After leaving Singapore last Friday we returned to Owerrrouse in Thamuang. I wasn't really expecting to do anything much except rest and unwind after the rigours of an eight month project. But as usual in Thailand nothing is that predictable and my simple plan was soon put to the test. As I make a living out of planning and running projects to a precise plans I get jittery when things change, but Thamuang has its own ways and ideas and I should know by now to expect the unexpected.
The house looked splendid, just as I left it with hoses still attached to drain pipes, piles of building rubble waiting to be removed and a chorus of barking dogs to greet us. However the 'house rice' has been finished and all the rice stored safely away from the greedy and by now, I think, very fat mice. It is a traditional structure which is to say that it is built from whatever is lying around, but is sturdy and in time I am sure we will get around to replacing the corrugated iron with suitable wood panelling. But in fairness Khamma's brother has done a good job. The house is built on stilts of concrete which the mice cannot climb up, and an improvised ladder has been made to gain access.
The new 'House Rice'
The fields are looking really bare after the harvest in stark contrast to my last visit just in late October. The stubble is dead and colourless and looks like winter except that the temperature, at least to me, is very agreeable. The locals think it is cold and are walking around with thick fleece jackets and woolly hats. They must think me ting tong for walking around in shorts and t shirt and having breakfast on the front porch.
It was Khamma's return after three weeks in Singapore so a few things had to get sorted out, like the food and cleaning, but I must say overall that Yo and Pel had kept the place neat and tidy considering they are youngsters.
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