Tuesday 31 December 2013

We Had A Busy Day,

we had not paid much attention to the aquariums,



 so it was a major clean up ahead, plants and tree roots out,


 we then moved some of the large fish from one aquarium to the other,

 we decided to keep this one for small fish, so after cleaning we refilled it,

 moving all of the big fish to this one,

 which holds 50% more water as it is longer and wider,

 the downside was that we had very few small fish,

 so off to the fish and cheep shop on Third Road,

 '5 of those, 5 of those and 10 of those please',

 and the catching began,

 Diana took this picture of one of the many colours of crayfish that are now available,

 and of these tetras,

 not sure about the purple gravel though,

 as well as keeping their stock in aquariums concrete rings made into pools are also used to show off the shops display,

one bag of fish later and we were on our way, all in all about 30 fish for for 570 baht, which is quite reasonable when there were 10 cardinal tetras, (Paracheirodon axelrodi) included, 


Mick called round in the afternoon, after we said our goodbyes we watched the new Lone Ranger on cable television, it seems to have had a few poor reviews but we loved it, the action sequences were so full of, well action! after we ate our evening meal it was time for the new The Chase which is shown every Monday evening, great fun as we both shouted out the answers, not necessarily the correct ones though, we followed that with some of the excellent New Tricks series 10, a couple from Cheers, next for us we were off to bed.


I Just Hope The Donation Arrives For This Evening!




Monday 30 December 2013

Sunday Again,

but this week a Sunday roast at home,



 we started with some delicious home made pate,

 that Nick had made with some toasted wholemeal bread,

 it was so nice we decided to sit outside,

 'Cheers!',

 turkey, sausage in a blanket, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and a couple of baked potato, just what the doctor ordered!

 Diana decided on a pasta dish,

 Mr. Tony called in during the afternoon as we sat outside, after saying our farewells to him I noticed a butterfly that kept hovering around the dessert rose that we have that was flowering, 

 eventually it settled,


so I zoomed in for this shot,

after a few more medicinal glasses of red wine we went inside for the Sunday afternoon film, today Dreamcatcher, if you are into aliens taking over the world this is one for you, enjoyable on so many levels, in the evening after another great episode of Ade in Britain what else but another couple from Columbo followed by three from Cheers, after those we were then off to bed.


Another One Of Those 'Good Luck' Stories,

we like so much,



this one concerning a painting by Anthony van Dyck, Father Jamie MacLeod, took the painting he had paid £400 for along to be valued at Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire, for the Antiques Roadshow, so you can imagine his surprise when presenter Fiona Bruce suspected it might be a genuine work by the Flemish master and so it turned out, 


the artwork will now be sold by Fr MacLeod to pay for the restoration of bells at the chapel within the grounds of the retreat he runs, He said: ‘It’s wonderful that new church bells hopefully will be pealing out to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War in 2018.’ for those that are in the UK the discovery is to be revealed on BBC1 at 7pm tonight, 


this painting makes the  portrait the most valuable painting ever found on Antiques Roadshow, did I mention the painting has been valued at up to £400,000, lucky or what?


Sunday 29 December 2013

We Had A Quiet Day,

in the morning Mr. Tony called round,


then in the late afternoon Mick and Ja called round, then we were off to Prichai seafood restaurant,

 it is located in Ban Ampur, (spelt as it sounds) a few miles past the Ambassador Hotel, there is a huge selection of live seafood available, like these swimming crabs,

 or these slightly larger crabs similar to those we have in the UK,


and here are two that were chosen earlier,

 also lots of prawns, 

 and shellfish,

 this tank has both clams and mantis shrimps in it,

 this one super huge mussels,

 sunset, unfortunately the sun then disappeared behind some clouds so it was not as nice as some we have seen,

 Mick and Ja,

 I guess due to Christmas and the New Year celebrations there were large numbers of people visiting Pattaya, many of whom decided on a meal here, so for the first time we have seen it there were tables set up on the sand,

 as well as seafood fried rice we had a selection of other dishes, steamed mussels, prawns and morning glory,

 before the next course arrived there was a bit of fun, a juggling, harmonica playing elephant appeared on the sand,

 which was a bit of a surprise for some,

 but then it was time to give the elephant a sugar cane treat,

our next course then appeared, tom yum goong, we chose the coconut milk version, followed by curried crab with some more seafood fried rice. after saying our goodbyes we settled down to another episode of Columbo, three more from Cheers and then for us we were off to bed.


What A Neat Idea,

I am so pleased with my Galaxy Note 3,


even more so when I read about this, it is Samsung’s S-View Flip Cover for the Galaxy Note 3, which is equipped with the convenience of wireless charging, it is now officially available from the Korean company’s online store, the price is a tad hefty, at $70, but it performs double duty, both protecting the tablet and letting users charge with a Qi compatible wireless charging pad, there is one slight caveat, when you purchase a compatible wireless charging pad, make sure it outputs at 1A, but what an elegant answer to both protecting and charging your tablet, way to go Samsung!


Saturday 28 December 2013

We Woke Early At Nick And Maureen's,

after saying our goodbyes,


 and after thanking them for looking after us so well, we made a move for home, during the day Mick and Ja called round for a beer and a chat, they had just arrived from Hua Hin, after arranging to meet them later we were off to the weekend night market, a few light clouds looking towards Jomtien,

 but nearly blue skies looking inland,

 we had not seen this stall before, selling porcelain vehicles amongst other things, the ones at the front being money boxes,

 opposite the bar tonight a stage show,

 with a massive amount of electrics to accompany it,

 this is just a guess, but I supposed these are the controls for the lights,

 whilst this assembly looks after the sound,

 these I guess are what you would call tower speakers,

 the food aisles as busy as ever,

 not so many in the pet aisle,

 sunset over the market,

 just after we arrived back at the bar, Mick and Ja called by,

 then the show began,

 dancing boys and singing ladies,

 it was a karaoke show,

 the final it appears taking place on Sunday night,

 as I was taking a picture of Diana and Ja after a shopping expedition, Ja was taking a picture of Mick and myself,

Ja and Diana, after saying our goodbyes we made a move for home, evening meal finished we watched a new episode of The Chase, followed by a episode from Columbo, another couple from Cheers and for us we were off to bed.