I got $10 on ootai.
Shaping up to be a beautiful day. Morning early heavy dense fog that burns out about 9am or so. Mornings 16c, afternoon right around 30c and bright blue skies.
First up, restock the fridge to have plenty of cold ones while I work through out the day and have some ready for the Italian Sausage BBQ later this evening.
Got the pool bar set up and watched and listened to the Golden State Warriors play a great game against the Cleveland Cavs. Curry is something else to watch.
Cleaned up the dog kennel. Enough fur in it to make a jacket.
Just after lunch, Kerry showed up with my new shop bench drill press. Nice little table top with 5 speeds, 1/2" chuck. Got really good reviews for basically $45. Drill Press table vise coming tomorrow.
It's bean a busy day in Isaan as well!
I decided it was time to transplant the 66 germinated bean plants (yes 66 out of 73, a 90% success rate compared to a 25% success rate with the English Scarlet Emperor runner beans - the Thai beans were a lot cheaper as well).
The daughter was on a school trip today and despite the plan for this being a father-daughter activity, I have to accept that she really doesn't give a flying fuk about these beans and would rather play Roblox with her friends. Kids today...
So, anyway...
I started by planting one seedling against each trellis support but I just had too many germinated plants. Yes Ootai, I am that good.
Perfect.
Maya soon perfectly displayed why we had to put a fence around the veggie patch!
I banished her from from the veggie patch and just like a kid, she pushed her boundaries to the absolute limit. She's smart.
Job done. I was so successful with the Thai long beans germinating that I had to extend to another seed bed to accommodate all of the seedlings. There's at least two plants to each upright trellis support as well.
After finishing up I stepped back to admire my work... and trod on my bloody glasses (which I had carefully placed on the pathway while planting the seedlings and then of course immediately forgotten about).
This pissed me off immensely as they were expensive and now I'm down to my last pair.
^^Glass is half full Mendo
The lens is not broken so just get the plastic strap redone at an optician
The Aussie opto did mine for free last month for the same repair, which was lucky as labour is top dollar down under
I used to buy pairs of glasses in Thailand on holiday cause they are so cheap and good quality
The local shop will sort you out for minimum coinage
I order my glasses online and have done for years. Never had any problems and have saved mucho dinero.
Not cheap.
It seems to have some kind of fishing line that held the lens in place. That's broken and the whole frame is pretty well bent but I reckon someone can fix it.
I'm not quite so pissed off as I was because I've discovered they were an older pair from The Mall in Korat. I bought a new pair in the UK this summer and they are still safe... until I either stand or sit on them.
I've found glasses expensive in Thailand which is why I stock up when visiting the UK. I also don't trust the eye tests here so much. The UK seems to come up with a different prescription than Thailand each time as well.
HNZ... how can you buy glasses online? Don't they have to be measured and fitted? I have enough trouble getting a shirt that fits online.
You just need your prescription along with your pupillary distance (PD).
I've been ordering from this company for the past twenty years. Never a problem.
Eyeglasses Online | Eyewear for Everyone™ | Zenni Optical
Never a problem. In fact, I have two pairs coming in this coming week.
When my expensive footy glasses broke I learnt that I could get a new pair free as the lenses were still intact.
This would have been useful to know for the last two pairs that have broken...
Would have been cheaper for me to have LASIK at this point.
mendip
I was of the opinion that you weren't really as thick as most geo's but you have now convinced me that you are no different from the rest of the brain dead twats.
You tell us that you transplant to get "optimal density" but when you have too many seeds germinating you throw that theory out the window.
Then you do an extra series of planting/transplanting just to make more work for yourself and then during this extra unnecessary work you break your glasses and add extra cost to your future harvest if the bugs leave you any that is.
Really, I know maths is not your strongest skill but, just buy some at the local fresh vegie market they are cheap here, its one of the best things about living here being able to go to the market and get fresh vegetables.
^ Ootai, I thank you for your compliments.
If it wasn't for geos then you 'engineers' with all your calculators and boring number crunching, wouldn't have known where to stick your mines in the first place. I'm glad I haven't spent my entire career being totally reliant on the knowledge of another discipline.
Transplanting is obviously the way to go... how's your veggie patch doing, by the way?
You do have a point however about the cheapness of veggies at the market being a big plus of Thailand, but one of the best things? I came here for different reasons. And there's no comparison of going to the market when you can have your own veggie garden, your own eggs and even your own fish!
By the way, the pond could do with it's annual clean out soon!
Mendip
I can't really think of many mine locations that were decided by Geos, they identify and get excited about anything that has valuable minerals that are graded higher than natural crustal abundance but that doesn't make a mine or a lode that could be characterised as "ore". I don't think I was overly reliant on Geos for much during my short time as a mining engineer, more they were the thorn that aggravated me.
As for my vegies I haven't got around to growing anything this year as I don't have a "gardener" and have had other things I needed to work on. Easier to buy vegies at the market. Today I was redoing the drain at the back of the other house that I couldn't fix while it was the MIL's house. Now I can do whatever I want there without unsetting anyone (I think?).
As for your pond I might pass on that this year as my toenail is finally looking as normal as it can. I am waiting to see if our new ponds dry up cause then they will need to be cleaned out (Thai style) of any fish that is.
Just a question for you, have you ever come across bean seeds for Thai beans that grow on a "dwarf" plant and don't need a trellis but are free standing and only grow about 3 foot high?
The MIL grew some a while back and I have been looking for seeds for ages but not had any luck.
I did a few big gardens here early on. Was a good way to pass some time. My wife and I stopped it because while we enjoyed doing it, it was just easier to go buy it and use the land for various fruit trees. We also found that you grow too much and then have to spend time giving it away because you feel bad letting it go bad, so you add even more work. We have that now with Mangos, Papayas, Noi Na's and limes.
Example in Mendy case and his 50 or 60 bean plants. You start them all at the same time so they all produce at the same time. Lots of green beans for a pinto bean eater...
I don't know why you put 'gardener' in quote marks... but fair enough, his duties do extend well beyond gardening, as you well know.
And also, most of this shit I do is to teach the daughter about growing stuff... I well know it isn't efficient but it has been great for her education.
I thought you you said you would no longer take the piss out of Stumpy?
Mendip
I put gardener in quotation marks to signify that while he may be called that it is really a misnomer, I should have just said your PA.
And as for your daughter get used to it she is not a kid anymore and father's are just an embarrassment to have around to give them money.
If you haven't taught her all you know by know its too late as being a female and half Thai she will very soon, if not already, know everything.
Willy
While I was aware that the title of factotum has been used on here and that it probably really does fit it is just a word I would never use in real conversation so to start using it now would be a bit pretentious in my mind and that definitely doesn't fit with Mendip's personality.
'Factotum' isn't a word I'd ever heard of until Shutree (I think) suggested it. Like Ootai, it's not a word I'd use in normal conversation and I don't reckon many people would know what I was on about, if I did use it. It sounds like something out of a Latin class.
As for 'PA'... if I was to have a PA I'd like to think she would be a lot better looking than the gardener and that she'd dress in business suits with high heels and short skirts. I'm thinking 'handyman' may be the way to go?
As for gluts of fruit Stumpy... you're very correct and we give away loads of mangoes in the season (and then buy them again two weeks later) and we used to give away a lot of papayas and jack fruits before we started sharing them with the squirrels. We will doubtless get a lot of beans simultaneously but at least their season is much longer than the fruit seasons and I like beans anyway. The reason I've ended up planting so many beans is mainly because the English Purple Emperor seeds failed so badly that I ended up planting a whole packet of Thai long beans, and they almost all germinated. I guess I'm a victim of my own success!
Anyway, as I read about on the internet, all of my runner bean seeds have spiraled around the trellis in the same clockwise direction (when viewed from below) which is pretty interesting I reckon and is something I'd never considered before. Soon I hope to discover which way the Thai beans spiral, although sadly I have some urgent business in Bangkok later in the week so my next bean update probably won't be until the weekend.
Last edited by Mendip; 14-11-2022 at 08:05 AM.
I only know from experience that they all spiral the same way. I have never researched it, is it like water down a plughole that spirals in the opposite direction on the other side of the equator?
The Interwebby probably has some information on this point although my hectic schedule doesn't leave time for frivolities. He says, trying to keep a straight face.
This is true and the veggies in the local market are pretty fresh, although a neighbour grew kale recently and we blagged an armful for ten Baht then cooked it a few minutes later. Really the taste of super-fresh kale is superior. When I lived in Taiwan we used to help ouselves to the occasional green orange straight from nearby trees, best tasting oranges I have ever eaten. Even the fresh Kaprow in our garden I reckon makes a difference to the finished dish, along with chillies straight from the plant to the plate.
You simply cannot beat the taste, so I shall plan a visit to Korat once I see pics of mature beans ready to scoff.
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