The bad news is another breach of the 'make tall' wall after heavy rain last Thursday. It seems that all the soil Khamma was moving for most of previous week did not have time to settle and the sheer volume of water had to find somewhere to go. The weakest point in the wall was soon under pressure and eventually cracked and buckled. It is repairable but very disappointing and Khamma was not slow in making her feelings known to the builder. Anybody who has been on the wrong end of a Thai lady's 'yak yak' will know exactly what I mean.
So now the good news. I was eager to see the windows after all the excitement of the last visit and I was very pleased that they give exactly the right effect for a sublime view over the rice fields. The bedrooms are good and roomy with lots of light and fresh air. The upstairs bathroom is still in the process of having tiles fitted so that is a mess. The staircase has been fitted and it is a 'San the builder man' special with the hallmarks that can only be found in an original hand made work of art. Each step has character and a feel under foot that lets you know that this masterpiece cannot be found in any English B&Q.
Downstairs the floor has been concreted and is ready for the tiles. The bathroom tiling is amazing and the precision, care and dedication the tilers are putting into their work is excellent. The kitchen has been constructed but needs the floor, walls and roof finishing before it can be fitted. San is currently putting on the shutters to the windows. We have decided not to have glass because of the heat but instead to have shutter like doors and they look pretty good.
The main purpose of my visit was to sort out the kitchen fittings and to buy the bath. So it was off to Ubon Watsadoo (Ubon is the town near to Thamuang and 'watsadoo' is Thai for building materials). But this place is no B&Q and is quite an experience. The sheer size of the place probably covers the same area as Manchester United's ground. We were soon pounced on by an 'attentive attendant' who turned out to be quite good and he directed us to an impressive display of spa baths similar to Jacuzzis. This was enough for me and I went into 'must have' mode and suddenly ordinary baths did not seem fit for purpose. That and price made it that once in a lifetime moment. Next was the kitchen and our 'attentive attendant' was having a field day and took no persauding to make a site visit. He arrived with a tempting top of the range presentation that is irresistible, especially to the lady of the house. Now it was Khamma's turn to have a 'must have moment'.
So after some thought we confirmed the order and then before anybody could change their mind it was being delivered on the back of Khamma's cousin's small lorry. I felt like the 'Beverley Hillbillies' leaving town and heading up the road towards Thamuang singing;
'Let me tell you of story about a man named Ged, A poor mountaineer barely kept the family fed, and then one day as he's shootin at some food, up from the ground comes a bubblin crude!'
After we had unloaded in the pitch black we looked out from the windows to a far distant electrical storm with lightening flashes lighting up the night sky every few seconds. Directly above us we could see the Plough, Orion and a host of other stars. There was sound of frogs croaking and a gentle warm breeze was blowing off the fields. It really was that good!
The next day we moved about 6 doors, 20 more window shutters and countless floor tiles from Khamma's mother's house and I was truly impressed with the effort and hard work Khamma is putting into this project. Nothing gets in the way of her determination to get things done.
Finally we have a name for the house, and it came out of a little joke on different accents and sayings. Khamma always refers to the house as 'our home', so I started saying 'our house'. Those of you familiar with the north west of England will recognise this as being natural, but when said by a Thai it comes out as 'owerrrouse' with the emphasis on the rolling 'r'.
That's it, we live in 'Owerrrouse'.
This is the view from the balcony at the front of Owerrrouse. Good init?
Sounds like a good weekend was had by all, except propably the bank manager ;-)
ReplyDeleteThings are looking very nice and I hope to see some finished pictures soon.
cheers
Things are moving fast. They don't hang around and probably fitting the kitchen before the floor tiles have been set is not my preferred way of installation. But what can you do? I have just to let them get on with it. So long they don't scratch the bath!
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