Ban Muang - Our Banana Field

Hardly a worthy post on its own but it does keep you up to date with our activities. And here is a good place for me to keep a record of whats going on with our farming etc and at the banana fields.
We've got a small plot about 2 Rai, (That's 3000m2 or about 1 acre.). Well till very recently the land had been sitting idle, in fact for about 5 years, and over time became overgrown with grass and weeds. We've got another 7 Rai of land also "under" weeds. That's earmarked for another project in due course. Maybe Rubber or palms. Or more Weeds!!!!!!! Time will tell.

But back to the banana fields. A few months back we decided to make use of it and planted some banana and left them to grow. About 300 of them. Since plants we've had a few light showers but not as much rain as usual so I thought the whole crop would die. However some recent showers in the last week has seen the place water logged, and everything is now up and growing at a good rate.

We've got the bananas planted in rows and in between some corn and water melons. Already we are getting water melons to eat and hopefully later in the year some corn and bananas. Something to look forward to.

Wanna asked her brother to build us a small shelter. He did a good job. Used up some old wood we have laying around and its just lovely sitting under there. The other evening we sat and relaxed with a cold beer as the sun went down.

I know not the most exciting post and I do apologise but it's good for me to record this and be able to check progress in a few months time. :)

Ban Muang - Relax

Just had 5 days up in Ban Muang. Relaxing. House and garden looking good.

Did a bit of shopping and had time for "canteen" lunch. These big Makro type places have everything you need and even have small restaurants attached. All offering a variety of foods.  The shop had all we needed. Good range of foods, spics and assorted goodies.

Food was excellent as well.I looked at all the local stuff and enjoyed some rice and a bamboo stir fry. Wanna went for the Club Sandwich and chips.

Talking of bamboo dishes, Wanna dug up some bamboo shoots, cut them and then boiled them for later use.

Me,  I just got on and made a Quiche. So we were all busy being creative....

Rayong - House Progress Status Report No 3

Its been just over a week since we had the boys arrive from Khon Kaen to clean and paint the place.

They spent the first few days sorting out water, electricity and cooking facilities.  Arrived by bus with just a few bits and pieces and got on with it. They elected to sleep up on the roof. Wonderful to see.

Been an agonising week for me also. Decisions.. Do I build a patio? Do I add in extra doors, cut walls etc. So been running round getting prices. etc. A lot of monies to go out the door............. Many good reasons to do it now. Gets it over with. No more future mess, spend funds now and its over and done with. I've even borrowed a cutting disk for the wall demolition and a wheelbarrow to cart away the rubbish.

Final decision different to my usual " just do it " but correct in this case.  Do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just add minimum items required and clean and paint up the place.  Other things can follow later in the year or next year.

Of course there were some things to do and some that have to be done. Install a new water tank on the roof, connect the water and power. First off to put a water tank on the roof you need some rope and a couple of guys... Done that..... Then followup by connecting the water pump at ground level to the mains and tank on roof. Will be adding a float control switch in next few days.

We've found a chap living about 6 doors down who is a carpenter so some door and window frame repairs will be delegated to him. All falling into place.

Next will be Internet and TV connection and we are nearly done. Sure I've forgotten a few things along the way.

And yes almost forget to mention. Local rubbish collection is everyday so building rubble etc is disappearing as fast as we produce it.

My Khon Kaen guys can do electrics and internal plumbing.  We will replace the toilets and shower heads, some tiling but not much more. Added a few power points. Most rooms only have one and its always next to the light switch. Strange I know but TIT.....

Some photos below showing rooms cleaned and being readied for painting.


BEFORE

Anyway Wanna let loose with an array of colours.  Beginning tot look much better.  We started on the roof and worked out way down room by room.   Work in progress.

Should finish inside paint work in a couple of days then do the outside walls and front parking area. So small movie to follow.

That's it for this update. We plan to move in on 20th July so lot to do...

Rayong Service Industry and Bank attitude to customers

Went to the bank last evening. So what I hear you ask ?

Well for one they are open for customer service till 8.00pm. Because evening, that's the time of day that suits most customers.

You enter, and as you do, there is someone there to open the door, say welcome and ask what service you require. Once she (its always a she) understands your requirement. i.e. simple stuff, might be a deposit, withdrawal, Forex, Business finance, mortgage question etc, She listens then gives you get a "Que" ticket. You don't even have to press the machine yourself she does it all.

Each service booth has a clear display and audio announcement so easy to know when and where to go and see the appropriate person.

Well as you can expect things do get busy and you wait. Last night I waiting about 15 minutes. Plenty of seats etc so no big deal. Even have local TV on to help pass the time.

All in all just good bank service.

What is a big deal on top of all this, is seeing one of the bank staff doing the rounds with a tray of cool drinks for customers. She was doing this about once every 10 minutes. Where else are you going to get this type of service... Only in Thailand.

Oh yes and not just my bank but all of them have this service orientated approach.  :)

Restaurant Down The Road

Decided on a quiet weekend and planned on doing very little. And managed it !!!!!

It was hot and sticky and threatening to rain. We have had high winds and very heavy rain all last week. So much so that at work, the access from shore to our jetty construction site was closed down for 3 days this week. Makes construction progress very slow and sitting around waiting is probably one of the worst things. For me that is a given.

Horrible conditions and in a way I find it quite depressing. I'm in the sunny tropics not the north sea coast.

I might add we were still waiting on electrical connection to our house so there was nothing much we could do in that area either. More frustration. No point buying stuff before the guys come down on Wednesday to start the refurbishment.

So Sunday arrived. Saw us both quite lethargic and we settled for a short drive along the coast to find somewhere for breakfast/lunch with teh planof returning home straight afterwards. It had been threatening rain again on my day off even as we left the Condo.

Anyway we decided to make a go of it. Off we went for a very short trip. We only went about 20 kilometers along the coast. Few people around. We found a spot. We opted for a very local shack/hut/shelter/Restaurant/Road side Cafe offering some fabulous smelling dishes. We settled on a soup of Pork and veggies with a wonderful aroma of coriander and other herbs, that was to share then we had "Hoi Tod"  Deep fried mussels with pancake wrap stirfried with fresh vegetables and water cress. Talk about tasty. One of the best dishes I've had for ages. Wanna seemed to know what all the bits were. I just sat back and enjoyed eating it all. I made a mental note to remind myself to get back into cooking once we move from the condo !!!! A silent reminder in case I have committed myself to doing the real cooking....

Anyway food was absolutely excellent. And I will be going back there again on the next rainy Sunday.

I took a few photos and then went outside and did a full 306 deg movie. Movie really to show hte surroundings.

The shop was on a side street and was in so many ways a typical Thai "spot". Nothing special. All the usual stuff. Dogs, motor bikes, houses open to the road. Everybody living on top of each other etc etc.

And I've no idea who is the guy reading the newpaper !!!!  And across the road was a shop selling Thai deserts/sweets.  Looked very colourful.

Then home for an afternoon relaxing.... Hopefully the rain stops soon. I'm beginning to get very fed up with it all.