Our garden and Cat

So i was talking to Kelly the other day and she was saying that it's hard for her to visualize where i live. so i proceeded to take some pictures of my plants and Sweetpea who was lounging in the sunshine. i hope you all will get more of an idea about my living situation. enjoy!

This is our quaint little porch where we hang out. It's decked out with lots of wind chimes and a cool lantern for the evenings. The jasmine bush is right in front of it so it smells great in the winter.
These are my new birds-of-paradise. In the past i haven't been much for gardening but i realized that everything grows here like crazy (and without too much work on my part) so i planted these about a month and a half ago and voila! they are already blooming! My success here inspired me to plant an herb garden as well. The basil and chili peppers and celery seed are already sprouting.

Sweetpea caught in her characteristic noisy-face. She is constantly meowing and at first i thought it was annoying but now it's a bit endearing. I've figured out what all the different meows mean. She loves hanging out in the garden and climbing the mango trees. However i caught her biting this cactus-like plant the other day. Not sure what she was thinking.


Love this picture! It's got a good composition i think. Anyways, the purple flowers are orchids from a plant that Otto gave me on Valentine's day last year. They are gorgeous. The other orchids should be blossoming soon...


More Sweetpea. She has this jingle bell collar which is pretty cute and she's always looking at invisible things. Possibly, she sees ghosts?

Haha! This car is so classic! So this is the Otto-mobile or "Dottie" Datsun as we like to call her. Otto's friend gave him this car (it's the one we had to drive up from Bangkok) and it is constantly needing repairs. However, we look like we're in Dazed and Confused driving around. It is totally our style.

Chae Sorn Waterfall

Last weekend we drove 70 k outside of town to a national park called Chae Sorn. This park has a beautiful waterfall with many levels. We only made it up to level 6 but it was quite a hike! We had to keep climbing up tons of stairs but the views were gorgeous. Now that it's finally rainy season, everything looks so lush and green. After our hike, we went to the hot springs. There is a pathway of stones going right through the springs and the steam coming off the pools gives everything a mysterious look. We all got a massage in an open-air sala. Nothing like relaxing while viewing the hot springs and the mountains in the distance. Then we rented out our own little hut with a hot tub. The water is pumped in from the hot springs. After a soak, we bought some eggs to cook in the hot spring. They never got fully hard-boiled but it was still a funny experience. We can't wait to go back in the winter season to use the outdoor hot spring pools.

Otto hiking up the stairs...


Us at one of the waterfalls


Josh on a bridge


The guys at the waterfall


In front of one of the hot springs


Our little spa huts


Picnic and waiting for our eggs to cook

A Month of Celebrations

6 birthdays, 3 going-away parties and 1 wedding later, we are totally worn out from all the parties. It's been a month full of celebrations and i thought i'd share a few pictures with you.


First the wedding pictures. The former head of the english department at Yonok (her name is Suphinya) married her lovely husband from China (Pan Hao) a few weeks ago. We had a nice lunch with our friends from Yonok and Lampang. Here's Otto and I with the happy couple:

Otto is looking surprised!

Last Monday, we celebrated Yui's birthday. She is the owner of an awesome local coffee shop so we everyone stopped by to say hello. We brought cake and were served lots of free snacks and beverages. In the picture below are Rob, Becca, Josh, David, Yui and I. Yui drinking her birthday whiskey slush concoction...

Looking silly outside of I Love Coffee. What a bunch of goofballs!