August 31st I woke up to an empty house today, Huan had gone off to the morning market. She quite enjoys that and often thinks I should go too; bed is far more appealing. This morning though she was accompanying Zōushūxián, Yú guì lán and Zhào dé, they were buying supplies for another lunch tomorrow. It seems they had to go today to buy three live chickens which were then slaughtered and brought home, not to our house I hasten to add. Huan’s job was peanuts and green beans, both to be boiled. I hate boiled peanuts!
When the wanderer returned we set off to the lair of the Bapman again having now completely run out of bread. Both of us thought the clouds were rather beautiful today, and just look at the colour of that sky. It’s a shame that I was still on light duties!
Bapman’s abode was built by the same chap that built our area and suffers from much the same kind of problems. If it was all maintained it would be wonderful. However, I do love to see nature taking back control of places.
From some steps going down to an escalator going neither up nor down. There is a children’s dance studio on the upper level but nothing else yet. Perhaps they will put the escalator into service when more shops move in. Mind you, it’s been at least a couple of years now…
Walking through the centre we found some dragonflies ‘flying united’, probably as a precursor to mating. (I found this great little video on Youtube that explains the procedure well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UL08PQ3dPk&ab_channel=JoAlwood Try as I may though I was unable to get a decent photo, they were just too fast for me. We’ll try again another time. The only other creature we saw was a dead rat, and I’m sure you don’t need to see that. It looked as if it had been in one of the many traps around and eaten the poison therein.
Arriving at Bapman’s stall we found it still closed so we tried to
find someone who knew why. It turns out that his mother back in
No afternoon sleep for me today although someone else did play Sleeping Beauty on the sofa. I was the duty chef today, the menu was stir fry and I think I quite excelled myself! I started by frying up some onions and diced chicken breast before adding a touch of soya sauce. Next in were some bamboo shoots, mildly spiced followed by ‘garlic legs’ and spring onions. Then came some sliced and diced hard(ish) tofu, a diced tomato and half a can of sweetcorn, (without the juice of course). Finally, when we had a nice little sizzle going on I added bean sprouts and a dash of water. HM the Queen was suitably impressed by the colours and the taste and suggested taking a photo of it. Unfortunately she was too late, we had both already scoffed too much!
September 1st “Rubber knees, trying to forget you.” The first female telephone
operator, Emma Nutt, started work on this day in 1878. Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees
was born on this day in 1946.
Alone again, naturally. Huan had disappeared to the morning market again today to assist the ladies with fish and shellfish. While she was out I decided to take a few screen shots and show you my counting fags charts. What do you think?
Huan arrived home with prawns and shellfish, the prawns were still alive, as they usually are here. Her morning’s work today was to prepare two more dishes for lunch. Here are the two ‘ingredients’ prior to preparation and cooking.
Our lunch today was not in Zōushūxián’s apartment but in another that they borrowed. It’s a ground floor apartment that belongs to someone not back for the winter yet. I guess you could call it a studio, although it’s bigger than ours in Sanya.
Today’s lunch, although they initially told me it was to celebrate the 1st September, was actually to celebrate the two year anniversary of our new maintenance company. Sixteen people were invited, we ended up with seventeen, the ‘spread’ was certainly big enough!
More vegetables arrived later and of course there was rice on the side. Thankfully there was no Báijiǔ today, only Píjiǔ (beer), this was my view.
Of course there were still far too many toasts and within a very short time I lost all understanding of whatever conversation there was. It was too fast, too loud and too omni directional! Here are fifteen of the guests, three committee members, ten ‘workers’, one boss and Yú guì lán. One guest had left and the other guest, me, was taking the photo.
One of the ‘workers’, who shall remain nameless, had to go back on gate duty after lunch, I doubt he would have been able to keep his eyes open very easily. When I got home I closed mine for a while, as did Huan. Being a glutton for punishment Huan was back out at six to partake of the leftovers, I didn’t need any!
September 2nd Rain stopped play today so we didn’t get out at all. The only photos we have are of a butterfly, or possibly a moth. Huan found it outside our front door, it seemed to be on its last legs. I was able to pick it up and put it on the windowsill for the second photos and then I moved to the outside window ledge. Normally the birds would have found it but they were all away hiding from the rain too. It had gone by night time, whether it flew off, fell down or was snatched by one of our feathered friends we will never know.
September 3rd Our morning was rain free so out for a walk we went, not far, I’m still on, light duties. Open wounds heal slower in humid climes. First Huan had me taking photos of ‘small’ birds again, too small to share. Instead, here’s a view of the river you haven’t seen before.
Some black and white photos next, the first showing workers at the sluice gates, one is going down the other side, perhaps to clear some of the debris. The second shows one of our markets with absolutely no workers whatsoever although there were a few behind me. It’s time they closed this particular market and put it to another use.
Next I took Huan along a route that she didn’t remember, some of the ‘back streets’. We do have them too but unlike big cities they are quite safe to walk down.
Huan then pointed out a tree, which means in Huanspeak, “Take a photo of that tree!” I must admit that it is rather unusual and does look a little out of place. Perhaps someone in the past brought it from up north. On the other hand, it could well be a native species, I wouldn’t know!
The next one is my choice, such a beautiful flower.
Finally, for today’s walk, Huan had me taking bird photographs yet again. I wasn’t so far away this time so I was able to snap a couple. I had to do a lot of work in Picasa though so that you can see its beak and its eyes.
Being a Friday it was ‘date night’ again and time to do another restaurant review. With the rain now bucketing down we didn’t stray far from the house and settled on a nearby dumpling restaurant. As always, if you’d like to see it, check here - https://youtu.be/bsHmC3lqhNU
September 4th What rubbish weather we are having this week! We did manage to get out in the morning though, only got caught in a very slight drizzle. The rain came back in force after lunch and dinner. This was tea street on our way out.
The riverside market was open again today, I guess the powers that
be have decided we don’t have to worry quite so much anymore. This stall
reminded of little girls in the
We didn’t buy any wine but I did coerce Huan into buying some seeds. Like many Chinese people Huan enjoys nibbling on seeds, I don’t, I call it bird food. Too much effort is required for too little reward. Today she bought pumpkin seeds.
On the way home, after the drizzle, we bought some rambutans for me.
In this case I tell Huan that she is not really Chinese because she doesn’t
like them. On the other hand she is from the north so probably as a child she
never had them. As for me, well in
As is normal on most walks Huan had me trying to capture birds again, this one took a fair few attempts but I think I got close enough this time!
No more walks today, I was head chef so had to make the weekend stew, Huan practiced making a noise. To be fair, the noise is actually improving!
September 5th We beat the computer today, it said that there would be clear skies in the morning and that the rain would come at noon. Looking at the sky we disagreed and we were right. It rained all morning and the afternoon was perfect for walking. As usual Huan had me trying to photograph birds and as usual I failed. However, I did accidentally catch this lizard racing across our path, and I mean racing.
Our route today was in fact a lizard hunt, past the three legged dog, who wasn’t there, probably away for lunch. Looking out across the river, where the stream merges with it, I was amazed to see that there were no mudflats at all, they had all been overgrown.
A few minutes later we thought we saw a bird, or Huan did, but as we got closer I could see that it wasn’t. Very shortly Huan shouted “snake” and tried to push me forwards to take photos of it. I couldn’t see a snake anywhere but was very reluctant to go forward ‘just in case’. It seems that what I had already decided was a plastic bag Huan thought was a snake coiled up and rearing its head ready to strike. Thinking that she still tried sending me towards it! Maybe she thinks I am braver than I am or maybe she was trying to get rid of me!
Before long we came upon a little goat, I’m not sure if it was the same kid we saw before, it doesn’t appear to have grown much. It’s a shame that it will probably end up in someone’s pot, but we can hardly criticise, seeing as how we are partial to lamb now and then. Somehow I don’t think I would ever make a good farmer.
Our last photo of the day is another little creature, with more than four legs this time though. I’ll show you two photos, one that you can hopefully see a lot of detail on, and the other with part of my sandal included so that you can see the size. It’s the largest caterpillar we’ve ever seen.
September 6th Last day of the week, a day where we normally don’t show you any photos. Today we thought we would, just for a change. First of all here I am with next weekend’s dinner in my hand, chicken stew, complete with head and feet. (They are for Huan, not me!)
Maybe we’ll show you bits and bobs of what’s available in our local supermarket as well. Today Huan needed to top up her rice jars, she needed black and red rice. Just think, way back in our younger days we all thought rice was always white.
Apart from shopping Monday is always a lazy day but today, for me, it was worse than normal. I got stuck down the Facebook ‘Watch’ hole. It’s probably worse than the Youtube hole because the videos are all so much shorted and you keep thinking “just one more”…
Hopefully my ankle will have healed enough next week to be able to put my boots on and travel a little further afield. Until then, stay safe all, look after your nearest and dearest, if they’re not there with you, they give them a call. They’ll thank you for it and you’ll end up with a big smile, or maybe even a cheesy grin. I know I always do. Bye for now!
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