Helicopter action on the beach

We had some excitement on the beach today. A Government Flying Service helicopter appeared hovering over the beach and then lowered down three crew members who then uplifted our neighbour to hospital. The old fellah was in a bad way and looked quite unwell. Although apparently this si not his first helicopter journey and according to some, it will not be his last!

Its slowly appearing

Its odd how just seeing some tiles being cemented onto a bare wall can start to pull a project together. This week we hope to have the bathroom and the kitchen both tiled and ready for the fixtures and fittings. We have all ready had one calamity when the well meaning workers cut a hole through the tiles and the wall to accept the shower pipe. What was not accounted for was the fact we need two pipes, one for hot water and one for cold water. So off with the rather expensive tile, etc. etc. No complaints though. These things happen.

Picture on left is the bathroom, the area on the floor not tiled is where the shower stall will be placed. If you look closely you can see the offending hole in the tiles j(three tiles up) from floor level. The other hole (one tile up on right side) is correct and will be used for the sink fittings.

The other picture is of the kitchen space. The kitchen will be open plan and open directly onto the covered living space. The tiling is correct but looks a little odd. We have used cheaper and smaller tiles to cover the walls in areas that will be hidden by the kitchen cabinets and cupboards. Once all the kitchen fittings are installed only the larger, oblong shaped tiles will be left in view.

The unfinished brickwork corner will be continued up to provide some shelter and screen off where the fridge will stand within the kitchen area. Its hard to imagine I know.

The roof structure is basically a canopy roof that will later be lifted up a further two feet to allow greater height for air circulation by ceiling fans inside and will be decorated / covered over on the underside with tongue and groove wood slats to hide from view the iron support beams and the electrical wiring that will need to be thrown over.

The dreaded back wall

Thanks to some very kind gents from the CEDD (govt department that looks after slopes) we are now much much closer to getting the slope back into shape again. For the last couple of weeks a team of workers, ( I cannot say workmen as there are men and women involved) are gradually digging it all back so that you can walk around behind the house. You can see how much it had encroached over the years as before they started the ground level was at the height of the window in the last two photos.

Ps check out Arthur's new two in one welding goggles / sunglasses and of equal import, the partial installation of one of the new windows. Wow.

Before and After

Although not taken from exactly the same spot, these pictures show how much effort has been put into clearing back the grounds and getting rid of all the mosquito breeding holes etc. To clear back this one piece of slope to its current state took a full day. Unfortunately the people who must have lived in the house at the top of the slope, (its completely abandoned now) must have literally just thrown all their garbage out of the window onto the slope as it was strewn with broken glass and debris. There must be about two or three sacks of broken glass still to be picked up. Stilll never mind it will all be worth it in the end.

Snakes alive Again! & more little creatures

The first of May is Labour Day over here in Hong Kong and noone works. Its a family day whihc for us means spending time outside. Well we did just that, back down to MKT to continue with renovations. Although it is now quite hot, the humidity is not too unbearable yet so we have been busy clearing back the scrub and bushes in front of the house. We never knew so many creatures enjoyed our little garden. Perhpas creatures celebrate Labour Day as well? In one day we discovered:
Praying Mantis - everywhere

Stink bugs - These a funny bugs that have what looks like a brightly painted shield on their backs, trouble is if they get scared they wee on you and not only does it smell but it is quite caustic and can bring you out in a deep red , firey rash for a few days.
Cicadas - Thes fellahs, live in the ground for up to seven years, then dig themselves out, climb up into a tree, sing, attract a mate, do the do and then die, all in a matter of days.
House Geckos - I like these little geckos, they eat mosquitos
Pale Geckos - These too
Skink - this too
Changeable Lizards - one was about a foot or more long and was clearly non plussed when the bush he was sat on was chopped down. We know it was a male as he had a bright red colouration to the underside of his throat.
Malayan Bull frogs, one of which had magnificent orange side patterns. These big fat frogs are also called Cow frogs as when they call they really do sound like a cow. They live in damp soil and a re big, six or seven centimetres or more. when calling normally they find a drain or a culvert to sit in which really helps their calls resonate.
Common toads - well common but wortth seeing
And
Two bamboo pit vipers - Neither were very big, perhaps 16 inches but a beautiful vivid green on top and a yellow underside and a pale orange tail. Not big but venomous so one was sent into the woods to the side and the other slithered away. People can confuse these snakes with another green snake that is a little less common but harmless. So if it is bright green and has an orange coloured tail then avoid it, if it is solid green then it should be harmless. However, noone should be picking up any snakes. We also saw the following birds:
Drongo - Must be building a nest nearby as they flit past every two minutes heading for the trees behind
Mynah birds - lots (but not the Hill Mynahs you see in pet shops)
Kite - cruising
Buzzard - cruising
Sanderling - three of them down on the beach
Little Egret - about sixty or more in a large slow flock flapping lazily off somewhere

Gone Fishin'

What else is there to do after you have opened up all your Christmas presents, eaten turkey until the elastic in your pants is like a wire belt and there are no more chocolates in the family sized selection jar that was supposed to be kept for visitors? That's right, go fishin. So armed with our rods, Henry, Arthur, Eddie, Matthew, Laval and me set forth to MKT pier wher most normal days the fish are jumping and came home with precisely nothing except some huge smiles and wind burn from the chilly wind and weak sun.