November 12th Hello again friends,
acquaintances, strangers and aliens, welcome to another week of life in
We walk in all kinds of places; this scene is between one residential building and an apartment complex behind it. It is very pretty but I would hazard a guess that nobody lives on the ground floor. If I did then I would make a path so that I could clean my windows.
As many of you already know the Prime Minister, (really the Minister of Everything) is not very happy until she finds either lizards or birds. I told her that she was incredibly lucky today, not only did she find a lizard but he offered her flowers!
Her luck was definitely in today, I managed to find an egret for her. As usual it was too far away but this crop is not too bad and I also made her a video, she was doubly happy.
When our river works are complete I wonder if the fishermen will still have sandbanks to fish from. Somehow I think they may be relegated to the new walkways.
Those walkways are being repaved at the moment; this is where we had to go back up.
On our way home we passed a spot where I always call the dogs and they always come out and see me. Today Huan took some photos of the owner; he was busy making wooden bracelets. Here he is and here also is his machine.
We asked him today how old the two pooches were because one is definitely showing its age. He told us that they were both over ten years old, we knew they were old because the third one has left us for the kennel in the sky. It seems this chicken is also ten years old, very unusual!
We stopped at the express delivery cabinets on the way in; Huan had received a couple of shipments. I carried them home, at least until I had to hand them over because she went and found yet another little, and I do mean little, lizard.
Our last one is a strange looking on. After snapping the lizard I had to avoid this spider’s web. Finding an exact match on Google was not too easy but I think it may be a Spiny-orb spider, possibly a member of the Gasteracantha genus. The photo is not too good but I wanted to keep it because the spider appears to have a thumb! Look carefully at the upper protrusion.
That’s all the photos for today. I did cook this evening, a chicken curry, but I didn’t think that deserved a photo. I can tell you what was in it, cubed chicken breast, onion, garlic, potato, egg plant and a little tofu. It was yummy.
November 13th I’ve mentioned seasonal affective
disorder in the past, I know I am certainly happier in sunnier times. Having
said that I survived happily in
Not far down the road we found some snowbirds doing a bit of ‘scrumping’. Did you ever do that as a child? We did but it was usually crab apples from someone’s garden or the farmer’s fields. These guys are searching for noni fruit, also known as famine fruit or vomit fruit. A Google search for noni fruit will tell you all you need to know. I guess the homeowners will not be in a hurry to stop them.
Being later than usual and without any long distance plans we did try a little local exploration. Here’ the view through what used to be a gate but is now not able to be opened.
For our exploratory fun we headed up behind the unfinished hotel and villas in the ‘no title deeds’ complex. It looked as though someone had cleaned the paths a little.
When we reached the top I managed to take a photograph of a bee while ignoring Huan telling me that she had found another lizard! I did then try to explain that, despite having a ‘go faster stripe’ the lizard wasn’t going anywhere whereas the bee was all over the place.
Further on we saw that the path clearing had been done by the part time farmers.
Unfortunately, as you can see above, they had not cleared a ‘through road’ so we had to retrace our steps whereupon my scout, my expeditionary leader, managed to find me a snake. It was playing hide and seek to start with but as I managed to focus the camera, it reared up its head as though ready to strike. I clicked the shutter button and did a rapid backwards shuffle. As a result I have a poor picture that will never back up my story!
No such problems with the next subject, he was happy basking in the sun.
Just before leaving the complex we spotted a sign on a villa door. The translation comes from WeChat, I can’t say how accurate it is but it certainly looks good to me. It would be nice to know more about the property auction but I imagine it will be for the whole complex and not for the individual villas. Mind you, even if it was for the villas, and if the price was cheap as chips, a lot of money would have to be spent to make one habitable.
The document is dated 2021 and we have never seen it before. I think maybe they found someone living there illegally, we did see a pigeon coop. Also the access path to a villa we have explored before had been resurfaced.
After a little trip up and down the road we passed one of my friend’s places. He is always on the chain whereas his housemates are not. What can you tell me about him from this picture?
Nothing? Well, he is a very jealous pooch and doesn’t like me chatting to his other family members at all. I think I should have got Huan to make a video.
Did the fungi kill the tree or did they take up residence after it fell? Interesting scientific questions there, from yours truly. Huan’s question was ‘are they edible?’ Did you know that there is a strategic card game called ‘Fungi’?
Speaking of games, our road home seemed to be very busy today. There were people eating lunch, people playing牌, pái - cards, people playing象棋, xiàngqí - Chinese chess or elephant chess, people playing围棋, wéiqí – Go, people drinking and chatting, just a normal day really.
Our last photo for today will show you just how much the weather has improved, it’s lovely!
November 14th The weather forecast was great, temperatures up to 31⁰C today and we were up early enough for a bus walk and a video today. Here we are on the bus.
Today we were going up beyond the fish farm reservoir, a place we have been before but a long time ago. A screenshot of the villas on the lake provided the video thumbnail.
On our way up the hill Huan found a lizard that was very difficult to get a decent shot of. A lot of editing was required so that you can see his eye.
The next one was a little easier although he does have sun on his head.
A lot of snaps were taken with the little Keymission camera today. I like the colours it produces, fairly natural, probably because it’s a Nikon. Of course it is also quite old now but I can’t justify a new DJI Osmo Pocket 3 yet. Here are a few of the snaps on the way uphill.
At times though you need you ‘real’ camera!
The boss never ceases to amaze me with her spotting capabilities.
This one comes from her phone; it’s me in a trench with two workmen, I’m answering the question of whether or not I am Russian, again. We had to go through the trench to get to where we were going, the end of the road, for our video.
Here’s the last two from the Nikon on the way up, well one on the way up and the second at the top where we ran out of road.
There is a little village at the top; its name is Changhao Farm Unit #25 or something like that. I do believe the names are left over from the old days.
I felt that the view on the way down was best shown with the real camera again.
Do lizards have hair? This one seems to have some growing out of its head.
On our way down we were forced to stop for a rest, we could not traverse the trench. We patiently waited with the other ‘not so weary’ travellers and Huan got busy with her phone.
Still on the way down, another scenic view, just check out the weather today.
I really did not want to stop on the way down, I desperately needed water, but the director kept looking for critters!
My mouth was like a desert by now so I tried to take a video of it. I failed, so here’s an edited screenshot for you instead.
By the time we reached the bottom of our trek and the bus stop, where we got some desperately needed refreshment, we had walked fourteen kilometres. Neither of us could understand how we had done this walk all the way from the house before. We forgot to ‘close’ the video there so we did that when we got off the bus back home. However, you don’t need to see us again so here is a very shy skink that was trying to escape from us and scurrying hither and thither.
If you want to see where we went go here - https://youtu.be/UbHpPK_NVko For the rest of the day all I did was upload the photos and videos and sort them all out. The video was edited and uploaded to the internet all other work was left until tomorrow. Well, apart from cooking, it was my job today. Luckily it was an easy one, minced pork stew with the usual onions and garlic. To that I added purple sweet potatoes, carrots, dried tofu and some variety of Chinese cabbage. It was later than usual but did the job well.
November 15th What a wonderful view from the bedroom this morning! Now before we got married, before Huan became the Prime Minister or SWMBO, I would always sleep with my curtains open. I would have woken up to that view if that was still the case. Of course when we got married all that changed. I could quote Einstein here “Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not. So, each is inevitably disappointed.” However, it would appear that it wasn’t really him who said that. I wonder if it was his wife. PS I am not really disappointed, just in case the lady in question is reading this.
Despite that gorgeous view we were very late getting out this morning. I guess we could blame it on the very strenuous day we had yesterday. Surprisingly, neither of us were complaining about stiffness though. Maybe that will come tomorrow.
So, today’s walk was much shorter than yesterday’s, a quick trip over Little Island, along the road to the main road and then back home. I found the first lizard.
More construction is happening in the river, what for we are not sure. Maybe they are putting a temporary ford in so that they can repair the existing one.
Now you know that they have removed a lot of the vegetation from this part of the river. Is that why, for the first time ever, we spotted a snake here? It was perfectly still in this position. Behind me Huan was telling me to make a video. I was trying to explain to her that the only way to get it to move for a video was for me to get closer and I was definitely not doing that! I found a video although the snake in it still wasn’t moving. You can see it here, it’s not scary! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ-S9Wo3qUo&ab_channel=WildFilmsIndia
Another creature for you, I am not sure what happened to this photograph. For some reason it looks more like a painting or a print. Where’s the mutt’s fur?
We found three lizards in a very short time, maybe that’s a place we need to explore more closely another time. However, I only managed to capture two of them.
And our last photo for this peaceful day is one from a moped that I’m sure hundreds of you dear readers (haha, wishful thinking on my part) will know and love. All I know is the name.
That was it for today. Having not had our naps yesterday we made sure we got them today. Then it was bring everything up to date for me and cooking for Huan, just another normal day.
November 16th Oh what a busy day we had today. We went to the market and… Well, that’s it really although I did force myself to take a couple of photos and then Huan took a couple too.
November 17th Huan chose today’s route, Atuo Ling, and as we hadn’t been that way since April when we made a video for you, I agreed with her. (Of course, she is the boss and I always agree with her but that’s another story.) By our gate she found two squirrels chasing each other around the tree, I tried my best. This could be two or it could be the same one twice!
We are now beginning to see the results of the riverside walkway construction. This is the view from the bridge nearest to our house, the existing sluice gate bridge, it’s nice isn’t it.
Soon we turned off the main road to the village in Atuo Ling, it looked very different. Those two white buildings could not be seen in the past, there was a whole forest of rubber trees in the way. When we got nearer a village lady explained that the area was to become a food crop one.
We noticed that the steam through the river is also having a lot of work done.
As we approached the mid-point where we could either cross the valley or turn back we came across what should be, by now, an old friend. Here he is doing a good impression of ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’. PS For some reason I always thought it was ‘Custard the Cowardly Dog’.
Huan said this was a beautiful view so I had to take one too.
Pareidolia, one of those weird things where Huan and I seem to agree with each other more often than not. What do you see here? We both see the enormous head of a gorilla.
I took even more pictures to the stream crossing but thought a collage would do the job. There’s also a collage of me taking panoramas upstream and downstream.
Were they any good? Well upstream was better, downstream was into the sun.
Then it was Huan’s turn into the sun. This goose was nervous but didn’t go for us at all. Maybe its companion was ‘with egg’ in the basket.
There were also hordes of ducks in the pond.
All too soon we were on the way up the other side.
I tried a bit of manual focussing through the cage for the pigeons. It was far from perfect but it may make a good Facebook banner picture.
Atuo Ling is Atuo valley in English. There is supposed to be a viewing platform on the main road somewhere but we have never found it. This shot is part of the valley.
Our last Panorama of the day shows where we rejoin the main road to head downhill and home.
This bug was very interested in a BYD electric car parked at the side of the road. I was glad it stayed there because it almost looks like I have a photograph of it against the sky.
On any walk the C-in-C is not content if lizards are not found, well she found them today.
As for me, well I am content with just a walk but touching animals is an added bonus.
We both then did it again!
“Two little dickie birds sitting on a wall”, oh hang on there’s no wall here. How about “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. I don’t have one in the hand but here’s the two in the bush, which is really a small tree, but you can pretend it’s a bush.
It was SWMBO who found the birds, she also found another lizard.
Almost home and we spotted
something other worldly, or maybe alien to
Outside the furniture shop we found a moped sticker that was new to us. I wonder if you would know without reading about it here. I knew nothing before Google helped me. They are in fact a ‘herd of capybaras’. Well, I included the collective noun.
Finally for today, our latest
express delivery. I don’t know how they do it. This was a pack of 20 dish
washing sponges, cost ¥5.49. Shipping was free, from the mainland to
No naps this afternoon, I had 160 photographs of my own and 51 of Huan’s to sort through, edit and save or bin. Thirty ended up in today’s post!
November 18th Monday comes but once a week and with it comes the shopping chore. No problems today, I am only cooking once this week, and everything I need is already here. We were too lazy to go out today, correction, I was too lazy to go out. Huan was busy doing things with the seat covers in the living room. As for me, well I fell down the Taobao rabbit hole and ended up looking at all sorts of things from DJI drones to strange objects that I knew not what for. In the end I had to stop so that I could finish this post!
All finished now so I’ll say o reservoir, tatty bye, take care and see you next time.
