Bees

The pictures are not too clear as they were taken with the iphone but a swarm of bees tried to set up residence in a tree outside the office today.  The third swarm this week (or possibly the same one, who knows?)  Just grateful that the neighbouring farmer was able to sort them out.  He basically appeared with a wicker hat that had a cloth bag sewn around it with a draw string.  He shinned up the tree, gently put the hat on the top of the swarm, lit a cigarette and then began to knock the bees with a small leafy twig so they crawled / flew up into the hat.  Ten minutes later the bees had all moved up into  the hat.   Ten minutes after that he took the hat down, pulled the draw string tight and carried the swarm away.  Amazingly, only one sting!   From what I could understand he takes the swarm into the forest and then releases it.  I strongly suspect however that a wok, some rice and hot oil is more of a likely outcome for them,
Just grateful

May Day Bank Holiday Weekend

Another sunny weekend.  Saturday I was out biking and came back after just shy of 90 kilometres with a very odd sun tan.  Sunday and Monday were spent digging and fettling about in the garden, interspersed with food and drink.  At the end of Monday my sun tan had expanded and turned me a deeper shade of red!

Planted or moved this weekend:

• Kafir lime trees
• Okra
• Winter melon
• Chili (if that is how you spell it)
• Lemon grass
• Rosemary

Dug up this weekend

• About a hay bale's worth of weeds
• Majority of the chili plants Nuch had planted last week - HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THEY WERE NOT WEEDS!

Built this weekend

• One very dodgy lean too shed to store all the garden tools in.  If it survives the summer I will be impressed
• A footpath sign pointing the way to Discovery Bay
• A footpath sign pointing the way to Man Kok Tsui

Hopefully now we will see fewer hikers who were hoping to walk to Discovery Bay and more hikers who actually wanted to come here.

Consumed this weekend

• Laarb Moo (Thai pork)
• Sticky rice
• Lettuce
• Mint
• Chicken
• Lasagne
• Sausages
• Eggy bread
• Carlseberg

Bust this weekend

• One well water pipe.

Oh and the telephone company came out to fix the telephone cable I repaired last weekend.  Pictures to follow of that classy repair.  Think trip wire or garotte and you are not far wrong.

Pictures from Easter 2011 at Man Kok Tsui

A glorious weekend of weeding, weeding, tree cutting, blisters and snoozing in the hammock.  The boys spent the majority of the weekend relaxing in the shade or plugged into their DS game thingys while Nuch and I did the manual labour.  I tried my hand at tree husbandry and set about felling some saplings with a machete.  It all was going very well until I failed to notice the telephone cable that was straining under the weight of the branches I was chopping down.  Yep it snapped eventuially but amazingly I was able to tie it all back together and all the phones work!  Animal wise we only encountered one small snake which is quite surprizing as the weather was warm and they would have all been fully charged up and active.  A harmless white spotted slug snake by all accounts but noone was prepared to pick it up.   After looking it up in our book of snakes to make sure it was harmless it was released back into the garden to continue terrorising slugs I guess.  

Matthew - Part Scouser - Calm Down, Calm Down

So what's new?

Arthur participated in the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens - Mini Rugby, (with grateful thanks to Ms. Roberts for the ticketing assistance!!!!)  Lucky bugger turned up on the Friday after me telling the club he was not going, got smuggled onto the team and then was the only one who got his mugshot in the paper.

Arthur 2nd from right

Matthew is continung to be, well just Matthew and for a five year old is remarkably adept at gussing all his Dad's log in passwords to the computer.

Nuch is up to her old tricks stuffing sausages and grawing vegetables.   Not only are they thriving in the vegetable patch next to home they are also now appearing in buckets and paddling pools on the flat roof top too.

And me, just plodding on.   Could be worse it could be raining (I will regret writing that soon I am sure!)

It had to happen eventually

It had to happen eventually, a flag pole that is. Well to be completely honest its a piece of bamboo with a loop of rope attached. flags. The picture does not really do it justice.  No idea what the correct etiquette is for flags so until someone complains.....



Hong Kong countryside

One of Lantau Island's hidden gems.  The picture does not do it justice.  Crystal clear rock pools and pristine countrysideand all just a few miles from one of the busiest and crowded places on earth. 

Lantau Buffalos - Medal winners (Under eights)

The under eights team photo after receiving their players' medal for participating in the Valley Fort rugby competition  at Kings park Kowloon.  Arthur is on the bottom row, second from the left.

Changeable Lizard

This fellow was displaying / sunning in the vegetable plot outside the house.   I know its a bloke as he is turning his head and neck orange coloured. About a foot long from head to tail in all.   When we first spotted him his head and neck was bright orange colour but as I got closer to take the pictures it slowly began to fade and lighten, presumably an attempt to make himself less conspicuous.

DIY

Its got to be said that I am absolutely useless at DIY. 
Q.  How long does it take to put up four venetian blinds? 
A. Not sure as so far today I have only managed to put up three.

Barking deer on South Lantau Road



Muntjac Deer



This Sunday morning, as we were driving over to Tong Fuk from Mui Wo for mini rugby we were lucky enough to spot a Muntjac deer run back into the undergrowth from the road side. 

Although apparently common in the woods and hillsides of Hong Kong, (a fact we can vouch for at Man Kok Tsui as they are partial to digging up Nuch's sweet potato crops) and often heard "barking" they are seldom seen.   Our first sighting ever.    

Chinese New Year at Man Kok Tsui

At long last we have electricity we can rely on, lights that work, fuses that are safe and switches that no longer look like something from a Frankenstein horror movie.   So not wishing to waste an opportunity we packed up the boat and headed off for a weekend of isolation.  It was brilliant.  No phones, no internet, no TV and no crowds.  The weather was warm and sunny and the winds were calm.  The boys were over the moon as they could now power up their infernal Nintendo thingys and I was happy as I could now get back to my ham fisted DIY and the obligatory random power tool use.  Nuch of course was in seventh heaven as she could now boil water, use the microwave and put food into a fridge that worked.

Mini Rugby - Lantau Style

As Chinese New Year approached, the normally vacant footie pitch has been commandeered for the Tong Fuk village party.  So the boys had to endure mini rugby on the beach.  It was pretty cold but noone seemed to mind and as luckily the tide was out, noone had to fish the balls out of the sea (or children come to think of it).