June 18th
I will take the blame for this next one though.
I did take a couple of photos as
we were approaching the village at the end of the “No Through Road”. As you can
see, the weather was not too bad at all. As we were sweltering in something
over 30⁰C I did wonder how my friends and family could possible cope with the
reported heat wave of 26⁰C in the
Soon the entrance to the village came into view; you can see the sign post in this photo. The village is called Maonong and in my memory we had been round it before. We had taken the road straight into the village and come out on the road to the right of the village sign. Would I be right, or would my RAM fail me again? (It does that sometimes.)
On this occasion my memory was accurate and soon we had circumnavigated the village and were heading down to the junction near the signpost.
At this juncture my phone had just told me that we had reached the six kilometre mark. We had begun our journey back though so eleven would probably be today’s result. By now we were both in need of liquid sustenance, I found the place, and Huan took the photos.
Back on track after our water stop Huan found another creature under a leaf. Well I guess this one was not really under, more like behind. Look very closely and you can see its right eye. Is it looking at me looking at it?
All that remained for me to do was to take a few pictures of the scenery before we finally reached home. I hope you enjoy them.
You can the video of today’s ‘no through road’ here - https://youtu.be/9j7gYEYFZDg By the time we got home Huan had walked eleven kilometres and I had walked almost twelve. She had gone home via the main road gate while I had gone via the other gate to collect a couple of express deliveries. After a lunch of salty egg sandwiches we both needed naps.
Dinner was on me again, seashell noodle soup. The shells were something similar to cockles, I added garlic, spring onions, green jalapeno, celery and carrot, and of course noodles. I almost took pictures of the dishes, especially mine, as I deemed it restaurant worthy. Huan’s was normal, from the pot. Mine had the last tin of coconut milk poured in before serving, it needed to be used and Huan is not so keen on it. It tasted as good as it looked so if I ever do the same again I will definitely have to remember to take that photo!
June 19th After yesterday’s long trek I think if either of us had suggested staying home today the other would have gladly accepted. However, both of us suggested a slower and shorter walk and, surprise, we both agreed! It gave me a chance to try out my latest new shorts. While I can no longer wear “Magnum PI” shorts, if in fact I ever could, I still find these just a little too long. I guess in time I will get used to them.
Huan went off to buy her lottery tickets while I took the rubbish to the bins. We were to meet outside the local party service centre. From there I took these photos, they are digging up the road at the traffic lights again. We think they are expanding the storm water drainage, but have no idea what the circular structure above road level is. Is it just to stop people falling in while they are working? We do know that the surface will be levelled off when they are finished. If you are a civil engineer perhaps you can “fill us in”!
This morning it was Huan who deviated from the plan. She asked if we could go via the fish farm restaurant hopefully to see some egrets. I didn’t bother arguing or explaining that they have all now migrated north for the summer.
She did find a lizard on the way in though, and I found her!
I suppose geese and ducks count as birds.
The ‘granny finger’ is responsible for this, lots of jackfruit on one branch.
I was interrupted by shouts of “Bob, Bob, there’s a snake!” As usual Huan tried to get me to go even nearer than I did. As it turns out I could have, (not that I would have wanted to), as it is not a venomous snake. It is a “Dendrelaphis pictus’, also known as the common bronzeback or painted bronzeback. Despite looking so slender, it eats frogs and lizards, whole!
Next up we have both her, and him. After I took a photo of Huan fondling a sausage she took one of me photographing one for further info. It is in fact a Kigelia africana (a.k.a. sausage tree).
Walking back towards the main road we took some flora for you. I am not 100% sure but I think it is Sterculia monosperma, also known as Chinese chestnut, the Thai chestnut, the seven sisters' fruit, and the phoenix eye fruit.
I did manage to find a bird for Huan. It’s a long-tailed shrike (Lanius schach) but I’m afraid it’s not such a good photo.
She was next finding this handsome skink for me.
Huan likes most of our photographs but she is not keen on these at all. I can’t see why not, it’s just a fly resting on a leaf, not particularly bothering anybody.
I made up for it though by finding her two birds, rather pretty ones too. The first photo says “I’m not talking to you!” The second shows that one has escaped to the pub.
We did look for more of our feathered friends on the ay home, unfortunately with no success. Of course we can always find lizards. “What are you looking at?”
This next one amused me, outside the local clinic where people go for intravenous injections. Is it a father’s helmet with mother’s and child’s, is it a mother’s and two children’s or is it some other familial combination thereof.
As we reached home Huan found her last lizard of the day. My photograph is of a higher quality than hers, but I prefer hers so here it is.
June 20th Late up this morning, we both slept in a little. We were then late out because Huan was on the phone again dealing with repercussions from changing her ISP. Our Sanya tenant had no internet last night and this morning.
I found a little birdie and made a little gif.
Huan found a lizard and I made a mess of the snap.
At least I didn’t make a mess of dinner, chilli-con-carne a la Bob. Ingredients were minced pork, garlic, red jalapeno, spring onions, carrot, the kidney beans I forgot to use last week and the lovely tomato paste I made last night. The paste had the extra spices in it. Huan wanted a plated photo but I don’t think they look so good without white rice. Instead I hope you will be happy with a pan photo just before serving.
June 21st The best laid plans of mice and men (or husbands) often fail to come to fruition. We both rolled out of bed around half past six this morning, I’m not sure if one of us “wet the bed”! Being so early Huan decided that a bus and walk would be on the schedule. She completely forgot what we had talked about yesterday. Ah well, I needed a long walk anyway. Off the bus we headed into the countryside to do the reverse kindergarten walk.
On the way we had some tropical flora and fauna to amuse us.
Lizards were around but we only ever saw their tails! I wasn’t worried; there was a lot of nice scenery to grab my attention.
Usually the only fish you get to see are in markets. You may also know that I am an absolutely hopeless fisherman. However, in this little pond I think even I would succeed!
More fauna for you now, first Huan wanted me to snap a turkey. The dog was guarding the turkey. The ducks and piglet were right next door.
We carried on along the road we knew, drinking in the sights and sounds that we both love. Then at the last minute, just before the village, we left the paved road and went along a grassy path.
As often happens we came to a dead end and a small dam across the little river. Ever the intrepid explorers we found a way back to the road.
Downhill all the way now so we were both quite content with our lot. Huan was even happier when I also found a turkey. She tells me that his one is female whereas the last one was male.
Plants often have interesting ways to protect themselves from those pesky birds; this one even makes its own cage. The cage has ‘sticky bars’ (bracts) that attract insects although nobody is sure if it gains any sustenance from them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_foetida
Huan was on a winning streak today although it was me that found this for her. Initially we both thought it was a worm. However, it didn’t move like a worm, or as slow as a worm. Checking on Google when we got home I decided that it was another snake, that makes two this week! It may be Virgotyphlops braminus (a.k.a. Brahminy Blind Snake, Flowerpot Snake, Flowerpot Blind Snake, Common Blind Snake, Island Blind Snake) or could be Argyrophis diardii (a.k.a. Diard's blind snake, the Indochinese blind snake, the large blind snake, or the large worm snake). Being very small and fast I think it is probably the Brahminy.
Her spirits were raised even further when she found one of my green friends. Mind you, she was a little disappointed that this one did not want to climb up my arm to the camera.
Before we got home Huan’s day was saved, she found a lizard for me, and some birds. For her I only found a very well hidden dragonfly.
Almost home and I was playing with the zoom when I decided I would try a little panorama. It turned out pretty enough, something I can use as a Facebook cover photo sometime.
June 22nd Market day so off we went to buy one rotisseried duck and the salad makings. After twenty years Huan just told me that she doesn’t really like potatoes in her salad. She likes salad, she likes potatoes, but not both together. Mars and Venus come to mind! It took her quite a while today but eventually she found a lizard for me.
Duck and salad makings in hand we walked back through the riverside market. There was an Ethiopian lady selling coffee and of course people were taking photographs of her. Seeing me they did try and get us together but I am afraid I refused. When all these types of photos are taken you never get to see the end results, it just ends up on someone else’s social media.
Instead I took a photo of a lady on her haunches buying bananas, you know who!
Our only other photo for today is not such a good shot. This little grasshopper was on the balustrade where I couldn’t get a decent shot, and then he jumped to my shoe where I took this one before he jumped back to the balustrade where I failed again!
June 23rd Hide and seek was the game today. We woke up to rain falling, checked the forecast which changed with alarming regularity, and then we eventually took advantage of a break. We were successful in avoiding everything but minor drizzle. I wish I could say we were successful with our photos but I think I’d be lying.
With hiding from the rain and being careful of the slippery paths we were not very fast.
With it being the type of day it was I had no inkling that we would find any lizards but I forgot about Huan’s inbuilt radar. She found three, including a grey headed oldie.
And what did I find today? Just a little birdie and he was just a little too far away.
Huan had a nap today, I skipped it. We went to sleep to the sound of the rain again. At least we have no real bad storms here, touch wood!
June 24th Just another Monday, not manic, just boring. It’s not that I don’t like shopping, in fact quite the opposite, I usually enjoy it. Today was no exception, we had room to move, no crowds and got nearly everything on the list. It was later that my plans were thwarted. By now you will have realised that my occasional solo forays are not always unintended. I had planned to have one this afternoon whereupon I would find that I would have to stop for a coffee break and, of course, you’ve guessed it, a fag. Unfortunately for me it rained all afternoon. My foray will have to wait until later in the week.
As for photos, we did find a lizard as we were parking the car but both photos I took, with my phone, were absolutely abysmal. Hence nothing for today. There will be more next week though so stay tuned and remember to click to subscribe, click to enlarge and click to comment!
