Saturday 30 September 2017

We Had A Bit Of Shopping To Do,

so off to Tesco lotus,


as We wanted just food, We parked at the far end of the car park,

and made our way inside,

so naturally shopping over We had to have a Swensens,

in the afternoon off to the weekend night market on Thepprasit Road,

lots of mobile food stalls in attendance,

next the permanent one that appeared last week is still here,

and a few more mobile ones as well,

cloudy skies looking towards Jomtien,

now this is strange, look how the colour of the sky has changed, all I did was to zoom in and just a second or two from taking the first picture the sky has completely change colour, 

more clouds looking inland,

slightly different designs on these T shirts,

the mobile fruit seller doing a good trade,

as a kid My favourite part of any market, toys, well and pets,

what a great selection of T shirts,

for everyone,

the road leading down to the pet section opposite the bar was packed, but You can just make out that the stalls behind the bar are selling 100 baht shirts and the other selling a normal selection of clothes,

I am not sure what will take place here, an auction of some kind perhaps?

this is why bikes and cars were backed up, there is not enough room to get a small car to turn into the aisles in one go, so the traffic when it is busy backs up,

the fruit stall shelves fully loaded,

and the basket shop had a new delivery,

it is always nice passing this shop, the aroma of perfumed soap filling the air,

along to the pet section,

1 bad of dry food and three boxes of wet food for this week, We still have a pack of the Royal Canin dry food at home,

the aquatic store open as usual this week,

sunset over the market,

a quick look along one of the covered aisles,

one of the fruit sellers making a repair to Her stall,

We were joined this evening by Brian, who had a small growth removed from the side of His face during the week,

night was creeping in, so after saying our goodbyes,

it was home for a beef stew with dumplings,

delicious! 

We watched a few quiz shows and rounded the evening off with another 2 episodes of The Search for the Nile, which was excellent, and then for Us we were off to bed.


If You Like Trains And Cats,

this really amazing interactive illustration is for You, 


to start the journey click on the link and the journey titled Short Trip will download, it is an interactive illustration by Australian artist Alexander Perrin, the simulation places the player in the conductor’s seat of a cross-country train, allowing the user to use their arrow keys to go forwards or backwards through the game’s peaceful black and white countryside while delivering a series of animated cat passengers, the illustrated simulation took Perrin five years to complete, from researching how a graphite-based drawing could be presented on a digital platform, to creating all the necessary components of the train’s journey by hand, His interest for this particular scenery came from riding on the Hakone Tozan Railway in Japan, one of his favourite ways of travel, 

the story starts here, use the right key on Your computer to start the cat person walking to the train, remember to stop at the stations, you can use the left key to reverse I nearly did not see the station just past the second windmill, and remember to keep ringing the bell! use the space bar to ring it when the driver is in the train,

in an interview Perrin said, “It’s a magical, rickety switchback railway that ascends a forest shrouded mountain all throughout the year, there’s something about the beautifully crafted forms of the railway in sculpted union with the cliff faces and trees that just hits such a therapeutic, aesthetic sweet spot, it’s a little bit like riding an enlarged miniature railway, if you know what I mean, You remain passive and enjoy the ride for the sake of the journey.” the game was built with this passiveness in mind, the only “goal” of the project to get to the other side of the railway while you enjoy the scenery and relaxing soundtrack of gentle bird chirping and cable car as it softly rumbles across the tracks, You can see more clips from his current simulator on his website and Instagram, what a really lovely journey to take and it is amazing how the drawings are animated.


After Yesterdays Post,

about a doughnut delivery service that uses a clown to deliver the goods,


I just had to post this cartoon, well with a name like Stabby the Clown it is a bit of a giveaway, for a few more from John McNamee have a look here.


No It Is Not Trick Photography,

these are pencil drawings, 


the black and white works are so magically drawn with so much detail that they at first appear to be old photographs of architectural buildings and landscapes,

 they are by Shinji Ogawa, who has a magical talent when it cones to drawing,

  “However, those large pencil drawings are not pictures for the purpose of showing off his transcendent mastery with the pencil,” points out Maho Kubota, a gallery in Tokyo where Ogawa will be showcasing a series of new works next month,

Ogawa’s works will be on view at Maho Kubota Gallery from October 13 – November 15, 2017, what a talent to be able to draw that well one of a building, never mind two or three of them!


I Have Never Heard Of The Term Lawn Bubble,

until now,


it appears that when it rains a lot water can pool under a lawn, and being unable to pass through the surface is tapped underneath the lawn,

and this video shows in a strangely satisfying way how to remove the water, the giant bubble appeared in James Callender's lawn in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, after a heavy rainfall.


And Finally, Grab A Mug Of Coffee,

and watch the latest from Simon's cat,


titled, Cats Can Be A Real Pain In The Grass,

Simon's cat shares a lot in common with ours!


Friday 29 September 2017

We Had A Delivery,

during the day,



the cats toys We had ordered from Lazada arrived, We had ordered 3 battery operated fish, a couple of silicone fish that attach to suckers that keep them below the surface of the water, and a remote controlled mouse, although looking at the size of it, the mouse looked more like a medium sized rat,

in the evening We popped over to Friendship, We had forgotten to buy some beef for Friday nights stew, the cats were in their room so I played with their toys to make sure they all worked, so on Saturday when Diana has cleaned their pool they will be playing with the electric fish,

but for tonight, it was out with the mouse/rat, which they really did not know what to make of, the controls were quite simple, full speed forwards, or backwards, the direction at the whim of the small front wheel, so it went where ever it wanted, still great fun for Diana, after a time we put the little critter away and settled down for our evening's television,

for tonight The Search for the Nile, although a little dated, it was made by the BBC and aired in 1972, it was a splendid start for the 6 part series, we watched the first two episodes as Burton and Speke meet and became friends, travelled to Lake Tanganyika, Speke travelling on to then find and name Lake Victoria, and the return of both of them to England as bitter enemies, We both thoroughly enjoyed watching the first two parts of the series, as an aside way back in the late 1980s I was SCUBA diving and catching fish in Lake Tanganyika, at Mpulungu as it happens, with a wholesale fish supplier and friend Neil Hardy, looking for new species and finding one, I do have some underwater videos of the trip somewhere, I must try to find them, also worth mentioning is that on My return to the UK I was already ill on the aeroplane, I went to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, where I spent the next 10 days in isolation, but that is another story! and with that we were off to bed.


It Seems Such A Shame,

that these flowers will not last a long time,


 here for just a few days,

 for us to look at and admire,

 until We eat them!

 yes that's correct, We eat them, they are all hand-made edible decorations created with sugar, waffle paper and food colouring, from simple roses an hydrangeas to her signature peonies, it seems like there’s no flower that ballerina-turned cake designer Maggie Austin can’t reproduce,

soon after launching her cake design business seven years ago, Maggie Austin was already producing edible works of art for Hollywood parties, royal weddings and even White House Christmas celebrations, while most floral cake decorations look too perfect to be real, Maggie’s ultra-realistic masterpieces also feature those subtle imperfections of real flowers, like withered petal edges, asymmetrical shapes, curls and crinkled folds, pretty much what you’d expect an actual flower to look like, only instead of giving them a sniff, you’re supposed to eat them, as they are made of sugar and waffle paper, in an interview with BHLDN, the young cake artist said that she attended the French Pastry School in Chicago, after an injury ended her career as a ballerina, 

the 6-month course also included two weeks on wedding cake design, and it was during this period that she fell in love with edible flowers, “The process of creating them appealed to my ballet training (and instinct) for the quiet and controlled pursuit of effortless beauty,” the artist said, “Shortly after I graduated, my sister and I thought that we’d try to turn what I love to do into a business, Maggie Austin Cake was born in 2010, and the rest is history!” even though she’s been in the cake design industry for only seven years, Maggie Austin has already established herself as one of the most talented food artists in the world, She has already launched a book on cake design called Maggie Austin Cake: Artistry and Technique, and also holds workshops, both online and in person, in Alexandria, Virginia, where she teaches anyone the secrets to creating her awe-inspiring edible flowers, and no I am not on commission!


and here is a short video of Her, I still feel it is a shame to eat the flowers, but there it is.