Stargazer4moon's blog: "It depends on what occurs on the way."

Well that is funny I have been in the garden pruning, dead heading, weeding, picking up dropped plums etc. I need to cut the grass as it is so long again after growing unabated for 24 days. The Borrage is in flower still and is amazing as it has not really reached its full pottential. The late planted Clematis are all in flower and flourishing, the plum tree is laden with ripened plums, we expected to come home to a bare tree because we had left the keys with a neighbour who had a partiality to plums. As summer was so late this year we picked a load of ripe ones in mid September but there were boodles left on to ripen. It seems the weather whilst we were away was dampish with a little sun so the remaining plums really have been left to slowly ripen to sweetness on the tree. I had some whilst I was out there tidying up and tying the Borage up and ther is nothing nicer than eating plums straight off the tree when they are ripe.
Tish, the lady who rekindled my garden bug, is on holiday still in Cyprus and no doubt she would appreciate some plums as would Jim next door, our 90 year old charming neighbour. He is very partial to plums and jumped at the chance when I offered him some earlier. There are loads of drops which I can give to his lady friend along the road, Lorna, as she is of the age when it is habbit to make jams, plus she is an excellent cook, she has to be 90 as well.
My geranium cutting which almost expired thanks to a slug in August is still alive and sprouting. I took the cutting in May and it flourished to flower with two flower heads, then new leaves appeared at which point a slug attacked it so the pot is filled with slug bait now. It has caught two so far and I did not think anything ate geraniums. One of the flower heads appeared to have leaves sprouting from where the actual flowers were so I did not snap it of as you usually would with a dead geranium head and that now has a flourishing bunch of leaves growing from it with two flower buds opening, so in effect the stem of the flower head has become a branch, if you see what I mean. A cutting from an ancient fucshia which came with the house when the previous owners left 24 years ago has fowered for the first time since I took the cuttings seven or so years ago. The poor thing needs potting on as there are five cuttings growing together in one pot and they appear to have a very good root system, so that is another job to do before winter sets in.
Hector is back home now and sleeping in the lounge with the Man with the Limp as he eats his lunch and watches telly.
The skies are leaden and I have been rained on three times, there is some blue sky as the sun is shining but it is that glow that you get when there is a layer of pinky brown clouds around, just like the cloud that we flew over on Wedneseay from Hungary right the way up to Germany when we saw some twinkling lights on the ground. When we landed in Birmingham it was the mildest I have ever felt there, normally temperatures from a return holiday would be in the 40's but it was 65 and very pleasant but for some drizzle.
I went out into the garden to have a look around and was pleasantly surprised to find that everything was flourishing still when it should really have started to die back for Autumn. Peter, who looks afte the house and houseplants said that the weather was just right for the plants to have a second flourish whilst we were away. I am pleased to find the clematis flowers still there as they were just coming in opening buds when we left mid September. I am actually glad they survived because they had such a poor and late start.
There was some Papaya seedlings in the back garden just before we went away but I think the slugs have eaten them as with the conditions of warmth & wet they should be five inches high by now but there is nothing to be seen. My fault for not putting slug bait down I suppose. Still, it is likely that we will end up having another very cold winter when it does arrive so maybe that is as well. It is amazingly warm outside 68 degrees and the leaves have not really left the trees yet so the woods across the firlds are lush and green still. The only problem with that is if we get any more rain, we must have had four inches in two days, as it will make the trees top heavy just right for toppling them if we get some freak winds. Ah, I must get some more washing in the machine as I cannot get on the garden to do the lawn today and then get a power nap as body clocks are strange things when you don't get much sleep at night. +++

I apologise, it was not the man of Richmond Castle who liked baby boys, it was the lady of the house according to the Man with the Limp and most likely the lady who did the guided tour of the Castle/Palace told me too. It reminds me of Buckingham Pallace, quite long and square. ++++ Tonight we have been totally deaffened by an elephant procession that we attended. We left the hotel at 7.45 and had to drive quite a distance to get to the procession where we clambered off the coach, an ancient affair with windows that opened. I took a blouse/jacket in case the aircon was too cool, how silly was that. +++ Here the evenings stay warm so any breeze is pleasant, especially in an ancient coach. +++ The coach was 2/3 full and majority were Russian, as are the guests in the hotel now. There are just six of us left from England and when the other couple go home on Monday we will be alone. Luckily there are some nice Dutch, Germans & of couse Sri Lankans. +++ The parade was long and I mean long, very noisy with drums, pipes, whistles and of course the usual noisy toys that throngs of men walked by selling. It was heaving there but we had seats which the Russians did not use, they went down to the front and stood in the way of those seated whislt they took their photos or just gawped in awe. Then there was the security guard or policeman, he stood right in the middle of an excellent spot where I could see the parade to get good pictures. Plus there were three white robed men who just loitered around generally getting in the way of photographers. However we did get some excellent photos of the elephants who lumbered along elegantly dressed in various costumes. It was not easy getting photos of the parade itself due to the movement especially the dancers but the fire dancers were quite photographable so we got spectacular ones of them throwing four foot rings of fire up into the air and catching them like hoola hoops. ++++ As I said, the parade was endless because as soon as the main parade had passed by the followers followed up at which point we were told to move back to the coach and the endless journey back to the hotel began in the heat of the night. It took us half an hour to get there and two hours to get back, probably due to being behind the procession for a distance before turning off onto the beaten track to let the courier, in inverted commas, off at his home. From there we were stuck on narrow back roads and beach tracks which we had to reverse back along several times to let things pass. At one point we were stuck completely at a standstill just outside a hotel whose entrance and exit the coach had to reverse back to in order to enter the grounds to turn round in. The hold up was getting the car park emptied, I believe, in order that the coach could go in and out as it seemed the only way to get it turned around. Passing the hotel reception area we noticed a wedding party and they waved and cheered at us as we passed them in our ramshackle coach. Everyone waved at us as we drove along the tortuous journey, they were that close that we could have shaken hands with them but we just waved and said our Hello's back. +++ The road seemed to get worse and it was apparent that we had driven miles and not really got out of the Waduwa area as we drove along its beach road before heading back onto a road where civilisation existed, some awake but many gone to bed following the procession. Many people still had to wend their way home if the Tuk Tuk park was anything to go by although their journeys were probably quicker in the end than ours. After two hours we were back at the hotel and wide awake from the events of the night. Hopefully there will be some memorable photos to remind us of the festival of a lifetime, I doubt we will visit another one here in September, it is not a settled month anymore for holidaying in.

I’ve just drunk a pint of water to rehydrate me and get rid of the startings of a nagging headache after a night of boozing. It began with a pre-dinner vino tinto followed by two small glasses with a lovely dinner. On our way out we were attracted to a young couple who began talking to us and so we stopped to talk. This led to joining them for a drink or two and a nice chat about so many different subjects that destiny must have had a hand in the introduction. ++== We finally left the dining room as the waiters wanted to end their night a either get home or go and enjoy the last hours of the day. Our new friends were hard working lawyers having a much needed break from a hectic week at work so I imagine to them the waiters have an easy life as they work reasonable shift hours, in fact they are very well looked after. ++++~ We got back to the room in one piece, all was quiet baring the occasional noise from the undergrowth along the wall and in the gardens just outside our room door. I do remember walking into the rooms to find more canapés, chocolates and the beds turned down, just about remember doing my expensive to maintain teeth and getting into bed so it was not such a heavy session after all. +++ This morning has again dawned bright and in the pool I can see the berry brown Animator cleaning the pool with a huge net, another regular daily routine. He seems to forget to clean the middle section where the Jacuzzi is and where aerobics and games are played because when I swim into that part there are always dead beetles and bits of the foliage from the edges of the pool floating there. Another boy has just finished the irritating sweeping that he starts the day with, a much needed chore to get rid of all the sand, cement dust and grit that gets walked in from various places around the hotel grounds along into the rooms. +++ The chefs are setting up their cookware for the eggs & bacon cooking just past the pool. We have nice view of them from our room but their view of us is obscured by palm trees and various bits of concrete constructions from bridges to fountains and of course garden beds. The squirrels have just woken up following the eternal dawn chorus and are chattering quite happily this morning for a change. There is of course the gentle phwerfs emitted from the Man With the Limp as he sleeps in what is probably the longest sleep he has had since being here. I feel there could well be a quiet day on the cards. ++++ It is Saturday though and quiet might not be the order of the day for the week-end Sri Lankan visitors to the hotel as they are here to enjoy their break and quite rightly too. Tonight we have an excursion booked to see the Elephants dancing, they are dressed in fine regalia and it has been going on for almost a century now. It will be interesting to see and reminds me that the camera needs charging up. +++++ The beach massage was good as usual but he seemed to go mad with the oils so I had to wash my shirt last night as it would not have lasted another wearing. That has dried thanks to the dehumidifier which went of during the night as it was full. It is very efficient. Still that is by the by. At the massage parlour, a rather dark room with no fan to cool, the boy had made a hole in the wooden bed but not in the mattress so he has to fold that back under then put towels around the hole so that my face is not on bare wood. He has learned that he can do a better head massage if he seats me on the plastic chair after doing the body massage. It is almost as good as an Indian barber but nobody massages the head quite like the one in Goa who had travelled down from Delhi for the season. Ahhh. +++ I have to teach him to wash his hands after he has finished my body and before doing my face as the thought of having hands that have been all over my feet on my face is quite a yerg one. He certainly has brought the feelings back to my fingertips, has the gift of the third eye but not the refinement of a spa therapist. It is not expensive though so they cannot afford to offer spa facilities on they monies they earn, About £5.00 for an hour's full body massage which is not much if you are only doing one massage a day due to there being so few tourists and far too many massage establishments chasing the shortage. +++ Well the squirrels have fully woken now calling out for food so Mum must be out foraging for the bits of food that guests have thrown out for them which is probably not much either. There are plenty of Russian tourists and of course Germans but they are not forthcoming with food for the wildlife. It is lucky there is a Russian contingency here or the hotel would be empty but they do not tip and are still learning from their recent introduction to travelling, which as you know broadens the mind but not necessarily the manners. +++ As there is now some movement outside the room with accompanying work tool sounds I think it is time to wake the dead and get some breakfast.

I wish the internet was not as slow as the concrete tortoise is just outside our room by the pool's kiddies' play area. It is frustrating but at least I can type, not necessarily coherently though but that is not internetal. ++++ Today, rather than sitting in the sun again and pool dipping, we went by Tuk Tuk up to Richmond Palace which is an old palace build by a very rich man at the beginning of the 20th Century. He was OK, she was beautiful as was his mother & father. Wealth is a funny thing here. They made the most amazing home like a replica Mogul Palace but without the domes. The decor was done no expenses spared so the glass in the doors was from Scotland, it was green on the outside but inside it looked opaque or white. It was also decorated with the thistle and shamrock. The tiled floors were marble from Italy and very cool to walk on but the other tiles were teracotta from India. As for the air-conditioning. Well that was vents and ducts and pipes that brought air into the house from outside plus of course the windows and doors. It really was cool inside in comparison to the external temperatures which were in the high 90's and humid. +++ We walked around being given a comentary by a lady guide and she took us to the school rooms for the kindegarten children, we only glipsed the living quarters of the orphans from a distance. The school work, more especially the artwork, was spectacular. There are some very gifted children there and they are lucky to have gifted teachers but sad to know that they are orphans. ++++ The couple who lived there were childless and he only liked boys so there are only baby boy orphans living there but the school part is mixed. The gardens are spectacular one way to the hills & river source and the other down to Kalutara Beach and the Mosque down there. Alas the trees have grown, just like over our back garden fence along the stream, so there is no longer a clear view to the sea. It is still spectacular though. The guide pointed out that the outer doors were total vermin proof by design so no creatures could get into the house and sure enough it would be a very flat wood lice who managed to get in underneath them but I think it was more for cocroaches & snakes the doors were designed to keep out. ++++ Then she walked us along to the side of the house where the statues were with the hills in the background. She pointed out that the lady's statue was looking out towards the garden, the gentleman's was looking and facing up to the balcony of the house. The statues of the girls were carved with their faces looking down towards the ground but they did have the fronts looking at the house. The boys' statues were face upturned and fully facing the house. The little girl had such a haunting expression too whereas the boy was carefree & smiling. So his like of little boys was very pointed in the landscaping of the statues & their carving. +++ There were gifts from the Royal Family in England and some beautiful photographs of the wedding. The cake was 25 feet high and all cake. The wedding photographs were the centre piece of the room really and they were married for 30 years prior to getting divorced. The gardens had lawns with Mimosa in and the guide kept rapping the poor plants with her pen just to show me that it closed momentarily upon contact. When I touched it unfortunately it did nothing so she gave it a heft tap and another frond closed for a few moments. A living breathing lawn indeed. There was a beautiful water fountain or bath in the middle of a patio which was fed by water spouts at for corners of the bullustrades, that would have been a site to watch when it was working. I think the nicest thing for me was the Iguana who sat in an air vent on the bank under the side of the house. This was an entrance for the air into the house and he looked like he was there to sort out the maintenance. I took photos and talked to it because I am like that. They thought I was mad. ++++ After our tour we climbed back into the Tuk Tuk and had a pleasant meander through the back roads of Kalutara prior to getting into the town centre and heading back to the hotel. ++++ The day started off as usual with breakfast then a quick tan up and out for a trip to the Bank. The Man with the Limp went into the bank for what is always an age because there is so much paperwork involved and I'm sure they print and count the money whilst you wait. I was talking to Harin, the driver, who told me of his father who'd had a stroke and died quite quickly after that. He nursed him for his mother though to save her the hard work. He has reached that age now and is worried about his health because his uncles also died of a stroke early in life. I told him to take up walking to which he told me there was no time in the day with taking his children to school, working the TukTuk, collecting them from school, taking them home and of course he is building a house with the view to let to tourists in the future. He is doing it all slowly and when it is done he will have a good business as he is honest and hard working. I have given his card to one English couple at our hotel here and she will use him plus my friend Ruwan because she has places that they want to visit and it would be nice if they had a guide they could trust, you know, one who could take you to the local dentist where they themselves go. +++ The Man with the Limp returned hot and damp as it was incredibley humid and we had been sitting under direct sunlight so were ourselves very hot. He invited me to go shopping with him to look for a belt and Harin tagged along m aking sure we were not over-charged or charged tourist rates. I found a Bata shoe shop, I caoont remember if we still have them in England but there are plenty in Sri Lanka. They were tagging behind and I hate dawdling when it is hot as it is tiring so I darted into the shoe shop and was promptly followed by three shop assistants as I walked around looking at the flip flops. It got a little irritating so I walked to the doorway where the pair had arrived having decided the belts were too expensive and they came into the shop. The Man with the Limp asked if I wanted some flipflops for the beach and as I said that I was looking he went straight over to some, picked out a shoe and I tried it on after he had actually picked out the right size. It fitted, felt comfortable and so I bought it, we he paid for it and we left a rather flustered couple of Sri Lankan shoeshop assistants. We left there and walked further then bobbed down into the back street market where nothing seemed to suit so we headed out and on the corner of the roadway onto the main pavement was a man with a bunch of leeks. He was chopping off the roots and he handed me one, to which I smilled, shook my head in thanks and we walked back onto the main thoroughfare. ++++They decided to cross the road to yet another belt shop and so I stayed put only the have the leek man ask if I had a cigarette in sign language. I shook my head, smiled and said that it was a disgusting habbit to which he laughed then he asked where I was from. When I said England he said that was a good country so I agreed because it is not too bad actually and he then tried to make more conversation which was not easy. Luckily the boys returned and we walked back towards the Tuk Tuk. It was boiling hot by now and we climbed out of the sun with much pleasure and grabbed a bottle of cold water to drink. After I had shown Harin some photos of our garden we drove along with a cooling breeze blowing through the Tuk Tuk and left town to go to Righmond Palace. ++++ By the time we were back it was lunch time so we went back to the room with our purchases, he did eventually find a belt and I bought some socks as I can never find a pair when I want to take Hector out at home. Then we went to a very quiet lunch as there seem few people here after yesterday's exodus. Tomorrow will bring the locals staying for a cheap week-end holiday and of course a new set of tourists from abroad.+++ Now it is time to go for our afternoon beach massage and I will walk along with the new flip flops and maybe even have a paddle in the sea if the water is calm, it sounds quite quiet out there now, even the birds seem silent in the heat of the afternoon sun.

Just like in India everything goes round like clockwork in Sri Lanka, same time every day. ===We start the day with a boy sweeping a path somewhere until it is time for the room boy to clean the room. Then if we go backwards from bed time, someone comes in to turn the beds down, tidy the towels & put some chocolates on the lounge table. Before that house service call to put a mosquito tablet in the machine. Then there is the Canape man who calls about 7pm. Prior to that anyone could knock for some reason, usually another house service to fill the bar of booze & water plus any treats that might have been taken. The room boy has usually finished the room cleaning and by 5pm he might pop in to make sure he has not forgotten to put the origami towel animal, that he has made and left by the mirror, onto the bed. If you are in he will of course tell you to have a good evening. He has spent the day cleaning the rooms so was around and about from 8am. Just before him there seems to have been the garden boy with the flowers but that is not scheduled, just his way of making some pin money. So when I say it is a busy day, well it is, but for everyone else not me. ==== The man with the limp told House service that he had done the mosquito machine himself and did not need anything so we got no canapes or chocolates, which is no hardship as we have a stockpile of chocolates in the fridge where they are keeping from melting. He was a little abrupt with the young man who has feelings like anyone so he never returned, the bathmat was on the floor & the beds never got turned down. Luckily I have cracked how to stop the shower from dripping and leaking under the shower door so the mat was dry, it was just untidy and I picked it up when we returned from the evening entertainment, which turned out to be a young woman smoking a hubble bubble machine like they do in France or Tunisia. === The Iguana had long gone to bed and I wonder what he makes of the goings on around him, especially when a young woman tries to get her partner to pose with it down by the pool.

How irritating. The garden boy gave me another bunch of flowers that he had picked from the garden. That was another 200 rupees for his efforts and I should not give him anything as it seems to encourage him to raid the gardens. === We currently have one Lotus Lilly, a red rod type flower and now five alum lillies in two bottle of water sitting on the lounge area table. We also have three palm frond origami birds done by another garden boy. They are very gifted and have to climb the trees to get the materials to make said birds. That is worth paying for as they are not the safest of trees to climb and I don't mind helping them eek a living here when they have the gumption to do something to make more of their lives. You have to admire their style. === Today will be another hard day of swimming, water aerobics, sun bathing then dining at lunch time. Followed by a rest then a nice beach massage. === Hopefully today the massage boy will have cut a hole in the matress for me to put my face into rather than suffocate with my face in a towel on a flatbed. I did not fancy getting oilded up yesterday so stayed here to have a pamper day. That was then and today has dawned bright and sunny. The wind has returned to its westerly way which means the seas have been rough for two days now. It seems the south winds only won the battle for a day but it was lovely to see a calm sea and not have to hear the constant crashing of breakers on the beach all day long. I imagine there are less things to worry about and probaby worse ones but that is enough to worry about for me for now, except for the eternal swooshing sound emitted by the room boy as he sweeps along the pathways. This means it is time to get moving as his next job will be to clean the rooms along the way. Before he can do ours we have to get tanned up with waterproof lotion before the dip into the pool just outside our room. Ah, hard work indeed but much deserved.

It has come to that time when all the nice folk you meet move on either homewards or to another destination for a few more days in the sun before going home. We are left with a lovely German couple with their beautiful baby but they go home tomorrow to Hamburg via Dubai. Then we will be the few remaining Western Europeans here. === We had an early start and drove down by Tuk Tuk to the south of the island along the old Galle Road. Luckily the highway has been finished down to Galle so the road is not packed. Tuk Tuks are not allowed on the new Highway so we Tukked down the west coast passing Bentota Beach where we once stayed and Alutgama when my friend Ruwan lives with his Mom & Dad. === Tuk Tuks are, if you don't know, three wheeled vehicles and the cheapest form or transport next to walking. However they are also the most dangerous but our drover is good so we have no journey worries as he never drives all the way there and back on the middle white line as some traffic does. He stops and gives a donation to Buddah ensuring a safe journey there and back, not many people do that these days as they are going too fast to stop. Tuk Tuks also have no doors to keep you in or seat belts but somehow we get from A to B without mishap baring the other idiot road users who think the road is theirs. The little people of the world really with more hoots than an owl. === We arrived in Ambalangoda, where the dentist is, early so parked up and waited in the police car park. The Policeman was very nice and let the TukTuk driver, Harin, park there last time he took us and again allowed us in with a smile and wave. == We went into the hospital building early in the hope of being seen and were lucky to get waved straight into see the dentist. It is an open plan room with five dentists working side by side with partitions between for some privacy. I climbed onto the couch, took my shoes off and settled down. Each other visit there people have walked by the bottom of the couch and knocked my flip flops in passing so rather than dirty any more saris I thought it polite to keep them on the floor out of the way. Next to the walk way around the room is the window that gives a view over the town. === In this dental practice the dentist mostly works alone having assistance only with some bits and pieces. He hooks a metal pipe onto my lip and leaves it to drain away the fluids which is handy as I can get rid of what I want without worrying about a dreaming assistant deigning to plunge the sucking/draining equipment when they feel fit rather than when I need it before drowning. Having been there twice before I was getting expert at manouevering the tube around to drain efficiently. The dentist did not have to give me an injection as he had already killed the roots off on two previous visits. He completely killed off the tooth then filled it all the time telling me to open my mouth wider. I find that since brain surgery I cannot keep my mouth open as the manidbular muscles get affected during the surgery and it hurts to have my mouth open for long dental sessions. Each time he turned his head when he'd taken his fingers out of my mouth I cloed my mouth for a rest. Having explained about the jaw problem on the previous visit he was not so sensorous about it but had to ask in order to undertake his job in hand. Finally he was done and he said those wonderous words, "You can chew on both sides now," so I assumed he had used the composite rather than amalgam filling material. +++ The man with the limp was called for to pay the final bill and we said our farewells going out into the crowded waiting room. In Sri Lanka the whole family seem to attend the dentist and everyone goes in to see the dentist together. One minute the place is packed the next it has emptied and the surgery has filled. The person in the next booth had four people waiting around as she climbed onto the couch. I expect that it is normal so the dentist just switches off to the surrounding visitors to his treatment section. It is very informal but the dentists are thoroughly professional as are the assistants. There is a reception on the ground floor like all hospitals and one on each floor for the varying departments. I have no idea if there where any beds in there but it really did not look like a hospital like we know them. == The Tuk tuk driver was waiting for us where we left him, he had been chatting to the police man who waved to us in a cherry manner as we arrived. We clambered in and headed back to Kalutara but on the return journey Harin stopped in various places for me to take photos. One was of the lighthouse in Berewala and then the harbour there. They had been drying fish along the route and the harbour was also an area where dried fish could be seen laying around. They were very small tuna which were dried and shipped to Japan as well as used in the domestic markets. The harbour was really big and very busy with many boats in dock. Fishing is carried out at night and the catch brought in during the early morning so we had missed the really busy time. == After taking the photos we moved on and headed home by which time it was lunch time. Harin had stopped for me on Saturday just by a tree which was filled with fruit bats sleeping for the day until 4pm when they woke and went off in search of coconut trees to get sweet sap from. There are a few bats that regularly visit the hotel coconut palms in the late afternooon and on Sunday, after our Spa massage, we were lucky to get some very good photos of some that had been feeding and were still hanging onto their food perches for as long as possible. +++ It had been a really pleasant journey today as the winds had turned southerly which meant that the seas had become calm, the first time since we arrived last Sunday week. Consequently the Tuk tuk was not being constantly buffeted by side winds and more to the point it was not raining like it did on our first journey down to the dentists last Tuesday. ++++ We said our farewells to Harin, went to lunch then came back to the room for a rest then headed out for another massage. We walked out of the front entrance and along the wall to the entrance down onto the beach where we met the cow the other day. It was along the track this time and as we approached she picked her head up and headed towards us in a quick trot but instead of greeting us she turned down the path that she had chased the boys down the other day and it became clear why she had done this a moment later when the train whistled, rattled and screached by. Luckily the cow and her calves did not go far down the road so we were able to walk along the side pathway down onto the beach with the fear of any stampeding cattle either way. We walked onto the beach and were greeted by the white do who began his jumping up and nipping then rubbing around my legs until he was chased off my the lady masseur. She greeted us and the young male masseur appeared also giving his greetings. We went into our separate rooms for our massage, The young man worked hard and I seemed to be on my face for ages until he told me to turn over onto my back. He said that he was getting a new massage bed with a hole to put the face into rather than suffocating on a towel on a flat surface. For some reason he thought we were leaving tomorrow so he said that he had given me an extra massage to which I thanked him and explained that we still had another week. I wondered why I was stuck down on my face for such a long time. He went to give me the head massage and I told him it would be better carried out if I was sitting up so I sat up on the bed and had a really good Indian head massage from him. +++ The man with the limp had already been massaged and was waiting around for me to pay the bill. We left them at this point and walked back across the sand onto the side road up to the railway track and pathway. Along the route the young lady who had given me the dreadful Oily Rag massage appeared and asked why I had not been back to see her. I explained that these were our friends and she accepted that. We left her going to a friend's house to get some things and carried on walking to the junction by the track then turned along the pathway heading for the hotel entrance. The wildlife along the railway track was amazing, I have not seen as many kingfishers during our trips up the canals and mangroves in Sri Lanka and estuaries or rice paddies in India. ++++ When we came to the gates, the guard opened the side gate for us and we took the back entrance to our room avoiding going into reception where we would have looked really tatty in our oily clothes. +++ So ended the days activities and then it was time to shower and dress for dinner which we decided would be taken at the Japanese restaurant tonight rather than going in the main one where it was Mexican night. During the course of the meal a dog walked along the edge of the restaurant and how he got into the hotel grounds is still a mystery. Luckily he went on his way without begging for food and we finished our meal with icecream. I had GreenTee icecream which was like eating herbal icecream, quite delicious actually. Man with limp had plain icecream with a gooey topping which he enjoyed. After that we headed back for the room taking in the stars which were nice to see after all the cloudy evenings we have had.

With another massage under the belt and feelings coming back to my fingertips things are getting better. I have numb fingertips from years of falling on door handles, not through drunkenness but from having seizures or absences. Door handles are killers when they hit your funny bone and with no feeling in the fingers there was no point following a career of a Reflexologist. Yes, I even did that a college but not spelling which is atrocious. Anyway, the masseur could be recommended for a good body fix but I have to say that the best head massages are carried out in India. I figured out what he does to put the oil on. It is thrown out from a bottle with a largish teet on so maybe that came off when he whooshed it and I had it from the bottle neck. At least it is not coconut oil or the clothing would be totally congealed by now. It is a herbal oil, usually brown in colour and must be a turn on for dogs. The local dog, who is rather sweet, would not let me leave the beach, he kept jumping up at me and nipping me just like puppies do to their mother's. Even Hector nips like that but his is more like when he is cleaning the fleas off his legs-type of nipping. The dog had no malice but being young did not know when to stop by which time the Man who now has a Limp spoke to him in a sharp manner which seemed to make him stop. We walked along the back roads rather than back along the beach as we had to pass two other massage establishments to get back to the hotel. Business is slow and if you have been to one place they expect that you go there everytime you walk by. As we walked along the side road we came to the railway track road which runs parallel to the beach road and we came across a small cow with two calves. The train came hurtling along the track to which the cow lifted her head and scarpered down the road we had just walked up. Two young boys who had just started to pester us headed down that road and when the cows took flight the boys had to up speed or be knocked down by the startled creatures. It was amusing to watch as it seemed to be in slow motion. Trains are not too frequent and run by the back of the hotel, in fact one has done just that. Fortunately it has not hooted its presence so the sleeping hotel sleeps on. We are just by a junction or crossing so during the day it hoots its arrival to avoid pedestrians and vehicles crossing the open lines. Also it seems that cows are loco wise.

Funny old day today. It started well then went down hill but the good news is that there is still vino tinto in the fridge, some food and the dehumidifier is working like a dream. I just boiled the kettle to make a cup of Green tea with Slim Tea and instead of having a misted mirror, which sits right hebind the kettle and covers one third of the wall, it is pristine apart from the finger prints put on yesterday trying to prove to the room boy that the wall was cold for an internal wall. You expect internal dew in England as Autumn has arrived but not in the torpics where rooms should be hot and damp just like it is outside. The room boy, who is a very sweet and hard working boy, gathered that we don't like air conditioning running all day and night so he brought along a dehumidifier yesterday and set it up. I got up in the night to empty it and it has been emptied four times since. At least we can be assured of having dry washing and towels because there is no warmth in the room or air flow to dry anything or wasn't until the clean and drying machine arrived. It is obviously brand new and maybe Sri Lanka has decided that they are better for the planet and pocket to run than air con. At least they are on wheels and move around well. I keep losing internet but am connected to a wi-fi service which must have been installed for the professional visitors to the hotel. Ah internet back again and it makes you wonder how everyone coped before it was invented. That is by the by. The Bulbul bird is obviously nesting in the trees at the back of the room and is currently making a din, probably because someone is out there. The sun has broken through the clouds again but it looks quite unsettled out there still. I am not worried about the weather, we have had a fair amount of sun since arriving and a fair amount of rain but it is warm, we are being fed, the rooms are clean and the people are all friendly except of course for certain tourists who have a leaning towards being rude and ignorant. I was going to go down to the pool after having the morning ablutions but could not find the cossie and then when I went to lock the safe it came up with an error so I can do nothing with it because the Man who now has a limp did not give me error clearing instructions. It is not that I think the boys would steal but there is no point putting temptation in anyone's way. However, that is academic but the cossie turned up, it was hanging on the line in the shower room, which is a dark little part of the bathroom. As there is nobody to put sun oil on my back I have given up on the idea of a swim so that can wait until the afternoon when the sun has lost its intensity. Here in Sri Lanka the sun starts to burn the skin quite early on in the day so that is probably due to its position on the planet rather than climate change, Midday and just after are the hot times in England, where the sun has shone quite a lot this summer and we were in danger of having a hosepipe ban but luckily it rained off and on enough to give plants a drink and avoid constant daily manual watering. Well, the sun has gone again and if the Man who now has a limp is not asleep then he will no doubt be feeling hungry enough to come back to the room for lunch. Ah, the sun is winking today as he has just opened his eyes again and reflecting nicely off the pool water into the room. There is nothing nicer than drinking tea in Sri Lanka and of course India as it is so fresh and as you have to use bottled water it is alway clean tasting. It is not so easy doing a coherent blog on here as there is not line feed so it just rambles into a long running scree of scrambled thoughts. Ah, it is 1pm, the man with the limp has returned and so it is time to close this short but scattered leaf turning.

I thought this too good to forget. Today following a nice time sitting by the pool it rained again. Here we are in sunny, er sometimes sunny, Sri Lanka where it should not really be as wet but with climate change you cannot guarantee any sort of patterned weather. It was getting late and the outlook across the sea did not bode well for any further sunning sessions. Therefore we walked back to the room and decided to go for a massage when the rains had eased off. I had to find my old bikini bottoms that I wear during a massage as oils can stain for good when they are Ayervedic. That was sad, I washed them the previous day after a very bad Rub Over With An Oily Rag type massage which ended up a real oil slick. As the room is so damp they had not dried, in fact they had gathered moisture, so the Man who has a limp now offered me a clean pair of his. Im not proud and only the young masseur would see them so put them on. After ten minutes the rains eased and we left the cold, damp room with the aircon blowing. By the time we got out of the hotel gate and walked along the beach it was gone 5pm and the massage parlour was closed. However, as it was attached to a restaurant the owner of the establishment phoned them and within 5 minutes they were there and opening up shop for us. Man with Limp has the lady so I was left with the young man, which is not a problem especially as he is so good. I undressed down to the undies and climbed on the bed. A few seconds later, Swoosh, a wave of oil hit the back of my neck and flowed right down to the undies and under the loose elastic then proceded to go between the cheek cracks. I havet to say that was a first and just hoped there was nothing irritating in the blend. I pictured myself floating away on the excess oils but it was soon worked into the skin. He die some excessive work on the shoulders as it has been stressing with the new room faults. The young man was obviously in tune with my body because he worked on the bits that needed much work and just did superficial massage on the rest. He had been massaging for ten years and when I asked him about this he showed me his credentials and referrals al neatly packaged in plastic so they did not get greased when handled by oiled up clients and of course himself. There were some excellent referals for different nationalities with photos to prove that they were real. I did not doubt him but seem to think that he must have thought that. He had a good teacher, that was a fact but I wondered if wave therapy was part of the sylibus. Posting this while there is still an internet connection but that is another story, just like the room.