July 21st Huan was on admin again this morning. I waited until half past nine and then decided to do a downriver and back walk. We met at the lift, it was fate I suppose, I wondered where we would go from there. Forgive me, just a little literal rambling. We kept to my plan.
We actually walked down the main road and back along the riverside.
Two more views here, one downstream and one up stream, not a lot of water today.
For the first day of a new week Huan found her first lizard of the week and pointed her finger!
Before too long we were almost at our back gate, the one we cannot get through anymore.
We were early enough for a trip across our little island though so no worries.
“Happiness is a warm gun” according to the Beatles anyway. For Huan it is a warm camera with an obedient cameraman and the occasional lizard.
For dinner this evening we tried a new place.
It is a
Huan’s bowl of noodles wasn’t too bad although she wasn’t very keen. I was less keen than she was; the only good things on my plate were the crispy belly pork and the fried eggs. If we do go back then some serious menu studying will be required.
July 22nd “Something is happening today” said the boss, “the shower door is coming”. Although she didn’t know it she was only half right. They delivered the glass doors to the front of our apartment. The rails and installation will be in a day or two.
I didn’t know that of course so I was busy preparing the bathroom!
Only a small walk was taken before lunch.
On the way home Huan bought a box of green bean cakes, otherwise known as mung bean pastries. I couldn’t see a lot of green.
Dinner was another buffet meal.
Window Man called when we got home, there appears to be some problem with the front door we ordered. Our order was placed on the 13th May and today he is asking questions about our order. This one is not available; that one can be sent in three days etc. I really have no idea what is going on and now I wonder about all the other replacement doors. I’m pulling my hair out!
July 23rd We had plans for walking this morning, they didn’t come to fruition. The first bus was half an hour reaching our stop.
The second bus also took far too long so we stayed in town instead, me taking scenery photos and Huan looking for birds and lizards.
At the riverside the pointy finger was still at it.
Our dragon boat for tourists is back in the water, all twenty sections of it.
Here you can see why the birds and the squirrels like this area. Unfortunately, they don’t like the seeds once they have fallen off the trees.
Soon it was time to collect lunch and take it home.
And then it was my turn to spot a subject, obviously practicing for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with a jump to the left and a jump to the right.
After lunch someone turned up for work, all the rubbish was taken away from our front door and deposited somewhere downstairs to await collection. Our neighbours will be happy.
Dinner was taken locally again, here’s a wonderful board and a couple of posers.
And here are our dinners, Huan’s first. Her dish is much lighter than advertised because she asked for it not to be spicy. I doubt if mine ever looks like the advert, who can build a noodle pyramid? I also asked for an egg.
July 24th Huan’s choice today was to take the bus to the main road and then walk from the second turn-off back to the first. Our first subject was a cat in the distance.
Just up the road we reached the Tea Story place, with a farmhouse and a new addition of a charging area. We haven’t been here for a while.
Jumping Jiminy, what do we have here?
Now look at this next picture and tell me what you see.
If you said a tree well then I can’t fault you. However, I wonder how many of you knew what type of tree it was. The fruit could help you guess. It is in fact a sausage tree and here I am holding one of the sausages.
https://www.ugaoo.com/blogs/gardening-basics/sausage-tree-benefits-does-it-have-any will tell you more. You can’t eat the fruit but the medicinal benefits cover quite a lot of what the Minister of Health and I have recently been discussing. Spooky!
Unusually we saw squirrels on this route. Even more unusual was their colouring and the fact that they were in a cage. The first two come from me.
We then have Huan’s offerings, first me poking my finger at the cage. The local chef warned me that they bite, I reassured Huan that I had no intention of sticking my finger any nearer. I didn’t want any more rabies shots! It’s pretty hard to see but there is a third squirrel in the little box, it didn’t want to move at all.
And then it was back to the local scenery again.
Too many photos were taken of our route up the hill, by me I hasten to add and not by the director. She did make a video, not sure if we will upload that or not. I also got leeched but luckily she didn’t stop to take photos of that!
Before the downward stretch the granny finger was busy pointing again.
On the way down I was then busy again with scenery.
Being a little early we didn’t eat lunch out, instead we bought it to take home. Here is the Treasurer doing her job while I patiently await my change!
Normally you would see more photos of us going out in the evening for our dinner. Today we just decided to be lazy. I thawed out some Xinjiang bread and we had that with tuna fish, cucumber and tomato with some mayonnaise on mine. It made a refreshing change.
July 25th Another market day today and we found some turkeys! We have no idea if they will still be around come Christmas time. Also, you buy them live and then sort out the slaughter and cleaning yourself or arrange for someone else to do it. Not for me!
What am I doing here? Well, you might think that I am acting the goat. I’m not, they are cow horns. I thought they belonged to deer but I was wrong. They are used for TCM.
Huan was still fixated on birds.
I only took two photos in the market, a whole pig and the view from the bridge as we left.
Now in these next two photos I am trying to understand the workings of my boss’s noggin. The first sweet corn would have taken less than a minute to buy but she insisted on going into the ‘local farmer’s market’ and spent the next fifteen minutes in there!
That was our morning; we bought goodies from the bakery for lunch. Huan had a sweet pizza and I had a soft wrap, both with pickled gherkins. In the evening, for a change, we went to a hot pot restaurant, one that we hadn’t been to before.
It has the usual central pot, electric in this case. Our pot was divided into four sections as we had requested although we didn’t really use the spicy pot very much.
What did we put inside? Everything you can see here.
It was probably one of the best hot pots we have ever eaten, at least here inn Hainan, although I couldn’t tell you why. We will definitely be back! It was worth the looks I got for having my second fag of the month while sky watching.
July 26th It had been a long time since we had been all the way up the mountain hotel so we thought we would go and see how the renovations were going. First I had to say hello to a little friend who heard me passing by his villa.
As is usual these days we had to start with a bus journey, here we are at the bus stop.
As we passed the fairy tale castle, for the first time I thought about Rapunzel.
Some of you may remember that we have walked up to this corner a few times in recent months and headed off to the right, over the bridge, and back down the hill towards home.
As we are still in the summer months there are very few people around, except for the boss and I. It was my turn to take too many photos of our upwards progress.
At the top we found a new gate,
locked, with no people on hand to ask questions of. I guess the renovations are
not yet complete. There is a new name though, the “Southern Summer Palace’.
Those of you in
Going back down was a lot easier than going up. Here is a lizard that Huan found for me, and the lady herself using my wet shirt as a portable air conditioner.
Meanwhile, shirtless me was still admiring the views.
Huan then found another lizard and after I had snapped it for her, a shirtless me. The slight breeze and the absence of a shirt made me feel a lot cooler. Of course as we neared civilization I would be ordered to get dressed again.
Let’s have four more of God’s creatures, two found by me and two by Huan.
On the way home we stopped to chat to Dà fù who had also collected another admirer. Poor Dà fù is still wearing the cone of shame; he can no longer have babies. He’s just like me now, I wonder if he will also gain weight!
Passing the retaining wall of the nurses’ college, it keeps the buildings up and not the nurses in; it was time for another floral photo, chosen by the director this time.
Lunch was sweet corn and boiled eggs at home, with salted butter for me of course. Naps were definitely needed after going up that hill this morning.
Dinner was a buffet style restaurant again. Huan likes this one, you select what you want and put it on your tray yourself. The bill is then calculated by weight, no thinking involved. It also has a good selection of vegetables, good for both of us.
July 27th Started the day by completing yesterday’s post which I had been too lazy to do last night. Huan was happy to have a lazy day. Window Man was expected after lunch. Huan was busy being a seamstress; I was doing my Chinese lessons so nobody napped today. As expected, Window Man never turned up again!
Out for dinner with a view of our little island on the way and Huan found a caterpillar which was not long for this world. I did poke it with a twig and it moved just a little
Dinner was fine for Huan but not so good for me. Mine was not what I thought I had ordered and the very first bite burnt my tongue. I had ice cream on the way home to recover.
And so another week comes to a close, with hardly any progress on our renovations. All that happened this week was that the rubble was removed from our landing and the glass doors for our shower were delivered. There are still no frames or handles yet! One day we will have good news to share, until then, we bid you a fond farewell. Tatty bye!
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