January 2nd New Year, new weather? Maybe not, but today was back so some semblance of normality, shorts, short sleeved shirt and boots. We were off to the countryside on the Changhao road. Before we even reached there Huan found her first lizard, it looks like it is shedding.
After that we took a detour via the scenic route.
And then it was my turn to find some subjects, first a blue dragonfly, and then a mix of man and nature. The street lights oddly look fine from this angle.
Huan spotted this underneath a leaf. We wondered why it seemed to be just a small part of a beehive. Google tells us that it is a Keyhole (or Spider) wasp’s hive. Luckily it was empty.
Almost in the same spot I took this photograph to show you how quickly nature can recover. This little area is between the two carriageways of the highway, we walk under both to get to our destination. There is no sign of the previous construction works at all, everything has grown back.
Look at those birds said the Commander, I knew what she meant!
Next we have me climbing over a fence to go under a bridge, followed by Huan doing the same. This time I took too many photos!
It was a beautiful detour!
Getting up the other side was not quite so easy but we managed it without too many scrapes along the way. Soon we came upon this little pond. Huan wondered why the fish were not eating the tadpoles you can see until I told her that the pond probably belongs to the frog restaurant!
I took us on another little detour, there are not many of these roads I haven’t been down before. Huan didn’t remember it at all until we got back to the main village road.
In the village we found this group of goslings. They were peaceful before they saw us so we had to make a quick exit before they all stood up and ran away.
A different view from the bridge back to the main road.
Across the road I took Huan down another road that she had forgotten, it actually leads to where she did her driving lessons. Old buildings can be found on this track.
Did you know that chickens enjoy dust baths? In fact there are lots of animals and birds that do. https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/more-dirt-more-clean-what-is-a-dust-bath/ Personally, I only like sand bathing followed by a nice long sleep in the sea!
And that was just about the end of our morning. We stopped for water near the driver training ground, coincidentally a bus stop so that we didn’t have to walk home. Huan regaled the shop owner with tales of passing her driving test and now not driving because her shoulder is giving her problems. I don’t think she was impressed yesterday when I showed her that her problems are more than likely caused by too much phone use!
Back at our place I found another bird while Huan was collecting her Pinduoduo stuff.
No nap for me today, too much PC work and kitchen duty. After dinner, a lovely duck and vegetable dish, it was shopping for me. I went out to buy some baps while Huan stayed in to make some more flat bread. On my way home I thought these clouds looked rather nice.
January 3rd I gave the boss the choice between
On our way up we had a look for the tunnel we once cautiously explored, at least the first one or two feet. All further chances of exploration are now gone, it is locked off.
Snowbirds were present in abundance today, some doing the usual of using free water to wash their cars. I did question them, no shame whatsoever!
For a change we walked up to the Yuanyang Gallery Pavilion, the furthest we can go these days. On the way I decided to play Indiana Bob, not very successfully. https://youtu.be/jOcuj8m-ajQ At the pavilion Huan took too many videos.
Snowbirds were sitting on stones in the river everywhere.
I like the fact that this photo makes it almost look as if I am levitating.
And if you enlarge this wonderful view you will see even more snowbirds!
This is a view I spotted from afar, Huan didn’t see it at all but was suitably impressed at home.
When the paths are dry this is a lovely walk.
Getting back to the river where work has recommenced, at least until the summer months we assume, we noticed a new machine. Google tells us that it is a ‘Horizontal Cement Silo’ and for a few thousand dollars you can have one too! Maybe it will speed up the work.
That was enough for one day, we both needed naps after lunch!
January 4th Teddies’ day out. Yes, we were out today, all the way to Sanya to meet
up with a couple of old (really young) friends who we haven’t seen since our
Arriving a little early we went
for a look at the sea. On the way we passed this small piece of landscaping, it
is the sign for
In 2007 there was not much in this area of Sanya at all. Now it is a thriving tourist area. Most of the visitors are mainland Chinese with a few Russians here and there. We may even go down in the future; it looks a pleasant place to spend a few days.
We keep trying to get these selfies right but as you can see, we need much more practice. I think we need a big sign near the lens saying “Look here, you dummies!”
Now you will know why this photo is here, it’s yellow and it’s convertible. Enough said!
Back at the shopping centre Huan showed her love for
We were to meet Brad and Sally on the third floor. Now I’ve
travelled a lot and I know how floors can be labelled differently in different
countries. For example, the ‘ground floor’ in
This is the restaurant we were meeting in.
And here are the stars of the day. They actually got married in
November and were in
Our lunch was superb but with all the catching up and eating we completely forgot to photograph anything. We can tell you that the restaurant is most definitely worth visiting, everything was delicious and the prices are very reasonable. And here we all are together courtesy of a friendly waiter. (Taken with a Google Pixel, nice phone, nice camera.)
From there it was back to the beach for a walk and a few more photographs.
Now
Huan and I had eaten far too much to join Brad and Sally in some refreshments but they enjoyed a shared coconut drink. I say shared but Sally was heard to ask why there was none left after Brad had been let loose with the straw.
All too soon it was time for us to head back into the mountains.
Finding our way back to the highway was a doddle. The only problem was what we
found when we got there, nose to tail traffic. I suspect the planners in
We never came to a complete stop though and soon we were motoring at far more reasonable speeds. By the time we reached Wuzhishan night had fallen and we had the pleasant surprise of a New Year welcome. Huan had to find my phone and snap quickly but it’s not bad.
And that was the end of a rather wonderful day. All we needed at home was cups of tea, no sandwiches or dinner. Mind you I did scoff a couple of moon cakes!
January 5th One sleepy head was late getting up, that was me. Huan was already busy frying small fish and also making vegetable balls. After lunch the Minister of Health suggested a walk, I have to say that if she hadn’t done so, I would gladly have rotted indoors all day! Having skipped all the decals from Sanya we found one for you today, 新手上路, 禁止恐吓, Xīnshǒu shànglù jìnzhǐ kǒnghè – Newbie on the road. No intimidation. I guess ‘rookie on the road’ is a good enough English version, but why does the cat have a microphone?
Let’s have a walk up this lane and see how far we can go and what’s up there. The answer was as far as the buildings that you can see and a lumber yard.
Soon we were back on track and heading into the village via the small road by the stream.
Maybe it was the time of day but the village was deserted.
Time for our only critters of the day, a chicken and a butterfly. I did try and get closer to the chicken but it scarpered, the butterfly was just miniscule to start with.
On our return journey, we found a new path so off we went.
It led us past the (locked) back gate of the Rendishan complex but then carried on further.
The final path led to wide open spaces again.
You might be able to see in that last photo that we were heading towards a construction site. Well the truth is we were already in the site as you can tell by the sandy road. Cue us explaining to the security guard that “no, we don’t want to come in to your site, we want to go out”. I don’t think he was very impressed with us at all.
Let’s get back to (three) wheeled transport; here is one that I presume is always in fashion.
And here is the Lady of the Manor trying it on for size. The salesman told her that she could buy one but that she couldn’t ride it until she took another test.
Cue a minor disagreement with Huan saying that neither of us could drive it. Once we reached home and I showed her our two licences she agreed that I was not wrong. Because she had taken her lessons and her test in an automatic car that is the only thing she can drive, (C2). Because my licence is not only for an automatic car I have additional categories. (I have C1E. C1 includes C2 and C3, C3 includes C4, E also includes F.) Aren’t I the lucky one! Mind you, I do have the 50cc upper limit for motorbikes because of my age.
January 6th No coffee this morning, just multiple teeth cleanings for me. The dentist had told is my new ‘caps’ were ready. I also needed to show him another broken tooth! After all that, the dentist had not returned from Sanya and we have to wait until tomorrow. Across the road we spotted a playful kitten so I regaled Huan with “If I fits, I sits!”
Being a Saturday it was then a walk round the corner to buy the (winning?) lottery tickets before having a wander around the market. I say a wander, but considering the number of times I was barged out of the way that is probably not the right word.
As if that wasn’t enough battering Huan decided that we should walk along the riverside to the other market. I suppose the riverside was not too bad.
The other market was crowded too but no shoving was involved.
I had to take a photo of this little vehicle, just because of the English on the back, ‘vigorous’. With the vehicle being what we call a ‘mobility scooter’ I doubt the driver is aware that there is humour involved in the name. In fact, I doubt the designer is aware either.
Passing by the car we picked up the dash cam mount which the ‘tint installers’ had put back in the wrong place. All we could see in the camera were ‘frits’. Don’t know what frits are? Never fear, Bob is here to help, as always - https://www.autoglaze.co.uk/ever-wondered-what-the-little-dots-around-a-windscreen-are-for/ Of course, in the lift I had to have a play!
Nap time was on the cards after lunch. Huan’s nap was disturbed by her phone; she had to collect something from Pinduoduo (again). By the time I crawled back into the living room she had taken all the Christmas decorations down, a job we were supposed to share. What a hero she is! After coffee it was kitchen time for me, Chicken Adobo today, Philippine style. We had no vinegar and I also added potatoes and green beans. Although it wasn’t bad, it was probably the worst adobo I have ever cooked.
January 7th We started Sunday with a repeat of Saturday and went off to the dentist. Guess what? He was busy with a patient having implants this morning so my unscheduled appointment was re-scheduled for tomorrow morning. Heading off for a little walk we found these car decals, which I’m afraid to say Google was no help with.
We did understand the lucky cat in the back window though.
RVs are becoming more popular in
We didn’t have the camera with us today and when Huan showed me this caterpillar I had great difficulty trying to take a photo of it. The way the sun was positioned I couldn’t see my phone screen at all. Still, we got something!
This was a much easier shot to capture, note the lack of a hat today.
And I think we will leave it at that for today, nothing much else happened.
January 8th I’m beginning to understand Groundhog Day, no coffee this morning (again), just multiple teeth cleanings for me, (again). The good news is that we broke the circle today and I could have my new crown fitted. To celebrate while we waited I tried out the boss’s chair.
Soon I was in the 'other' chair and the coronation took place.
Good news and bad news often go together and such was the case today. Although my crown was successfully fitted, the next ‘repair’ could not start. It seems that the workshop that makes the crowns will be on holiday until after Chinese New Year. The dentist will be away from the first day for at least a week. Luckily, there is no pain.
A walk around town was called for, mostly by SWMBO but I didn’t really mind. The man of the house, (aka the manservant), had forgotten to take any baps out of the freezer so shopping was also needed. Once we had bought some bread for lunch, we headed to lizard market where we found nothing at all. Mind you the fungi seller, on seeing me pointing my phone, did tell us that these were the best looking ones she had!
As you can see,
Crossing the road, the light sequence meant we ended up in front of one of my doggy friend’s places. His Mum is in the first photo, follow the others round in a clockwise direction and you will finish on the large photo. Just look at his eyes.
Normally that would be the end of our weekly photos, as you are aware Monday is a shopping day. You may remember that last week was horrendous, this week was as I had hoped, not a lot of customers and cashiers just for us. In fact this cashier is helping Huan to repack the trolley so that we can go back upstairs and get the fruit and vegetables weighed and priced. No laughing now, anyone can make a mistake!
And now that really is the end, we’ll be back in seven days, or one week, or 1/52nd of a year whichever comes first. Be good and take care.
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