
This is a wonderful fruit in Thailand called, “Logan” or, locally, “Lamyai.” One of the ladies who cleans the public places in our building came running up to us recently when we were returning from our morning gym session with a sack containing a branch with a LOT of these as a gift to us!
In this picture I found, you can see the beige peeling. You press the fruit lightly and the skin splits, allowing you to peel it. This leaves a white, round pulp with a big seed. You use your thumb to pop the seed out and then eat the white pulp. It’s delicious! Messy? Yes. A bit laborious? Yes. Worth it? YES!

Last Friday my cleaning lady, Khun Nong, left these for me! I will NEVER get beyond being THRILLED to HAVE a cleaning lady. I have taken care of whatever house I’m in since 1969 and have never been able to afford having help. Having someone who leaves my place spotless each week, doing all the heavy stuff it’s getting harder for me to handle, is a true relief. Having a person who is so kind as to leave flowers to “Brian’s Mum” is priceless.

I put one of these ‘thank you’ mini-paintings each week under the payment I leave for her to show her how much I appreciate her efforts.

This is one of my latest sketchbook paintings. It shows my joy about FINALLY getting the magic “RETIREMENT” stamp in my passport on July 22, 2025. This opens doors to things I couldn’t do before, so it’s a very welcome change after 4 months of jumping through hoops. We still have 90-day reporting, and I’ll renew my visa in one year, but it’s a significant improvement!
We also got my husband’s medical visa approved. We have to continue hoop jumping every 90 days with forms to be filled out at the hospital, but we know what to do now, so it won’t be as nerve-racking next time.

Otaki Mail
July Weight Report – I have officially hit the 70-pounds off since my heaviest mark now. (I’ve lost 16 pounds since the initial visit with my doctor here) whom I see every couple of months so far. My plan is to see her every 3 months for monitoring my medications, blood work, etc. going forward if she’s pleased when we go toward the end of August. There is almost 66 inches less of me than when I was my largest.

I’m DELIGHTED to be able to post on my blog again! It’s an essential part of my day to try to find things I want to share with you. It enriches my life to find so many talented folks creating wonderful things on our planet, or recording nature with their camera expertise.
There are several things that are different now for me, now that I have changed the plan I’m using. For example, it took about 10 minutes of messing around until I found where comments were listed and I could respond.
There were several people who wrote, asking for access to the ‘private’ blog. I’m trying to figure out how to get back to them, telling them they are now free to come look any time they wish. Hopefully, I can figure out all the changes soon.
Have a wonderful day or evening.