THE WHITE KILLER

pictures from www

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple (in maple syrup), and in many other sources. It forms the main ingredient in candy. Excessive consumption of sugar has been associated with increased incidences of type 2 diabetes, obesity and tooth decay.[1] Sugar consumption varies by country depending on the cultural traditions. Brazil has the highest per capita consumption and India has the highest per-country consumption and Thailand is not far behind.

Well I never thought it would happen to me , BUT , on my last visit to the Dr. for my yearly check-up and for them to run ever kind of test they can, all my numbers came back normal EXCEPT my sugar count and it was 178 which the Dr. said put me in the class 2 diabetes level, and said that as we get older we need to keep a closer watch on the amount of food that we eat that contains sugar and also our carbohydrate intake which turns to sugar and adds to our problems. He prescribed a pill for me to take daily to lower my sugar and also put me on a almost sugarless diet and a lot less carbs. and of course along with all that , I need to loose 10 lbs. and start a little exercise program(which I was doing but stopped during the rainy season) of at least 30 min a day and get out and walk more .Does that sound like fun, I should say NOT , but you know Ciejay is always trying to help me cut back on my sweets and rice and bread and I always say to her "don't worry about me ,I know what I'm doing when it comes to my health " Well, I confess before you all that I was wrong, and if we can't control our selves ,we do need help from others, to incourage us to take care, what and how much we eat.I am going to beat this thing and not go from bad to worse which can happen if I'm not careful and ignore all the warnings from my Dr. and family. The Dr. said that if I really work at it I can have this sugar count back down to 100 where it needs to be in a couple months , and believe you me ,I am going to do my best.I want to live a LONGGGGGG ,and healthy life, in my GOLDEN YEARS.
If you are getting up there in age and weight , may I encourage you to have your sugar #'s checked often and cut back on the sugar . You know that here in Thailand the Dr. told me it is the #1 cause of death and I have read and heard that , it is true all over the world . This visit to the Dr. put a little fear in me and for good reason.
I hope all you are taking care of your health and not like me, letting these old age things sneak up on me . Pray for me that I will take better of myself and I'll do the same for you . Malcolm

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY

SAD TO SAY BUT IN AMERICA SOME FOLKS HAVE STARTED TO REFER TO THANKSGIVING DAY AS TURKEY DAY, WHAT A SHAME, I LOVE THE TURKEY , BUT, MORE THAN THAT" I AM THANKFUL". HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND ENJOY YOUR TURKEY TOO. MALCOLM

MONKEY TOLL ROAD

HERE THEY COME, GET READY, DON'T MOVE TILL THEY PAY UP

LET THE KIDS DO ALL THE WORK , WE'LL GO LATER AND TAKE WHAT WE WANT

I THINK THEY'RE STOPPING

YEP WE GOT EM NOW

GET LOTS I'LL OVER FOR MY SHARE AFTER MY NAP

ONE PICTURE ONE BANANA

LOOKING LIKE A GOOD HAUL

OPPS

TAKING OUR TIME

DON'T RUN SO FAST MOM

Yesterday ,on the way home we stopped at the produce stand at the top of the mountain to buy some older bananas,and papayas to feed the birds and squirrels ,(keeps them from eating my fruit before it gets ripe ) and on the way down the curvy road on the mountain, the monkeys had set up a road block ,demanding bananas as payment before you could go thru , I was sure glad we had plenty to spare as our payment and after a few snap shots and banana and papaya, payment we were allowed to continue on our way .

Really this happens all the time at this one spot in the road when the weather is good the monkeys will come down from the temple up on the mountain and beg for food when they know the tourist busses are coming thru, they are sooooo cute and every female is carring a baby or two. I like them and I am glad they stay in the one area, I have never seen one in our village and we are only 2 kl from where they gather, always a fun place and treat, to take our guest to see.

Do you have monkeys where you live? and if so do they become a pest or do they stay in one area like ours ??? In Whang Pho, you can not only swim with the elephants , but you can feed the monkeys too. FUN FUN . Malcolm

EATING OUT

When we( Ciejay and Me) lived in America , believe it or not I use to hate to hear those words , "LETS GO OUT FOR DINNER TONITE "for different reasons than you might think , I'll list just a few of these reasons , you might be able to relate to a few of them.

1. Where to go ? everyone had their favorite place and it takes a lot of giving in to decide just where you want to go , and if the others don't really want to eat there too then, it's just food and not fun.

2. Fast food , need I say more ?

3. Worked hard all day and sick of people and then to drive all over town to get there just not fun. Would be happy with soup and sandwich especially if it was a SPAM sandwich and Campbells tomato soup.

4. Most places, other than fast food , would break the bank and cost a arm and a leg.

But, all that has changed since we've moved here to Thailand , I have never had a problem with eating out here in the LOS , as each time there are soooo many restaurants( one or two plastic tables and a few plastic blue or red chairs and whalla you've got a restaurant any where you want, on the side of the road , on a side walk in town or in your own front yard) and almost all are a food lovers delight with aroma's and spices and tastes like your taste buds have never experienced in your life,and there are soooo many of them that you never have to go far and you never have to eat at the same place twice unless you want to.

The reason behind this post , I have been waiting all rainy season for it to stop because my favorite place to eat on top of the Mt. road is such a place, a little roadside restaurant that can not stay open during the rainy season as the kitchen is outside and the roof is made of bamboo and tin sheets ,and sooo old that when it rains it pours in like a waterfall ha ha , when I heard it was open , Ciejay and Me could'nt wait for dinner we, went for lunch and when I pulled up on front I could see the big smile on her( the owners) face and a great big Sawa Dee Kae was waiting for us once inside , the cook , chef and bottle washer, all in one, came to take our order and I can truthfully say that I was not disappointed at all and it's a place I would go back to often and take guest and never worry if the meals going to be just right.

I love all the little places to eat out in our area and now you know another reason why ,I'm RETIRED IN THAILAND AND LOVING IT. If you're ever over our way we'll give one of our roadside , 5 stars a try and it'll be my treat. Malcolm

SOUL SEARCHING

MY FRIEND B-BIE ,CIEJAY AND LA LA

A LITTLE WESTERN AND A LITTLE THAI. IT DON'T GET ANY BETTER

A HOUSE CIEJAY AND ME CALL HOME

STICK IT IN THE GROUND AND IT WILL GROW

A PLACE FOR COFFEE WITH FRIENDS

THE BAMBOO SCHOOL AND THE KIDS

MY ORCHIDS

JUST A LITTLE SUNSET

OUR CHURCH FAMILY HOPE OF KANCHANABURI

THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

A VIEW FROM THE HAMMOCK

ONE MORE BEFORE I FALL A SLEEP

A SAFE PLACE FOR THE BIRDS TO TAKE A BATH

THESE WERE ONE FOOT TALL WHEN WE PLANTED FOUR YEARS AGO

DOWN THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE AND A SECOND DRIVE WAY FOR FRIENDS

LOOKING DOWN TO THE MAIN ROAD

LOOKING UP TO THE MOUNTAINS

OUR BANANA TREES THAT PROVIDE MY BREAKFAST MANY A MORNING

OUR FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT BREAKFAST AND LUNCH IN GOOD WEATHER

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST BLACKIE AND SABU OUR NEW KIDS

There's a saying somewhere , that say's " THE EYES ,ARE THE WINDOW TO THE SOUL". Today while I was laying in the famous Hammock , I was recalling different things that I see thru these 74 year old eyes that affect my soul. Most of you know that we are made up of three parts Spirit ,Soul and Body, at least thats the way I believe, Our Soul is where our emotions are located , the things that make us happy , sad , excited ,funny , love, joy, peace ,, goodness and kindness, also hate , envy,strife , and all the other things both good and bad are there , and the way they get there is thru the things that we behold with our eyes and that we let our minds dwell upon.

I said all that to say that as I read different blogs daily , that it is very noticeable to me that one of the things that attract some folks to move ,and live in the LOS and cause many to keep coming back as much as possible are the things that they see with their eyes and that effect their Soul, one way or another, wheither it be a pretty girl, a beautiful water fall, a gold adorned temple ,a Budda image, a mountain range and valley and rice fields as far as the eye can see,or the lack of stress that we see on the smiling faces, and the soothing effect that it has on our souls, I love to look with my eyes at things that make me happy in my soul , I have seen far to much in my life that has made me sad in my soul , angry and unforgiving and yes sometime just down right mean, BUT !!!!!! as most of us that live here or visit , the LAND OF SMILES AND GENTLE PEOPLE the things that we have seen and see every day has brought Peace and Joy to our Souls ,and forgiveness where it was needed , at least it has mine , and I hope it has yours too, I found out a little secret I will share with you my fellow bloggers and readers, if we look for the good in things and situations around us and stop being so critical ,things will look a lot different and that my friend is" SOUL FOOD"

I thought I would add some pictures of the things that I see every day around my little piece of paradise "I KNOW YOU'VE SEEN MOST OF THEM BEFORE " but if you will just humor me a little bit , you might just enjoy them and see a little bit of the Soul Food that keeps me RETIRED IN THAILAND AND LOVING IT . Malcolm

UP----DATE ----- ON THE PUPPY

I am happy to report with a short post ,that the little puppy , that bite me is doing soooooo good and with lots of phyiscal therapy by Ciejay and me and her little puppy bro Sabu who would not leave her side for one minute , but was a constant puppy brother , and a friend in time of need for her , believe it or not (most will not ) I actually saw him rubbing her back legs with his front paws , I swear. And also happy to report that after 3 rabies shots I am not running from the water that Ciejay is forever making me drink "water make you feel better honey "

The puppy is actually walking for short steps on all fours , she had such a strong will to get well even tho she would cry when getting therapy, now no more crying and lots of face licks.

Malcolm

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

Can anyone remember that movie from 1941 ?It was a great movie and was shown on tv many times , it stared Walter Pigeon and Mareen O'Hara and won five academy awards, I remember seeing it as a young fellow and loved it . Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with no rain in sight (I think it's over) and beings I had to go out of the house and getting my second rabies shot at the local hospital , I thought to myself "it's a great day for a ride thru the Sai Yok valley and for a ride to see Kat at the Bamboo School and to visit a couple of ladies that were there from my home state of North Carolina." As I was driving thru the valley that movie and the title poped into my head and I started to look at all the beauty around me and it took me twice as long to get to the School than normal because, I was stopping evey few miles to take some pictures of my valley and the little mountains that seen to grew up put of nowhere that I wanted to share with you ,the readers of Retired In Thailand and Loving It. Also I wanted to show you a few more of the reasons I love it here in the LOS.
Was a great visit with Kat and the ladies and I got to hold the little baby girl that was left for Kat , she has doubled her weight and now weights five pounds. She is such a cutie and loves to be held , I think all babies do , and of course she had to pee pee on Grand-pa malcolm , Kat said not to worry she had a diaper on . Lots of folks are coming for medical help to the Bamboo Hospital and Kat has her hands full running the School , taking care of all the kids needs and schooling , and loving and caring for them and now as the head nurse at the little clinic , I don't know how she does it , but she seems to live for the School , the kids and now the hospital ., the people in the villages are soooooo,blessed to have her there , while I was there ,she was loading up medical supplies and was getting ready to go to a jungle village and have a health day for them , helping those she can there and bringing others back to the clinic for follow up , cleaning and putting bandges on cuts and sores and giving out advise and lessons on health and welfare, and adding a little of Gods word and prayers to those that ask why she loves and cares sooooooo much .

Hope you enjoy the pictures and that it brings back a few good memories of maybe the place you grew up are maybe even the place you live now , take a look around you and see all the beauty, and for those that live in the city , maybe its time for a drive out to the valley for some fresh air and a look to see How Green is Your Valley.

And as always you're always welcome here in Whang Pho and we'll be glad to take you a drive thru our Valley. Malcolm