JANUARY 2014

BAD BEGINNING

The year got off to a bad start 366 road death for a 7 days New Years celebration.

The demonstrations mainly in Bangkok though.

The cat named 1 died.

About 69 people have died because of the cold weather this month , it has been

Minus degrees in the mountains. Here a couple of days when it was below 10c.

I am really freezing in the mornings about 0500 I sit outside reading eBooks and wearing 2 pairs of pants 2 jackets and a flannel shirt a cap and a hood plus gloves

I am fortunate to have a mouse that I can use with the gloves on to turn the eBook pages. Sun appears about 0800 at 1100 weather is back to normal.

When the sun comes up I chase the rays as the sun is raising.

Even the hot water heater  (silly name) have a hard time coping .

I know this sounds crazy but around 90% humidity , fog and wind it is raw cold.

But some flowers and the cats don’t seem to mind.

The polling for the new election have started and that is noisy , pick ups are driving around the village blaring out slogans for the different candidates day after day we are so small so once or twice would be enough, it is quite a nuisance.

I think I already know who the winner is came with a parade of 24 pickups loaded with people and most of them also with loudspeakers the second candidate only had 7 pickups and the lone wolf 1 pickup no people 1 sign and the car radio blaring probably on a budget this is going on for about 5 more days.

The most likable guys are the garbage men they just wave but that is because  I bride them with a Christmas present, you have to be in there good books.  

Now it`s the last day of the month weather is now much better , but it ended bad any way this morning a cat came home 50% drenched in used engine oil. Tried to wash but not very good called 2 vets and they were not interested, and also told me that the washing must be done over several days. So I put flour over all the oil patches the get less oil stain then I already got. The bed , sofa bathroom even on the newly laid driveway. 

DECEMBER 2013

COLD

I hope you had a very good holiday.

 I had, Christmas ham and pickled herring , glogg and

expensive overly strong Belgium beer. Santa

came in the form of my son with gifts.

A surprise the village authorities gave me and everybody a blanket

per family.

This is the second coldest winter in20 years for me in

this region , long cold and humid which makes it worse.

Had a visit from four big bikers so now the neighbors think

I am a Hell Angels guy.

There was also a 3 week visit of a neighboring cat who did not get along with their cats but preferred mine and after about a week everything went smoothly. The cat was in indoor cat and did not have the social skills of the law of the jungle is the beginning and was afraid hissed and growled

But as they got acquainted it worked out very well.

Even the cats are effected of the cold weather so they want to snuggle under blankets and pillows. The last family of cats sleep outdoor and snuggle together to keep warm , the wild bunch.

I am freezing my butt of and you think delicate flowers like orchids would do the same but no they start flowering instead like a few other things  https://www.google.com/search?q=orange+trumpet+bush&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=1yK-UoD9IYbriAep-IC4DA&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1352&bih=602

Now New Years traffic have started so the best is to go nowhere they have fatal accidents everywhere 161 dead in the first 3 days.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

NOVEMBER 2013

Animal kingdom

The animal kingdom is more peaceful then the other kingdom, apart from the Brother ongoing cat fights with a neighboring cat.

New visitors 2 scorpions and 4 snakes it sounds macho to talk about them but in fact the is not. The scorpion sting is like a bee sting but the foot get a bit sore for 2-3 days the only odd thing is one arm and around the mouth get to be tingling for a few hours.

Now the thing at I did not think was going to happen one plant looks like it is dying grew very quickly from a normal potted plant to a bush 1m. high 2m. wide but now the leaves is going I do not know if it is a Perennial

Or an annual . Coleus 'Grape Expectations' (medium; upright)

Weather cooler from the sun goes down the temp. drops and it 20c or less in the morning and stay cool until 1000

If it was not for tv I would not really know what is happening in the country here time is standing still even when I go to town , not much

of traffic or anything else.

OCTOBER 2013

October 2013

Winter has arrived , lowest16c but between 19-22c is the normal temp now, it looks like  no more rain.

This is a good time for the orchid I have they are now flowering,

But one ting I still don’t understand such a beautiful flower and basically no smell  if something of the few that smell , more smell bad then good. Apart from the flower it self , they  look pretty crappy long grey air roots  and some of the flower stem are up to 1,5m  long.

Two good services we have are the garbage truck come 3 times in 2 weeks and that works OK , then we have the scrap man that collect plastic and class bottles cans and paper and then pay you for it. Another good guy is the mailman and he even bring parcels up to the size of a beer can case but not that heavy all that on a moped if you are not home he can give it to the neighbor or leave a ticket for post office collection. The only thing I have not worked out is he schedule time or days. Maybe the water man should be included I have 3x20 l bottles at around  30 cents (10 bath) when you buy a normal bottle of Perrier or some up market water for 2-3$ even gasoline is cheaper.

MY CATS

CAT

The first female that came here and inspected the house and decided this is mine. Had 3 kittens 1 died when I was out shopping. Cause unknown.

The Cat have moved away but come here for food every day and sometimes a nap or s few hours nighttime sleep. Thunder and fireworks are

also a reason to come back.

ONE

Male cat 2,5 years. Sleep out and inside nice but reserved.

TWO

Female sister to ONE more stay close to the house and early sleeper 21.30 comes in sleeps on top of a closet.

BLIND

He is not blind but sort of a bit albino, ghostly eyes in electric light.

Likes to be petted ,food and sleep. When sleeping you can do almost anything with him without wake him up. Love food eat the leftovers from the other cats. Weighs 5,5 kilo.

BROTHER

The tough guy that gets into fights with outside cats and is limping and scared everywhere. Nice and affectionate at home. Mainly sleeps at home.

MAMA

The newest and the smallest, with 3 kittens. The one that needs most attention is playful and plays with the kittens. Offers her food if the small ones wants more. Sleeps in the gazebo in a big cage with the kittens at night.

TUT, WHITE  and TIGER  are now 3 month old very lively and playful

with everybody, even though they the older cats get a bit enjoyed at times

with all the paying and give them a hiss or a paw jab.

HOW IT HAPPENED

What  the Blind, Brother and Mama had in common was they were very scare could not be touched or approached they only came here for food

And slowly got use to this house and me. They started to stay over a bit longer each time. Now it works as good as having 9 children they all have their small infights.   

SEPTEMBER 2013

SEPTEMBER 2013

ENOUGH

There are several places in Thailand that are flooded, but luckily not us. Just enough rain less then last year but sufficient for growth of everything. Weather is now very nice dusk to about 9,30 in the morning. So I call it perfect.

The neighbor has a small orchard with lime trees ,bananas and papaya . It like a small jungle specially with all the undergrowth.

Banana leaf when they are big and young they are cut down for wrapping of food stuff cooked or roasted.  When they get older they split in shreds after awhile they crash down with a bang.

That is the battlefield for the cats most of the fighting have stopped  they hurt to much so there are these meowing contests that can be quite loud. They are very close and it is like they try to be the loudest  and if they try to move an attack is bound to happen so they keep on till they get a sore throat and give up and leave.

Next to that is the cow (Bramahs) pasture now there are 6 of them. The cats and the cow get along good cats do not even move for the cows.

Now I have to go and feed the Koi.

AUGUST 2013

AUGUST 2013

INVASION

After coming back from a quick Bangkok trip there was a new cat family in the garden,

Mother and 3 kittens. She quite small and very afraid of the other cats so when they get to close to her she hisses she has not learned social skills ,when she run away one of the other cats thinks she is playing so he runs after her. Going to see what happens when the kittens mingle with the rest of the cats if that is easier.

All the cats are coming from the neighbor and they don`t want them back. I can touch her after 4 days which the neighbor never managed. Saying they shit everywhere, I have 4 litter boxes 2 indoors with cat litter and  2 outdoors 1 with soil the other one with rice husks. Or they go to the cow field or orchard, so no shit on the lawn so to keep clean is quite easy. Funny enough they are fairly noiseless

and keeps the peace rather well. So now there are 4 more cats to get spayed, 9 is enough.

The rain have really started but still not as much or heavy as I expected which makes the weather perfect .

I am OK apart from a bit of old age complaints but that is normal.

Garden is growing as hell specially the grass even been thinking of  a couple of sheep

or geese but then I have shit and noise.

It is nice living in the countryside you do not really have to worry about to much.

Here you can read about it.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nong_Khai

JULY 2013

July 2013

Fright Night

Meowing hissing screaming cats plus  lot of thing being overturned.

The enemy had invaded, the neighbors cat  had come in at 0300 in the morning

and he is not a friendly cat ,but no casualties only noise.

Much more quite is my resident frog it has been here as long as me, as big as an open hand hides daytime and moves about at night. The only thing that upsets it is the cats and they take a  few small jabs at him every now and then but he is still staying on.

The real thunderous rains have started but still very short ones but still a lot of water

in that time. So now instead of adding water in the pond I must emptying it so the fish don`t escape.

Fruits Logan and Jack Fruit I have in the garden and for the fist time 5 Mangoes.

The neighbors said that the tree used to bare a lot of Mangoes before I came and the tree was bigger and had been cut down some. So I don`t know if that alters the fruit bearing cycle.

The garden and the house got fumigated this month for mosquitoes talk about thick cloud you could not see more then 3-4 meters ,had to flee. The guys that did this only had a towel over the nose and mouth , they might go before the mossies does.  

Mekong is rising quickly now and even my small river is up.