Renovating an old rural village home in Thailand.

[Faz]

For some time we've had odd items pushed down the side of the house restricting access, namely a cement mixer, wheel barrow, and an old set of rice weighing scales. A set of ladders and large stepladders also stored inside the house also needed to find a more suitable home, so I decided to have a clean up.

I moved the cement mixer and wheelbarrow out of the way into a corner under the car port.



On a previous visit to the UK, I purchased two long, strong, L brackets, with the intention of hanging the bicycles on them, but later made a standing frame for the bicycles to stand in, so the brackets had remained surplus to requirements, until now.
I fixed the two brackets to the rear of the shed and hung the ladders and stepladders on them out of the way.



The weighing scales were moved onto the front porch.
Apparently there is a local shop that purchases these types of old equipment, so the wifes arranged for collection tomorrow.

 

[Faz]

Sun 21st June.

The wife had arranged for the man with the Kubota tractor to overturn the garden ready for seeding her next sticky rice crop.



Since I previous visit the grass had shott up and was really long.
After turning the garden over, he advised it wasn't a good idea to seed today as the turned over grass was too long, and suggested leaving it a fortnight for the grass to die, at which point he'd turn it over again and then seed it.


Discussing the next steps to take.

Timing and weather is of the essence with planting and growing rice.
To wet and the seedlings will drown and die.
To dry and the seedlings don't grow.

Between the weekend of 27th June, and the next planned visit the weekend of 4th July, the forecast is for lots of rain, and the problem would then be the ground would be to soft for the tractor and he'd get stuck in a mud bath, so the wife and I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon removing the overturned clumps of loose grass, rather than just let it die.

In doing that, the plan was for the man to now return the following Sunday (28th) to turn it over again, then seed the garden.
Shortly thereafter it would rain the following week which was ideal.

 

[Faz]

Sunday 28th June.

Today was a visit just to turn the garden over again and seed the new rice crop.
That wouldn't take long but the wife also had plans to trim all the banana trees and tidy other parts of the garden to make the trip worthwhile.



Garden turned over again and seeded.

What, you may ask did I do on this Sunday?
Well, Panama v England, which I wanted to watch, was being broadcast at 0400 this morning, so I'd set my alarm to get up to watch it.
Saturday night I was in bed for 2230, which is early for me, but I inadvertently set the alarm for 0300, instead of 0400.
I wasn't going back to bed for an hour, so had a shower, moved the car out and made a coffee.

Following that match was another at 0630, Columbia v Portugal, followed by Jordan v Argentina at 0900.
I watched the England match, followed by the Columbia match until half time, at which point we hastily left for the village.
At that time in the morning the roads were really quiet, and we arrived at the village just in time for me to watch the last few minutes of the conclusion of the Columbia match. A short break, then I settled in to watch the Argentina game and left the wife to sort out the tractor man and the garden.

That game finished at 1100, just as my head was beginning to nod up and down.
I then lay on the sofa, where I promptly fell asleep until 1430.
We left at 1500, to return home. It proved an exhausting day for me.

 

[Quarky]

Did it work .............. nope!
The aluminum isn't thick enough to be strong, and she was able to bend it as she squeezed through.

Driving back home Sunday evening I had another idea, and wondered why I hadn't thought of it originally.
Plan E, next weekend visit.

Electrified gate?

Set to "stun" not "kill".

 

[Faz]

Saturday 11th July.

I was up at 0400 to watch the Norway v England game.
Wife was up at 0530, which is normal for her.
A quick shower and change and we were away for 0630.

It was raining when I went to bed Friday night, and still raining at 0630.
The usual 60 minute journey took us 75 minutes as I kept my speed down to 80kph due to the amount of service water on the roads.
The odd idiot came flying past, then shat themselves when they lost it aquaplaning.
We reached the village for 0745, just in time for the next match between Argentina v Switzerland.

After sowing her rice crop the previous visit, the wife wanted to spend Saturday and Sunday in her rice field, plucking and replanting some rice shoots, regardless of the weather, but the now soggy wet ground was the ideal time to do it, so as she donned some old clothes and her wellies, I made a coffee and settled down to watch the match, which didn't finished until around 1000. I only had a couple of tasks I intended to do, one of which was to clean 9 window frames and windows internally and externally, but not while it was persisting it down.
I made another coffee and had some breakfast, a cheese and ham toasty I picked up from a 7/11 store on the way down, which I warmed in the microwave.
I'd had about 4.5 hours sleep the night before and was now beginning to feel groggy, so with a nice quiet household and unable to start any tasks, I got my head down on the sofa. I woke feeling as though I could turn over and fall asleep again, as it felt as though I'd only had an hour, but when I looked at my watch it was 1500 and I'd actually slept for 3.5 hours.
It was still persisting it down, not heavy, but moderate and constant.

Wife came home at 1600, covered in mud from head to foot, and soaked through to the skin, but happy with her says work.
It eventually stopped raining at 1630, so shortly after I completed one task and started another.
I fitted a handle to the shed door but it took longer to get some tools out of the car.



It took the wife less than a couple of minutes after fitting it to find another use for it.

It was the first time I'd ventured out the back door this day, and I was amazed to see how tall the corn stalks how grown since being planted just a couple of weeks beforehand.

 

[Faz]

I just had enough time before the light started to fade, to start preparing for my planned Sunday morning task (rain permitting) to put plan D into operation to finally stop our 4 legged 'Houdini' from jumping over the gate.

I got the chop saw out and cut two 9.5" inch lengths of 2" x 1" galvanised steel, then marked and drilled 3 x 7mm holes in each piece, preparing 6 x 7mm plugs, 4 x 2" clips, 4 x 5/8" self tappers, and 4 x 2.5" bolt head screws, ready to first thing in the morning.

 

[Faz]

Sunday 12th July.

Wife was up and went back to her field at 0800.
At least it stopped raining so I got some tools out and made a start with Plan D.
I'd fitted the length of 2" plastic pipe as close as I could to the gate, the clips being on the edge of the wall, but Houdini could amazingly still sqeeze her body through that small gap, so the plan was to make the gap smaller.
I drilled, plugged and fitted the 9.5" lengths of steel to the top of the wall using the screw bolts but with an overhang over the wall, allowing me to fit the clips using self tappers, and pipe closer to the gate.



The million dollar question was would it finally work after previous attempts failed.

It worked!
Houdini made several attempts to jump up the gate, but each time just bumped her head against the pipe, even attempting to climb over it, but looses any grip and falls back down to the ground. She's certainly not happy with me and must have persevered on and off for a couple of hours before she finally accepted defeat.



Her one and only pup wasn't anywhere to be found this week, so it's either been killed, or someone's found it a new home.

 

[Faz]

The wife was back from her field just after 1200, showered the took a little afternoon nap.
After which we tided a bit in the garden, which is coming along leaps and bounds, but still a long way to go.
The small shrub/trees have taken and already producing small amounts of fruits, whilst we have another 4 massive bunches on 4 of the 9 banana trees which will be ready to cut down in a couple of weeks time.

 

[Faz]

The sticky rice seeds that were only planted the previous Sunday are already growing at an alarming rate in jus a week.





No doubt the wife will be moving those shoots around at the next visit.
I still need to clean those damn windows!

 

[Faz]

They say every village has it's 'idiot' and I think we have more than our fair share of them in our village, but we have our own unique '20 baht man'.

He's a lovely guy, always smiling, in his mid 50's, but severely handicapped and disabled.
He's a local villager, born and raised there. In his mid 20's he suffered a serious accident that left him with brain damage and a leg he's unable to bend at the knee. He's never been able to work since, then both his parents passed away when he was in his 40's, with no other family to lean on, then suffered a stroke leaving him with the limited use of his left arm and hand.
The local Wat took him in where he has a room at the end of a toilet block, but has little personal belongings to his name. He relies on hand outs of food and clothing from the monks and villagers. He enjoys the odd drop of Lao khao now and again.

He shuffles around the village with the aid of a stick, always looking for a job or task to earn 20 baht, although he can't do much.
Sometimes the odd village will give him 20 baht to transport an item to a friend in the village.
Although he's fed by the monks and villagers he likes to be independent and able to pay for food of his choice from the local village noodle shops, or the local weekly market sellers.

Whenever he sees us at the village doing his rounds, he's always offering to help, which he can't, but I always give him 20 baht and off he happily goes.
We may see him on the Saturday and Sunday, then not again for a month. I always tell him the 20 baht isn't to buy one of the small Lao khao bottles they sell, but I can always tell when that's exactly what he intends to do by the smirk on his face.
He can't bend his left leg at the hip or knee, so he drags his leg across the surface of the ground and quickly wears out the soles of flip flops.
The other week I noticed him walking, or rather trying to walk down the road after he'd obviously had a drink, and every few meters stumble and fall to the ground where he'd sit for a few minutes before getting up and trying to walk another few meters.

I've given him a couple of pairs of flip flops in the past, he appears to take the same size as me, but recently noticed he's sometimes shirtless and his flip flops are falling apart. He probably gets hand me down clothing that's seen better days and doesn't last much longer.
On Sunday morning, I saw him coming down the road on his way back to the Wat, some food already in hand, so I got 20 baht at the ready and passed it to the wife.

He's always grateful and thankful.
I don't mind giving to people in his disposition.



His flip flops are looking the worse for wear again, and under that top he hasn't got a shirt.
Next time we see him I'll get the wife to find out what he needs, flip flops, t-shirts, shorts, maybe even a fleece jacket for the colder months.
These items are all cheap enough to purchase in Thailand.

 

[Nomad]

They say every village has it's 'idiot' and I think we have more than our fair share of them in our village, but we have our own unique '20 baht man'.

And the saying goes on to say, if you don't know who the idiot is, then it is probably you!

 

[MarcTwoSix]

They say every village has it's 'idiot' and I think we have more than our fair share of them in our village, but we have our own unique '20 baht man'.

He's a lovely guy, always smiling, in his mid 50's, but severely handicapped and disabled.
He's a local villager, born and raised there. In his mid 20's he suffered a serious accident that left him with brain damage and a leg he's unable to bend at the knee. He's never been able to work since, then both his parents passed away when he was in his 40's, with no other family to lean on, then suffered a stroke leaving him with the limited use of his left arm and hand.
The local Wat took him in where he has a room at the end of a toilet block, but has little personal belongings to his name. He relies on hand outs of food and clothing from the monks and villagers. He enjoys the odd drop of Lao khao now and again.

He shuffles around the village with the aid of a stick, always looking for a job or task to earn 20 baht, although he can't do much.
Sometimes the odd village will give him 20 baht to transport an item to a friend in the village.
Although he's fed by the monks and villagers he likes to be independent and able to pay for food of his choice from the local village noodle shops, or the local weekly market sellers.

Whenever he sees us at the village doing his rounds, he's always offering to help, which he can't, but I always give him 20 baht and off he happily goes.
We may see him on the Saturday and Sunday, then not again for a month. I always tell him the 20 baht isn't to buy one of the small Lao khao bottles they sell, but I can always tell when that's exactly what he intends to do by the smirk on his face.
He can't bend his left leg at the hip or knee, so he drags his leg across the surface of the ground and quickly wears out the soles of flip flops.
The other week I noticed him walking, or rather trying to walk down the road after he'd obviously had a drink, and every few meters stumble and fall to the ground where he'd sit for a few minutes before getting up and trying to walk another few meters.

I've given him a couple of pairs of flip flops in the past, he appears to take the same size as me, but recently noticed he's sometimes shirtless and his flip flops are falling apart. He probably gets hand me down clothing that's seen better days and doesn't last much longer.
On Sunday morning, I saw him coming down the road on his way back to the Wat, some food already in hand, so I got 20 baht at the ready and passed it to the wife.

He's always grateful and thankful.
I don't mind giving to people in his disposition.

View attachment 19348

His flip flops are looking the worse for wear again, and under that top he hasn't got a shirt.
Next time we see him I'll get the wife to find out what he needs, flip flops, t-shirts, shorts, maybe even a fleece jacket for the colder months.
These items are all cheap enough to purchase in Thailand.

There is an addict in my neighborhood for about 2 or 3 years
He definitely smokes meth or crack and has a dog names Mia
His name is Ken

In 3 years I've never seen him approach anyone, never seen him ask anyone
Never causes any issues at all

He will just sit and read books

I don't like to encourage the homeless to be around
But he doesn't bother anyone

So I give him a lot of my clothes I don't use anymore

 

[Faz]

Sat 25th July.

Pretty bleak weather forecast for the weekend again, with scattered showers forecast particularly in the afternoons.
The wife intends visiting her field again for the whole weekend, more rice shoots to rearrange.
I've little to do other than clean those windows and frames, inside, outside, and in the channels, while the rain holds off.

It took me roughly an hour a window to clean, bathroom, kitchen, 2 front room and 3 bedroom windows, inside and outside.
All washed down first with soap and water, then a chamois leather for the glazing.

I can see outside clearly now!

 

[Faz]

Sunday 26th July.

I managed to get the 3 remaining windows frames and glass cleaned in the lounge this morning.
Exciting stuff ................. not!

 

[Faz]

That sweet corn has shot up rather quickly, some black, some yellow, and a couple we picked and ate raw, which were very nice and sweet.

 

[Faz]

Bananas, bananas.
Looks like we'll have a few bunches ready for cutting in a couple of weeks.

 

[Faz]

So, I've mentioned before that we buy 2 lottery tickets for each fortnightly draw (4 a month).

Last year we won 6 times, 4 x 2,000, 1 x 10,000 and 1 x 20,000 BHT.
So far this year we've had 2 x 2,000 BHT wins, not as good as last year.
Today, I checked the tickets for yesterdays draw.
The 6m BHT winning number was 932479.
One of out tickets was 931479 ............ no cigars for being close.

 

[Quarky]

God has a weird and nasty sense of humour sometimes

 

[Faz]

Sat 8th August.

The wife spent the whole day in her rice paddy field, moving shoots around again.
The seeds are just randomly thrown around, then once the shoots appear you can see bare patches and clusters, so they move the shoots to create equal distancing for a better crop growth.

We passed multi rice fields and the crops weren't looking good this year.
Plenty of yellow and reddish areas, which denotes a lack of nutrients or disease in the soil.
Not enough water and the crop fails, too much water and the crop dies.
The wife's is looking much healthy than most and she'll add chemical fertilisers next visit.

Whilst she was busy, I didn't have much to do.
Picked the corn which is now ready and ripped the stem roots out.
A bit of housework, then about 6 episodes of Chicago PD on Netflix.

 

[Faz]

Sunday 9th August.

Today, attention was turned to the sticky rice crop in the garden.
When the ground is turned over ready for seeding, the tractor man always keeps clear along the edge of the garden as there's a water pipe running parallel around 18'' underground.
So today it was a case of ripping up as much of the overgrown grass in that area that we could, and moving some of the rice shoots.
The fact the ground was saturated and soggy made life easier.





Saturday mornings en route from Roi Et town to the village, we always stop at a 7/11 in Chaturaphak Phiman to pick up a few supplies, a coffee, and ham and cheese toastie for on the go. It was packed with schoolkids, apparently from our village on their way the other way to Roi Et town.
The wife recognised one of the young girls as the daughter of an old school friend, so she asked me to give her 100BHT for the trip.

Sunday afternoon, the girls Mother, old school friend of the wife, must have called while we were having some lunch, and left some bamboo, Thai mushrooms and Mangos on the front porch table as a 'Thank You'.