Wednesday Walk: visiting my neighbour who just came back from America.

I heard that the other rich neighbour has just come back from Texas in America. The lady owner of the big new house came back alone, her husband and niece would be arriving before Christmas so they wold have a family reunion in Thailand. This lady is the sister of my next door neighbour who has lots of cacti on her garden. Her younger sister went to work in America as a young graduate and met her sweetheart in America. They got married about thirty year’s ago. She came back home to build a big house for retirement. Her American husband could speak a bit of Thai language while the niece wanted to live in Thailand when she grew older. These were the details I got during their previous visit two years ago.

I was quite curious to learn about her big garden in Texas house. She complained to me last year that the unexpected snowfall had destroyed all her plants in the garden. So, I took my bicycle and headed along the dirt road towards her sister’s house. The afternoon sun was just pleasantly warm and not too stifling. I cycled past the old deserted cottage whose garden had been recently tidied. There used to be a big snake under the big hole of the hut. That’s why all the puppies disappeared and the mother dog was very disturbed and upset.

Luckily the old gardener found out what had happened and he took the mother dog back to his house. These days, the cottage was abandoned so I hardly went in that front yard and cottage any more. In the past, I could sense that I was never alone in that cottage, but the presence there was quite kind and welcoming. But things have changed so much after the lockdown; the vibes there weren’t as friendly as before.

This neighbour could communicate in English fluently so we sometimes talked in English on emotional issues. She was quite petite for a Thai lady; perhaps it was her height which made her look very tiny and slim. But her character was the opposite of her small physic as if to compensate for lack of physical presence. Her self-confidence was verge on becoming dominating and bossy. However, her kind heart and love of nature seemed to have polished all the rough edges. We could communicate in a more straightforward manner as she knew I was very westernised culturally.

She told me that all her plants in the house in Texas all perished under snow and frost. She had to buy new plants and remake the whole garden. Being very wealthy, she could buy very expensive plants from Madagascar! She was definitely crazy about plants and gardening so she was ready to spend lots of money on her favourite plants. I asked for a permission to have a good look at her garden and take some photos.

While she was showing off her new plants, the tiny lady found two big green caterpillars munching on nice juicy leaves. She had to get rid of these green aliens; I wondered why the birds refused to take these as their snacks. The prices of the trees she had in her garden made me suspect that she had been conned by the vendors. The prices in Thai currency seemed so cheap to my neighbour as one dollar gave you thirty-six baht, in local currency.

The design of the garden was quite similar to her garden in Texas. There would be a fountain, decorative statues, several fairies and two lion statues to guard the front door. But she could acquire more rare forest trees for her garden. The tree with pink flowers was very expensive as it’s a rare tree; most of these trees had yellow flowers. She showed me her blooming dwarf orchids which seemed to be doing very well on tree trunks.

The gazebo at the back of the house was made of teak wood with several orchids hanging around one side. Lots of flower pots surrounded the gazebo and the backyard. She really spent a lot of money of big earthen flower pots instead of planting all the foliage shrubs in the soil. She had the whole backyard covered in tiles which was easy for looking after during the rainy season. Shoes won’t be muddy while walking around her garden on rainy days.

This house had a very nice view of the river from the veranda of the upper floor. Her gardener had planted many lemon trees and various mango trees on the garden next to the waterfront. There were also some banana plants and lots of yellow flowering plants including marigolds. I could see the changing colours of the sky telling me the impending sunset. So, I had to take leave of my visit and cycled towards the riverfront as quickly as possible.

The clouds were thick and dense in the sky but the sun was trying hard to peek through those layers of clouds. The river was running fast and quietly as if there were some Nagas (water snakes) making haste on their journey to the south of the river. I had my brief contemplation by the river before getting back to feed my orange cats in the evening.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.

#wednesdaywalk by @tatoodjay.



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I must say, I loved all the pictures and I enjoyed looking at them.
The view is so beautiful it takes your breath away.

The owner must have invested a lot of money in this garden but in the end it was all worth it!

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Thanks so much for your nice comment. Yeah. The owners do spend a lot of time and money on their garden.

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Welcome.

Then their investment is worth it.

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Another incredible garden! But this sister has a gardener, right?

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Oh! Yah. Two gardeners; one part- time gardener for cutting grasses and diggjng weeds. One regular gardener, a female gardener who look after the whole house and garden.

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What a beautiful garden! I can definitely identify with the lady about that unexpected Texas snowfall. The snow started falling on Valentines Day as I was cooking steak and lobster on the grill on my back patio. It was beautiful, and made Valentine's Day all the more special. Then, we woke the following morning to find a heavy snowfall, no water, and no power. The next three days were a challenge, but at least we didn't lose any plants like your neighbor did. Thanks for sharing that story and those beautiful images!

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Oh! Dear! I couldn’t imagine myself living without electricity for even one day! This is tough in cold weather. I do hope you have some backup system for unexpected bad weather in the winter.
The lady was complaining about losing all her beautiful plants. But she refused to be depressed and got new plants for redesigning her garden. She had lots of energy and quite obsessive with gardening! So, she’s always fit and in good shape.

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We have two generators, but we have never had to use them. When the Texas power grid failed, we had what they call "rolling blackouts." Power would be off for 2-3 hours, then come back on for about an hour. We used oil lamps and we have a propane fireplace, so we did okay when the power was off. With my wife's iPad, we even had movies to watch, as long as she kept it charged when the power came back on.

I admire people who can create such beautiful gardens. To me, it seems like so much work. But, for them, the work seems to provide as much benefit for their spirit as it does for their body.

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You’re very well prepared for power outage! Two generators!

Oil lamp and propane are quite difficult to find nowadays. Oil lamps have become antiques for collecting! So, I have to shift to solar lamp which could be charged in sunshine during the day. Candles are quite useful too in my case. But I need a wood or charcoal stove for emergency. Luckily we don’t need heating system for the house.

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I quite like our oil lamps. Most of them are antiques that we've purchased at estate sales (sale of household items after someone, usually aged, dies). Walmart (a "hypermarket") sells the oil and wicks. The lamps themselves are beautiful, and they give heat and light when used. Candles are a nice alternative.

A solar lamp and solar generator would be nice where you live. We started with a gasoline generator, but worry about running out of gas. Since we have a 250 gallon propane tank for our house, a propane fueled generator seemed perfect. I should probably try it out before we need it though :)

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I'm going to be in Texas soon. That is cool you got to visit them after they got back.

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Oh! Lots of people seem to moving to Texas or Florida! Where are you going to settle for in the future?!

Have a successful trip!

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I'm going to check out Oklahoma as well because home prices didn't get so far out of wack there and it seems to be a fairly stable economy. They have a $10,000 grant to move there as a remote or self employment.

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Great pics. Thats such a sad story about the poor dog loosing its puppies to the snake - what a shame !
!PIZZA

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Oh! That’s quite a terrible story. I wish animals could talk in time of emergency. When my cat got hurt and was in a lot of pain; he just tried to sleep it off! Hadn’t I noticed blood stain on his leg, I wouldn’t know that he needed medication and help. I used to know that sweet mother dog. She passed away of old age a few years ago. Now there’s a nice stray dog that came to guard the house for my neighbour. He’s well fed but very shy of strangers.

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I read many gardens in texas where hit hard with the harsh weather

the garden there is so nice

Thanks for joining the Wednesday Walk :)

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Thank you so much. My neighbours have all the resources to design a beautiful garden. But they still have to deal with lots of caterpillars!

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wow - nice house with a nice garden and nice greenery in the surrounding. A nice place to live.

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Yup! This house is quite luxurious and beautiful. The garden is well looked after with love and care.

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WOW!
What a beauty, I think that the dream of many!
But only a dream!

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They are very wealthy and live gardening!

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Great photography, as always!
And what an impressive garden! Lucky of you to be allowed to walk around 😊

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