it for a couple of months. Poopoo is so dirty though. Because the family live above the cows, all sorts of rubbish gets mixed in. Plastic cups, bits of drink cartons, plastic straws. Of course I have to take all the crap out on my farm as I go. Not moaning too much though. Great poopoo. Not too much straw.

 

+++++

 

Mozzie sprayers came round this morning. Stayed inside for half an hour. Deadly stuff. Get a lungful and you could be brown bread before long.

 

+++++

 

Mildred had a test at school last week. Science. A 50 minute paper on chromosomes and DNA stuff. What!!?? Better to teach these kids how to measure up a bit of land. Genes! Dear me. All that can wait till Uni.

 

+++++

 

Been watching the World Dart Championships. England have a Humphries and Smith pairing. Gonna take some stopping them two. What else? Wimbledon starts this week. F1; have to have a look. Lost track and interest. Cricket; India T20 World Champs. Roll on the swimming in Paris.

 

+++++

 

Only one thing left to say; bye ya'll

 

+++++

 

Mildred's last painting. A miniature. 14cm x 9cm when trimmed.

 

 

www.mildredart.com

 

Edited June 30 by owl sees all

[chickenslegs]

47 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Mozzie sprayers came round this morning. Stayed inside for half an hour. Deadly stuff. Get a lungful and you could be brown bread before long.

 

Were they doing the fogging? I pity those guys as it must knock years off their lives breathing in that smoke every day with just a paper mask to protect them.

Probably the equivalent of a 40-a-day cigarette habit (or worse).

 

 

[owl sees all]

2 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

 

Were they doing the fogging? I pity those guys as it must knock years off their lives breathing in that smoke every day with just a paper mask to protect them.

Probably the equivalent of a 40-a-day cigarette habit (or worse).

 

 

They were indeed.

 

Tried to find out what chemical they use in the process. A farang friend here said it was DDT. TBH, I don't know. Just keep the family away when the lads are active.

[chickenslegs]

13 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

They were indeed.

 

Tried to find out what chemical they use in the process. A farang friend here said it was DDT. TBH, I don't know. Just keep the family away when the lads are active.

I think that DDT is prohibited in Thailand, but I'm sure that the "fogging" chemical (whatever it is) is not good for one's health. Like you, I make sure that we all stay away from the smoke - pets too.

[owl sees all]

England 2 - the other team 1.

 

The Three Lions march towards glory. The Swiss are in their way. Tough one that. But England never conquered the world by being timid. 

[Thingamabob]

On 11/18/2019 at 9:37 PM, sunnyboy2018 said:

There is no resemblance between the writings of the OP and Bernard Trink.

Correct. No resemblance at all. Whatever gave him that idea ?

[Thingamabob]

Sounds awful, and if someone killed one of my dogs there'd be big trouble from both my wife, our workers and myself. I will be avoiding any and all of your further possible expositions .

Edited July 1 by Thingamabob

[GarryP]

The woosh you and Mildred heard was probably a rocket. Up to the end of June, there were still a few Bun Bangfai events (rocket festivals to bring on the rain) going on and kids were able to buy rockets.  

 

[Korat Kiwi]

Geezus that rocket could do with some tail fins.  It appeared to exit stage left at a hell of a rate! 

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

Sounds awful, and if someone killed one of my dogs there'd be big trouble from both my wife, our workers and myself. I will be avoiding any and all of your further possible expositions .

The two dogs that were living at the farm were not usually bad dogs regarding chicken and ducks. But the fowls are generally a business. Can't have dogs killing chickens.

 

The guy told the wife he killed the dog humanly with a hoe.

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, Korat Kiwi said:

Geezus that rocket could do with some tail fins.  It appeared to exit stage left at a hell of a rate! 

It did cross my mind that Nth Korea had let off some new fireworks.

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

The woosh you and Mildred heard was probably a rocket. Up to the end of June, there were still a few Bun Bangfai events (rocket festivals to bring on the rain) going on and kids were able to buy rockets.  

 

You are probably right there Gary.

 

The farm is only a couple of Kms from the US 'dark site'' off the 2022.. Seen some funny goings on there.

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

Correct. No resemblance at all. Whatever gave him that idea ?

 

I don't know who Mr Trink is. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. Before my TV//AN time.

[roo860]

32 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

 

I don't know who Mr Trink is. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. Before my TV//AN time.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1999947/post-legend-bernard-trink-dies-at-89

[Mayhem11]

Very interesting string. I am not sure if I could adapt to rural village life.

[owl sees all]

5 hours ago, roo860 said:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1999947/post-legend-bernard-trink-dies-at-89

Thanks for that Roo.

 

Certainly an interesting chap. Only died in 2020.