March 26th Her Majesty had a terrible night’s sleep and consequently, so did I. Her arm was giving her gyp; that is despite her continuously trying to tell me that it is nearly better now. What to do? I can hardly carry her to see the doctor. I made an executive decision and decided that she should not climb any mountains today, or walk too far. Maybe a lizard search would be enough. No sooner had we reached the river, near the three legged dog WC, than the first one was spotted.
I had to zoom in quite a bit for this next pic. I needed to show it to the Minister of Finance so that she could see how people get good bird photographs!
What’s going on here then? I told Huan they were drilling for oil. They told Huan that there will be a new pedestrian (?) bridge at this point. Good news for all of us!
Cue a panoramic view of the other side of the river.
Once we got back to the matter in hand we both went a little berserk. Lizards were found all over the place, on almost every other tree. Maybe I exaggerate, just a little bit though!
Back on the other side of the river, walking towards Xiaodao so that we could attain the magic ten kilometres, Huan picked up a hitchhiker. She didn’t panic!
Sometimes, when I see people working hard, I get a little bit jealous. The feeling doesn’t last long though, especially as I know how old I am now!
On the little island we each found another lizard. In this case, Huan couldn’t see the one I found at all. Hers was proud and colourful, mine was well camouflaged.
What a day for our little lounging friends, twenty three of them. That must be a record. All we found after that was a bunch of neighbours who roped me in for a photograph.
Naps were needed all round after lunch, we slept almost two hours! Still, we needed it and dinner was an easy one today. Huan had decided that I should cook liver, something similar to the dish we had in town recently. So here you are; liver with red and yellow peppers, red and green chillies, onions and garlic. I know, it would look much better against some white rice. Unfortunately some doctor once told us that black rice was healthier and she with the elephant memory never forgets.
March 27th It was my turn last night, I tossed and turned all night long, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the Ivy League song. If my illustrious leader had suggested doing nothing this morning there would have been no argument from me. She didn’t do that of course, instead she suggested that we do the Landfill Walk. Ah well, it has been a while. Almost as soon as we left our apartment I found a car decal, a big fancy one. 关关难过关关过, Guān guān nánguò guān guānguò - It's hard to pass, it's passed. 顺风顺水顺财神, shùnfēng shùnshuǐ shùn cáishén - Smooth wind and smooth water to the God of Wealth. 事事难成事事成, shì shì nán chéngshì shì chéng - Nothing can come true, nothing can come true.
We took a little detour on the way, just for a change, and found a des res that I could actually walk around inside, and on the roof.
This detour takes us through a site where we had previously been told the government car testing (MOT) station would be moving to. I can’t see it yet, but I can see where a lot of the rubble from the river has ended up. Never mind the rubble though, just check out that weather!
Huan was just a little bit ahead of me. Normally I would crop the photo so that you can see more of her but I rather liked this one as it was.
Of course as soon as she reached the main road she found her first lizard of the day.
Meanwhile I was doing my usual, snapping scenery.
And then, surprise, I found one too, one that Huan would never have found. He was on the other side of the crash barrier and I just happened to look at the right time. This photo is interesting not only for his skin and his eye but also his feet. Look closely and you will see his ‘suction pads’. That’s very unusual for a countryside lizard.
Another detour was called for, up the old landfill access road.
And then, it was my turn yet again! I was lucky; he was well camouflaged against the sand.
Huan found the next one though and as well as my snap she took many.
You could say we were on nodding terms.
On the other hand, you could say that we were very good friends! I was so close that I was going cross eyed. I put my glasses on to try and get nearer but unfortunately, the spell was broken.
Soon we were in the village and amongst the pigeons.
Huan went and did it again, there was no ‘ooops’ though!
Instead of a decal on a car, this is a 3D bear. We are not sure why he is wearing goggles though as he is on the back of the car.
This one is not 3D, it is just a decal. 途虎养车, Tú hǔ yǎngchē - Tuhu car maintenance. 大展红途, dà zhǎn hóng tú - Show great success. It seems to be an advert.
Naps were not allowed after lunch, Huan wanted to cook dinner early and make some baps. I would have loved a nap but sometimes the boss needs company.
Now why was Huan cooking early? While we were out this morning the dentist phoned, my new tooth is ready. Not so much fear for a new tooth so off we went. Would you believe it, SWMBO only went and found another lizard! I only had my phone with me but I obeyed!
And here I am giving my best impression of ‘Gnasher’ from the Beano comic. Mind you, he was dog. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnasher As a baby, I did have a nickname, from the same comic. Apart from my family I doubt very much that anyone else will guess what it was.
March 28th What a night! This one was neither Huan’s fault nor mine. Both of us were woken up just before three to the sound of people still in a restaurant nearby. Still, it didn’t put us off a daily walk. I decided a change was in order and took Huan on to the bedroom balcony, pointed up, and asked “Do you want to go there?”
Those of you with very long memories may remember that in 2022 Dr. Ma took us ‘up there’ three months to the day after he fitted me with a stent! Of course walking all that way and then up even further would not be so easy so we drove the 10-12 kilometres to the start point.
Now I took far too many pictures walking up, mostly because I had forgotten just how far it was. Mind you, the distance is fairly short, two and half kilometres, but the ‘going’ is hard work.
The artistic director interrupted my train of thought and insisted I took a photo of this fairly moth eaten piece of foliage. At least I guess it has been eaten by some kind of insect.
More upwards progress.
Is this the top?
Not quite, but it was very near.
For the last few hundred yards we had been accompanied by this rather fit gentleman. He is five years younger than I am, and it shows.
At the last telecommunications tower, there was someone in residence, a watchman I suppose. He had a dog that was very vociferous and a cat and a chicken that wouldn’t chat at all.
I was a little disappointed that I was unable to get any shots of Wuzhishan from up the top, all the vegetation has grown a lot in the last two years. Instead we went to check out the first, and mostly unused tower.
Huan found a frog, most unusual. Often we hear them but hardly ever see them.
As for me, I was busy being creative.
In the absence of scenes of Wuzhishan, how about a seed, a very interesting looking one?
I also picked up a hitchhiker.
Walking back down was a lot easier than going up had been. Back down in the car park we found another one of my favourite vehicles. Sods law stops me being able to drive it though!
Also in the car park I got a final view of the town, including where we live. Mind you, I had to crop quite a large amount. Can you spot our humble abode?
After lunch and because, unlike Kate Bush, we are not very good at running up hills, we both had to have a nap. It was my turn in the kitchen again today, and the recipe was Chinese chicken curry. (I suspect that the recipe comes from an English style Chinese restaurant because it is unlike any other Chinese curry I have ever eaten.)
We can’t buy chicken leg meat off the bone here so I used breast meat instead. Other than that there were no modifications to the recipe. I have to say that both of us were very surprised that it tasted so good. More curry taste needed for me next time though!
March 29th Nowhere near as many photos were taken today. You can blame me. My boots fell apart when we got home yesterday so a local stroll was needed rather than a long hike. As is often the case, we started off going over the little island. On the bridge we found our first subject, which may or may not have been a ‘dobsonfly’.
Despite there being an abundance of snowbirds on the prowl Huan still managed to find two lizards before we had fully crossed the island.
This one was taken from too far away, but you can see what it is.
From there, (the last bridge), we headed up to lizard market to buy some Xinjiang bread for the weekend. Going in opposite directions around the place the little fellows hang out Huan was not so happy that she didn’t find one whereas I did. I was happy though!
She made up for it by finding a sad panda family, someone had chopped down their bamboo, a little bird and yet another lizard. The last two were at the limits of the camera so Huan thought they would not be captured. However, as you can see, I got them.
March 30th Saturday means it’s market day and I decided we needed to make a video of our ‘temporary’ market before it’s too late. Also, we needed more videos for March. You can watch it here https://youtu.be/KPkYf2no-9Y
One of the first things we saw after the first market street was this car decal. Huan thought he/she/it was giving a ‘two thumbs up’, I thought it looked more like two middle fingers!
And then, to Huan’s surprise, I found a lizard, before she did!
Just to rub it in I then found a squirrel or two. I think this is only one of them though.
Huan must have been really yearning for a win because I short order she found a lizard that I did spot just after her and a bird that I couldn’t even see.
After lunch the mistress of the house had a sleep, in the spare bedroom, she likes to vary her routine sometimes. I had work to do, so kept my eyes open. As you can see there are not too many photos today but I also had to upload and create the market video for Youtube. A little house maintenance then kept me busy a little longer. Our little extender block for the microwave and coffee machine packed up yesterday so I had to investigate. A new switch is needed and of course it will not look exactly the same as the other two. After nine years the only way to get an identical match is to buy a new extender board at over ten times the price. I found a switch on Taobao, it’s near enough. Evidence will be forthcoming when the job is finished.
March 31st No off road walking today but we did get to the countryside, to Luobote village in fact. Huan found a bug on a tree, I think it had already joined the Monty Python parrot!
We might have to avoid that route for a while, Huan almost fell down a hole in the road!
Our bovine buddies were in residence but we didn’t go up for a chat,
just did the same as neighbours in the
And then, pause for effect, I heard a rustling in the trees. Huan thought that I would have, as usual, missed the source but not this time.
Next up was a goose, one that didn’t chase us. I know sometimes we are too quick to give animals human characteristics but the plaintive sounds this one was making made me think it was pining for another goose that wasn’t there.
It is nice to get out of town, especially when there is construction noise all along the river. We had peace and solitude and beautiful walkways.
Before too long the Producer had me pointing the camera at her finds again, lizards again. Despite looking very similar these are in fact two different fellows. With their proximity to each other, six or seven minutes walking, maybe they are brothers!
Not content with her finds she then had me taking pictures of another bug on another tree.
On our way back along the road to somewhere she only went and found another lizard, one that was scared and trying to climb the wall, unsuccessfully. Once this picture was taken I gently chased him along the wall until there was an opening for him to escape through. I wouldn’t mind but he didn’t even stop to say thank you!
Luckily the town was soon upon us and no more creatures were to be found. Huan suggested that we go the cake shop as we had run out of things to go with our coffee, I needed no second bidding. These slices are cheap as chips, ¥3.00 each, and we usually share one with our coffee. Being a generous sort, I bought seven!
And that was the end of Easter Sunday for us, well apart from a nice long nap!
April 1st April Fool’s Day has arrived. Huan doesn’t follow these things so I
was sheltered from any surprises. As usual it was a shopping day with an after
lunch nap. I had planned to go out again afterwards but seeing how many photos
we have this week I changed my mind. Instead I completed my Youtube playlist
modifications. Now all my Nikon Keymission videos, and all our ‘eating out in
And that’s it for yet another week here in cheerful
No comments:
Post a Comment