The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Loombucket

I will look forward to that and yes, I will be sporting the odd blister or tway.

daveboy

How big will the saak trees get LB & are they quick growing?

Loombucket

I can't give you a precise figure daveboy. The Gardener reckons that they will be as round as a water butt in about twenty years. I have been monitoring them for a while now and they are, indeed, growing very fast. I will give updates on their progress, as we go along.

Jet Gorgon

C'mon, LoomB, more pics and action!

Loombucket

Sorry Jet, there's not a lot of action in this one, yet. There is a lot of fiddling about, trying out ideas untill the house is done, the trucks stop coming and hoards of people stop trampling everything. Besides, if I post everything in one go, there will be a long and boring wait untill I get back there, and the fun really starts. Iv'e also got loads of other excuses, that I won't bore you with for the mo.

Here is one of the Saak trees, after about five weeks, before the rains came.



Members/fans of the building thread, will remember the Banana plants, hung out to dry on the ceremonial first posts. They stayed up there for a long time and I assumed that they had had it. One did not survive but the other two are keeping a sugar cane company, and are doing well at the front of the soil mound.



Meanwhile, down at the back of the lake, life was slowly getting back to normall.



Now to do something at the front of the lake. After we had the drain pipe put in, and the land built up a bit, there was a nice little bit for a tree garden. Unfortunately, everything that we put in was relentlesly nibbled by the cows. This excuse for an Isaan syle fence, using timber liberated from the scaffolding, and anything to hold it together, was a last ditch attempt to keep the perishers off.



It was decorated with 'thorny sticks' and worked a treat. Later, I liberated every scap, that I could find, to put some sort of solid edge, around the lake, to ramp up the soil.



Again, it would not win any prizes, but kept me amused for ages. Later, It will be made to look a bit nicer, but it is ok for now.



You can just see, in back and to the left, the broken drain pipes, that didn't make the drain. I will attempt to sink these, to make some raised beds at the entrance to my tree garden.

Loombucket

First, I pick a nice cool day, find the radio, iced water, mobile etc. Load everything in the barrow and toddle off, out of site, and earshot from everyone else. With the radio blaring and a stream of bemused locals, using the soi down the side, I start on the hole, using the jod. After twenty odd minutes, I'm weezing like the perverbial 70 year old who's attempting to 'entertain' a pay-as-you-go Thai sweetie. A short rest, drink and then a prayer and I have another go. Some time later, I have a nice deep hole, a bit wider than the pipe.



As it is an Isaan syle thing, it's bladdy heavy to move and I know that I can't actually pick it up. So I have a cunning plan. Using the soil, taken from the hole, I make a little ramp, with the idea of sliding it over and then plopping it in.



So much for theory. It gets stuck in the side of the hole and I can't move the wretched thing. The language was appalling and there was no one in the soi to help. I needed some sort of lever and spent a lot of time looking for one. It was starting to get dark, when I liberated a bit of old fence post from the shop next door and the drain pipe, finally, slid in a treat.



Next day, after one of Mrs. LoomB's massages, three coffees, and thirty minutes of Ash's greatest hits, the other hole took less than an hour to dig. Fitting the other pipe in, took about ten minutes.



All I need now is some nice soil and a coat, or tway, of white cement seal. This bit of the garden, gets the sun for most of the day, so I am planning a seat and a blaze of colour. A few solar lamps here and there and the odd mirror will finish it off. All this will come later, now i'm just waiting for the grass to grow a bit.

Somone 'up there' must have heard me, cos it soon starts to rain, with a vengeance. This put any further work 'on hold' for the best part of a week. When it stopped for a rest, I noticed this new lake, behind ours.



Traction was impossible and motivation evporated with each sliding step so I retreated to the clubhouse to wait it out.

Loombucket

Time passes

It's still raining, but not quite so hard. We need to get on and put some sort of roof over the tank and pump, to get them out of the sun. Under the stern eye of the mrs, Khun Mow tries to flatten the soggy mess so that he can mark out with the usual stick.



We have decided on some of those cement posts with a flat base at one end. The sort that you would have for rasing your teak wood style home, as used by many of the neighbours. This handy DIY pack, came with ready sawn timber and all the nuts and bolts. The angle iron and plastic pipes are waiting for the waterfall project.



It's starting to get a bit late when the posts arrive,



...and I am in the shower when I hear more excitement from behind. The MIL has given us two of her spare water jars and it has taken the crew all afternoon to get them loaded and transported here, about 6Km. Not my best shot, but the best that I could do with slightly soapy hands.



Next morning, and all marked out, the boys start digging holes for the posts. Mow starts with the Jod,



...and Loong follows behind with the post hole tool.



After a certain depth, he has to resort to using his hands,



...and here's why. Wet, Issan style, clay is something else that us westeners havn't come accross. If this was cement, it would be perfect for laying slabs.



With the holes dug and the team taking a breather, I get the job of checking the nuts and bolts. The other ends of the posts have pre-formed holes, so it's an easy job to put the timbers in.



A telephone call then sends the team off on a wild Goose chase and we have to abandon work for the rest of the day. More tomorrow.

sunsetter

loving it all, blinding thread!!

Issan Man

LoomB,too say that I am green with envey is and understatement,it's all looking Bladdy Good.Just been thinking,and thought I would pick your Brain's.HollyHocks,Lupins and Delphiniums, Would they grow in Thailand or would it be to hot?.Whats the law like on bringing seed's of non native plant's into Thailand?.Last but not least do they have problems with Slugs and Rust in the Land of Smiles?

DrAndy

We have brought lots of veggie seeds in, but from Portugal. They like the hot weather and thrive

Flowers may be Ok; one advantage of foreign plants is that the insects and diseases do not recognise them so leave them alone most of the time

Loombucket

That's a good question and the short answer is, I don't know. Most stuff could be encoraged to grow, with the right combination of soil/compost, water and shade. Roses grow ok but the only ones that I have seen have been the basic three rows of petals and no smell variety. Orchids would be the way to go, as they love the stuff in Coconuts to get them going. As far as I know, one would need an import licence for anything non-native.

I have not seen any slugs, but there are more than enough strange beetles, about the place, that eat anything! Rust, again, I don't know but i will be making enquiries.

BosseO

Wifey bought some roses at an 'Orchid Supermarket' between Klaeng and Hat Mae Phim and they seems to thrive, the yellow doesn't smell much but the red and pink are really fragrant.

__________________
Serious cooking can't be left to women.

SEA Traveler

Khun BosseO,

I'll be checking in with you upon return in mid Jan to take a ride to the market place where Mrs B purchased the roses. Mrs SeaT has already indicated that she wanted some roses in the garden.

Looking good my friend.

__________________
"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff....and it is all small stuff"

Loombucket

The rain is becoming a bit of a problem. It's at times like this when I fully apreciate the fact that the site is suitably higher than the surrounding countyside. The 'pond' next door has spread to half the field. Note the grass, starting to grow like mad.



During the lull, the team decided to get down and try to finish. The Gardener's aged, but hale, Isaan style wheel barrow was pressed into service, for one last major task. A mobile pug mixing tank.



The hole bottoms were rammed flat and a little sand was added.



Next, a layer of cement and this was rammed flat.



Next, the posts were plopped in. Loong held them upright but his initial enthusiasm was starting to wear off. Something to do with Mow dropping the spirit level on his foot.



A little hardcore was then added to the holes to stop them trying to escape,



...and then they were securely pugged in.



At this point, we all broke for lunch. I wizzed off to the local 7/11, to er.. check for new staff. When I returned, it was all over.



That white cable is for the TV, and nearly caused a number of choking fatalities by poeple wizzing round the path on their bikes. It was, later, relocated. The temporary aerial is, of couse, up the handy tree.

Loombucket

Now that looks like my kind of Rose. I don't suppose you remember the name of that Orchid place?

Takeovers

I enjoy the thread





What about the bananas? I have been told that moskitos breed in those water puddles at the stem of the leaves so better don't have them around the house.

The pond would probably have fish so not too many moskito larvae growing up there.

Issan Man

BosseO,nice Roses Mate,there more like the kind of thing we have here in the UK

BosseO

^^^ No, they only had a sign in Thai that wifey translated as Orchid Supermarket. We were just out driving around exploring the surroundings.

Bogso

Great work LB, loving the thread.

Loombucket

A small ammount of time passes and I am quite keen to get some sort of planting under way. There is one last major thing to do. The path, around the front of the house, is not really wide enough. It needs to be a bit wider to take a truck, as the septic tanks are out the back and we don't want people trying to drive round there. I didn't want a vast expanse of cement out side the front door either, so some sort of compromise was called for. We settled on another 1 1/2 Metres, which should be plenty. The land was well compacted already, so it was just a case of marking, edging, chucking some sand on the bottom, the usual rebar grid and a load of pre-mix. Easy, I thought.

The first bit went a treat. The Builders had left lots of handy edging and Mow and Loong made quick work of digging a little trench,



...and putting the boards up.



We had to treat ourselves to some new nails and some rebar. Wire, for tying, and sand, we had plenty of, and soon we had the little grid all ready.



The problems started with the arrival of the cement mixer, who sat outside for ages wondering if he could fit between the new pillars for the gate.



My suggestion that he should come in backwards and drive up to the pour point was greeted with the usual derision, so I kept quiet and waited for him to get stuck.



This was about one in the afternoon and we had one extra chap from the local village to help. We did not have loads of plastic buckets or a tin bath, so it was essential to get the mixer close enough to the site. Anyway, the driver started digging,



..and then tries to drive out. Then everyone has a go at digging,



..and about two hours later, the team manage to push him out,



...leaving some fancy holes.



At this point, everyone thinks that it would be a good idea to stop for a beer and the driver turns the engine off. I am still laughing like a drain but Mrs. LoomB is not amused.