Samchuk Market

Wonderful Boonchi has been taking me out and about this week and yesterday's outing was with Sue and Pat to Samchuk Market (also known as the 100 year market) in Suphanburi.

Take Some Garlic, Olive Oil & Garlic...

If you are a garlic and feta cheese lover, this is the post for you!  

Free Esprit Perfume!!!

There is nothing sweeter in life than something that is free.  Unless the free thing is perfume!  

In Bangkok, never buy perfume, aftershave (for my husband of course) or other such things from a department store, without asking for the free stuff.  The won't hand it out willingly, or offer it up as part of the deal, you have to be firm and demand a present.  

Sometimes it isn't really a great gift (sorry Margie, I did my best) but it is still better than nothing.  In my time I have had a matching cup and saucer (I have no idea why, but it obviously made sense to them), sample sized perfumes and for Alan's birthday gift this year, managed to get the matching deodorant to his aftershave for free.   

A few months ago I learnt that it is best NOT to get Alan to do the asking, as when he bought me some perfume, he came back with a couple of mean little samples, not at all what I had in mind, despite my coaching him!

This week, Baz asked me to buy some perfume for a friend (sob, not me!) and as usual I asked for my 'something extra'.  I got the usual, 'well if you buy the extra large, die before you ever manage to use it all up size, I might just see my way to giving you a little something' spiel.  Nah, your girl has made you proud.  He looked at me and saw it written in my eyes, 'GIVE ME THE FREE STUFF AND MAKE IT GOOOOOD!'.  (Er, you have to say that in one of those CNN pandemic alert voices to get the full effect).  Well what do you know, out popped a small bottle of perfume!

Fire on the Mountain:

 We knew it would happen eventually.  Every summer we have at least a couple of local fires on the foothills along our stretch of the freeway  and with this summer being especially hot and dry I guess I am surprised it took this long to happen.  This photo is looking north from our home and the fire is serving as a backdrop to the home two houses down and across the street from ours.  Our son-in-law woke us up with a phone call around 12:30 to let us know that there was a fire.  Heading out the front door I didn't see anything immediately, and then, smoke, fire, there it was.  We knew it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked and with no wind to change the normal inclination of fires to head up the hill rather than down, we took out our lawn chairs to watch.  I was, after all, concerned enough NOT to go back to bed before I knew it was completely out.   Some of our neighbors took the concern a notch higher and began to fill their cars with valuables in case they needed to make a fast exit.

Celebrating the 4th of July in Jackson Hole, Wyoming:

 Allison and family invited us to celebrate the 4th of July in Jackson, Wyoming this year and as it is one of our favorite places to visit we circled the dates on the calendar, rented our room and without too much additional planning were on our way.  Jackson is situated at the base of Grand Teton National Park and just about an hours drive south of Yellowstone National Park.  Roger and I have both visited the area as children, honeymooned there, sent our children (Evan and Allison) off to work there, and over the years claimed it as our own to hike, canoe, camp and yes, shop, in.  We love Jackson and the national parks close by.

The Magic Ruler:

 I am a blog stalker, and proud of it!!  During one of my stalking sessions, I saw the quilt below and thought it made a darling baby quilt.  I had received some fabric from my quilt group to make quilts for sale this December at the annual Festival of Trees and thought that this one would be a good choice.  Festival of Trees is a great charity which contributes all proceeds (I really hope it's all) from the sale of donated decorated Christmas trees as well as donated items in it's gift store to Primary Children's Medical Center here in SL.  The hospital is non profit and provides important and life saving  services to children throughout the intermountain region.

Summer Solstice:

We have just passed from Spring to Summer, celebrating the Summer Solstice on June 21st.  Sadly, we weren't able to make it to Stonehenge this summer (and no, we've never been there, though it is on our bucket list), but I was able to get a great shot of the full Strawberry Moon from our front doorstep.  The name comes from the Algonquin tribes of North America who saw it as a signal to gather ripening fruit.