End of July

End of July and soon back to work. We’ve had a busy month not working. Finishing Wanna’s parent’s house. Moving all our stuff in storage. Mainly hydroponics equipment, mushroom kits and loads of shop shelving etc from out time in Jontiem. Little in the way of real personal stuff. So it was a good feeling this morning to wake up and think. There is nothing I have to do. House finished. Moving competed.
So I finally got out of bed and had a cup of tea. Wanna cooked up some Breakfast. ‘Nam Tok Moo”.

Simple pork dish make with ‘pork!!!’ lime, fish sauce, coriander and spring onions, dreid chilies dried and ground roasted sticky, all served up on steamed rice. Excellent start to the day. I really should get my videos of Issan cooking underway. With so much free time I cannot seem to get anything done. Work that out!!!

However I do have time to write all this up and then… relax, again. I’m writing this while listening to Bob Dylan. Time for another cup of tea.

House Construction The End...

That's right... my last video on house construction, that is until we start another one...

Its been a hectic time and taken a lot of effort. Most of which was carried out by Wanna not me I should add!!!!

Stats:-

House is 11 metres x 9 metres. Near enough 100 sq meters.
Total cost of approximately 630,000Baht. That makes it 6,300 Baht per square meter. Just under 200 USD.

Not bad going when I think our Condo in Bangkok is selling at 80,000 per square meter!!!

House Warming

21st July was an auspicious day for a House Warming. We had not completed everything but we were running out of time as the next auspicious day was some months ahead.

The House warming can be undertaken in several ways. Either by inviting the local Monks to come and pray and bless the house, land spirits and wish for good luck to the new occupants. Or have a close relation or religious family friend come round. We chose the latter which apparently is more traditional in Issan. And so it was. First we visited our neighbours who also were having a house warming. That was at 07.30 am. We arrived to join the procession which walks round the house three times. People carrying ‘house’ gifts such as food, local pillows, bowls etc. Also a standard requirement are photos of the King and Queen as well and Buddha Images and various assorted regigious items. This is followed by the new occupants being greeted on entering, complete with foot wash etc. All very organized and everyone seems to know what to do. That is except for the ‘Falangs’ like me who had no idea and just followed the crowd. Once all this is completed then we all go in for a feed. Beer at 07.30 am makes you very drowsy.

Our ceremony was scheduled for 5.30 pm. First through was the preparation, mainly getting the house ready and of course preparing the food. The preparation is a major social event and everyone joins in. Well all the ladies anyway!!! All went well with the three rounds of the house. Followed by all of Wanna’s family and close friends turning up to enjoy and give best wishes. Great day. I did do a lot of video but could not really see a way to record it in a sufficiently compact size to upload to a Blog. Hope you enjoy the photos and that they give you some idea of what happened.

Lego Humanoids

So its started. My first real Robot. I've made it completely following the instructions on the software that comes with the package. So far so good and without to much mental hard work! However the problem is with the software controls from my laptop to the Robot. Why you ask? Well the design of the Robot does not allow the connection of the cable between the laptop and the robot. The location is such that I would have to remove the left hand and shoulder every time I needed to make a change. It has blue tooth and I'll try this again or its on with the next model.

House Construction Part VI

Progress is going well. Should have everything completed by next week. Opening ceremony on 21st so two more vids to follow!!!!

Fishing Ban Muang Style

'Jip' who is Wanna Nephew decided to help us get some supper. Simple just throw a net and catch a fish. In fact we caught three good ones which went onto the Bar B Q!!!