April 21st Here we are a new week, and I managed to persuade Huan to relax a little for a change. We know nothing will happen before Thursday so why worry about it? I had a look on the computer and on Google maps saw something about “Question the pupil under the pine tree”, near enough to explore.
It turned out to be in a place we had previously been to, on 15th April 2020, the Blog post is available. The photo link is still working too, give it a go if you like - https://photos.app.goo.gl/pZEDR5xH3DuZSFBV7 We did take photos today but they only appear here and in our home PC.
I guess with all the photos in that link we can put a few less in the words today. Here’s the lovely couple in front of the love tree.
We took a slightly different route this time which, unfortunately for us, had a lot more stairs! It took us over an hour to walk two kilometres, and our legs hurt.
Huan took far too many photos, just as she always does.
I was busy too of course, especially as I hadn’t remembered the photos already on the interwebs.
The water level was much lower this year despite there being only a few days difference in the dates, six days to be exact; in 2020 we visited on the 15th. I guess our dry season has been a bit drier than normal this year. Not complaining though, I prefer it to the rainy season.
Going around a different way we found the pine tree location complete with information. As usual the information board includes the downloaded WeChat translation.
We only found one (real) lizard.
We don’t think we passed this little temple last time.
Some tourist areas around the world can result in you being ‘caught short’. This is not one of those places. Huan had a visit here, very clean, no smells and even toilet paper on hand, 5*.
Still more stairs!
Very near our jetty, (we didn’t fancy walking back the same way we had come), there is a little garden of wonder, a fairy grotto if you like. Apart from the lack of people, tourists or staff, it was a beautiful little place, well worth a few photographs.
Soon we were sat on the jetty where I was under strict instructions not to push any buttons! We had seen one of these machines earlier on our walk and I had thought, with how it was positioned, that it was a viewing machine. When I didn’t see anything I pressed the button. Oooops, klaxons sounding, lights flashing, SWMBO was not very happy. Mind you at least it wasn’t as bad as the last time I did it, in a bank next to the ATMs!
And then we were on the boat.
We had been hoping that the boatman would take us back to where we started but he told us that we needed another ticket for that and we hadn’t bought it. Cue me struggling to climb another pier that had been affected by the low water.
The boatman told us that it was only a ten minute walk, he was wrong. It was another two and a bit kilometres with more stairs, although not quite as many as earlier. We did find creatures that we didn’t remember from last time.
It was my turn to find a loo; Huan took a couple of photos while I was in there.
I took a couple when I surfaced, again a very clean place, with tissues and soap to boot. Mind you, the squat toilet is not so easy for a seventy six year old western body!
Down we went back towards the hotel area. The little sign in the
third photo amused me, more than likely because I am presently binge watching
“Death in
Let’s have a final look at the reservoir; you can see the level is really low this year.
And for our last photo of the morning here is 大禹聖像, (Dà yǔ shèng xiàng), Icon of Dayu, usually referred to as Yu the Great. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_the_Great He looks a little more weather-beaten than the last time we saw him.
So, what’s the verdict on our little tourist trip today? Despite being hard work we both enjoyed the walk along the boardwalk very much. Our only disappointment came at the end. Apart from the hotel itself, there were no facilities open at all today. That meant no snacks for our lunch. We could have had an expensive meal in the restaurant but I prefer something small at lunchtimes. No worries, we stopped in Maoan on the way home. Once we got home it was straight into bed for a nice long nap, we both needed it!
Dinner was very local today; I loved mine, three chicken wings with some veggies!
No work was done on the Blog in the evening; “Death in
April 22nd Our legs were not as stiff as expected this morning, maybe we should use the stairs more often! Today’s plan was just to bring the Blog up to date, and drink lots of coffee. Relaxation included naps of course.
It is nice sometimes to just have a lazy day but of course we still had to go out for dinner. I didn’t take the camera with me so here are three phone photos on the way out.
For the second time this week we went to a spicy restaurant, this time it was Uncle Ma’s.
Here’s a question for you, which one is Huan and which one is me?
And here’s another question, which one is Huan’s and which one is mine? I’m sure you know!
Mine was supposed to be mildly spicy; you should have seen all the red peppers that I found underneath all the grub. My eyes leaked, just a little…
We came home via
April 23rd Today was the day that the commencement of work on our new windows was promised. As I had fully expected, nothing happened in the morning, Window Man said he would bring the windows after lunch. We took a riverside walk to relax a little. A friend popped out to say hello. Her mum says kittens are on the way and would we like one. The answer from the Minister of Agriculture and Fish was a resounding NO!
She was happy that we caught this one that we missed yesterday though.
From a distance, the world looks blue and green, but if you look carefully you may well find a dab or two of other colours here and there.
Lizards were really leaping everywhere today!
Hunting for birds I was up on the wall again. The wall is just a tad wider than my two feet.
Two more birds appeared, both on light duties.
Two more then appeared, possibly a parent and a chick.
Our last one before lunch was just inside our gate and he was playing hide and seek with us.
Window Man did appear in the afternoon but only stayed for a few minutes. He told us that the windows would not fit in the lift and that he would do something later in the evening when there was much less traffic down below. As I write this it is just gone half past eight and he has not yet reappeared. On the plus side he gave us the names of two tile shops and said that we could now go and choose what we wanted for our tiling needs. Off we went. I wasn’t really looking for any wildlife but the boss still found some.
We chose tiles for both balconies, for the bathroom floors and walls and for the kitchen floor too. Dividing tiles were also chosen. I hope we have not chosen the colours unwisely! Once all is done you can let us know. On the way home we passed a yet to open barbecue restaurant and took turns sitting in this odd chair. Huan thinks it is supposed to be beer, but why is it yellow?
To save time and to relax a little before any work this evening we chose the ‘choose food’ place for dinner. I have the healthy fish option, Huan has the rice.
April 24th The first order of the day was to return to the tile shop to correct my mistake! When I had chosen the nearest colour match for the bathroom wall the tile size was very different to our existing tiles. The end result would not have looked right at all. Today we managed to match the size even though the colour is not exact. There is a ‘barrier’ tile half way down the wall and we want to install a shower door so the end result should be fine, at least for the two of us.
Back home Window Man said he needed to talk to Huan about the windows so I expected a visit. The visit never came, just another phone call to say that 100%, work would commence tomorrow. He also said people would be coming round to measure our tile needs.
As if that wasn’t enough for today the heavens opened up!
With all the rain we ordered in our dinner but we forgot to take a photo of it. It was just burgers.
While we were eating our burgers someone came to measure us for tiles, progress at last. After dinner Window Man turned up, I left him with Huan as much as possible, just adding a hint now and then. Hopefully Huan will not say yes to anything without understanding exactly what it is she is agreeing to. I will still ask questions though!
April 25th We didn’t bother asking questions or making any phone calls this morning, it’s our usual market walk day so that’s where we went. Needless to say, nobody phoned us either! The market is still quite busy but not so much that there are people jams everywhere.
I was allowed to pet a chicken this week, the same one as last week. This week Huan took a photo of us. Maybe, if it is still here next week, I’ll be able to pick it up!
I then joined a family looking at the cats. Dad was being careful that the little baby’s fingers and the little kitten’s claws did not meet!
Wuzhishan tea farms were very well represented today; they had a whole street of stalls. We did wonder about sneaking into this area to take some photos but as there was nobody there and we didn’t need to buy any tea we behaved ourselves.
We stopped to pass the time of day with a new Xinjiang family. It seems they are related to the ones we usually chat too but they have gone north for a couple of months. Here’s the oven with some bread on the go and also, although you can’t see them, a couple of ‘samsas’ for me.
At the next stall Huan bought a couple of buns and pretended to eat one. Meanwhile there was no pretence on my part at all! https://www.farwestchina.com/cuisine/xinjiangs-best-food-samsa/
On our way home Huan found a lizard, how she did it I have no idea. Just look at its colours compared to the wall it is climbing up.
What do you think of this for a drinks shop name? Swilloos? I remember back in my army days when ‘Swilly’ was the name given to someone who drank too much! They do have something we want to try but not today.
Lastly for this morning, here are our lunches. Huan has the two buns she bought and a boiled egg; I have an egg pie and some kind of fake sausage.
After lunch, with still no messages from Window Man or his workers we had our usual nap. Later Huan got a message to say that someone would be coming with materials for the kitchen floor.
Nobody came of course, but the rain did pay a visit. We had no choice but to go out for dinner, we needed a proper meal today and not just burgers. For a change we ordered by pictures, the first one is Huan’s and what she got, the second is mine and what I got.
This restaurant is just across from the nurses’ college, many umbrellas were to be seen!
Going home I was speeding along faster than the boss so was not sharing the umbrella.
On our way, and to avoid the deepest puddles, we passed Window Man’s shop. I popped in to say that every day he tells us that work of some sort will commence tomorrow and that everyday said work does not start. I left him and Huan discussing what will happen tomorrow. I feel “They’re coming to take me away, haha, they’re coming to take me away, ho ho, hee hee, ha ha, To the funny farm, Where life is beautiful all the time, And I’ll be happy to see those nice young men, In their clean white coats, And they’re coming to take me AWAY, HA HAAAA
And this is what I looked like when I got home, strange how the insanity doesn’t show!
April 26th We watched from the window this morning as Window Man’s truck refused to start and thus he could not go anywhere to fetch our windows. While we were having our afternoon nap someone delivered some tiles outside the front door. These are for the two balconies and the kitchen floor and they also include the dividing tiles.
Later on a gent came to deliver sand for the same floors, seven bags in total. I know, there are only six in the photos; the seventh is outside the gate.
On our way to dinner we passed by the bathroom shops to buy new drain covers for the kitchen floor and the shower floor. Living is sometimes expensive; this is what my wallet looked like after buying said items and buying our dinner!
As for our dinners, here they are, beef meatballs in noodle soup for me and the same for Huan but with pork meatballs. She added some pickle to hers, I out vinegar in mine.
April 27th Well another day at home, another day with almost no progress. Over the course of the morning a few more bags of sand and cement were delivered.
Just after lunch we received the tiles for the bathroom floor, only they were not the tiles we had ordered. We asked for them to be changed a.s.a.p.
After our nap and by four o’clock we had given up and decided to go out for a walk. I needed to replenish my wallet and we needed a little shopping. Downstairs we found that someone had delivered the bathroom wall tiles, the correct ones. While we were waiting and after this photo was taken the correct floor tiles appeared too.
On our way to the bank we were lucky enough to catch a bird and a lizard.
Bank and shopping complete we popped into the nearest restaurant.
We both found something we liked and got free rice and soup too.
So what can we report? There was a little progress this week but it was about as slow as a snail in winter. Add your own similes if you can think of any. With the house now being full of stuff we are rather hoping that next week we will have a real update for you! Until then, take care, don’t watch too much news and remember that life is pretty good really! TTFN
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