Cokie snoozing with his Grandpa outside Grandpa's shop. We have spent literally hours relaxing on this makeshift platform. Nearly all Thai homes have some sort of a resting platform used for just this reason!
Our home with the new truck (we were able to buy after our first group tour of Thailand!)
The Siam Nakhon Thani home before the garden improvements.
Post garden improvements...
Cokie loves his bike! Since this is a closed, gated community, Cokie does get to go out a bit further than would otherwise be allowed on a typically insane Thai road.
Another view of the garden...
Som's kitchen!
The living room...
Living room heading toward the garden...
The dining room heading to the kitchen...
Baskets!
More baskets!
Som kickin' in the pad!
A typical view of our neighborhood in Siam Nakhon Thani. Our neighbors are some of the top elite in the area. In our immediate neighborhood, we have a general, two colonels, some judges, the ex-governor of the entire province, a US Embassy officer, the Chief of Police and many others... Our neighbors take good care of us and always invite us to their functions and events. They even plan street parties for me and Som when we return! They are great people!
Cokie loves chasing down the ice cream man! This day he heard the music from far away and basically just took off from home without permission (we would have never allowed him to do this!) and road his bike about a kilometer to find the cart. The man realized that this little farang boy was out of his neighborhood and brought him back directly to his home. I think the fact that Cokie had no money was also somewhat of an issue....
Our pool! This place rocks!
The truck can be kind of a pain on the narrow streets of Nakhon. So we often opt for our motorcycle.
I jokingly call this plot, "Cokie's college"! Who knows actually but it is a bit of land Som and I picked up as an investment.
Som's wonderful grandmother. Although she passed away in 2007, her sincerety and kindness are with us all always. She was a lovely woman with a wonderful personality.
She had one tooth.
Som being goofy with grandma!
Cokie with Som's uncle, the Abbott of one of Nakhon's main temples. He passed away in 2008.
A night scene in Nakhon.
Eating out in Nakhon is amazing! One of our favorite venues is the Nakhon Night Market. Actually there are three night markets in Nakhon and we frequent all of them just for fun, something to do on a Wednesday night...
Parts of Nakhon flood yearly. Here we are trekking to Som's grandma's place to make sure all is OK on her "island".
Cokie sleeping with Grandma and Grandpa!
Cokie with one of Nakhon's living legend, Mr. Sucthardt, a famous shadow puppeteer.
Cokie greeting one of his millions of relatives in Nakhon. There are literally entire sections of Nakhon that are filled with nothing but Som's family! They all love thier little "luke clung" (half-breed) kin!
Cokie, Som and Grandma in morning prayers at mom's local temple.
Cokie greeting his Great Grandpa!
Som showing off some of her childhood graffiti that is still on the back of a cabinet!
Eating dinner Thai style! Tables are for woosies!
Som's entire family! Nice!
In the heat of the day, a snooze always makes sense.
Cokie getting a bath in his favorite tub! Cokie has used this tub for over six years now...I guess one of these days soon he will no longer be able to fit in it.
Our view of Khao Luang National Park from the Nakhon House.
One of our favorite day activities we enjoy is a trip to Khao Luang National Park for a dip in some of the mountain streams and waterfalls. This is a fantastic way to cool off on a hot day! And it's a spectacular national park with tons of wildlife. Over the years, we have seen Spectacled Langurs, Stump-tailed Macaques, Pangolin, Elephant and tons of birds!
Cokie and Som at Akio Falls!
Taking a dip at Akio.
So what if it's raining!
The forest of Khao Luang is splendid. One can still find some great primary forest in Khao Luang. Also there are some of the world's largest tree ferns!
Mount Thale Mog ("Fog of the Sea"). This is a great view in the early mornings.
In 2006 or 2007, Som and I were cruising the back roads of Nakhon Province in the foothills of Khao Luang National Park looking for a plot of land to start a "garden". We ended up picking up over ten acres of land with a mangostein/jack fruit/durian orchard and a stream running right through the middle of it! Here is our stream and our land on both sides. We now lovingly call the property "Promluk Gardens"!
Hanging at our stream with some local Nakhon friends!
Som and Cokie by the stream.
The stream goes through about 1000 feet of the property which is on both sides of Cokie and Som.
This small mountain is on the property as well! We are not sure what we want to do here. Maybe just use it as a garden retreat, someplace to hang out with the sounds of a stream and the birds, who knows.
We also have our very own betelnut orchard!
A good part of the property was cleared before we bought it. We spent a couple weeks one summer planting tons of fruit and native trees in hopes of bringing back a forest in the near future. This very view today is very different with all of the trees that are growing quickly.
Our views of Khao Luang National Park from Promluk Gardens. I will never tire of seeing these phenomenal views.
Just one of the lovely palms and ferns that are all over the property.
Although our forest is young and just now regenerating, there are a few older trees like this one with its spectacular buttress roots.
Our very own Durian tree!
A view of the lot from on top of the mountain which is also on the property.
One of our forest giants up the hill!
Nawarn is the gentleman from whom we purchased the property. We have since become great friends and visit him regularly when we are back in the "hood". Here he is at his distillery in the back woods of the area. He makes mangostein whiskey and wine here and makes a good living at it! And it is some potent stuff!
Playing bocce ball with Nawarn!
Cokie is pretty good at the sport as well!
Promluk Temple is a beautiful landmark that tells us where to turn to get to the property.
In addition to the images that follow, log on to our Thailand Galleries:
Mammals of Thailand
Birds of Thailand
Temples and Ancient Sites of Thailand
Reptiles and Amphibians of Thailand
Lanscapes of Thailand
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