Look at Me " I'm a Mommie"

LOOK AT THAT SMILE

HEY KIDS ------ LUNCH IS THIS AWAY

I'M COMING AS FAST AS I CAN

A couple months ago I looked out the window ,to see what I thought was a set of conjoined twin doggies in front of the house , so I grabbed my camera, and was off to get a photo that I was hopeing that I could sell to a couple of tabloids, but on closer observation ,I saw that it was just the neighbors dog Pooie, locked in LOVE with one of the Soi Boys (a big black one ) from down the street , after a little cooling off period they were separated , (without surgery), and Pooie ran down the street, as another one of her Soi Boys was waiting his turn (a small brown one ) they too ran to each other and fell into each others ("should I say ARMS")and they too,soon, became locked in love and looked to me like another set of conjoined twins. Separated,( again sucessfully with out surgery) soon this time ,the neighbor saw what was happening and locked her in the gate, and for a day or two, her Soi Boys could only look at her thru the fence , pretty soon they gave up and ran down the road ,because, my own dog, Smokey had gotten jealous of all the attention Pooie was getting and ,nature stirred inside her and down the road she went ,to meet up with the Soi Boys , now I am (glad or sad ) to say that in a very short time ,I will be a grand-pa .

The man we paid for the shot asured us that it would keep nature under control , but what man of us can control nature when a mind is made up (if you know what I mean).

Well , here it is 63 days later and I am happy to announce that Pooie is the proud Mother of three of the cutiest(they all are at this age ) puppies and I have seen ( in a week --ha ha )and as usual not a Father in sight. That too, is the nature of the male Thai dogs.The pictures are of Pooie and her beautiful babies. There are two black ones and one little brown one .

I will post pictures of Smokey ,the proud Mom, and the grand-kids when they make their appearance into our world. By the way ,I have to brag and say that Pooie and Smokey are two of the smartest dogs in the hood and ,if anyone needs a good house dog , let me know in a few weeks and I'll give you PICK OF THE LITTER . Malcolm

YOKO UP-DATE

I got a couple of e-mails and calls from folks wanting to see a few pictures of the Cave Houses at the Yoko Resort and Spa, and it's only a 5 minute Honda ride to there, from the house sooooo I took off to snap a couple of pictures for the up-date .

It looks like something out of the Flintstone movie ,of a few years ago , they are building a beautiful lounge area with a swimming pool and small bar and karoke area , which will be finish in about one month , just in time for the high season here in Thailand.

Malcolm

YOKO RIVER KWAI RESORT AND SPA

CLICK ON MAP FOR LARGER VIEW

MY!!!!!! WHAT A LONG NECK YOU HAVE

THIS IS "BIG -T "

DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS THESE ARE SOOOOOO REAL LOOKING

CIEJAY LOVES THIS TUK TUK

I have never taken the time to post on the many resorts that Ciejay and I get to visit on a monthly bases, as a result of Ciejay's wine business ,as a dealer for Hanuman Winery. I'll start with one of our great customers and a really beautiful resort right on the River , the YOKO RIVER KWAI RESORT AND SPA. There's no need to call a cab or, have a tour guide ,take you to the River , all you have to do is step out of your room or bungaloo and there you are . The Resort is located on the banks of the famous River Kwai and there is a great selection of rooms and floating raft rooms , and the clay village , and the dinasour park where it looks like a trip back in time . The Yoko also has a great restaurant and lounge ,overlooking the River Kwai, and a karoke stage for your entertainment, they also have a huge Seminar and meeting room in case you want to have a business meeting along with you vacation time .The selection of rooms is up to you and your families, needs ,as there is lots of area for the whole family ,they have European style Bangalows ,Traditional Thai houses, floating bangalows on rafts and the all new Clay village ,( like living in caves in prehistoric times) you will have to see this for yourself, they are in a central location and can provide transportation, for a visit to many attractions in the local area , such as , the famous Death Railroad Viaduct, elephants treks, thru the jungle , Sai Noi Waterfalls , and a very famous old ancient village and temple ruins,they can also arrange , float trips and swimming in the River Kwai.they have transportation to and from the Train Station at our village of Whang Pho and while at the resort they provide tricycle service , and for short trips to our village and you can take a ride in their very own Tuk Tuk. They have a wonderful Organic fruit and veggie garden to grow their own produce and you can be assured of a fresh and healthy meal when you dine in the huge ,but quaint, Kobori Restaurant, (or you can take a short trip to our little village and enjoy ,lunch or dinner from lots of vendors selling their home cooked food to eat there or take back to your room ) where you will recieve some of the best service you'll find anywhere , a great staff and very importantly, there is a on site manager and security force, to make sure you stay is the best ever, and something very important to all of us "safety."And did I mention that the Resort is FAMILY FRIENDLY. Opps, I almost forgot , all the toilets are western style for your enjoyment and pleasure.Hot water too.

You can call for more information at 034-591-414-5 or fax at 034-591-410 or visit them on there web site at http://www.yokoresort.com/ .

This is a none paid for post and I recieved nothing in return for this post , it is just for your information and reading and viewing of the pictures ,in case you ever get around our area of the country and need a great place to stay. you can always call me if you need help too. Malcolm and Ciejay

AMAZING THAILAND

CLICK ON PICTURES FOR A LARGER VIEW

Well, just when I thought I had seen or heard about all there is to do and see in Thailand , I come across this story while reading a few newspapers on the net. I'm talking about the Wat Pa Maha Chedio Kaew Temple also known as Wat Lan Koad or "The Temple of a Million Bottles"

The Temple which sits in Thailand's Sisaket Province ,370 miles northeast of Bangkok ,is made of more than a million recycled beer bottles."The Temple of a Million Bottles"features glass bottles throughout the whole Temple complex, including a Worship Temple,a crematorium,monk shelters,and even toilets for the tourist,water tower,and prayer rooms.There is an estimated 1.5 million recycled beer bottles built into the temple and they are planning on building more buildings, as they get more bottles, folks donate lots of bottles for the projects.All the buildings have a core made of concrete to give strength for the structures.

It all started in 1984 when the monks were using the beer bottles to decorate their shelters and , they got a lot more bottles ,so they built a Temple, and so on and so on, they also use the bottle caps in Mosaic Murals. The green bottles are Heineken beer bottles and the brown ones are Thailand's own Chang beer bottles.The monks say that the bottles let in a lot of light and are very easy to keep clean with a little soap and water .

I've never been there ,Ciejay says she has many years ago, BUT, you can bet that it is high on my list of things to see in the near future. How about you? , have you seen or heard of the"Temple of a Million Bottles" before and if so ,what did you think ? , were you amazed ? and did it impress you as much as it has me so far.????? Malcolm

Source:Mumbai Mirror.com--Thailand News .net

Pictures:Evelyn Lee and Jill Fehrenbacher

ORCHIDS-MUST BE THE SEASON

LOOK AT THE BUDS GETTING READY FOR MORE FLOWERS WONDER OF WONDERS

CLICK ON PICTURES FOR A LARGER VIEW

THIS ONE IS CALLED A GROUND ORCHID AND WILL GROW ON POTS AND BLOOM ALL YEAR LONG , AND COME IN MANY COLORS.

Last year Ciejay and I went to the Chai Thai Fair , displaying lots of veggies and flowers,trees, and plants and a wide variety of orchids ,I have a small amount of green thumbism but not a lot, and have had somewhat, ok luck with plants and flowers , but I have never tried my hand at orchids . My Brother Jim ,in America had a orchid room when he lived in Flordia ,before retireing to Tenn.He told me there was nothing to it, and I had the Thai weather on my side which is a plus.. So" what the heck," can you believe it,a lady sold me 4 for 100 baht and I have had them hanging on my front porch, around a pole for a year and all of a sudden they have all bloomed and I'm in ORCHID HEAVEN it has to be the season , I can't stop looking at them and , enjoying them and have took lots of pictures and sent to friends in the US and they are all jealous , let me say here and now "the success of these orchids have nothing to do with my green thumb" , the only thing I have done is to spray water on them every day or two when watering my other plants Mother nature does the rest, along with their strong will to live , and yes they do have a strong will, and can severe, when most plants would just give up and die. .Do you have any orchids around your homes ???? if not ,give them a try , the flowers bloom for almost a month and take hardly, no up-keep at all. I am so proud of them and I,m sure you will feel the same way when yours bloom.

I am including lots of pictures hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy taking pictures of them. If you ever get over to Whang Pho , I have also learned how to divide them and would be more than happy to share with you . HAPPY ORCHID GROWING TO YOU. Malcolm

THAILAND ARTIST

Wow, talk about talent and art in various forms, just today a friend brought these metal tuk-tuks made from old beer cans and they are wonderful and really detailed as you will see .He is a struggling Thai teacher trying to raise a family and I bought a couple to send to my grand-kids in America and a couple for my display of toys that I collect . If you would like one he sales for 150 baht and you can send me your address and I will send to you and you can send money to me and I will get it to him, I hope that is not against blog rules , if so someone let me know and I will remove . I love them and you will be delighted too . Malcolm

THAILAND ARTIST

I have always been amazed at the talent and the creative of the Thai people , almost all I know or have meet seems to have the ability to express themselves in some form of medium, and most seem to have great talent as artist. I love Thai art and especially the ones of Elephants, Buffalo , and my favorite landscapes . Well I guess that about covers all Thai Art . How about you do you like and do you have any Thai Art hanging on the walls of your homes that you personally picked out ?

Kmowing my love for the Thai Art (not the expenisive ones) mostly folk art, a friend of mine found two paintings at an, old closed, resort in a broken down storage room and ask if she could buy them for me and the owner said I could have them ,I LOVE THEM and was told by the resort owner that the man who painted them lived in Chang Mai and was 94 when he painted them (probably dead by now) as she had them for a few years and I know they have been in that store room for 5 years . I would like to know a little something about the painter and have 2 pictures of the art and a close up of his signature, anyone out there that knows anything , I would love to hear from you . Malcolm

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN and HAPPY MOM'S DAY

The Banner and Garden in our Village of Whang Pho to honour our Queen

The picture of our King and Queen that hangs above our bedroom door

My Wife Chamaiporn Jupia Burgess (Toon) and Mother of NU and TOM

My Mother Emma Faye Burgess (Em)

My Mother -in Law Kasorn Jupia (Sorn)

This week-in and ,the first of next week, is the celebration of Mother's Day in Thailand (August 12th) ,and also the 76th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Regent Sirkit. Our little village of Whang Pho is all decorated with pictures of her and with her blue, flags flying every where and folks are selling all kind of beautiful, hand made flower arangments, to be given to Mother's on their special day of the year. It is also a National Holiday in the LOS and all Government offices and Banks , and many local business's will be closed to honour both The Queen and Mothers all over Thailand . We here in the Burgess household also want to say LONG LIVE THE QUEEN and we bless and say a prayer for health and happiness to all Mothers in Thailand ---------------HAPPY MOTHERS DAY---------------Malcolm and Ciejay

THE FRUIT THE THAI'S CALL NOI NA---SUGAR APPLE

This is my favorite time of the year in the LOS , when all the different kinds of fruit trees are bearing all their great tasty and healthy fruit for us to eat and enjoy. Of course we can pick bananas, and papaya all year ,what a treat and most of the time out of our own backyards or the next door neighbors, who are more than happy to share with us, as most fruit trees produce an abundance of fruit and much more than one family can eat , and since almost no Thai families ,can or freeze ,or make jams , for the winter months ahead ,the fresh fruit has to be eaten when its ready and a lot of times that means sharing with all your friend and neighbors and taking to your families that live in areas where the fruit in season at the moment does not grow where they live and what a treat is to take and share with them , Thai folks love to do this and always think of friends and family when they have a abundance of anything.

We have watermelon all year round and papaya, and bananas , but the first fruit that I anticipate all winter is one of my favorites and that is the arrival of the mangoes ,eaten green or ripe, what a treat after the long, rainy season and winter . I eat them every chance I get any way you can fix them , (my favorite, being ripe manago and stick rice with sweet coconut milk drizzled on top ) have you ever tried them that way ? they come but once a year on the trees ,in our very own backyard , then come the small rose apples , followed by the lychee. then the longan, then the durian ,called the king of fruits and then another of my favorites, the mangosteen , healthy and delicious ,followed closely by the rambutan , one of the strangest fruits I have ever seen and from what I hear, the best rambutan grow just up the road from us. The jackfruit, seem to always have fruit in various stages of ripeness, we have a tree in our yard and maybe we will eat two a year , lots of work and messy to get the sweet fruit out , we let the farmers come and get it for their pigs and cows. its a lot eaiser to buy already cleaned at the Thursday market.

NOW----- for the subject of my post today , the sugar apple or as some call it the custard apple and the Thai name for this fruit is Noi Na, what ever name you call it , if you have never eaten one you just don't know what a treat and heavenly sweet custard, taste you have missed.The ripe fruit is usually ,broken open with you hands into two halves and the flesh segments scooped out with a spoon or your tongue and enjoyed ,while the seeds are separated in your mouth and spat out. It is so luscious that it is well worth the trouble.in some countries the flesh is pressed thru a sieve to get rid of the seeds and is then added to ice cream or blended with milk to make a cool and refreshing beverage.It is never cooked.

The fruit left on the trees to ripen ,do not do very well and most of the time will just turn brown and rot on the tree.The fruit is picked when it is almost mature and about to ripen,it is then left to sit at room tepperature for a couple days and will ripen ,ready to be enjoyed.You can keep them a few more days if you wrap them in newspaper or straw, then they will maybe, last 5 or 6 days ,maybe,but no more . It is a seasonal fruit and one to be enjoyed fresh and not a fruit that you can store for later use.

The Spaniards, it is told, probably carried the seeds from the new world (it is native to the Americas) to the Philippines around 1590 and then it begin to show up in other Asian countries as well.Grown extensive in India, where the tree is a escape tree, and the fruit is very popular and abundant in the markets.The sugar apple is one of the most important fruits in the interior of Brazil and in the markets of Bahia.The sugar apple requires a tropical or near-tropical climate , therefore it does well in most Asian countries. It is a favorite fruit for many in Thailand and is a great money crop in some areas of the country.Not far up the road from us ,there are large sugar apple garden and when in season these folks sell them by the kilio or by the baskets full for wholesellers to come and buy and take to the big cities and all around the country to sell at the week-day markets all over Thailand .We have two trees in our yard , one I planted and the other is from a seed that the squirrels dropped while stealing them from my tree. I have not yet, in 3 years got to eat one off of my tree , you can see the squirrels come every morning and smell them to see if they are ready to eat and the day I say "I'm going to pick them the next day" ,when I go to pick them, there is not a single one on the tree , its like they can read my mind ,ha ha ha

Now for the more scientific and medicinal uses of the fruit ,leaves ,bark , and the root of the sugar apple tree.

1. the seeds are acrid and poisonous when dryed and crushed and powered it is sometimes applied to the head to kill head lice.

2. if applied to the uterus ,it will induce abortion.

3. in Mexico the leaves are rubbed on the floors and put in the hens nest to repel lice.

4. the oil from the seeds has nbeen used as a substitute for peanut oil in the making of soaps.

5. sometimes in perfumes , giving them a woody and spicy accent.

6. in India the crushed leaves are sniffed to overcome hysteria and fainting spells.

7. crushed leaves are also applied to ulcers and wounds.

8. it is used thru out tropical Americas , for a tonic ,cold remedy,digestive or to clarify the urine.

9. in India crushed fresh fruit is mixed with salt and is applied to tumors.

10. a decoction is also added to bath water to alleviate rheumatic pain.

11. the bark decoction is given as a tonic to halt diarrhea.

WOW I never knew any of that , not that I am going to be trying any of these remedies anytime soon , but who knows as folks are turning more and more to all natural and holistic and alternative medicines, I might even give it(sugar apple tree) a try sometime . I have, and I do at the present time take a herbal tonic daily, and Ciejay and I, use some herbs as a preventive measure. What about you ? do you use or have you ever used a herb or the leaf,bark or tea from a friut tree, for a medical problem?

I hope you have enjoyed this rather long post, and learned something new too, , I know ,I learned a lot of new stuff myself, even if I don't use it for medical purposes, when I eat this wonderful fruit ,that from now on I will think about all its uses and I hope you do too.

The source for a lot of the information about the sugar apple, I found, from NEW CROP resource online program from Purdue University on the http://www.com/

Thanks for the read Malcolm