Nothing happens, but that's coming along nicely

It is winter and that is the best time for most Dutch people to go to Thailand. In recent weeks we have met several friends here in Nang Lae, spent time with them and exchanged experiences. A lot of news has already trickled through the blog to those who stayed behind, but an update of the state of affairs on our little country has not been available for quite some time, as reported by one of our guests. She is right; all kinds of (us) striking aspects of life in Thailand have been described, but the state of construction (plans) is still largely a mystery to the outside world. Time to catch up.

In the beginning there was a rice field. Anyone who has faithfully read all the blogs knows that a pond has now been dug in it, part of it has been raised, a fence has been put up and two long waving flags have been placed on it. The original plan was to build an octagonal house, small inside (29m2) with a spacious roof and veranda (120m2). The drawings for the basic construction of the floor and roof were ready and a quotation had already been made. A carport had to be added to the house; getting into a car that has been in the Thai sun is no fun.

All kinds of factors, including that we wanted to install solar panels and collect rainwater, made us think again about the plans and ultimately led to different insights. Instead of the base for the octagonal house, the first roof and floor for the carport are built. The carport will be a lot bigger than originally thought. In addition to a place for the car, it must provide space for a house of 4 x 5 meters with a semi-circular semi-open bathroom and a spacious covered veranda. As soon as that is all done, we will live there and then start at our leisure on the octagonal house. Or maybe we're going to start something else or start nothing at all.

Which brings us to the rather cryptic title of this story. Because after all the preparations were done, it suddenly turned out that the intended builders had a bigger job elsewhere and we therefore had to wait. Two days later, however, the holes for the foundation had been dug. After it was poured, the floor was next, but because it unexpectedly started to rain, that couldn't continue. A day later it was still there.

And that's how it usually goes. One day we hear that something is not possible, the next day it just happened. Our Thai rule cousin is going out tomorrow for 4 days and we had already reconciled ourselves that nothing would happen from the pouring of the floor until he got back. Until he reported yesterday that, also to his own surprise, pillars had already been poured and we had to quickly purchase a generator early this morning, then the welding work for the roof construction can start on Monday.

In the meantime, the sewage pipes have also been connected via the grease separator to the septic tank, there is a well to collect the purified water to water the garden and a foundation has been laid to set up the water tanks. In passing, we also ordered the roof plates. We want to paint them on the inside before they are mounted and it will be quite a job to stay ahead of the builders.

Once the builders are done, it's our turn. After the frames for the doors and windows have been placed, a bamboo wickerwork will be placed between the inner pillars on the inside. Against that we stack the rice husk bags that we are now filling. The walls that are created in this way are smeared with a mixture of clay, sand and lime (I don't know the Dutch name for it anytime soon).

When it will all be done, we don't know. Planning here offers stress rather than certainty. We are not used to it at home, but it only took us a while before we were able to really switch to the Thai style, but it turns out to be wonderfully relaxed to have no fixed plans and planning.