Lazy Layabouts Walk A Little.

October 8^th Our first photo of the week was another bird but it’s been relegated to the computer. Why? Because the first photo in the Blog post is the one that becomes the thumbnail. Instead, for this week, you have the impassable ford downriver.

Yes, our route was downriver, to the farm in the woods and then the highway on and off ramps before coming back along Changhao road. We picked a lovely day for it.

For a change I went up to the top of the hill before joining Huan on the downward slope. I thought it was time to see how the local gasworks was doing. As you can see, it is very different to the old gasometers we used to have in the UK.

The expedition leader managed to find more birds for me. They were all quite far away and made for photos that weren’t anything special so I joined them all into one collage.

Arriving at the farm we found that they had turkeys now. Cue me being ordered to take photos of turkeys while Huan took photos of me.

There were chickens and geese too but I avoided talking to the geese as the farm owners were nearby. They may not have been impressed at my talking to the animals skills.

Soon we were off up the hill on the other side of the farm and then down the hill on the other side of the highway roads. Don’t we have fun?

Soon our little road joined the Changhao village road.

I then sent Huan down the safe side of the road while I went along the underpass parapet. I thought my way was safe too but Nurse Gladys gave me some earache.

Mind you, she had to shout loudly!

We then took turns being long distance tour guides!

I then continued on the parapet the other side of the highway off ramp while Huan walked on the other side. After a while I crossed the road and went into the waste ground at the side, Huan carried on at the roadside. She found a subject, I didn’t.

Her next subject was me re-emerging from said waste ground.

As we approached Wuzhisan we were running a little early so we took a detour. The ‘track’ had been resurfaced in parts; a gent we saw told us that there had been plans for a karaoke place. Those plans had failed so the road didn’t get finished.

Could this have been the new karaoke location? It would be the first outdoor one we have seen but I guess it would not have disturbed the neighbours.

SWMBO did it yet again.

We were still running early so we took another detour. In the past there was a way though and around the little valley and thence back to the main road.

The walk, while being a bit soggy in places, was still pleasant enough. However, we ended up at a little fish pond with no obvious way through.

There was a gentleman in the farm buildings and he pointed out a way that he said was ‘good to go’. We tried, I think he misunderstood us, we turned back!

Someone very famous in the west is Snoopy. However, I am not quite sure what this slogan means. Maybe someone out there can enlighten me.

Back home I left Madame going through the office gate while I continued on to the express delivery gate. A delivery of reading glasses had arrived for me, the first of two. I did find a lizard on the way home but I failed to get a decent snap for you. Please forgive me; I know not what I do! Actually I was trying to balance too many things.

After lunch and a well earned nap it was cooking time for me again. I have cooked this in the past for Huan and not done it correctly.

The last time I cooked it the cauliflower had lost its crunch and the ‘umami’ was absent. Today I followed the recipe more carefully and it turned out much better. I did use half a whole garlic instead of just four cloves and I added half an onion in too. It was yummy albeit a little salty. Maybe I tipped the soy sauce bottle a little too far. Give it a go, you’ll love it. PS You can use white rice; my ‘dietician’ thinks all these colours are healthier

October 9^th Sometimes dreams are good, sometimes they are not. Last night was definitely a ‘not’ night. I kept waking up in the ‘laid out’ position just before anything really bad happened in the dream. Each time I would go back to sleep on my side and then again wake up in the same position. I guess my tossing and turning disturbed the teddy bear too because we were both very tired this morning. We almost didn’t go out but thought better of it. Mind you, we only took a nice round the town and river walk. We had to take this first photo, a Peugeot 206cc, it brought back memories. I used to own one of these in the 2000s but for some reason I have no photos of it. My memories are quite fond ones, Huan’s not so much. She had to sit in the back for a long journey and never forgave me for that.

Alongside the river Huan found an egret, a very long distance one!

On the other side of the river we found lots of small birds in the trees. Because they are so small they are very difficult to get into the frame and then when you do that, they are camouflaged so well that you almost can’t see them anyway.

And that is all we had for today, sorry.

October 10^th Who’s a grumpy boy then? This came out better than I thought it would.

And then here we are, off on another video expedition this morning. It’s been a long time since we made a ‘No Through Road’ video so today it was time. Here I am explaining where we used to go and cannot go anymore. If you look closely you can make out the steps that we used. Our route actually started further down the road.

Soon enough we were off the main road and on our way up the back road. The fully concreted road had disappeared by this point.

Not long after that we reached the end, the top, the terminus, the place where we had to turn round and retrace our steps. This is an old, still in use, water tank.

At least the way back was mostly downhill and with nice views to boot.

At the bottom we said a goodbye to our viewers and headed for home, although we were still a little early. If you want to see more of those views and listen to my dulcet tones on the way then please click here - https://youtu.be/o1SgaTkxgiU

Because we were early we headed up the ‘officer’s club road. We call it that even though the club in question has never been open since it was built.

Our ulterior motive was to take a sidetrack and visit the farm near the old ammunition depot to check out whether or not there was still a way through back to the main road. As we got nearer to the farm the dogs came out, and as is usual when there is a Labrador type hound around, the other dogs barked and she came to say hello. She remembered me even though the farm resident didn’t. He also told us what we had been expecting to hear, there is no more through road this way. Perhaps we should have included it in today’s video!

Today started with a bird, why don’t we finish it with some more birds? Huan was doing her granny finger bit again but the birds were so small that in the foliage I was never going to be able to capture them. Lucky for me, they all came out and posed for me!

No naps were taken today, mostly because the video compilation failed first time around. The Queen Bee did have a little doze on the sofa, she thought I didn’t know! Later on it was back into the kitchen again for me, it sounds like a chore but I enjoy it.

Apart from some extra garlic I didn’t change much here. Mind you, I did make one mistake; I used pre-sliced hot pot beef strips instead of buying and slicing my own. They are not as lean as they should be for this recipe. However, both of us scoffed the lot and enjoyed every last morsel! PS The rice colour is the boss’s choice.

October 11^th Lethargic is not really the right word, how about obtunded? Spell-check tells me that there is no such word but there is, it is an increased level of lethargy. At least we didn’t feel the most extreme level which is being in a ‘stupor’. I wouldn’t mind but we both slept well enough last night. If Huan had suggested no walk this morning I think I would definitely have agreed with her, luckily she didn’t. We did decide no out of town and no hills mind you and that means not so many photos today. The first comes from across Little Island.

There’s a bird over there. OK!

This is a particular favourite scene of mine, buildings being reclaimed by nature.

Somewhere on the top road we found a poster with a scene from Huan’s show in Mauna way back in October 2022. She is in the performance and I am somewhere under the spectator shade.

What do you mean you can’t see her, she’s right there!

OK, I’ll help you even more but I can’t go any closer than this. Huan is the lady on the left side of the picture, imitating a farmer I guess.

Let’s finish today with a solitary bird. We did hear many more on our way back along the riverside but none of them deigned to fly low enough or near enough, or to stay still long enough for me to be able to focus on them.

October 12^th Market day came round again, it seems to come around faster every week. All we needed today was salad makings and something for the weekend lunches. Today’s lunch would be corn on the cob, here’s the boss organising the financial transaction.

And just a little further on here’s the other half, a.k.a. not the better half, chatting to a chicken or two. I didn’t get too close because I didn’t want the stallholder getting angry with me.

And that’s it for our Saturday, far too few photos I know, but then again, better not to spoil you!

October 13th Do all old people blame the weather? We seem to be forever tired these days, no hills allowed today and not too long a walk either. We headed off past the school first, on the off chance that Huan might find a squirrel. She didn’t!

Across the road and in front of the next school we spotted something that we hadn’t seen before.

These two caves have not been visible before because there was a pig house in the way. One of the helpers was there today and explained to us that the whole place was now in disuse because it has been taken back by the government. I was expecting her to tell us that the caves were old military facilities, I was wrong. She explained that they used to make alcohol here. It would be decanted into storage bottles and then stored in the caves until it was ready.

While Huan was taking that photograph I had a quick look inside.

Because the tenants will be leaving their goats will have to go too. They are now looking for someone to buy them; they can’t take them to their new place. I guess any prospective buyers will know that they can offer much less than the goats’ worth just because the sellers have no choice. We’ll still pop in and say hello now and then if we can. Mind you, goats are not the same as cows, even if the little ones are curious their elders make sure they stay well clear of us.

Going through Luobote village we tried a detour.

Our plan was foiled; there was no way to cross the fields to the road. I might just have been able to find a way for my boots, but Huan’s trainers would not have fared so well. We had to go back the way we came. PS Maybe we will have to change our name for this village, there are no children shouting my name (Luōbótè) here anymore.

Having wasted time going nowhere, we headed back from behind the mansions on the hill.

It’s time we had some fauna I think, ergo one spider and one lizard. There are two photos of the lizard, after I took the first one he tried to escape and jumped into the leaves. However, I was there waiting for him. I wonder what he’s thinking.

Huan then stopped to chat to a lady who was repairing a bamboo fence and took too many photos while she was there. I do believe she also tried to give some helpful advice!

While Huan was chatting I went for a recce to see if the irrigation canal was still impassable. It was, still beautiful but with no way through.

I retraced my steps and rejoined Huan and we set off alongside the mansions on the hill. More fauna was found, a dragonfly by me and then the other two by the boss.

We took a minor detour just so that we could show you the view back down the irrigation canal towards the spot where I took the last shot. You can’t see it from here, it’s too far away but you can get a good idea of how inaccessible the path between the two places is.

From there it was a short walk home where, unusually, we avoided a nap after lunch. I’m not so sure if that is a good idea or not.

October 14^th I failed again! I had a plan and that was to go out for an afternoon walk so that I could buy some heart medication, the hospital always seems to get my quantities wrong. A sneaky coffee and fag break was also on the cards. Laziness set in and I just couldn’t be bothered. Luckily I did take one photo today, when we were approaching the cash desks. Isn’t it pretty?

The visa marathon starts this week with Huan renewing her temporary Hainan hukou. That is done in Wuzhishan. She already phoned Haikou and I don’t need a medical this year so no trip to Sanya is needed. Stay tuned for further details!