Another day spent doing jobs in the garden today.
A mundane day really... but as I mentioned before there always seems to be something that happens here which I didn't get in the West.
The weather has taken a sudden and very marked turn for the hot so I decided to replace the shade cloth on the veggie patch. It usually lasts a couple of years before the relentless sun degrades the plastic and then a sudden storm rips it apart.
Firstly I removed all the fragments of the previous shade cloth... and then spent some time pondering the gardener's previous work. Long ago I built a metal framework above the veggie patch but at some point the gardener had decided to string extra wire across for additional support. He had hung the wire below the framework so that it drooped down. I looked at this for some time thinking I was missing something... but then eventually had to ask why?
He says that he 'forgot'. As usual I take this explanation without question... there is just no point in pursuing stuff like this. From my experience of Thais my gardener is good, not at gardening but at general handyman stuff, but sometimes he just leaves me dumbfounded.
I re-strung the wires above the framework... this turning a quick job into one that took much longer than anticipated.
Whilst doing this I was interrupted by a low growl from Yogi or Max who were messing around down by the pond. To anyone that keeps dogs, this growl is absolutely unmistakable and immediately alerted me that something was up. I'd imagine this is exactly the same growl many burglars have heard just before being attacked.
On investigation I was confronted by this.
They had nailed a nice kukri snake. It was too late to help the poor thing... if I find a snake in time I can usually get the dogs away to allow me to catch it and stick it in the snake house. From there they either go elsewhere to safety away from our dogs or off to Korat Zoo. But the Yogi/Max combination had nailed this one. It's brutal to see... they go in fast and bite and flick it away, cracking it like a whip. Before now I've been hit on the head by a flying snake and splattered by snake blood...
Can't blame the dogs of course, they don't know I like these snakes and they think it's their job, so I'm careful not to yell at them too much. One day if we get a nasty snake I might be quite glad. Our boys can be a bit unruly at times but I know one thing... I wouldn't like to be an intruder with these guys around, they're absolutely fearless.
When I managed to get the dogs away I sadly had to knock this snake on the head... no way would it have survived.
But anyway, the shade cloth eventually went up and the veggies are safe from the sun.
But all this is just escaping the elephant in the garden... one day I'll eventually run out of these small jobs and I'll have no excuse about not addressing my pond problems...