Straight On With Today's Post,

as there are lots of pictures,

also I have split it into two as when there are a lot of pictures on one post it makes things slower, today we were going to the plant market, but first as Diana was getting ready I did a water change in one of our aquariums, our blue yabbie (Cherax destructor) is getting quite large now,

 there is a drain next to the aquarium which makes things a lot easier when it comes to water changes,

 also a tap which means not having to use buckets to fill it up again,

 the yabbie is normally quite shy,

but today for some reason he was out and about, 

 I actually got very close to the glass, normally he would have hidden before I got anywhere near this close,

by now Diana was ready so I decided to change the water on the other aquarium when we returned home, this is where we are going, 

it is a weekend plant market, if you drive past the Bangkok Pattaya hospital on your left take the first 'U' turn past it and the market is then immediately on your left, just before mini Siam,

as soon as you walk out of the car park there are 3 or 4 aisles to walk along, 

with plants,

and water features on both sides,

 just chose the one you want and hey presto it will be delivered,

 there were also a couple of aquatic stalls at the market,

 plus of course lots of orchids,

 and other garden decorations and accessories,

 my grandmother used to grow these, 

hydrangeas, 

 when playing near them I was always told to be careful,

granddad used to put his old razor blades in the soil around them to make them change colour, 

though today most people add or subtract aluminium for the same effect, 

 I mentioned before that there were lots of garden accessories here,

it is enough to drive you quakers!

 large trees are also available for those with bigger gardens than ours,

 the numbers of plants available is almost endless,

 including lily's for garden ponds,

one of Diana's plants was not doing to well, so we bought a replacement, 

 I also wanted to buy a cactus, heaven knows how but I managed to kill one of ours,

 but it pays to shop around, the first stall I looked at wanted 200 baht for one that we did not have, in the next aisle this stall had the same specie just a tad smaller in one of the trays marked at 3 for 100 baht, so I now have to make room for the other two,

back to my favourites, orchids, 

the price of these has come down over the past few years, 

 normally in the 400 - 500 baht range these were now selling for just 230 baht,

I did not ask the price of these ones, 

we decided to buy a few fish, 

 the customer before me was buying some koi carp,

 then home to change some of the water on the aquarium I did not have time to change in the morning,

I gave the gravel a bit of a turn over too, 

there is not a tap near this one so it is fill up time with the garden hose, 

and these were what we bought, 5 tinfoil barbs, (Barbonymus schwanenfeldii) for each aquarium, they are in fact a native fish of Thailand, but we went for 1 naturally coloured fish and 4 gold coloured ones that had been breed for the aquatic trade for each aquarium, then it was time to go shopping to buy some things for our evening meal.