We Were Out Early,

and on the road,

 to visit a sick friend in hospital, Mr. Tony,

but before we left Diana had tried some of the eye shadow that Kai had kindly bought as a present for her from the UK,

 for some time before his admission Mr. Tony had a cough which was getting worse day by day,

 so a visit to the hospital confirmed that it was serious,

 he had Bronchitis,

 so we were on our way,

do you ever have one of those times when you wake up and it is not quiet light, but it is not quite dark? this is Mr. Tony having a similar type of experience when it is not quite elevenses but not quiet lunch time as he scours the laundry cupboard for a snack and finds none!

 but seriously Mr. Tony has made good progress and hopes to be out of hospital in the next few days, 

 after chatting away it was time for our lunch, so we were off to the Robin's Nest for the 249 baht carvery,

 gammon ham and pork for Diana,

 gammon ham, sausages and shepherds pie for myself,

 'Cheers!', 

 after a break a serving of ice cream for both of us, just coconut for Diana,

 a scoop of everything for myself,

followed by one of these,

 a latte coffee, delicious, famous not only for it's Sunday carvery it has a full selection both British and Thai food as well as everyday specials, the Robin's Nest is located in Soi Diana, as you walk from Soi Bukaow it in on the right just before Soi LK Metro,

then home and feet up for a Sunday afternoon/evening movie, Assembly, a strange choice many may think as not many would have ever heard of the film and the fact that it is a Chinese film with a Chinese soundtrack but it has of course English subtitles, it is a true account of the civil war in China from one mans view, the film is an adaption of the novel "Guan Si" (A legal case) which is based on a real account of a veteran army captain upholding his companies honour, the only survivor he tries and ultimately finds the bodies of his fallen comrades, great battle scenes but the film is more than that, it is a human drama with great acting and real emotion from all concerned, as it says an the cover of the BluRay, 'unforgettable',

keeping to a war theme, though in a much more light hearted way Dad's Army, set in the fictional south coast seaside town of Walmington-On-Sea during World War 2, alternating moments of gentle character comedy with broad slapstick, it recounts the misadventures of the local voluntary defence force (or 'Home Guard') consisting of men too old or 'unfit' for military service or some in occupations that were vital to the war effort, I was not too sure how Diana would like this series, the early episodes are in black and white which I know she does not like in films, also how she would view the many characters in the series, but she loved it, so much so we watched all of the first series, all 6 episodes back to back!

we finished the evening with 2 more episodes of Downton Abbey series 3, they do not have titles but are listed as 3.2 and 3.3, by now it was past the midnight hour so for us we were off to bed.

Hopefully Another Nail In The Coffin Of Wind Farms,

but I doubt many will listen,

as there is way too much money to be made out of them, Government subsidy's for wind farms are given on the basis that each turbine will last for 25 years, but here is the rub, a study of almost 3,000 turbines, the largest of its kind in Britain, have found they start to wear out after just 12 years,

Professor Gordon Hughes, an economist at Edinburgh University and former energy adviser to the World Bank, predicts in the coming decade far more investment will be needed to replace older and ineffective turbines – which is likely to be passed on in higher household electricity bills,

Prof Hughes’ study of 280 wind farms in Britain and more than 800 in Denmark from 2000 to 2011 found some remarkable results, such as fore instance that offshore wind, examined only in Denmark where it has been used for longer, the out put of electricity declined from over 40 per cent at the start, to just 15 per cent after ten years, not so bad for onshore production, it only dropped from a high of 24 per cent in the first year after construction, to just 11 per cent after 15 years,

but still a cost that will be born by UK energy users who already pay about £1 billion a year in a consumer subsidy that is added to electricity bills, nice one greenies and tree huggers, I have to say from their very beginnings I have been apposed to wind farms as many regular readers will know from other posts on our blog, but then I do not get a government subside from owning one! 

We Are Out Early Today,

so straight on with the post,

 around lunch time the girls arrived, Ell and Kai to pick up Diana for lunch, a shopping fest and give Diana a box of chocolates,

and this is the restaurant they were going to, it is on a side road off of Soi Chayapuk in Jomtien, going along Sukhumvit away from Pattaya turn left at the traffic lights at Chayapuk go along for 500 yards or so and it is a turning on the right,

 all the girls Diana, Kai, Ell, Pat and Jac,

 I am not sure who ordered the food, but looking at the pictures there was lots of it!

 I am not sure what this dish is,

 but I do recognise some fish cakes in this picture,

 so eyes down,

 and tuck in!

 but a quick picture first,

after what I was told was a delicious meal it was time to leave, this is another view of the outside of the restaurant, you never know over the next few weeks Diana and myself may try to find it again, but now the girls were moving on,

to Central Festival, 

 for some shopping and of course a visit to Swensen's for some ice cream,

 a chocolate affair for Diana,

 Diana and Kai,

 Kai also had a chocolate themed ice cream,

 Diana's choice, then the shopping began in earnest,

 by the time the bells on the tills had stopped ringing even Quasimodo was compiling about the bells,

the girls dropped Diana back home late afternoon, it was time to go shopping for our evening meal, so off to the market for some prawns,

 we bought about half a kilo of small ones like these,

 and six huge ones,

 the trouble is they look big, but most of that is head and claws, but the bit that is left tastes so good!

 we also had to buy some fresh fruit, some sliced and a whole pineapple,

 and a melon,

 the rotary fish bar-b-q stall opposite was doing a good trade,

 no sooner were they done than they were sold,

 we also bought a few mini oranges,

 it does not look it but the market was quite busy,

 shopping finished,

 it was home and time for me to get dirty,

 and get the bar-b-q organised,

 meanwhile in the kitchen Diana was preparing the food,

 my attempt at lighting the fire resulted in a few flames and lots of smoke,

 which luckily blew away from us to wards the house next door,

 but then the charcoal caught and the smoke died down,

our feast for this evening, large prawns, marinated spear ribs and chicken, small prawns wrapped in foil with butter and garlic, onion bom-boms and baked potatoes,

 all expertly cooked by Diana,

 almost done now,

 and there they were,

 meat and prawns in foil next,

 they should be cooked to perfection,

 and they were,

 'Cheers!', from me,

 and a happy Diana,

I thought it was a full moon last night, but here it is again looking even fuller, which was what we were both feeling after this evenings feast, then inside for a couple of films,

the first 2001: A Space Odyssey, I have to admit the last part left us both a bit mystified, but I guess we are not the first people to say that, but the film looked so sharp whereas I had expected it to be, well not as clear as it was,

back to an old favourite, Downton Abbey, series three, which takes place in Spring 1920, all of the cast are there plus a visitor from the US, we are looking forward over the next few weeks watching the rest of the episodes, by now it was late so for us we were off to bed.