Have just spent two days painting the wall and gate. How long it will stay clean I don’t know with all the dust and dirt along the road.
Andrew
Trip to Udon
Went shopping today in Udon. The police were out in force stopping every Motorbike. From what I could see nearly everybody had to pay a fine either for not wearing a Helmet or for not having a driving license.
House in Pho Phan
Tim has been busy doing the rounds making offerings to the ghosts. I have alsobeen around on my bike just looking over the trees. I went to see our house in Pho Phan which I rarely visit nowadays. As suspected it has turned into a tip with rubbish everywhere – The Thai's just don't seem to bother I think our house in Ban Dung would soon deteriorate to the same level if I wasn't here.
Next week I shall make time & go and see if I can Tidy it up. We used to have a very nice garden there but that has all gone.
Temple Day
Today It is also a temple day here in Amphoer Ban Dung and many people have been going to offer food to the monks to make merit. Tim has been busy over the past 2 days making Coconut Kanom ( snacks) to take .
It took her hours to make the small banana leaf baskets and then make the filling which had mashed bananas in it along with other ingredients which were then steamed before being topped off with shredded coconut.
As well as offering food to the monks everybody has been offering food to the Ghosts (pi). They leave small parcels of food in the temple grounds, their own home and even their farms and plantations. This is to keep the ghosts happy and make sure they look over their property.
Mooncake Festival
Today is Mooncake festival day which is one of the four most important Chinese festivals in Thailand.
Fertilising the Trees
Fertilised the trees again today in Plantation number two for the second time this year. The weather was very hot and at 1.0 o’clock I returned home after starting at 8.00am. When I left there were only another 8 rows to do. The workers were taking their siesta.
Motor Bike Accident
On my way to the plantation there was a crash between two motorbikes. This frequently happens because Thais have the bad habit of swerving to the right hand side of the road at T junctions if they are turning right and not stopping and continuing along the wrong side of the road until they can cross – sometimes this is directly into the path of any oncoming traffic and hence the collision. .
They also don’t stop at T junctions if turning left – they just pull out & hope anything approaching sees the, and either slows down or swerves.
Fortunatley this time nobody was seriously injured but this is not always the case and there are many motorbike fatalities.
Stroll around
Went for a stroll around town to take some better pictures for the website. They have now started to refurbish the shrine in the park area.
