Painting Again!

more window grills,

 also the grill around the water pump,

 and the stands that our water tanks stand on,

 just as we were thinking it was all done we still have some more window grills to finish and the stairway going upstairs, I think we will leave that till next week,

 after a wash and clean up we were off to the weekend night market in Thepprisitt Road,

 after weeks of rain and overcast skies, tonight hardly a cloud in sight,

 and we had a clear view of the moon,

 the banner did not make it to this week, well it was a bit windy,

 a secondhand clothes stall opposite the bar again,

 not as many people about as last week,

 now that chiller weather is on the way a little cold protection for your pet,

 dog coats, pretty in pink or maybe go for the Chinese silk looking number?

 sunset over the market,

 now this is good news, the seller of the kebabs we like so much has arrived on time, so Diana will pick some up later,

 there were a few people at the bar when I arrived back after my walk round the market,

 having said there were no clouds a few started rolling in, but luckily there was no rain,

 we meet Mr. Tony at the market who accompanied us home, very kindly he had brought along some prawns, salad and home made mayonnaise which we all found delicious, 'Cheers!'

 after our meal it was feet up to watch some more of Judge John Deed series 5, 

as it was getting late we said our goodbyes to Mr. Tony, then we settled down to another episode of that excellent series Silent Witness, we made a start on season 2, this series is just getting better and better, then as it was nearly 02.00 in the morning we were off to bed.

Is This The Precursor,

of the Swiss Army knife?

the knife above is offered at auction and is described as 'a Gentleman's utility knife with ivory grips and many blades and accessories, hooks, SWG guages, bradawls, etc. Stubs and Orton Bros are on some of the blades', no date is given, but it looks so much like its modern counterpart,


I wonder in this climate of litigation that some companies seem to be in now days did the manufacture of this knife and the Swiss Army knife ever duke it out in court? the knife along with another described as a German made early 20thC knife kit in a leather pouch, saw blade, bradawl, corkscrew, file , chisel, skewer etc that fit the wooden handled knifes interchangeable format, marked DRGM and Bonsa, all parts are of high quality steel, are both in the same lot, guide price £250 - 300.

We Carried On Painting,

for some reason the security grills seem to be taking forever to finish,

 so we did not take any pictures of us, but we did notice that the insectivorous plants seem to be doing well,

 a new pitcher seems to be growing at a rapid rate, it is now a inch or more taller than the previous ones,

 the Venus fly trap now has 6 distinct traps with a couple more forming,

 the monkey cup has a couple of new cups,

 as does this one, we still put a small piece or two of fruit by the plants to attract fruit flies, may be that is why things are going well for them,

after cleaning up and our evening meal we watched a few new episodes of Swamp People, then finished the first DVD in the Silent Witness series, a good enjoyable if some what gruesome show as Dr. Sam Ryan examines body parts in all of their glory, but we love it, the show is what it is supposed to be, a series about forensic investigation, made even better by showing you the part of say a persons brain where it had been bruised whilst the victim was alive by being beaten, if you do not like realism this series is not for you, but if you want to see pathology as near to it being as it is in real life this is the one for you! with that we were off to bed.

Do Not Mess With Fish 176,

and you thought fish were fun!

well the English carp catching team did not when they started fishing at the 14th World Carp Angling Championships, unknown to them, but known to most of the other contenders, the hosts Romania fed a special bait to the fish in the lake for months before the competition, the fish soon became use to not being hooked with the special bait, so at the start of the competition the fish just fell for the bait, hook, line and sinker as they say, many other countries had heard about the plot and cunningly bought a supply of local bait,


as you might expect Romania dominated the event, comfortably winning two out of the three sections to take team gold after amassing more than 1.7 tonnes of fish, the team also took individual gold, Bulgaria won silver, Romania bronze and Portugal came fourth, after all the winning countries used the particular type of bait,

Ian Huntington, team manager of the Korda England Carp Team, told The Independent that the secretive method was against the spirit of fair play, but conceded that it was not actually cheating as it did not break any rules, but one has to ask was the tactic fair in the spirit of competition? no one was available at the Romanian headquarters of the tournament organisers to comment.

As Many Of My Friends Know,

I collect stamps,

as many people do, but I have never found any thing of great rarity, unlike Reinhold Hoffmann who thinks he has a one cent stamp dating from 1861 and bearing the portrait of Benjamin Franklin, it appears that only 3,100 of them were ever printed during the American Civil War and stayed in use until 1867, Reinhold, from Dresden, said it was actually his partner Baerbel, 71, who bought the book containing 4lbs of stamps for $25, all he has to do now is take it to an expert in America to have it authenticated,


rare US stamp dealer Craig Selig from Fort Wayne told a German newspaper; 'a certificate of authenticity can be issued in this case only by the Philatelic Foundation in New York, it is very exciting', while some one cent stamps from the civil war era are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, others can change hands for around $20, I am not an expert but I found this site that lists values of American stamps listing a 1 cent Franklin blue at $125 in mint condition, on the other hand there are so many variations that could make the stamp much more valuable, Reinhold believes his stamp could worth up to an incredible $3 million! time will tell.

As Many Will Know,

it is the 50th anniversary of James Bond,

now in its sixth decade (Dr.No premiered on October 5^th 1962) and fifty year, the 23^rd outing Skyfall, many are celebrating, including collectors who knew a thing or two 50 years ago, Profiles in History, run by Joe Maddalena, has announced that the most comprehensive collection of James Bond movie posters to ever reach the market will be a part of their December 15 & 16 Hollywood Auction in Los Angeles, just think if you were lucky enough to realise the significance of 007 appearing in Dr. No and kept the UK Special Advance Silkscreen Double-Crown (20in x 30in) poster from 1962 you could be on your way to $3,000 – $5,000,


better still the Thunderball U.K. Quad (30in x 40in) Poster from 1965, this is a ‘Quad’ poster, first issue with sea-foam green background (later printings exist with white background), along with From Russia With Love, this art illustration by Robert McGinnis is arguably the other most attractive and desirable for any of the U.K. poster designs, it is expected to fetch $4,000 – $6,000,


Profiles in History is the world’s largest auctioneer & dealer of original Hollywood Memorabilia, historical autographs, letters, documents, vintage signed photographs and manuscripts, some of the highlights from their previous auctions include the Cowardly Lion costume from The Wizard of Oz $805,000 Steve McQueen’s Michael Delaney racing suit from Le Mans $960,000, the Marilyn Monroe Subway dress from The Seven Year Itch for $5.52M and the Audrey Hepburn Ascot dress from My Fair Lady for $4.44M, if only you knew then what you know now!

The Painting Saga Continues,

the fence finished it was time to start on the wall lights,

 they could certainly do with a clean and a lick of paint,

so top off, I decided not to take them off the wall, I just loosened them a tad and put a plastic bag behind them in case I missed the lamp with the black paint and made a mark on the wall,

 next glass out,

 Diana helped with cleaning the glasses and painting the tops of the light holders,

 whilst I painted the lights,

 trying to keep a steady hand,

 I had chatted to Steve in the morning and we decided to meet up for lunch at the Punch & Judy,

 chicken and ham pie for Steve, a beer and a burger for me, just 199 baht the pair,

 then home to continue with the lights, whilst I was gone Diana had made a start on one of the security grills,

 for me it was reassemble the lights, I have to say they really do look as good as new,

 although we had been out for a meal yesterday the lure of Cherry's was just too much, so it was glad rags on,

 also as it was Wednesday it was the 350 baht a head International buffet so it was not too expensive,

 a melon slushy for Diana and a soda for Mr. Tony with a small wine helped the complimentary starters go down,

 next a few starters from the buffet,

 there are so many to chose from,

 Diana then decided on a couple of main courses,

a slice of pizza and some spaghetti with chicken and ham I think it is,

 some baked fish and salad for Mr. Tony,

 whilst I went for a few more starters,

 chicken and baked salmon was next on the menu for Diana,

 then it was my turn for a main course,

 the bar-b-q chef being kept busy this evening, the place was full with diners,

 a slice of lamb, baked salmon, spring roll and a couple of pieces of baked sole for me,

 a self portrait that Diana took of us, 'Cheers!',

 the food was so nice we all had a little more Mr. Tony commenting the spinach with cheese was excellent, 

 after a break it was time for desserts,

so many to chose from,

 Diana was tempted by two,

 but really one was mine, again another great meal from Cherry's this place has such good value for money, if you are interested in a buffet Saturday and Wednesdays are the evenings to be here, but book or be prepared to wait for a table,

it was by now late so when we returned home we watched just one film The Statement, we had watched it before but Mr. Tony had not, I commented when we first watched the film, 'it is the tale of a former Nazi executioner who becomes a target of hit men and Police investigators, a few moral questions of course rear their heads, the central character during the war killed Innocent people, but is it right to in this day and age execute him with out a trial?' we all found the film interesting, then as it was late we said our goodbyes to Mr, Tony, then for us we were off to bed.