Spring may be with you in the UK but here the hot season is really getting going. Every thing is growing like mad and even the new trees are putting on good growth. This is a flower on one of the trees we bought and planted last month!
I've already forgotten which tree it is, the debate over which ones to get was so convoluted, and I missed a lot of the nuances of the discussions(in Thai) as Lilly who was translating, was more concerned about what the fruits taste like than what they look like or are called!
But March has brought with it all kinds of new developments; one of the best of which is Emma Carolyn Peagam's success in the elections for the post of President of the Student's Union: Education and Campaigns! Not only will this bring her a wealth of brilliant experiences and challenges, but she will also be settled in Egham for a further 12 months.
If you didn't see any of her campaign on youtube you really need to have a look! We are so proud of her and we are looking forward to watching how the year goes in this new venture.
Joanne cerebrated her birthday with Emma by going to watch Matilda the musical and from the pictures it looks like they both had a ball.
We had a day off! For a while we have been plotting to go to Doi Intanon, and all the more so since Pat & Bob did a birding trip there recently, when they visited.
This mountain is the highest in Thailand and has areas that are more like the mountains of Himalaya in China than any thing else, everything from mixed deciduous forest, (I haven't written those words for at least 3 years) to proper tropical cloud forest at the summit.
This view shows the foothills of the mountain range from about 1/2 way up.
Joan was delighted to see these azaleas growing wild over much of the higher reaches of the mountainside. They are scented, but not quite the same as the deciduous azaleas that we used to grow in Lancashire.
We enjoyed some barbecued chicken at the roadside and headed on up.
There is an amazingly good visitors centre at the summit with some excellent information displays about the flora and fauna of the area. A Canadian man had made it his life's work to record and display as much as possible and the authorities have continued to develop the work.
We saw some beautiful epiphytic orchids high in the tree (too misty and far off to photograph) and a fabulous sun bird was perching right under our noses as we were looking at some mosses growing on the branches of a shrub.
As we are having a very busy March at JT time out is at a premium, so a walk of an evening up to Chiang Mai is a must. The lights on the Iron Bridge change colour slowly and it looks very atmospheric.
The destination varies, but "The Boy Blues" bar is an open air venue for mostly, guitar bands who do covers of Jimmie Hendrix, Cream and the Stones etc. The playing is superb, the singing is good, musically; but some artists clearly learn the words rote from recordings and the meaning get a bit weird; but then some of the songs are weird in English anyway! One thing is certain, they all speak English way better than I speak Thai!
Watching the sun set behind a live band is a fine way to wind down.
Shopping in Chiang Mai's new malls is an experience not to miss; not least because of the street art, that has popped up, there are many shops but sadly you don't seem to see too many people buying much.
This beast is just one of a few that are browsing with you as you explore the Promenada Mall, personally I prefer the water features and trees that also share the space with the shoppers!
Due to a misheard comment I thought we were going to Houghton Tower; the person said: Huay Teung Thao, which looks nothing like Houghton Tower but sounds like it! It's in the Doi Suthep National Park and has featured previously in this blog when we saw King Fishers, but today it was swimming and fish that attracted us out there on a Friday afternoon! Lorna, a friend from Church, offered to "baby-sit" the Juniper Tree for us and so we grabbed the chance.
Talking of Church, we had a Burma Day last week and this is one of a couple of choirs who sang. These are Karen people, they come from the far North of Myanmar, beside the Chinese border; below is a Wa choir both wear their distinct tribal costume. Burma is gradually opening up to outsiders, however, there is still much to be feared by the ordinary people.
They still know how to sing, and that's a miracle in it self.
There is an organization who work to record and observe all that is happening in this country and try to keep the eyes of the world on a people who desperately need to know people care. They are present, trying to remain invisible, even when the soldiers are fighting, when the drug Barons are at work in the opium growing areas and whenever the human rights of the Burmese people are being abused.
Sorry, mustn't go off on one.....
And now for something completely different......
I was just taking a picture of a pan that the cooks wanted to replace, so that I didn't buy the wrong thing ((again), (you try getting the right soy sauce when there is a 50 yard section in the shop, all devoted to different brands of the stuff)).
Janice and Joan thought they would help!
When we eventually got to Makro, they hadn't got any like that anyway.....
This little thing crash landed into the Office window, Joan rescued it before the JT cat got in there, and one of our guests, a Doctor/ Vet good all round person fed it on sugar water until it flew off to join it's friends about 1/2 an hour later.
These little birds make the most amazing hanging nests and are so quick in flight, that they often go unseen.
Below are a few pics of my "Nano" marine aquarium which has been causing me angst because the green mushroom looked like it was dying but not it just seems to be dividing it's self (anyone know why?)
It is now in two or three pieces, which all look OK.
The Black Nemo had to come to live here as the orange ones in the big tank were trying to kill him!
The Bengal Angel came to keep him company, but they seem to ignore each other.
The red coral has the most amazing fronds that open in low light when it feeds.
I am having trouble keeping the algae levels down, now that the temperature is going up!
As we are on wildlife pics here's another........
This chap, with the missing tail, has taken up residence in the bathroom and seems happy there.
Now that the insects are more numerous we are seeing lots more geckos, lizards and frogs.
The other night we left a light on and the bathroom was full of termites; as they all shed their wings, we have been cleaning up for days!
At least they can't eat a concrete house.
And so to houses,
We thought a traditional English Cream Tea would be a good house warming party. As our Local staff have worked so hard during the building project we had them all round to sample scones, home made strawberry jam and cream.
It all went down very well!
These pics show most of the staff and a couple of our friends who help at the Juniper Tree, being thoroughly British.
I now know why the Romans added January and February onto the year! It only seems a few days since we were back in Europe celebrating The New Year.
February is nearly passed and I've only just got round to updating you all again-it is partly because so much has been happening but also, I suppose, because February is so short: (y mis bach: according to the Welsh).
Right, enough of that.... to business!
To any of you wondering about the political troubles in Thailand, these remain focused around the protest sites in Bangkok, and whilst I wouldn't be so naive to assume this will continue, at present, all is calm here in the North. How long the opposition will remain mainly peaceful is a moot point and we are all praying that a negotiated, peaceful solution can be brokered that remains democratic and just. Right, enough of that as well.... to business!
Two visits from home and two big family events in a few weeks have already helped to make 2014 a year to remember.
The rest of this post is going to be a photo journal (perhaps a little out of chronological order) but intended to sketch out the best of times!
The first family event was Emma Carolyn Peagam's 21 st Birthday!
As these lackadaisical parents were dozy enough to be thousands of miles away, Facetime came to the rescue to allow us to exchange greetings and it fell to her big sister to pass over our gifts and give her our hugs by proxy. Joanne went even further in her mission to ensure Emma had a day to remember, however. She had booked her tickets to see Coriolanus with Tom Hidddlestone in the title role; you may have seen him as Henry V on the telly or as Loki in Thor or in War Horse. Any road up, (as I never heard said in Lancashire) Who should be at the production and turned out to be sitting next to our Emma? Martin Freeman! as in the hairy toed Hobbit among many other things!
A fabulous Owl cake above was provided by friends (along with some LemSip), and they even pinned up pictures of balloons around the house; knowing how much she hates the real thing!
As Emma had over ninety comments on her facebook timeline for her birthday, I guess many of you helped celebrate the day.
We had a wonderful week or so with Karen and John Ellison. For those who don' t know, Karen and Joan were at Royal Holloway College 1976-1979 at the same time that I was up the road at Shoreditch College.
We were so pleased when they said they wanted to come and see what we were up to here at the Juniper Tree and we had an amazing time showing them our favorite haunts and indulging in some gratuitous reminiscence as well as comparing notes with another couple who are seeing their kids off under their own steam! As can be seen we spent much of the time laughing!
Someone recently asked us, "What's the best thing to do in Chiang Mai?" and we said "eat!" Well, with Karen and John we did a fair bit of that, pausing only to sleep and run the Juniper Tree, when there was no other option! The band here are practising at the "Bamboo House" and their "Jazz" was a lot more like what we expected last time we took Joan's sister there! We discovered a blues bar in the Night Bazaar with a view over the roof, and live bands who played some really good covers of Cream, Hendrix and similar; they sounded like they understood the lyrics they were singing too!
After Karen and John left Richard and Andrea arrived! Richard, of course, came to Thailand when he was doing his M.Sc. at Imperial College, and it was his enthusiasm for the people and Kingdom of Thailand that helped us to decide to take the plunge.
What we were unprepared for was their announcement, in the middle of their stay, that they had decided to get married in the Summer!
We felt immensely proud and privileged to go along with them when they bought Andrea a Thai Jade ring and later help arrange for a Tailor we know in Chiang Mai to design and make a wedding dress!
It will be a quiet affair in Germany, Andrea has four elderly Grandparents who would then be able to come, which will be so great.
I am sure we will be able to share more as things get organized, but for now, we are so happy it will be whilst we are in Europe for Emma's graduation (forget I said that!) and End of Course production.
This is proper tree planting! about 40 ft in height, a "Star Apple" tree, talk about making an instant garden.
The completed House 22, just the gutters have since been added, but as the rains will be a while yet they will need to wait for a testing!
I wanted to add some colour with a couple of trees like this, but the tree shop told me that they don't stock them much as they are considered "common" by the Thai as they are a road side tree in the Cities.
You can't go long without needing to set off some sky lanterns! Our local "Tambon" (village) makes and sells thousands of these things on every street corner.
V. atmospheric.
So here we go with the pictures: there will be awards for captions for some of them but don't feel bad if you give up before the end of the elephants, I got a bit carried away!
These are taken on a day out at "Sticky Falls" with Richard and Andrea
This is a pool near the sticky falls known as the "7 colours pool"-Blue, green, and bluish green and greenish blue.......
These tiger cubs were having great fun play fighting, it's going dark so the picture is a bit poor. We were watching them from inside the "Giraffe Restaurant" at the Night Safari. One cub sadly got badly hurt and was limping the next time we called a week or so later.
You can see why it's called that now!
What are you laughing at?
The official trying on of the ring, outside the Jade Factory on Doi Suthep.
Another "trying on", this time it's Mahout gear! We went to the Mae Sai Elephant Camp, on Doi Suthep.
No riding or show for us this time, just the bath-time in the river.
It's time to meet the herd! (on both sides!)
Andrea was fine until a motorbike started up nearby and this young elephant trumpeted in disgust!
Off to the river! So long as the food supply holds up....
Caption competition #1?
Caption competition #2
Richard then said?
#3 .....and Andrea replied?
Joan seems to be having fun, we decided it beat the usual Thursday afternoons of the last few years!
Nelson & Colne College friends, the black bag goes on (less black these days) and always leads to interesting conversations!
