Good night, May

The dusk was so good tonight I just had to get the camera out…….

Walking without water

We awoke early this morning confidently expecting to have our water supply restored. Wrong. It did start again at 11am, 22 hours after it was temporarily cut off. But in the heat I was a very unhappy bunny and whilst Mrs. Ha decided to head off to CC2’s apartment for a shower I decided to grab a camera and go for a walk up the hill.

I confess I struggled badly and considered giving up as the fatigue did not take long to overwhelm me. I made it half way up and then returned. I am tracking my BP and HR quite closely and the BP is fine but still my resting HR is a bit erratic even with a double strength dose of the calcium channel blockers. Still, I came back with some reasonable images for handheld (rather shaky  handheld I admit). This was my bug of the day: Oides maculatus

What a star!  A couple of splendid arachnidae. The top one is of the genus Opiliones I am told. I know them as Harvestmen.

 

The two butterflies are Discophora sondaica tulliana (vernacular Common Duffer) and below, Lethe europa, Bamboo Tree Brown.

And because the moths moan if they are left out, here are Scopula propinquaria and another Scopula, which I cannot ID to species level. Both are Geometrids, Sterrhinae.

And that was it. Right now the water coming out of the kitchen tap is black. Things are looking down. And that is it for May. June may soon be bustin’ out all over. Lucky June.

 

 

Pipe dreams dashed

Sometimes I need a reminder why we live here. Here it is:

So why, you may muse, do I need this reminder. Well this rather peaceful scene contains a fair amount of water.

Sadly we don’t have any at the moment. Without any warning our supply has been cut off. All over the town. It is not we who have omitted to pay our bill or anything obvious like that. The whole town has been excommunicated. Except Lee, who claims to be on a bore hole. Lucky Lee. Nobody knows why. The ill-termed Help Line informs us that it may be back on by midnight. Perhaps. Fingers crossed behind my back. Actually, I’m sorry I haven’t a Clue.

So it is 35 Celsius, 95% RH and the kids are coming home from school covered with the usual patina of school day grime. The dads are probably heading to a bar to check they have water and the mums are wondering how they can cook tonight. Sorry for the stereotyping but that is pretty much how it is. Even the restaurants are sans eau. And we may soon be reduced to using the bird bath, which I had thoughtfully filled earlier. Bugger! Its evaporated…….. where else can I find water? Lulu’s water fountain may need to be plundered. Is a dog like a camel? Can it go weeks without water? We may soon find out.

The WD (Water Department) seems to be adopting a policy of if they have no mains water let them bathe in San Pellegrino. That should put the fizz back in their lives.

Luckily we were out all morning. We had chores to do in Central. Dentist, doctor, cardio…… all those typical things you do when you are bored and shortly to go on holiday. The cardio seemed pleased with my progress. He charged me over HK$1500 for telling me that and giving me 30 days of double-strength tablets. The dentist charged nothing. The guy is excellent and frankly totally uncommercial. Don’t worry, he said, we are old friends. Just a minor job. Show me your photos when you get back from Portugal. Sometimes I worry for his sanity but he is truly a delightful man. The doctor is also a brick – he sells me my expensive tablets at cost. No mark up because I am retired. Incredible. We squeezed in a quick lunch then had to drive up to Causeway Bay to buy Lulu’s dog biscuits. She is very picky about which ones she likes and we were down to the last couple of days supply of her favourites. Finally we did a good deed and agreed to buy a painting from Cost Centre Number 2’s friend, who is having a rough time. She is a talented artist (as is CC2) and maybe one day our outlay of HK$25,000 will be worth millions. This was negotiated by me from the car as Mrs. Ha was in the driving seat (so no change there). It is rewarding to bring a little happiness into someone’s life so easily. The only argument may be over where the painting should be hung.

And now we have to consider how we are going to eat and shower tonight. Lulu has some fresh dry biscuits she may be prevailed upon to share. There are a few geckos running around. I reckon half a dozen on toast would be a decent snack. If all else fails I think I can survive until tomorrow on a tin of Heinz tomato soup. No added water. Stay tuned.