WINGED THINGS FROM HELL

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Well , the rainy season has finally come to Whang Pho and I have to say that it has been a real blessing in that it has cooled things down a lot and the yard and trees and plants and flowers , and also all our farmers are loving it . And all the neighbors have been waiting for the rain to plant their summer garden , and to set out new trees and plants . Me I'm just glad it's here .
BUTTTT along with the rainy season comes a lot of things that I hate , since it has started raining I have killed YES KILLED!!!! 4 scorpions that have made their way into our kitchen area and one in the bathroom , also 2 of the ugliest big black millipeds as long as my foot , them things have heads on both ends and look like they want to eat you up , and are they ever hard to kill, and then just yesterday a small corba decided that on my shoe rack ,on the front porch was a good dry place to spend the night. BUTTTT the things I hate the most are the things I call "Wings from Hell" . I know a lot of folks in Thailand call them snacks , It's the flying termites(mang mao ) that come out from under the ground after a big rain , just like Bats come out of caves at nights , millions and I do mean millions of them come from the mountain behind the house and you have to be quick to turn out all the lights and close the curtains for at least an hour and most of the time they will have moved on down to your neighbors house with the lights on .And the next morning they (without their wings) are crawling all over the patio and deck and their wings are all over the screens and windows and in every crack and crannie that you have around the house , and for days you will be sweeping up and trying to get rid of the wings that they shed. The geckos and jen jokes (Small lizards) have been feasting all nght and sooooo that means that you have these little black and white things (turds) all over the porch as well as the big ole brown turds from the gekeo (that I have been trying to catch for the last month ) did I say that "I hate them" well I meant to .
Like I said I am happy about the rain but hate the stuff that it brings with it , and if the folks from up North are not getting their share of the MANG MAO , just give me a shout and I'll sweep them up into a huge plastic bag and you can come and get them .
Ciejay says that after a couple of big rains they will all be gone till next year and the rainy season, I'm really looking foward to that . But all this does make for an exciting life and thats why I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm

COCONUTS

Cool and Refreshing ----- just what I needed

My desk

my Desk

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Today I was sitting at my computer desk and complaining to myself about how hot it was and that I really needed something cold to drink, I had already drank a Coke Zero earilier and at least two tall glasses of Ice water , but nothing seemed to cool me down or quench that taste I had for something good and cold and refreshing at the same time,When all of a sudden Ciejay walked in and handed me a chilled , young coconut that the neighbor had given her and she had opened up the top and stuck in a straw and said " here honey try this I think you will like ", well I was ready for anthing cold and to my surprise , that was some of the best tasting ,cool juice I have ever tasted and when I had finished she gave me a small spoon and said for me to eat the meat inside , I said "get me the hammer to break the shell open first " Ciejay said "no honey , it's really soft and you can just take it out with the spoon . "I can not begin to tell you how surprise I was at not only how soft the meat was , but there are not good english words to describe how yummy and sweet tasting that meat from the YOUNG COCONUT was , you'll have to try it for yourself. I know some folks will have a hard time finding Young Coconut , but I think if you ask the local produce manager at the market where you shop to order some for you they will. Also you can always find them at a Asian or Mexican food store .
Below is some info I gathered from the web about coconuts and the great health value they can provide for lots of ailments we might have , I know that from now on I'll have a few cold ones in the frig. to grab when I need something cold and refreshing to drink ( I'm not going to give up my Coke Zero ) from time to time . Hope you'll give it a try too , let me know what you think .

Coconuts taste GREAT! Besides the incredibly amazing experience one can have when eating coconuts, there are many other reasons to eat this wonderful delicacy! In fact, the young coconut is one of the most important fruits within the tropics because of its potassium and mineral rich water.
Preferably, the water and meat from young coconuts is used as opposed to the meat of older coconuts which tends to be very hard (as well, older coconuts typically have less water...if any.)
Medicinal Value Besides being highly nutritious, young coconuts have also been exceedingly revered as having medicinal qualities for heart, liver and kidney disorders.
Coconut is a tropical fruit that is rich in protein. The meat of the coconut is very good in destroying intestinal parasites, that we get from eating infected food. Coconut water is good for kidney and urinary bladder problems.
Nutritive Values : Per 100 gm.
Vitamin A :
Vitamin B : Thiamine .10 mg.;
Riboflavin :
Niacin :
Vitamin C : 2 mg.
Calcium : 21 mg.
Iron : 2.0 mg.
Phosphorus : 98 mg.
Fat : 34.7 gm.
Carbohydrates : 14 gm.
Protein : 3.4 gm.
Calories : 359
Other Health Benefits of Coconut :
Prevents simple goiter (enlarged non-toxic thyroid) because of its organic iodine content.
Good body builder, so it is a food recommended for building up the body muscles of thin and emaciated individuals.
Constipation and for any build-up of gas in the stomach and intestinal tract.
Coconut milk has been found to help cases of sore throat as well as relieving stomach ulcers.
Coconut oil has been found to heal cuts, scratches, burns and sunburns.
The oil has also been recommended for facial massage and is reported to be good as a wrinkle remover.
Coconut oil is also good for the scalp and hair and makes hair dressing unnecessary.
Intake of at least 2 Tbsp. of Virgin coconut oil per day can lessen your Vitamin E requirement.
Coconut water is good for kidney and urinary bladder problems.as recently been reported to reduce the viral load of HIV. ( info from the www)

Before coming to Thailand , the only thing I knew about coconuts was that my dad us to draw faces on them to make them look like a monkey ,and that shredded coconut was good on a cake and that the milk was kind of sour and the meat was hard and also a lot of work to get it out of the shell . All that has changed and now that I am in the land of fruits and coconuts , I have learned how great coconuts and their milk and juice and coconut oil, are for your health and that the Thai cooks use them in hundreds of their dishes , there are many varities also, and each has it specific use in the Thai kitchens.
You can find lots of recipes on Golf's new blog http://www.awesomethaifood.com/ together her and Steve write the great blog called ThaiMusings, check them out, you'll find not only a lot of good Thai dishes to cook but , you'll enjoy all the other good stuff on the blog. Thanks for the read . Malcolm

BUTTERFLY HAVEN

HONEY DEW DROP

I love this shot

caught in flight

a favorite shot from my yard

looks just like a butterfly----- from my yard

I loved this one

a little worn , but beautiful

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Picture from my porch

my yard

my yard

my yard

my yard

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I know that almost everywhere has butterflys, but it seems like Whang Pho has more than its share of themm not just a lot of them , BUT a lot of different kind ,. In fact they were talking about building a huge Park with a Big dome and have it as a tourist attraction for our little village , we could certianly fill it up with lots of varieties from my yard .Just today I notice a lot of them while I was taking my afternoon hammock treatment and grabbed the cyber -shot and took a few pictures , even with a lot of them flying around , it's not as easy to take a snap as it looks , Here are a few that I did manage to get in focus, hope you enjoy.

I always love chasing butterflys when I was a little boy and have always loved seeing them in flight and around the flowers in our yard , there are millions of species, and they are in the same family as moths , which makes for even more. Do you have a lot of them around your place ? do you like them and do you do anything to attract them to your yard .

Ciejay and me have planted a year-round flowering tree or plant called a honey dew drop , it has small purple flowers and a orange berry that attracts the birds also , all the flying things love this plant .

The butterflys are not only beautiful and plentful but they are great food for the birds that I try to attract and water and feed in our yard we plant lots of flowers with a two -fold reason beauty and food and as a plus the butterflys pollinate, lots of other plants and are great for pollinating the garden, what with the pesticides and sprays killing a lot of the bees.

Hope you love them as much as I do and plant a flower just for them and they will come back every year to show you how much they appreciate you and do their little acrobat flying for you and show you their wonderful colors . Malcolm

We get to enjoy more of nature since we moved here to the LOS and I suppose that it's just another reason why we're Retired in Thailand and Loving It.

THE DOCTOR -----IS IN

And at this window you get your MEDS

Get your blood pressure checked

and weight and height

pick up your records at the window

tell the nurse what ailes you and get assigned to the right Dr. and care for your problem

Sit amd wait till they call your name

If you have a dental problen you cane make a appointment to have work done , but if emergency there is a dentist on duty.

Don't worry they WILL call your name before the day is over .

After living in the LOS for almost 6 years I have come to relize that there are soooo many things that amaze me, and some amaze me more than others . The one think that really amazes me is the way the local hospital and clinics can take care of so many folks at one time.Making sure everyone sees the right Dr , and that noone is left behind. I remember in the USA that if there were more than 10 folks waiting to see the Dr. that day you might as well forget it , and most of the time you have to make a appointment weeks in advance just to get in , and sometimes to be told " Sorry the Dr, is booked solid for the next 3 months and then he is taking a month long vacation, can I make an appointment for you at that time ??"And so you call anoyther Dr. hoping you can get to see him or her and you are told " sorry the Dr. is not taking on any new patiences at this time" . It sounds like a joke , but this is real in the part of the country we lived in and , even if you had company insurance coverage , you still had to wait till there was an opening.If it is a real emergency , you could always go to the "Emergency Room" and wait sometimes for hours until a inter-Dr. or a Nurse would see if they could help you , if not ,they would make you an appointment to see a real Dr. next month maybe. And they would have to come and give you smelling salts after you fainted, when they handed you the bill for the Emergency Service and you saw how much ,and that had to be paid for NOW, and you said to yourself "was I really THAT sick "
I have noticed that this is not the case in Thailand , the Doctor is always in and they will take care of you to the best of their ability and if they can't help you, they will take you to the nearest hospital that can. This has been my experience here in the LOS. Ciejay has to go to the hospital every month, because she has had a valve replacement and she takes warfin to keep her blood thin to prevent a stroke, everytime we go the place is full of all kind of sick folks and the Dtr. and Nurses are sooo busy takeing care of them and I can see that they do it with a smile too, they are sooo good to Ciejay and noone in all of our Six years of going to the hospital in Kanchanaburi has she ever been mistreated, and not only Ciejay , but all the hundreds that are there and most with out an appointment and no calling ahead , and they are taken care of just the same , you may have to sit and wait your turn , but before the day is finished the DOCTOR will see you .
Thats just another one of the reasons why we are Retired in Thailand and Loving It.
Took a few pictures today while we were there you can see a little of what I'm talking about .