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 My blog celebrates its 13th anniversary today (including its previous Yahoo format). I wonder how many readers have been following it from the very beginning? The blog stats say there are 200-300 unique views daily, though there are only about 20 regulars that I know of. If you've never signed the Guestbook (tab above), why not reveal yourself?
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 Another in my occasional series of "Flashbacks" looking back at blog entries made before this Weebly version started. In March this year 25 people were killed when their bus fell into a 100m deep valley in QiaoJia County, Yunnan. The roads there are known to be particularly hazardous . And just yesterday, a bus full of Middle School students fell into a river, killing 28 children, also in QiaoJia County ...... so guess where I’m going tomorrow?  My INSETT training course in QiaoJia starts on Monday and I was due to be picked up from YiLiang tomorrow (I got back “home” this afternoon after a pretty torturous 18 hour bus ride). But now, all QiaoJia cars have been “grounded” until the registered drivers there have received “safety training”. So I have been asked to take a bus back to Zhaotong tomorrow morning (with all my resources, computer and hastily washed clothes etc) and meet some ongoing transport that QiaoJia Education Commission will have arranged. My relaxed holiday mood has been well and truly shattered!
 The den JD and I have been building for over four years
now boasts two arches and the beginnings of a wall.  I now have an audience
as I compose my blog posts! We arrived back home yesterday after a fabulous and successful month in the UK. JD got his toy Nerf guns confiscated on arrival in China (a country where common sense and a sense of humour are often sorely lacking). Fortunately JiaJia managed to persuade the security officer to let her post them to our house rather than lose them completely.
Now I just need to re-register with the local police and get our dead car battery replaced. But we are happy to be back as life slowly returns to its normal pace.
Our last little trip to London yesterday. While JiaJia checked out the Van Gogh exhibition at the Tate Gallery (crowded), JD and I walked to the Imperial War Museum where JD proceeded to tell me imaginative statistics and backgrounds to all the various planes, tanks and weaponry (to the amusement of passers-by). Who knew a Spitfire was from Canada and could travel at 10,000mph?
We also managed to meet up with my good friend Miki, recently returned from running a hotel in Poland. We all joined up for a picnic by the Thames before Miki went on her way and the rest of us headed back to Sidcup to start packing for China.
My youngest brother Andy and his children, Louie and Daisy, visited today. We started with a Wetherspoons breakfast together - fast becoming something of a Hider tradition!  With intermittent rain outside we spent the morning playing Monopoly and then, during a dry hour in the afternoon, managed to visit "Lark in the Park" - a Christian community event with many children's clubs.
One of JD's wishes for our UK trip to was to sleep in a tent, inspired by our reading of Enid Blyton's "Famous Five" stories recently.  So we borrowed a tent from my Aunt and set it up in the garden. Last night was the second (and last!) night in the tent. It was cool inside despite the recent hot weather here (almost the hottest on record) but the noise of foxes, rainstorms and police chase helicopters didn't lead to a whole lot of sleep. Midnight feasts are a nice father-son bonding thing though!
 We spent today at Kew Gardens, along with my Dad and Ratch. It was very hot and the tropical greenhouses felt cooler than outside at times! We got to see quite a lot of the huge gardens, including a new children's play area, a bamboo Chinese section and a tall treetop walk.    We spent a final day at Vix's yesterday, eating home-cooked and restaurant grub, and meeting mutual friends and family members who I hadn't seen in over a decade.
Before we took the three trains home, we explored a local garden, open to the public but rarely visited. We had intended to visit this time last year, but torrential rain changed the plans. This time it was dry and we enjoyed the various flowers and (rather strangely, often Chinese) trees. We're spending a long weekend with my good friend Vix and her husband Dave in Worthing, West Sussex. Despite the chilly weather, JD was keen to hit the beach, collect shells and have a swim in the sea. Thankfully Vix is game for anything! I did join them on the second day.  The windy conditions saw many kite surfers whizzing along be the beach and occasionally [see photo] being whisked up into the sky.
 We've also visited half a dozen other properties during our time in Chippenham with a view to buying another one to rent out. As we drove back to Sidcup yesterday we decided to make an offer on this ground floor flat in West End Close. Our initial offer wasn't accepted but we think we might be close to an agreement. Watch this space.... [23rd July: Our revised offer was accepted. Let the paperwork begin!]
 One of our main aims for this year's visit to the UK was to view the flat we purchased earlier this year (sight unseen, but on the recommendation of trusted friends!). It's the one behind the white car. We were very impressed by the repairs and decoration that had been done for us by a handyman and our friends. A tenant is already in.
My brother Dave (plus wife Sarah and daughter Esme) visited us in Chippenham yesterday [top left] and it was really lovely to see them all. JD still has a few memories of when Dave and Esme visited us in China. Their visit coincided with Chippenham's annual festival which, this year, was themed around space and sci-fi. I was dead excited to see a phalanx of stormtroopers [top right].
 A nice day in Bath yesterday with our good friend Krista. Lovely city but, on the day we were there, full of Chinese and gradating students!
  I drove us down to Chippenham in Wiltshire today in a hire car. Earlier this year we bought a small buy-to-let flat here and we hope to move to the town permanently sometime in the 2020s. We'll spend a week here getting to know the area better and looking at more flats with a view to invest again later if we can. But first things first - a slow puncture to deal with!
 My parents drove us to Harwich yesterday - a lovely port in Essex. My Aunt (Liz) and cousin (Beth) share a large house there and we are being looked after really well with food galore.  We've had some nice walks down the promenade to see the ferries and cargo ships coming in and out.
JD has had great fun planning Nerf gun attacks with Beth's son, Benji. And Beth's new-born daughter, Dulcie, has been happily handed around too! We head back to Sidcup later today to get ready for tomorrow's Car Boot Sale and evening church visit.  We spent a lovely day up in London yesterday, meeting up with my good friend Ratch for some lunch and "Matilda". The musical was great fun and came courtesy of some discounted tickets through another good friend. Thanks, Mikki!  |
 About the blogger
Paul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and updates this blog about his life there every other day. Past blog entries
September 2019
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