Back in the trenches

Every place we've lived, Steve manages to figure out a reason to dig trenches. I have to admit, the finished product is always nice but it's comical when I think about all the ditches we've had over the years, and how much time Steve (and Luke) spent digging them. They sure did spend a lot of time on those trenches, digging them with no more than a shovel and a lot of muscle.
This year things are different. Steve has a new helper with a surname of Caterpillar.

Last winter it was so cold for so long, the water in the goat pens froze solid and stayed that way. I got a heated bucket but I had to carry water out to the animal pen every day. I would save up my 2-liter bottles from V8 and Diet Coke, fill them with water, put them in a backpack and haul them out to fill my heated bucket. While it was a good workout, it wasn't terribly efficient. So this year I wanted to install a self-watering system for the livestock, one that would also keep the water from freezing. I should have known it was easier said, than done.

If you don't already know it, Steve rarely does things simply. The nice thing is, the effort he takes makes a lasting product. Not only is he installing the water for what I want now, he's thinking ahead to where we're going to want water in the future. The trench he dug for this project is deep, to bury the pipes deep enough to keep them from freezing. It runs from where the water is now, all the way out behind the barn.

Digging trenches is hard work. At least he doesn't have to do it all by hand this time. The ground here is much harder (and rockier) than in California but his new track hoe has made this job a lot easier. I think he might even be enjoying it a bit - even though he's working on plumbing, his least favorite task of all.

What are Nana's good for?

Nana's been busy. We really did get some packing done during this past month. There's still much to do and Baby's a little confused. She's not sure what's going on, but she knows something is up. Nana's visit has brought a lot of change.

Since Nana came to visit, baby has learned to



Go places with Nana










Ride in a car and sing songs













Ride in a bicycle seat














Safely play with a chop stick










and probably a few other things I won't willingly mention, but should probably take the blame for. I have a feeling, from here on out, a lot of things are going to be my fault.

I don't mind. A person needs to leave a legacy somehow. Even if it is only loud burps and sneezes.

Me and my llama

A couple of weeks ago we went to a pet shop. Baby saw a puppy dog - a live doggy sitting on a desk, and was so excited about petting it. Next to the puppy was a stuffed white llama. At first Bonnie thought it was alive and immediately fell in love.

Now Bonnie has her own white llama. She got it for her birthday and named it Lily. Bonnie really loves her llama. This morning on Skype, Auntie Penny told us about a llama Sesame Street song, so I found it on YouTube. Baby has watched it now about a dozen times.
Thanks, Auntie Penny, for making Baby's day so entertaining.

You can do a lot in 3 days

Deciding on a vacation spot isn't always easy - especially when you know you have very little time. A vacation is supposed to be a time to relax, a time to renew your body and mind. That's what our trip to Yangshou was.








We walked along local trails, enjoying the fields and mountain scenery, sometimes pausing to take care of some important business.




















We were fascinated by the family tombs erected at the base of many of the mounds.











We crossed rivers on bamboo rafts and walked across narrow concrete bridges.












We stopped at the river to watch the rafts float by.











We cycled through the villages and countryside taking in the sights.

We took a long raft ride down the River Li.

We ate WAY too much, or just sat around a lot watching the baby explore.

Some of us even got time to read (yes, William is reading his Kindle while babysitting).

It was fabulous.

Karsts

In middle school I took a class in geography. That when I first learned about world climates, geology, and topography.
I've been interested ever since. Even now I find myself reciting the names of climate zones or looking at the sedimentary layers of stones, in order to get the bigger picture and think about the natural history of a place.

One of the geological wonders I remember from that class is the karsts - unusual formations caused through the distribution of limestone, producing ridges, towers, fissures, sinkholes, and other strange or unusual landforms on or below the earth's surface.














"Karst" is a strange word. It originated in Germany in the 19th century from "der Karst'" a limestone region in Slovenia. Karst topography can be found all over the world. These are some of the most unusual landforms on earth.

Karst systems are known for the caves produced within the formations. Mammoth Caves are part of a local karst system in the U.S. There's even a karst region in Tennessee, in a place called Grassy Cove.

The karsts in Yangshou and Guilin are some of the best places in China to backpack and rock climb. Bicycling is extremely popular here, and most hotels or hostels provide cycles for rent by the day. We cycled a through some of the local villages along the bumpy dirt roads. I enjoyed seeing the villages and greeting local people, even observing villagers take their cattle out for a stroll.

The Coffee is Ready

I can't seem to escape the influence of the Dutch; it's everyplace I go. The truth is, I don't really want to avoid the Dutch, they seem to be able to fill a need for things in the most unheard of places, and at just the right time. I know they've brought me a great deal of luck, even here in China, while on vacation.













Our trip to Yangshou (in southern China) this past week began at the most welcoming hostel. Dutch owned, the Giggling Tree is a rustic, ancient feeling hostel with the most character of anyplace I've ever stayed. We all loved it. They provided coffee, meals, sleeping quarters, and bicycles for our visit to this region to see some karst mountains.

It was so refreshing to finally see a tiny piece of China outside the facade of Shanghai. What a contrast, and what a wonderful place, even if we didn't always know which way we were going.

Pay by cash? unheard of!

It's strange to think that there are still places in this world that conduct affairs almost entirely on cash, but it's like that in Shanghai. Oh, grocery stores take credit cards and regular restaurants, but for the most part, everything in China is done with cash.
You go to the market to buy eggs, it's cash. You want something from the fake market; cash. Michelle tells me that credit cards are relatively new to China, and the young people are gobbling them up.

Michelle and William have planned a trip this week to a remote area of China. Michelle bought airline tickets one afternoon, and in just a couple of hours there was a knock at the door.

"The tickets are here!" she told me, clapping her hands. She opened the door to hand the ticket courier her money - a pretty good amount of it. I wanted to know how in the world that worked, handing that much cash to a courier but she insists that's just the way things are done. Food delivery, packages, all sorts of purchases done online are paid via cash-in-hand, right at your door.

Weird.

Helping with the packing

Packing is never easy. William and Michelle are trying to sort their things but it's hard to pack your life of 3 years into a few boxes.












William finds the need to sort his receipts, while baby has to fidget a bit in the boxes.
It's the little things that matter, but eventually it will be November 9th - then it will all be over.

Teddy Bear Birthday

Better than the Teddy Bear Picnic, Bonnie Rose got a birthday at Esther Bear's Teddy Bear Thai Cafe. It's a little shop in the heart of Shanghai's shopping mart district, very touristy but so cute. We went there tonight, meeting William after work, to celebrate quietly by ourselves.

Baby was surrounded by custom made Teddy's











Nanamama sang and danced in the restaurant while taking Bonnie Rose on a mini-tour to see all the Teddy Bears on the wall











The waiter gave Bonnie Rose a gift, a handmade Teddy by Esther











Then Mama put Baby on the shelf with the bears for a final pose.

Really, she liked it!!

Happy Everday

Michelle, William, and Bonnie Rose have a lot of fans in Shanghai. Since they'll be leaving soon, Bonnie Rose was nice enough to share her birthday with everyone in order to say goodbye.

Michelle rented two rooms at a nice restaurant and invited more than 25 close friends.

William left early this morning to go buy balloons while we picked up the cake then took it in a taxi to the party.

William did a lovely job choosing the menu, and even the cake from Cafe 85, was tasty (apparently Chinese cake usually tastes terrible).

We all wore birthday hats and sang Happy Birthday in English and Chinese.
























Finally it was Baby's turn to perform. Michelle brought a bag of items from home and laid them on a blanket. Each item represented something simple in life that might someday interest her. It was just a simple game Michelle wanted to play, and knew the Chinese would enjoy.



Michelle put Baby down and told her to choose the one she liked the best. It looked as if she was going for the sewing kit, but after a bit of being indecisive, Bonnie Rose finally selected an ink pen - perhaps indicating she might someday be a writer. William was pretty happy about that.

Our little China princess was so tired afterward, falling asleep in the taxi before the door even shut. But she really had a Happy Birthday, and like the Chinese birthday cards all wished her, she's going to have a Happy Everday.

Sign me up

Because the Expo is in China, one would think that someone would think it wise to consult an actual English-speaking person in order to interpret things for visitors. That, however, is not the case.

We were standing in line for the Russian pavilion, and of all things that were apparently important to say, this is the message that hung over the queue area.











All over the Expo you see signs that are clearly not well translated.














It's true that the Chinese don't think at all like westerners about most things. Language is one of those area that are very different. There is no such thing as a literal translation of something unless you want a good chuckle. According to Michelle, translation from Chinese to English has to be done by someone who understands context, and the idea of what someone is trying to say. Michelle and William get pretty annoyed by some of the signs, probably because they understand a little more about the culture than most.












It's amusing to people like me. Really, though, for an event like the World Expo, there's no excuse for mistakes like this.

The Chinese are very proud - too proud to ask someone from the outside to help them get these sayings right. As a result, there are signs everyplace that really don't make sense, that you're not really sure what it is they're trying to say, and some that just downright made us laugh.













I'm sure we haven't been the only people to enjoy these, either.

Vertitable smorgasbord

I have always loved the fair. Every place I've ever lived the fair is one of the local events I've always looked forward to - except in Humphreys county. That's about the worst county fair I've ever attended, and I've been to a lot of fairs, both large county and small.

The most enjoyable fair I've ever been to was the Ventura County fair, largely agricultural and lots of fun animal events, displays and competitions. That one always had a lot of great things for kids to participate in, entering crafts, 4-H animals and all sorts of home made items.

I had no idea what to expect, though, for a World's Fair. Also called World Expo, the World's Fair is held once every 5 years and countries have to win a bid in order to be a hosting nation. This year the Expo is in Shanghai, and October is the last month of its 6 month life.

Over 200 nations are in attendance at this Expo. Each nation has a pavilion that houses something from each nation that is uniquely attributed to it. We managed to go for a few hours Monday night, and what a treat that was! Of the pavilions we managed to visit, Russia was the most impressive so far, with Netherlands and Ireland running close seconds. Russia must have spent over 20 million dollars easily. It's decorated in a combination of fairyland and scientific decor, based not only on Russian historical space success but also one of Russia's most beloved children's authors. The line was ridiculously long, even at night, but it was so worth it.













We had a hard time deciding where to eat but finally decided on a county that serves a lot of meat. Meat-loving Michelle is always looking for something juicy to sink her teeth in to. Baby got a little tired but had fun, and received an Irish Wolfhound from a docent at the Ireland pavilion. That's also where we saw Ireland's traditional still displayed.












The Netherlands pavilion had all sorts of fun stuff; fake sheep to play on, live tulips, a three story mini-town with little rooms of things that Holland has been known for over the ages. It was very tall, and from the top you could see out over the entire Expo village. Michelle and baby liked playing on the sheep, of course. Pictures never do justice to an event like this, but it sure was wonderful. Hardly scratched the surface of all the pavilions. Maybe we'll get a chance for one more visit.

China post

We made our first run to the post office today. Of the six boxes we've packed so far, these two are the first ones to be shipped. William wanted to find out how much it would cost to mail their packages home. The post office wasn't too far, only a few blocks.













I think we've pretty much decided that a shipping company might be about the same price. It cost $50 (USD) each to mail these. At this rate, and taking 2 boxes a day, we need a lot more days in order to send home 30 boxes.

We sure did get a lot of people staring at us, but not because of the boxes in the stroller. Chinese people move things this way all the time. They stared because our little white baby always attracts a lot of attention with her smiles and red hair. I think it's because she's cuter than a Chinese baby.