Proof of Life, In The Army Now, Normal Service Resumed.

February 21^st Surprisingly my head was perfectly clear this morning and I was fully capable of doing my duty and taking the Minister of Home Affairs on a supply run. Another surprise for both of us was finding Baijiahui not too busy, for reasons unknown. It is too early for the snowbirds to have migrated back north. No complaints from us!

Huan is back to hulusi classes on Tuesday afternoons, so I will be cooking on those days, not today though, she wants fish! I walked her to the OAP School before going off around the town and then back along the riverside. Our little birdie friends have gained a new neighbour; the cage on the right is a new addition.

Just a few days ago we were chatting about the parapets along the riverside and wondering when they would be cleaned. Well, today was the day and a good job they’re doing too.

Another one of those layabouts from Hogwarts has been speeding by the looks of it. This one’s broomstick ended up in a tree, no sign of the driver though. I guess they ‘wand’ered off!

Now here’s a question for you all, who knows how to prepare and eat figs? By that I mean the variety shown below, river figs. Nobody ever seems to do anything with them.

They are on the trees near ‘Little Island’ and I wondered whether we should try eating them. Speaking of our own island, here’s an unusual view for you.

I did try and snap a bird for your last photo of the day but it turned out to be just a little bit too far away. You can just about make out some colours and that’s about it.

Another thing I saw rather more of than usual was the good old outdoor hairdressers. Even the normal hairdressers were very busy today. As with many things in China there is a perfectly good reason for that. “Time for a fresh haircut! Tuesday marks the Lóng táitóu (龙抬头) Festival, which means "dragon raises head”, in Chinese. Also known as the Èr yuè èr (二月二) Festival, it falls on the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar. Chinese people hold the belief that getting a haircut when the "dragon raises its head" means they will have a vigorous start to the New Year.” Needless to say I stayed away!

After dinner Huan went off to see the ‘official photographer’ with an empty USB we didn’t know we had. It seems he was in but his wife said he was having a drink or two with a friend and probably would not get around to photos until tomorrow! C’est la vie.

February 22^nd A lazy day was had by both of us, well to start with anyway. We knew we had to go out twice today, a morning walk to the post office and an evening walk to the supermarket. No camera went with us today and we were really enjoying a lazy walk, not looking for photo opportunities. Huan of course still found some! Somebody loves me.

And that was her lot. As for me, having read all about the fruit and vegetable shortages in the UK I thought I would share with you what our market looks like. I guess we are very lucky.

After lunch I opened the post, it wasn’t a belated birthday card, instead it was a very belated request for “proof of life” from the UK Pensions Authority. Inside it says you must complete and return this form, including having the relevant witness signatories, within sixteen weeks of the date of this letter. It was posted over twelve weeks ago! That means I have less than a month to complete it and find someone willing to sign an all English form. This happened last time too, I managed to phone them that time and get a six week extension. That would have to wait until this evening due to the time difference.

After dinner, we strolled down to Baijiahui and topped up on baps, another 24 bought. That sounds like a lot; it is twelve days worth if we don’t have something else for lunch. At home I was left alone; Huan was off to play her hulusi again. I used the time to phone the UK. I should say ‘to try and phone the UK’. I was unable to get through, either there is something wrong with the number or I am, yet again, unable to make international calls! Huan has to prove she’s alive every year, it takes five minutes. All she has to do is contact her pension office in Dalian, they have a video call and Huan holds up a newspaper. Having ID cards can be really beneficial. The UK way is so far behind the times it’s almost unbelievable.

February 23^rd Today, as you may have already surmised, was an admin day. My first job was to complete the proof of life form and print out a few translated instructions just in case they would be needed. Once I was happy, we set off for the police station to obtain my witness signature. On the way Huan yet again found men in a hole, this time replacing water meters.

Outside the police station we met a new friend.

Inside, I originally had no idea what was going on and at one time I thought we would have to go down the road to another police office. As usual, I was wrong! The lady we were talking to turned out to be the one who had signed five years ago and we had taken a copy of the page that she had signed then, with us today. Soon we were done and off to the phone shop. According to them I still had international access and the problem was more than likely with the UK number. I will have to try and call someone else to be sure.

On the way home Huan collected her Taobao from the gate, off the bench of course, the electronic boxes are still not in operation. She will be doing a show next month, March 8^th, for International Women’s Day, dressed as a Chinese soldier. Her package today contained the hat she will be wearing so we both had to try it out.

After lunch the admin continued and we visited the Post Office. Taking the same route as the morning we met a kitten this time instead of a dog. It was very nervous to start with but eventually came and had a bit of love.

We spent a long time in the Post Office. To make sure my ‘proof of life’ form successfully reaches the UK within the time limit we have to use EMS, a courier service. Unfortunately for us, it was during the Hainan lunch break and although the Post Office does not close, the only lady who knows what to do was on her break. Huan thinks that I am probably the only person in our town who ever asks to use EMS. She could be right. We got done by about three o’clock, the bill was ¥225.00. “Use airmail” said the Pensions Office in the UK. We would consider that if they got the information here in less than three months!

To get a little exercise in today we walked back along the riverside. Seeing the ‘big pot’ being used today Huan had to take photos of it, along with the advert for the soup.

She also had to know how the chef took the pans out of the cooker.

So that was out joint admin for the day all done. We were both still busy after dinner though. Huan was off out to play, with explicit instructions to behave and be back before it’s too late. No doubt she will come home with even more files for me to convert from WAV to mp3, or maybe more songs to scan and print, we’ll see. Why was I busy? Well, if you check the photos from last week, if you check them carefully, there is a gent with a large Nikon camera. Today I received a USB drive from him with 256 photos that I need to decide whether to keep, keep and edit, or delete. Far too many were of me, so they went in the bin. I ended up keeping about 90. PS I was right, she brought something for me to scan and print!

February 24^th “Bang went my walk in the countryside this morning. I woke up to a notification from Taskmaster! Happy me!” That is exactly the comment I wrote on Taskmaster’s You Tube channel while I settled down with my coffee to watch. For a long time Taskmaster stopped uploading shows to You Tube, now they are back again, every Friday I will get a new episode from series 13. A little bit of UK humour usually has me in stitches.

Huan had been out all morning; hence it was easy for me to be lazy. We did need an after lunch walk though so I suggested the wrong way round the river, maybe find a lizard on the way. It still ends up being a long walk but without too much effort. The first subject for a photo was a nice healthy caterpillar, wearing some red boots.

In the past we have shared with you many pictures of people visiting the local clinics and being drip fed various goodies for colds and flu. I guess trees can’t walk so the clinics go to them.

Meanwhile, down at the riverside it appears as if the walkway may use both sides of the river, perhaps crossing over now and then. We found a spot, down river from last time, where they are damming the other side and putting down foundations.

Luck was with us and a lizard was spotted by her Ladyship.

Luck was with me too!

Next we found two rather unlucky, dead, caterpillars. The first looked empty. We wondered if this is what happens when all those eggs hanging on the outside hatch and the little wasps fly away. Looking closer we almost thought we could see traces of spider webs. The truth is that we have no idea what happened to them, if you know please let us know in the comments.

Luck was definitely on my side today, I found another lizard. Normally it is Huan who finds them, her distance vision is a lot better than mine these days.

And that was it, although we did snap the view down the main road as we neared the turn off to our road. Mountains are never far away, I love it.

February 25^th Market day again so a visit was the plan. However, nothing needed to be bought; we had done that yesterday, so instead we were off to see a show. On the way through town we passed my favourite motor bike, unfortunately with no sign of the owners.

Nearing the market we began to wonder where all the people had come from. They were not there for the show; shows are a regular occurrence on Saturdays.

We were late so had missed some of the show, the first two performance we saw were actually ones we have seen in the past, more than once.

At least we were there to watch our neighbours; there are three of them in this band. Two ladies are playing saxophones and one gent is playing the euphonium.

Continuing our progress, (slow), through the market, Huan thought that you should see this, a woodworking shop. My only problem with it was the fresh vegetable stalls outside being covered in dust. However, the shop is a permanent fixture so the fault lies with the stall placement.

There were so many people today that I didn’t fancy walking back through the market to get home so we walked back on the other side of the river. Snowbirds were still around but at least we could have a relaxed walk and not have to keep on stopping. Huan even found time for a bit of exercise; I do have to admit that I egged her on a bit!

Shall we finish today’s selection with a little of our wildlife, a mere bug. However, it is a pretty one as I’m sure you’ll agree.

February 26^th This morning I expected to get woken up by the jack hammer parked just outside our building. That is not what happened. For some reason the weather chilled last night and we both spent the last two or three sleep hours just trying to keep warm without actually getting out of bed to get more covers from the top of the wardrobe. I eventually gave up at seven o’clock and took a photo of the workers just before they started.

Today’s route was up past Rendishan with some added exploring. On the way we went through a little village and found some children playing with a tiny kitten. They let me hold it.

They were making a house for it in an old crate of some sort when we first found them. Just after I gave the kitten back there was the sound of a mother calling from indoors. Three little children moved very fast indeed, one went to talk to Mum and the other two went to hide the kitty!

The exploratory part of today’s plan was to see if there was a way to go down to the village in the valley from the other side of the highway. We followed the road through another small village and then saw our destination far down below, through the highway arches.

The road stopped at a quarry.

At the other side of the quarry we found a path heading off through the trees. The path may look firm but as we haven’t had any rain recently, the sand and the leaves make it quite treacherous, for an oldie like me anyway. At one time I would have bounded down it like a gazelle, those days are long gone I’m afraid.

Eventually, much to Huan’s delight, (she’s never sure I know where I am), we found our way down to a large farm area.

We were still not 100% sure that we had reached the correct place; all the covered farms were playing havoc with our memories, mine especially. They had not been there in the past. Now it seems that the farm has become part of the Rendishan complex too.

Of course the director had me taking photos of what was being grown inside, even though I had to take them through the netting. To my surprise, they came out fine.

We were in the right place; the highway should have been a good giveaway, even from a distance. The valley has changed a lot though, a lot more greenery. Upon exiting the farm area and the valley everything became clear.

In the village we were lucky to find a water source. Even better for me, they had some little Snickers bars in the fridge so I grabbed one of them too. It’s been a long time!

Huan found a lady making rush matting so had to have a chat with her and take some photos at the same time. I asked her to ask permission first! The lady told Huan that she was making a cover for the bed, not a top cover but one that you sleep on. Huan has never had the pleasure before, but I have. In the Philippines I slept on rush matting on a bamboo floor, very comfortable indeed. For Her Ladyship, it has to be home comforts all the way.

We took a last look at the village before heading off home. This is the first time we have seen it with so many crops growing. I suppose it was not very easy when the highway was being built and then Covid came along too, but now all is AOK again. As well as the increase in crops the village has also been beautified, very nice.

We’ll finish off with another “des res” today; it would make quite a big domicile for SWMBO and her workforce of one, almost a palace in fact. There is someone living in one of the houses but mostly it is deserted.

February 27^th Today was another day of fame, of sorts. We had the crew from Sansha TV visit to document how Huan and I ended up in Hainan and how we live our lives here. It was quite a hectic day, more will happen tomorrow as well. It could be a while before we see the finished movie, but when we see it, we’ll also share it with you. Part of today’s shooting was a brief visit to our favourite “Little Island” where I snapped these photos.

At Huan’s OAP School we got a quick pic of the cameramen, the director and the presenter.

And there you have it, another day over and another week over. Too tired to write anymore today, you’ll know in time why we were so busy. Until the next time, fare thee well my darlings!