Diary of a farang in Isaan

[owl sees all]

10 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If water situation is so serious, shouldn't they be saving the used water for the plants. Stand in one of those bath things they use for making concrete.

I've told the Mrs to hose down the kids under the palm trees. She never listens to me. Good for you to point that out TBL. I'll have another word.

 

@thaibeachlovers: "Are you able to siphon the water from one pond to the other? Save on electricity. I used to do that to fill the fish pond by the house from the swamp, when things were very dry."

 

The ponds, seven to one, go down a gradual slope. Number seven, the highest, is now completely dry. Number six, the tree pond, has a big puddle at the deep end. I was siphoning from those two much earlier, but I'm going uphill now, from four to five. And it might be three to five soon.

 

Another dry storm last night. Knocked out the lecky for a while.

Edited May 10, 2020 by owl sees all
inserted @thaibeachlovers

[Radar501]

On 5/7/2020 at 4:03 PM, owl sees all said:

The girls would play 'ring-a-ring-a-roses' 

Waiting for a Covid19 update to this seemingly innocent, but truly sinister nursery rhyme.

 

   Ring-a-ring o' roses,

   A pocket full of posies,

   A-tishoo!  A-tishoo!

   We all fall down.

[owl sees all]

33 minutes ago, Radar501 said:

Waiting for a Covid19 update to this seemingly innocent, but truly sinister nursery rhyme.

 

   Ring-a-ring o' roses,

   A pocket full of posies,

   A-tishoo!  A-tishoo!

   We all fall down.

Absolutely. These rhymes will last forever. A warning to the 'modern' world. "And, I turned 'round and said." A common phrase used in England. Again linked to the plague.

 

Also 'Oranges and lemons'. And the seemingly innocent ' Mary, Mary'. Should teach that one in Saudi nurseries.

Edited May 10, 2020 by owl sees all

[bluesofa]

4 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Absolutely. These rhymes will last forever. A warning to the 'modern' world. "And, I turned 'round and said." A common phrase used in England. Again linked to the plague.

 

Also 'Oranges and lemons'. And the seemingly innocent ' Mary, Mary'. Should teach that one in Saudi nurseries.

My wife's niece has been watching nursery rhymes on my wife's iPad. She is learning to sing them, but at three years-old doesn't understand any of the English words, although she can sing some of the lines.

 

I looked up Baa Baa Black Sheep. Turns out the earliest version is from 1731.

It's suspected it may have originated from the Middle Ages as a complaint about taxing the wool trade.

 

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baa%2C_Baa%2C_Black_Sheep  

 

[owl sees all]

4 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

My wife's niece has been watching nursery rhymes on my wife's iPad. She is learning to sing them, but at three years-old doesn't understand any of the English words, although she can sing some of the lines.

 

I looked up Baa Baa Black Sheep. Turns out the earliest version is from 1731.

It's suspected it may have originated from the Middle Ages as a complaint about taxing the wool trade.

 

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baa%2C_Baa%2C_Black_Sheep  

 

Most of the rhymes have an element of truth of the times. A lot of them to do with English royalty or high ranking people. It was the commoners way of speaking out without getting harassed or arrested or beheaded even.

 

These rhymes were so common in London that they led to the cockney rhyming slang that we are all familiar with today. Apples and pears; stairs. Going up the stairs to the gallows or excutioner's axe.

 

It was a brutal world in those times. If a working lady upset a titled gent' she could be trussed up with a funnel attached and passers by were encouraged to drop things into the funnel.

 

Researched the Anthony Newley song 'Pop goes the weasel' in my younger days after it became a hit. The original was sung at toffs' balls. Sometime royalty were present.

 

There are a number of explanations for the song; which was originally a rhyme. The bit I like is "Up and down the City Road, In and out of the Eagle." This part of the song seems to be about the whorehouses in the Shoreditch  area, and the working ladies that would hang about in City Road waiting for docker customers. The Eagle was a boozer. Dockers would get their pay, head to Shoreditch and squander their dosh on beer and pro's. The wives would not be best pleased and to stop the trend they would line up at the exits to the London Docks, getting some money from hubby before they went astray.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Goes_the_Weasel

[owl sees all]

Owl Log - 10-05-2020

 

Didn't get around to fix Neil's bike today. Other things materialized. Anyway, he rode it away this evening. Maybe he thought it was fixed. Neil might not have noticed the brakes and handlebars hanging off.

 

 

Got to be careful at the mo'. The super-highway is not progressing and there are R-bars everywhere.

 

 

I just don't want any of these children to get hurt. They don't see the dangers that we see.

 

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I though I'd dismissed the mozzie killer to soon. Thought I should be able to fix it. Got it out of the scrap heap and had a second look. Bloody rubbish thing. I'd worked out that in the two weeks it had been working, it had exterminated 13 mosquitoes. Cost new; 650 Baht, so 50 Baht a kill.

 

 

Looked the bizzo in the shop. After two weeks the blue light went out. I put my finger on the kill mesh; nothing.

 

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Been taking a group to the farm virtually every day for a while now. Snapped them just as we left for home yesterday.

 

 

At least the flash still works.

 

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Burning hot sun and no rain. Pond 6 had a few hundred fishes die.

 

 

Carry on like this and that pond will be gone in a week or so.

 

 

The tree is still standing. Just roots holding it up.

 

 

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Today, the children were nagging me from about 2 o'clock for the farm. I'm in the habit of saying something on the lines of "ask mum." So at three, Mrs Owl gave the thumbs up and we were off.

 

 

Everyone has to wear a hat. Where's your hat Wow?

 

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I'd been thinking that Mrs Owl and me were beginning to see eye-to-eye so to speak. Looking forward to happy times I was.

 

When we got to the farm I did the bits and pieces; start the water pump, sort out the pipes etc. I concentrated on pumping while the good lady was busy filling the concrete bucket.

 

 

The two lads, Neil and Wow, had been rejected by the girls and went straight into pond four.

 

There was great joy and harmony in the camp.

 

 

But the girls soon got fed up being in the tub, and wanted to be with the lads. The Mrs said: "No! Water too dirty." And she was right; although it was fine for the lads. She had put her foot down and the girls were not happy.

 

 

What could be done? I was quite content to let them sulk. And the Mrs definitely was.

 

The girls began pressuring me, and pointing to the dirty pond, where the boys were frolicking. I said: "Sorry, can't go against Teer." (The children all know her as Teer.)

 

Number three pond is as clear as tap water. I told Milly and her crew that if they could stay down the end and keep away from the plants they could go in; if they wanted.

 

 

The boys joined them and it seemed playtime as usual.

 

 

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A wrong un had been done. I was to be punished like never before, and be sorry I'd ever came to Isaan. I knew she was right about the dirty pond. But I didn't ask her permission, to ask the girls if they wanted to go into the clean pond. Undermined her; big time. I said "sorry." "Please don't throw Charkie at me when we get home." On the way home, I apologized another twenty times, and actually went to kiss the back of her hand.

 

Got a nice cup of Rosy; with a slice of ginger a little while back. Just waiting to know what way the breeze is blowing. I think it will be OK. Hope so.

 

More to follow.

 

Bye y'all.

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by owl sees all

[thaibeachlovers]

15 hours ago, owl sees all said:

I though I'd dismissed the mozzie killer to soon. Thought I should be able to fix it. Got it out of the scrap heap and had a second look. Bloody rubbish thing. I'd worked out that in the two weeks it had been working, it had exterminated 13 mosquitoes. Cost new; 650 Baht, so 50 Baht a kill.

I had a couple of those things, best brand and expensive- didn't work even when the light was working. A proper mossie trap uses CO2 to attract the blighters ( mossies are attracted to us by the CO2 we give off through the skin ).

 

15 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Pond 6 had a few hundred fishes die.

Your cats will be happy. Are you sun drying them for future cat food?

 

15 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Been taking a group to the farm virtually every day for a while now.

Ooh, a rebel, aren't you! If you don't get that PM me.

 

15 hours ago, owl sees all said:

The boys joined them and it seemed playtime as usual.

Perhaps Mrs Owl is more worried about boys being boys than the cleanliness of the water.

[Odysseus123]

On 5/10/2020 at 11:20 AM, owl sees all said:

The ponds, seven to one, go down a gradual slope. Number seven, the highest, is now completely dry. Number six, the tree pond, has a big puddle at the deep end. I was siphoning from those two much earlier, but I'm going uphill now, from four to five. And it might be three to five soon.

Well done Owl,you must be mighty proud of yourself-this is called "ponding" and is being taken up with enthusiasm in Australia..where we may-or may not-be learning how to conserve water at last.

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Odysseus123

[AndyAndyAndy]

Why don't you just pump a water into that pond?

[owl sees all]

2 hours ago, AndyAndyAndy said:

Why don't you just pump a water into that pond?

Why not AAA?

 

Well the thinking is this. The wet season is here and although the rain has not yet come; it will eventually. The pond with the fish loses about one cm a day due to evaporation. I can compensate this loss with an hour's pumping from another pond. I don't need to fill it up; just look after the fish. The small irrigation pump is enough for this. I have two others; one a 50 m3 per hour output (pho) capacity and one 200 m3, pho (run off the Kabota). No need to use those.

 

 

Soon they will all have water, and this year I plan to capture the farm run off, during really heavy rain, straight to a pond. The last time all the ponds were full to the brim was three years ago. Last season's rain, and the one before, were below average and this year's rain has been virtually non-existent. So the average depth has gradually gotton less and less.

 

It's a case of compensating as we go. Actually I left it a bit late. This pumping should have started 2/3 weeks ago. Shame on me. But in my defence I was thinking the rain will arrive at any mo', as the historic stats would show it should have.

Edited May 11, 2020 by owl sees all

[owl sees all]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I had a couple of those things, best brand and expensive- didn't work even when the light was working. A proper mossie trap uses CO2 to attract the blighters ( mossies are attracted to us by the CO2 we give off through the skin ).

 

Your cats will be happy. Are you sun drying them for future cat food?

 

Ooh, a rebel, aren't you! If you don't get that PM me.

 

Perhaps Mrs Owl is more worried about boys being boys than the cleanliness of the water.

Mozzie zapper!! Waste of money. I agree with you TBL.

 

Cats had to go. The last one was killed by the Buddha dog pack in front of Milly. Just too upsetting.

 

I don't get it but C-19 is different up here. Life goes on as usual.

 

You are probably right there. Too many children sharing the same little tubs. Was never going to work.

[pineapple01]

 Our 4 Industrial zappers did work superbly well.They filled the 4 bags in our Piggery every night for years, and gave the Fish a feeding frenzy every morn. Dont recall how much they cost apart from being very expensive for a half Hp Motor with a fan and tube stuck underneath.

[Odysseus123]

Has anyone seen or heard from Asterix* lately?

He's gone a bit quiet over the last couple of weeks...

[Andrew Dwyer]

4 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Has anyone seen or heard from Asterix* lately?

He's gone a bit quiet over the last couple of weeks...

His last activity, on TVF, was last Wednesday.

Hope all is well.

[bluesofa]

2 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

His last activity, on TVF, was last Wednesday.

Hope all is well.

I'll give him a prod.

[Andrew Dwyer]

3 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I'll give him a prod.

I did send him a pm already 

[HighPriority]

Hopefully Asterix is just positioning his bike for a “rare” photo shoot ????

Cmon mate, we do miss you ????????

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/11/2020 at 8:49 PM, owl sees all said:

The pond with the fish loses about one cm a day due to evaporation.

If can afford easily solved. Clear plastic sheeting supported by bent rigid plastic water pipe. Water that evaporates condenses on the sheeting and runs back into the pond. Just for the pond with fish. Like the plastic greenhouses that are quite common these days. If not windy, leave the ends open to prevent getting too hot inside, and must be clear as black would make it like an oven.

 

I bet you have every finger and toe crossed for rain.

[bluesofa]

I’m really sorry to have to tell everyone that Assurancetourix has died.

 

I emailed him yesterday but he didn’t reply, so I just phoned him now.
According to his wife he apparently had a stomach infection for a few days.
He went to the hospital who gave him some pills and said it would be OK. It got worse and he went back to the hospital again.

He died on 6 May. His name was Michel, he was 71.
I only met him once, in February when he came to visit me from Sakon Nakhon where lived.
RIP.

 

[faraday]

Oh, that's so sad...

 

Was always interesting to read his cycling posts, & see his pictures.

 

It was good to know you Michel, even though we never met.

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

20 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I’m really sorry to have to tell everyone that Assurancetourix has died.

 

I emailed him yesterday but he didn’t reply, so I just phoned him now.
According to his wife he apparently had a stomach infection for a few days.
He went to the hospital who gave him some pills and said it would be OK. It got worse and he went back to the hospital again.

He died on 6 May. His name was Michel, he was 71.
I only met him once, in February when he came to visit me from Sakon Nakhon where lived.
RIP.

 

That's very sad.

RIP.

[bannork]

Very sad. I've always enjoyed reading this thread and once the farm is completed in another month I hope to start contributing.

I assumed he was very fit with all that cycling, extraordinary he can pass away so quickly after being taken ill just a few days ago.

RIP, rider on the storm.

[owl sees all]

I'm absolutely devastated. So sudden. So fit too.

 

He was talking about coming to see me at my place once C-19 was done and dusted.

 

I've got some lovely pics to remind me of him.

 

This one is on my desktop. Lovely.

 

 

RIP.

Edited May 13, 2020 by owl sees all

[bluesofa]

Just now, owl sees all said:

I'm absolutely devastated. So sudden. So fit too.

 

He was talking about coming to see me at my place once C-19 was done and dusted.

 

I've got some lovely pics to remind me of him.

 

RIP.

Yes.

When he came to see me (before Covid hit), he suggested we both cycle over to see you at some point in the not too distant future.

He said we might go to visit Colinneil too.

[Odysseus123]

I am absolutely stunned-we always indulged in a bit of light banter-perhaps because I have a Gallic grandmother and enjoyed my time in France.

 

Thank you Michel for your splendid photography,your cycling adventures and your zest for life.

 

RIP mon ami.

 

Ody.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Odysseus123

[bluesofa]

When Michel came to visit me he brought his laptop and showed me a lot of photos of his cycling trips.

 

He belonged to a Thai cycling group. They cycled to Bangkok to pay their respects to HM Rama IX after he died.

 

I also remember he said that within the past seven or eight years he went on cycle trip around Thailand with them: 2,300km in 19 days (~120km/day), staying in temples (I made a note of the distance as I thought it was very impressive).

 

[owl sees all]

Well what can we say? I never met him, but he came across as a straight, decent guy.

 

To the guys on this thread, and indeed TVForum, that conversed with him; thanks for your kind words of him. Thanks especially to bluesofa who brought the bad news (better to know than not to IMO).

 

Just goes to show that life is not always as predictable as we sometimes think it is.

 

Take care out there.

 

Owl.

[Andrew Dwyer]

Very sad indeed.

ATX came across as a lovely fella with a great outlook on life, reading about his daily jaunts and seeing his photos were always very pleasant additions to TVF.

 

RIP Michel

[colinneil]

Wow what a shock, he appeared to be a lovely caring person.

Seemed very fit riding his bike everywhere, i was looking forward to him and Bluesofa visiting me.

R.I.P. Michel, my sincere condolences to his widow.

[Justgrazing]

3 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I’m really sorry to have to tell everyone that Assurancetourix has died.

 

I emailed him yesterday but he didn’t reply, so I just phoned him now.
According to his wife he apparently had a stomach infection for a few days.
He went to the hospital who gave him some pills and said it would be OK. It got worse and he went back to the hospital again.

He died on 6 May. His name was Michel, he was 71.
I only met him once, in February when he came to visit me from Sakon Nakhon where lived.
RIP.

 

Very sad to hear about Assurance passing away .. He put some good stuff up .. He will be missed ..