The Week Has Started Out To Be Expensive,

if Monday is anything to go by,

 I had almost completed my workout upstairs, when the cable on my weight machine broke, it happened once before a few months ago, 1,800 baht for a new cable, so off the the gym machine shop,

 the shop is on a small cut through road that runs from the Sumkivitt Road into Pattaya Tai if you are travelling towards Bangkok, the assistant there recognised me and remembered where I lived, as the cable was only a few months old he agreed to replace it, for 800 baht, it could have been worse he could have said the full price take it or leave it, so happy with saving 1,000 baht home I went, he will be calling in tomorrow,

 we had already taken one of the lemons off of the tree/bush,

 a second was ripening nicely,

 and better still,

 there were in all,

 four more ripening,

 and four more sets of flowers for a few more in the months to come,

in the afternoon the doorbell rang, it was time to have the water filters, U.V. tube and osmotic membrane replaced on our water filter, 3,200 baht later and we were all changed,

after our evening meal and a few antique shows we settled down for three more episodes of Game of Thrones, by now we had just started on series 4, and good they are too, just after midnight the episode we were watching finished so with that we were off to bed.

We Were Watching,

a film a couple of nights ago,

 the new Magnificent 7, the 2016 version,

 based on the 1960 version of the same name,

 which in turn was loosely based on the 1954 film 7 Samurai,

 so why the pictures of ladies in Samurai dress? there were in fact women Samurai, known as Onna-bugeisha, they were female warriors belonging to the Japanese nobility, many women engaged in battle, commonly alongside samurai men, they were members of the bushi(samurai) class in feudal Japan and were trained in the use of weapons to protect their household, family, and honour in times of war,

 long before the emergence of the renowned samurai class, Japanese fighters were highly trained to wield a sword and spear, women learned to use naginata, kaiken, and the art of tanto Jutsu in battle, such training ensured protection in communities that lacked male fighters, one such woman, later known as Empress Jingu (c. 169-269 AD), used her skills to inspire economic and social change. She was legendarily recognised as the onna bugeisha who led an invasion of Korea in 200 AD after her husband Emperor Chūai, the fourteenth emperor of Japan, was slain in battle,

and some like Nakano Takeko (1847-1868) likeness above, who fought in the Boshin War are still remembered today, and died a warrior’s death:

While she was leading a charge against Imperial Japanese Arby troops she was shot in the chest. Knowing her remaining time on earth to be short, Takeko asked her sister, Yūko, to cut her head off and have it buried rather than permit the enemy to seize it as a trophy. It was taken to Hōkai Temple and buried underneath a pine tree.

another revered fighter, Tomoe Gozen, appears in The Tale of the Heike (often called the “Japanese Iliad), She is described as “especially beautiful,” and also as “a remarkably strong archer… as a swords woman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot.” Samurai women fighters, it seems strange that so few films have been made about them whilst so many have been made about Samurai.

Now Days We Take Pictures Taken Underwater For Granted,

there are so many cameras that can be submerged,

 we are spoilt for choice at almost all price ranges, some as cheap as £10.00, that can be submerged to 10 meters! but back in 1938 there was virtually no such thing as an underwater camera, then along came Bruce Mozert who pioneered underwater photography by developing waterproof housings for his cameras, and the pictures he took were and still are stunning,

 

 He was born in Ohio in 1916 and moved to New York in 1938, while en route to Miami, he stopped at the Florida state park Silver Springs where a Tarzan movie was being filmed, the die was cast, he had to have a camera that would work underwater, but there was no still camera that he could buy, so he designed and built one himself,

 he took his invention to Hollywood, where he worked and is credited for inventing the first high-speed camera case and first underwater lighting system,

  his work was featured in Life, Look, and National Geographic amongst other publications, 

 and of course he put Silver Springs in the Florida State Park firmly on the map,

sadly He died in 2015 at the age of 98 near Silver Springs, Florida, but what a legacy he left behind him, to think of making an underwater housing yourself and taking at the time such unique pictures.

For Anyone Living In,

or travelling to America,

 this is a must read article,

 before you even think about packing,

America has a National Parks Service, it is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all U.S. national parks, many American national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations,

and in this article at Travel and Leisure the article picks out the best National Park in each and every state, what a great way to plan a trip, knowing that you will see so many treasures.

Sunday,

and we were out for lunch,

 so glad rags on,

 and off to The Robin's Nest in Soi Diana, 

 Diana decided on a rack of ribs,

 and they were huge,

for Mr. Tony and myself,

 we went with the Sunday carvery,

the soup of the day was ham and pea,

 we followed with ice cream,

 and a blueberry shake, 

for Diana,

 lunch over we made our way back to Mr. Tony's car,

 parked in LK Metro, the bar on the right will be having a party tonight, balloons already outside,

 in the distance I-Rovers, my new place for breakfast when I am in town having my medical, arriving home it was feet up to watch a few more from The Grand Tour, a bit over indulgent in places, but on the whole a great laugh, after saying thank you and farewell to Mr. Tony we then put on Game of Thrones, for the next couple of episodes, and with the end of those two we were off to bed.

I Was Looking For Kitten Toys,

and I came across these,

 kitten scratching toys, that were slightly different,

and found a few to chose from,

 a kitten DJ!,

 and all manner,

of homes and play toys, all of these are available from suck UK in their kitten store, and no I am not on commission, I just thought they were cute for kittens.

I Have Often Seen,

model figures that dance when a button is pressed,

these from Japan are called the Star Wars Space Opera “Pop’n Step” Toys, from Takara Tomy A.R.T.S entertainment company that has created this collection of Star Wars Space Opera toys, 

 that dance to music coming out of the stand that the characters are posing on, but here is the thing, once started as others characters are added they synchronise with the first one dancing,

there are others from the Star Wars saga, 

army's of them, and no I am not on commission! I just thought a few would make a nice executive toy.

Many Thanks To Mr. Tony,

for sending me this fishing clip,

the slightly alarming thing is that in a number of these clips that so easily could have been me!

and if you liked those here are a few more,

 but these are all outtakes from professional fisherman Bill Dance,

 note to self do not watch with coffee in hand, 

the last time I did I spilt most of it laughing!

never underestimate the number of things that can go wrong when fishing.

It Was Saturday,

so time to change the refrigerator magnet,

this week we will be thinking about our trip to Holland, where we found out about the history of clog making and had a great trip on the canals in Amsterdam,

 I had ordered a set of dumbbells and they had arrived,

 we had seen similar at Tesco Lotus and a few other stores we called into, always in the 5,000 to 6,000 baht range,

 but these were on a special from Lazada, 1,950 baht, bargain!

 and as a bonus they came with an adaptor to make them into barbells, so I started my usual Saturday routine, I loaded up the two dumbbells with 2 of the 2.5 kilo weights for each hand, I figured the bar would weigh about 1 kilo, the weights I had been using were 5 kilos for each hand, and this is the next step up to 6 kilos in each hand, I started my first set of 200 arm curls, after 60 or so my arms were really feeling the extra weight, by 120 I was struggling, I was exhausted by the time I reached my normal 200, I then did 2 more exercises and found those as exhausting as the curls, I always take a 3 minute break between each set, on the second set I decided to cut back to just 140 arm curls and in the other exercises cut back by one third of the number that I normally do, I did the same on the third set, I was bushed by the time I had finished, I would never have thought that 1 kilo would have made so much difference,

I then on a whim decided to weighed the dumbbells I had been using, stamped on them 5 kilos, but they actually weighed 4.6 kilos, I then weighed the new dumbbells, they came in at 6.7 kilos, I had actually been lifting 2.1 kilos extra in each hand, not the 1 kilo or so I had thought, no wonder my arms were aching!

 next job for the day, a water change on the aquarium, so water out,

 and water in, 

 meanwhile Diana was cleaning the kittens pool,

 watched by Cable,

 and Mariana, 

 who despite being told to keep her wound dry insisted on helping Diana, 

 Mariana decided to get on top for a better look, 

 at the pool and me,

 along with Cable,

 then Hogue wanted to see what was happening, 

 we had taken their cones of for the time we were with them, 

then Mariana came back to supervise filling the pool,

 we then had a second delivery from Lazada,

 a cat tunnel, 

 Mariana was the most adventurous of the three and had a look around first,

 followed by Hogue,

 then Cable,

 soon they were all in and out of the tube, it slowly made its way across the living room and into their room as they raced through it and it kept moving, great fun for all, 

 on to the Saturday evening bar-b-q,

 garlic bread,

 followed by a prawn salad,

 'Cheers!', 

 time to lite the barby, lots of smoke,

showers of sparks,

 then on with the potatoes in foil and a very thick lamb chop,

  followed by a second thinner one,

 chops served,

  then the potatoes,

 we finished the meal with cheese and biscuits,

 we listened to music for the rest of the evening, then as the midnight hour approached we were off to bed.