December 16th Well hello there, fancy seeing you here. Many thanks from both of us for popping in to say hello. We were just sat here doing a lot of nothing, that lazy slob Bob didn’t get out of bed until nearly nine this morning. OK, back to the normal editor! Yes, I was very tardy this morning and the weather was pretty overcast and miserable so we stayed in. After lunch however an executive decision was made that a walk would have to be taken today because we would be busy tomorrow morning. The countryside was our destination via squirrel alley. No squirrels were seen so the first photo comes from somewhere in the countryside.
Down the hill and going round the bend I sent Huan off on the top road while I walked along the wall of the irrigation ditch.
I found nothing but Huan managed to find a very well concealed lizard.
Then it was my turn to try for a dangerous flying insect hovering around what it seems is sometimes called a Christmas bush. How I only learned that today I don’t know.
I was quite surprised that this one came out; it was taken through a fence.
And then I thought it was time that I got all my ducks in a row, again.
By this time we were getting rained on so we tried to avoid some of the rain by heading through the village on the main road. That meant dogs and cats and a lizard!
We didn’t get too wet and the weather was pretty good for walking in fact.
We passed by Baijiahui again today to buy some milk and then on the way home met another new buddy. This one’s name is大福, Dà fú which means great fortune.
And that’s it for today. Huan was duty chef and she doesn’t like her cooking to be photographed.
December 17th So, why couldn’t we go walkies this morning? It has been a month since I had my bones filled so we were due a hospital trip today. The first stop as always is BP.
It seemed to take forever until we got into to see the doctor but eventually I was at the cashier and then at the pharmacy. I was trying to avoid the roving reporter!
For a change I have a different view from my seat this month.
My irrational fear of needles remains as it always has. The end result is fine though.
We were late going home so we
popped into one of our many snack shops and bought a couple of bowls of instant
noodles. It’s funny to remember that way back in 1986 when I visited
Chef Bob was on duty again today, and it was time for a Polish recipe.
We had no beef broth or V8 vegetable juice so it was chicken stock for us. I also added a carrot and a red jalapeno pepper for some added taste. The quantities given there will serve four people easily; we will be eating it again at the weekend as well as two breakfast bowls for Huan. This is not my first attempt at this one but it is the most successful one. We will do it again!
December 18th What wonderful weather we woke up to this morning!
And here’s a rather odd shaped me hanging on in the bus on the way to Nansheng. Huan took the photo with her selfie camera whilst peering at the screen. I did eventually get a seat.
Today’s walk was to be the last of the Upriver series of videos; there are no walkways further up. This is where we started today, you may remember this view from when we finished last time.
Along the path I went up to have a look at some villas, not that we can buy one of course. As I was coming down I took a picture of the boss taking many pictures of me. Here is my effort and the first on of Huan’s. PS That’s wild bamboo she is carrying, to put in a jar and try to coax it into growing when we get home.
This is a brief snippet of the multitude of photos that Huan took of me.
As usual I was looking at the many lovely views.
Also as usual, the director was finding birds that were too small and too far away.
More views.
Then we have even more birds and more views and yet more birds.
Huan took more of me, walking to the end and waiting at the bus stop. I would take more of her but, despite being far better looking than me; she is not keen on me taking photos of her.
You can find the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB27JED6VG0
On the way home we popped into Baijiahui to pick up some spuds for tomorrow’s dinner. They had put some new lights out to welcome us!
December 19th No walkies this morning, we were confined to barracks waiting for Mr. Windowman. I got started on this evening’s dinner.
The first thing to prepare was a potato salad so that it would be cool by this evening. It includes, believe it or not, potatoes! Other ingredients are some sweet corn, an almost cooked diced carrot, a little chopped onion and some bits of crispy fried bacon. Here it is just before going into the fridge where it will chill even more.
And here are the frikadellen, prepared and in the fridge until this evening too.
After lunch I was dragged out kicking and screaming all the way. I really would have preferred to stay in and do nothing, especially as Mr. Windowman had not visited. SWMBO had other plans though but I did only wear my sandals so that we couldn’t go too far.
I planned the route such that Huan would be happy with where we went and such that I wouldn’t feel too bad. I think we both may be coming down with a bug, me first. Anyway, we hadn’t gone far when Huan found a butterfly for me.
No lizards were found today so here are some more views, in the town and park.
It may not be a lizard but it does also have a tail!
As we reached home the weather cheered me up a little although I was not looking forward to those stairs. I don’t mean the ones in the photo; I mean the seven flights at home!
It was then my turn to find a butterfly.
And back home, after a brief rest, it was back into the kitchen for me. Here is the first burger, followed by Huan’s plate and then mine. The fourth burger, not visible here, will be Huan’s breakfast tomorrow with some left over potato salad.
Our verdict? It was better than the last time I tried to make this dish but more practice is needed. #1 tip would be to use the actual ingredient list and don’t try to reduce it as I did. Much better to make too many, they can always be frozen for future use. PS Does anyone really know the size of a soup spoon? There are too many conflicting answers on t’internet.
December 20th Apart from salad for our sarnies we didn’t need munch from the market. We could have avoided it completely but we thought that as it was Saturday we should still go. Getting down to it was easier than last week, still a little crowded though.
We never really hit a traffic jam, slow and steady kept us on the move. I found not a lot to photo, Huan was busy though. Her first set was a sugar cane one.
A guy beating sticky rice with a mallet was her next subject.
Here’s some more sticky rice for you. Many people love it; I’m not much of a fan.
My turn came with a couple rehearsing for something happening on the river. We know not when but we think it could be dragon boat races again. Mind you the backcloth is all about shopping markets not boat stuff.
We met Yú while we were on our way home so I left Huan to walk slowly with her and a couple of her other friends, even slower than I was walking and I was tired. Arriving home I found the reason for the pneumatic drill we had heard this morning. The first photo is a few bags of rubble, the second workers viewed from the second floor and the third, those same workers viewed from the seventh floor.
And that was that, another Saturday over and done with. No cooking for me, today’s dinner was left over cabbage roll soup.
December 21st “Come on you lazy slob! Get out of bed, get dressed and go walkies!” “How about I just do the first one?” And that’s what I did; I got out of bed too late to go anywhere. It did give me a chance to do all my Chinese lessons in the morning though.
Huan had received a video showing something going on in the river again and we had seen the ‘lanes’ marked out yesterday for dragon boat racing so we pottered off for a gander. On the way I was busy trying to find subjects.
How did we feel out again in the nice clean fresh air? Well it is fairly safe to assume, that all things considered, we were fine, far from legless in fact.
A little bit more scenery for you on the way to the ‘course’.
Sure enough, as we got closer we could see that the backdrop had been changed, it no longer mentioned shopping. I’m not quite sure how they chose the season though.
And to my surprise, this translation was actually correct. And ‘Endless Love’ would you believe is a ‘Hainan Local Beverage Brand’. Must try it one day.
We were early so I took a photo of the dragon boats all lined up. We then found out that it was not a dragon boat race, they had all finished this morning. This was to be a dragon boat tug of war. Huan’s photo is of two of the boats back to back but sans crews.
As for the tug of war, well we did take a couple of videos but nothing that is really worth showing. Two teams of strong men doing a normal tug of war is a far more exciting spectacle.
And there you have it, our day was over. All we had to do was say goodnight to the cows, who had now crossed the river and were preparing to go home.
December 22nd Monday comes but once a week, and with it comes the shopping bug. Now, that’s not a nice thing to call Huan is it? As per our new ‘no lift’ routine we did not take Donald but walked instead. We also used the old Baijiahui today, just for a change. This dragonfly was not there though; it was just outside the nurses' school.
We passed the old man on the way and a couple of young ones too. In fact the young ones were quite amusing. Walking towards the furniture shop where they live, I barked for them. Answering barks came from inside and they both skidded out of the front door to see me. Maybe I should try it again and get Huan to have the video on her phone ready.
Carrying four shopping bags all the way home is not too bad; I’m not that old yet. However, going up all those stairs with no lift just shows how unfit I am! I had to have nap after lunch, a longer one than usual! How will the window men cope? We are not pushing for delivery but there is an almost 100% chance that the windows will arrive before the lift is completed, tested and approved by the local government.
In the afternoon I was back on chef duties, no recipe for this one though, it comes straight from my lonely brain cell. I think you can see what everything is.
Noodle soup was the dish of course, and we both loved it. Huan added nothing to hers. I, on the other hand, added loads of umami by finishing off some parmesan that I had in the fridge. Here are both the bowls but without the parmesan.
So this is our last post before Christmas, we wish you all a good one. Don’t eat or drink too much, at least not while anybody is pointing their phone at you! (PS This photo is ten years old, hope you don’t mind.) Merry Christmas All.
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