- Joined
- Sep 21, 2022
- Messages
- 27
- Reaction score
- 81
- Location
- Ban Chang, Rayong
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 13b
- Country
Here a little bit about myself.
I am Dutch and live in Thailand after having lived in 5 countries and travelled to nearly 60 countries this seems to be the place where I am most comfortable and it is the first time in my life that I call a place home. Well after having left my nest...
I love reading and learning, but for some reason this has mostly been limited to science, work and other hobbies. When it comes to nature I have always been the kind that looks in awe, without knowing much about it. But even when I was a kid, I remember telling my dad that I would much rather have a terrarium than an aquarium. And than I came to Thailand. For this it was a dream come through, because I basically live in a terrarium. the climate and environment kinda dictates that. Plants that you buy back home and need to treat with great care they just grow here everywhere. As one member pointed out, they arrive with the bird droppings... lol. And it's pretty much the same with the animals. I have 4 different kind of lizard living in my garden on a permanent basis and once (fortunately only once) I had a monitor lizard pay us a visit. We have many birds and butterflies in the garden. And I even spotted an owl several times a few years back. Also when it comes to plants, everything here growths much faster and bigger. The main reason is of course that back home we have plants in pots and in the living room or they would not survive the winter so there growth is rather limited.
I will start a story in Showcase and I will not just talk about my pond, but also about the rest of my garden and the animals that we have.
I/we... Let me explain. After I made my garden I met my wife. My wife is Thai and comes from one of the poorest parts of the country. I really had to explain that I did not want my garden to turn into a farm, and she respects that most of the time. Let me give you a very simple example to explain the mindset. One time when we went to visit her parents, we brought a beautiful plant with flowers for her mom. When her father saw that, the very first thing he asked us if he can eat those flowers.... He was disappointed to learn that this was not food and struggles to comprehend that it is ok to have flowers in the garden simply because they are beautiful. This may sound a little negative from my end, but I do not mean it negative. It is merely an observation. Different priorities in life. Yet he is one of the most beautiful and sweetest men I have ever met in my life. So back to my GF. She has the back of the garden for herself. And this used to be kinda of a farm for her. There were times she grew herbs. An other time she had like 9 different chilli trees. And now she made 2 small greenhouses and she is growing caladiums in there. Some she sells and some we put in the garden as you will see later in the showcase.
My remaining time I spend reading and playing in my workshop. I like chemistry and occasionally make my own fireworks and some of the chemicals needed for this. I also make model airplanes. I love listening to music. And reading about science in general and astronomy in particular makes my day most days. And than of course I read news and politics, but this I have to do in doses or I get depressed.
And than, last but not least, I have a beautiful 3.5 year old son. He seems smarter than me so he actually has a future. He has a good sense of humour. And damn, he has a strong mind. But, if I explain to him, than he is normally ok and turns around again.
I came to this forum initially because I had (have) and algae issue, but I must say that I am pleasantly surprised about the kind and positive atmosphere on this forum. I am looking forward to see you guys around and get to know you better. And I will try to share what I do with my pond and its surroundings.
See you all around,
Joey
I am Dutch and live in Thailand after having lived in 5 countries and travelled to nearly 60 countries this seems to be the place where I am most comfortable and it is the first time in my life that I call a place home. Well after having left my nest...
I love reading and learning, but for some reason this has mostly been limited to science, work and other hobbies. When it comes to nature I have always been the kind that looks in awe, without knowing much about it. But even when I was a kid, I remember telling my dad that I would much rather have a terrarium than an aquarium. And than I came to Thailand. For this it was a dream come through, because I basically live in a terrarium. the climate and environment kinda dictates that. Plants that you buy back home and need to treat with great care they just grow here everywhere. As one member pointed out, they arrive with the bird droppings... lol. And it's pretty much the same with the animals. I have 4 different kind of lizard living in my garden on a permanent basis and once (fortunately only once) I had a monitor lizard pay us a visit. We have many birds and butterflies in the garden. And I even spotted an owl several times a few years back. Also when it comes to plants, everything here growths much faster and bigger. The main reason is of course that back home we have plants in pots and in the living room or they would not survive the winter so there growth is rather limited.
I will start a story in Showcase and I will not just talk about my pond, but also about the rest of my garden and the animals that we have.
I/we... Let me explain. After I made my garden I met my wife. My wife is Thai and comes from one of the poorest parts of the country. I really had to explain that I did not want my garden to turn into a farm, and she respects that most of the time. Let me give you a very simple example to explain the mindset. One time when we went to visit her parents, we brought a beautiful plant with flowers for her mom. When her father saw that, the very first thing he asked us if he can eat those flowers.... He was disappointed to learn that this was not food and struggles to comprehend that it is ok to have flowers in the garden simply because they are beautiful. This may sound a little negative from my end, but I do not mean it negative. It is merely an observation. Different priorities in life. Yet he is one of the most beautiful and sweetest men I have ever met in my life. So back to my GF. She has the back of the garden for herself. And this used to be kinda of a farm for her. There were times she grew herbs. An other time she had like 9 different chilli trees. And now she made 2 small greenhouses and she is growing caladiums in there. Some she sells and some we put in the garden as you will see later in the showcase.
My remaining time I spend reading and playing in my workshop. I like chemistry and occasionally make my own fireworks and some of the chemicals needed for this. I also make model airplanes. I love listening to music. And reading about science in general and astronomy in particular makes my day most days. And than of course I read news and politics, but this I have to do in doses or I get depressed.
And than, last but not least, I have a beautiful 3.5 year old son. He seems smarter than me so he actually has a future. He has a good sense of humour. And damn, he has a strong mind. But, if I explain to him, than he is normally ok and turns around again.
I came to this forum initially because I had (have) and algae issue, but I must say that I am pleasantly surprised about the kind and positive atmosphere on this forum. I am looking forward to see you guys around and get to know you better. And I will try to share what I do with my pond and its surroundings.
See you all around,
Joey
