This is only a test

You may have noticed that I'm have trouble with my pictures disappearing after a few days on some of my posts. Mind you these frickin' photos take a long a$$ time to upload one on a good Blogspot day, and that ain't very often! And, it's not as if you can sneak up on the sucker by trying to loading pictures in the middle of the freakin' night! Oh, noooooo!

So, I have been following a long line of help topics to see what the %*&# problem is and what to do about it.

I'm not sure if I hit upon the absolute last word in fixes, but here goes. We'll just see if Blogspot eats this one or two!

Early days on the farm, building front porch.

















Back porch.







If this doesn't do the trick, you just might have to put me in a straight jacket and toss Hershey's Kisses at my mouth!

Sundays from Singapore: A trip to Thailand

View across the pool as seen from the lobby.

8/29/2001

Names changed to protect the friendship!

Ah, Thailand! What a trip, literally and figuratively! We abandoned the house with the leaky ceiling and headed out with our friends the Morgs for four days and three nights to Phuket. This word, like many Thai words, contains a silent "h" and is pronounced "Poo Ket." Since the "h" is always silent, I wonder why they bother. Probably to watch the tourists try to wrap their tongues up in knots trying to get to their destination.

So, the nine of us hit the airport in two vans stuffed with luggage, which I will be quick to point out that the four of us only took 3 suitcases and carry-ons. The Morgs, however, had considerably more since they had with them, one mother/MIL, the amah (or maid) Eva, and little Nickel, who at 2 makes Ivana Trump look like the poster child of light packing. We made it to the airport in advance of the Morgs, had passed through immigration and the check-in counter, and were at the far end of the terminal before Silk Air was forced to change the gate to the other side of the terminal. Back we schlepped, while filling out the seemingly endless documents to both enter and exit Thailand, along with a customs declaration form that neglected to specify what was declarable. Okay, nothing to declare. Easy.

The flight was uneventful, except for the gentleman with excessive flatulence who was in the row ahead of the girls and me. I was dearly hoping for a loss of altitude that would drop those oxygen masks! Some people shouldn't eat chili for breakfast when they are traveling!

Upon exiting the aircraft, we found ourselves in a very long line at immigration. Apparently, the Thais are more concerned about undesirables coming into the country than illegal drugs leaving the country. I figured it took about 5 minutes per person to have their documents checked and stamped. Have your passport? Okay, stamp. Does it look like you? Stamp, stamp. Filled out your entry form, stamp again. Planning on leaving soon? Good, stamp, stamp. And so on.

Somebody didn't have something required or lost their passport and were pulled aside to a seating area. The problem was apparently with her, not him, and many tears followed. No fewer than nine officials from immigration, airport security, and the airline took part in the scenario. According to Lucky Morg, if the airline transported you without verifying all your documents, they face massive fines for the error. The situation wasn't resolved by the time we passed through, but it did provide a diversion as we tried to guess what the story was. Now we are off to get some money.

The currency of Thailand is the baht. Again, with the silent "h", pronounced baaaat. And they aren't worth very much. One US dollar buys you about 45 bhat, give or take. On the other hand, most products and services are dirt cheap. Lucky opted for hour long massages on the beach for the equivalent of $8US.

Armed with some local money, we rode in 2 more vans to the hotel, about 30 minutes away. I wished the drivers didn't feel that the very Devil himself was chasing them (a common trait shared by all drivers, it turned out,) because I missed some really great pictures along the way. The basic geography reminds me of very old Hawaii, mainly Kauai, with thick vegetation that reclaims anything left standing empty for more than a minute or so. It was amazing to see the rice fields, with thatched roof shacks perched on stilts above the paddies. We passed very exciting temple compounds with their unique rooflines and high color ornamentation, all at high speed. Most of the houses were about the size and shape of a one car garage, and were constructed of cinderblock and corrugated tin, in various shades of rust and rustier.

Killer riptides.

The hotel, the Chedi, was situated on a cliff above a white sand beach with pounding surf. According to one map I read, swimming is never recommended at this particular beach because of riptides, the the relentless waves did generate some swell breezes. This was very good, as Phuket is both hotter and muggier than Singapore, if that is actually possible. The only other drawback was the 5200 steps required to go from the lobby down to the beach and your bungalow. I don't think the developers understand the words 'handicap accessible" and definitely there is no translation for the word "elevator." What is required is knee-power and plenty of it.

Our bungalow as seen from the beach. Ours is behind the red flag, the Morgs is to the right.

Our bungalow was a cozy 2 bedroom cottage sitting right on the beach. Lest you envision a spacious house with a living room etc, I will plainly state that this had 2 bedrooms and a bath in the middle. The front sliding door led immediately to the king size bed within about 12 inches. The bathroom was separated by sliding patterned glass doors which had an annoying tendency to outline every naked movement you made to the rooms beyond, and if you forgot to shut the louvered privacy doors to the outside world, to the neighboring cottages as well. I saw more than I cared to on the trip. However, the rooms were comfortable, tastefully decorated, and conveniently located to ensure that the lovely teak floors were permanently covered in a light sprinkling of sand at all times. This fact alone made for some interesting walks and slides to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Not to mention the uncomfortable prospect of sand in the bed.

The views were to kill for, especially the sunsets. We had some good rain storms, but they were short and we could get back to the business of steaming. Thailand has only two seasons, according to the hotel information packet, the Rains Season, and the Hot Season. Figures.

The girls playing in the surf at sunset.

So, now we had made it to the hotel, and a swim was definitely necessary. I will leave you here for the moment, and return later to tell the rest of the tale. Hope you have enjoyed your tour of Thailand so far.

Love,

Lisa

And the winner is...

Okay, this is actually a "studded" muffin!
Photo by bubblecup.etsy.com


After much consideration, and help from you all, I decided to let DH pick his new name (with my approval!) I strongly suggested a combination name like Hunky Hubby Hot Stuff (or HHHS), or Big Papa Grown Up, but he sided with Barefoot Gardener.

So from now on, DH will be know as Stud Muffin or Studly, my choice!

I gotta give DH a better name!

DH trying to look serious in Thailand 2001. And his hair is mussed! Shocking!

Taking a page from Barefoot Gardener, I have decided that DH needs a better name on this blog.

Many people have questioned the DH moniker, either because they don't understand that usually it stands for Dear Husband, or because they think he needs a more descriptive name.

DH himself has suggested a few things, and while they are amusing and occasionally Latin in origin, cannot be used in polite company (that's you guys!)

Since my daughters are called Almost Grown and Not Quite Grown, I was thinking of calling husband Never Grown Up. I don't think he likes the implication, but hey, he is a boy after all, so it's appropriate! Over Grown is another thought, but much more suggestive of my potato shape than his svelte physique.

I could use his nickname from his corporate days, Mr. Warmth, for his steely glare at irritating people. But he is so much more mellow since I had some of his body parts removed, that doesn't seem to fit anymore either.

So here's where you come in. Especially those of you who have had the pleasure of his company for a while, I'm sure you could suggest something descriptive and appropriate. Just make sure that the porn police won't come after me!

Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho. It's off to work....

Well, all good things must come to an end. A few days ago, Manly Woodchopper went home, and early this morning, so did Almost Grown. Very early. Waaay too early.

But, before they left, they helped DH and Not Quite Grown move the refrigerator down the drive to the shop, to make room in the kitchen for the new fridge! I would have helped, but I had to man the camera.

Manly's so strong, he only needs to use one hand.

DH's a good sport, but Almost Grown seems camera shy.

I think Not Quite Grown is just hanging on for the ride, not helping!

Finally, a picture of Manly Woodchopper that the camera didn't eat!

Don't they make a cute couple?

Sundays from Singapore: Festival of the Hungry Ghost

8/21/2001

Welcome to the month of the Hungry Ghost! Buddhist and Taoist legend has it that a man ventured into Hades to visit his recently deceased mother and found her hungry and alone. The mother had been a mean spirited person in life and was paying for this in the afterlife. Anything she tried to eat turned to ashes and drink turned to blood. During the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the doors to Hades open and spirits visit their descendants. Those who were taken care of by their relatives were treated to food and drink and offerings to ensure good fortune. Those who died violently or by their own hand, or who had no living relatives, were most discontent and haunted the living for food. If you got along with your dead relatives, good job! You can make your offerings, hope for good luck, and then party at the end of the month.

This can be a solemn and wary time for Asians. Joss sticks and incense are burned at the gates of a home to keep evil spirits out.

Joss Sticks. Photo by Yabby

Food is often placed along side the burnt offerings to placate the hungry ghosts.

Feeding the Hungry Ghosts. Photo by crab68.


The Taiwanese are especially cautious during this time, with no weddings or overseas journeys. They are on the lookout for spirits that have disguised themselves are humans, possibly to seduce the living and get into their homes. However, a "dead" giveaway that one is confronting a spirit is that their feet don't touch the ground.

So, this is what the girls found out online, as I headed off to the market, threading my way through leftover joss sticks poking out of the grass and dodging plates of oranges on the sidewalk. Incense burners with lids have been placed at the gates of the property, but some people ignore them and place their offerings in little fence-like rows to ward off evil spirits. Personally, I'm checking everyone's feet to make sure they are "well grounded."

I think I have an evil spirit living in my "yard" ceiling. This nasty has rained water down upon the washing machine and yet has managed to avoid detection. For days, I have endured repairmen running in and out of the house, climbing in and out of windows to reach the air con ledges, all the while leaving the windows and doors open to the humidity. I now have a one foot square hole cut into the ceiling, with a funnel jammed between the various pipes to direct water to a bucket. This was the band-aid fix after much chattering and discussion. Of course, since that time, no water has fallen. We have flushed toilets, run sinks, splashed in the showers and finally resorted to blaming the upstairs neighbors. The current theory is that the plumbers drilled into an air con pipe, inconveniently buried in a wall, and that is now leaking. There is supposed to be a meeting of the two trades to argue about who is at fault, and proposed a remedy. Either way, I just know it will involve breaking down walls and floors. Someone should have told me to stuff fruit up there and avoid all this nonsense!

We are heading out in two days for Thailand [at this resort], and I am very much looking forward to it. The weather forecast is a bit dicey, but since it is already "raining" at my house, what's the difference? The website for the resort shows cute 2 bedroom cottages sitting right in the sand, with teak floors and canopied beds. Clearly, water sports are the order of the day, but I am holding out hope for some other activities as well. Shopping, perhaps? I can only chase crabs down the beach (I mean run away from) and build sand castles only so long, you know?

Hope all is well with you, and look out for people who float off of the ground!

Love,

Lisa

Happy New Year!

I hope everybody had a good welcome to the new year! We did what any redneck wanna-be would do to ring in the new year... shoot guns! Okay, settle down, we were shooting empty Coke cans propped up on straw bales, not at each other!

Not Quite Grown's official shooting footwear! Fits right in with the redneck crowd.

For some reason, my camera didn't like the pictures of Not Quite Grown's boyfriend, Manly Woodchopper, that I took and corrupted them. Or maybe he is a spirit that can't be photographed! All we can see are his feet. Hmmm?!

DH helped everyone with the handguns and we blew the cans away!

See! We're good and wear our ear protectors. That's my studio building in the background.

Ready to go!

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Manly really enjoyed himself, and is a damn good shot, but Not Quite Grown decided that shopping is more her sport! It has been too darn cold to want to stand around outside these last two days, but we are hoping to get out the shotguns before Manly goes home tomorrow afternoon.

This morning was very busy, with me taking Nick the dog to the vet at o'dark thirty for a week's worth of indiscriminate vomiting. Meanwhile, the tree men came to take down a very large oak tree that died from all the trenching we did moving in. I've been worried about the tree coming down in a storm and hitting the house. DH and Not Quite Grown had to take the truck in to the dealer for some brake work, leaving Almost Grown and Manly to monitor the tree men.

That goodness that Manly was here! He had the best time splitting all that wood with an ax! I figured that it would take DH and I weeks to split it all by ourselves, even though the guys cut the tree into lengths. I wish I had been smart enough to bring out the camera, but I was so surprised that the tree was down before I got back from the vet, that we just got started working on it. It still took hours, but I think I have enough split wood for the rest of the season. We filled the two racks on the back porch, made a pile on the bricks that Almost Grown set down this summer, and started another pile by the garage.

I will get better at this blogging stuff someday and will remember to bring out the camera more often!

Till then, we are trying to burn the firewood nemesis which resisted Manly Woodchopper's ax and my power log splitter. We may use all of the kindling we have, but by God, we will burn this sucker!