Tag Archives: time at the cafe

September 28, 2026 · 12:18 am

Monday 9-28-2026

Dave Mottram – @dmott70 on Substack

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Oh, the joy of it!!! I KNEW it!! 20 minutes into my walk at the gym and Ugly American came in, armed with his phone, talking loudly to someone and already making his way to the end of the gym and back. I was sitting on the bench, waiting for Brian to finish. He passed me, looked at me and said, “Good morning.” I mumbled it back. I’m afraid he lives here and I’ll have to deal with this the best way I can.

Otherwise, though, I increased the incline on the treadmill and burned more calories than usual, so he’s good for SOMETHING…

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I had a good session of old lady yoga stretches just before starting this. I took a good, long time, really breathing into the stretches. It amazes me that I can be so stiff when first getting down on my mat, and how my body finally ‘lets go’ a bit as I breathe after getting into a position.

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I was going to tell you that the weather people were wrong about the rain, but as I was typing, the rain started. It isn’t a hard storm now, though, just a quiet rain. It’s starting to pelt against some of my windows now, though, so I’ll keep an eye out for leaks. Last night I had a power blip and spent a good amount of time resetting my air filters, one clock, my TV, and my computer. (That was why I only wrote two posts yesterday.) It was only a blip, though, and didn’t ruin my evening – just took some doing to get everything up and running again.

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I’m looking forward to spending time at the cafe this afternoon. I have a couple of ideas for sketches to start.

Chrysti Enden

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September 22, 2026 · 4:37 am

Tuesday 9-22-2026

Pamela Schifano – @pammypoo on Substack – The Daily Inspo

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Today’s visit with Harvey was like we were on a roller coaster emotion-wise. On the good side, his blood oxygen was good, so they removed the oxygen nasal tube for the first time in several weeks. He had asked his nurse to help him send a video to Brian, asking for a pizza. While he was asking him, he also told Brian he loved him. His nurse sent a video later of Harvey actually eating a slice of pizza without help and without choking. He was totally confused about time today. When we went in, he was complaining because he couldn’t get his watch to say “December.” We discovered that for some reason, he really thought that was the date. I showed him my watch and Brian showed him his, and Harvey finally calmed down. He didn’t know what year it was, thought he was 90, and that his birthday was in December. He actually knew who I was today and told me he loved me. He went on and on, though, about inappropriate, actually pornographic stuff. SO – some good, some not so good. He was comfortable. He was glad to see us.

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I had a good time at the cafe this afternoon. I had found a photo on the net provided by Arthur David Spota – @adaspota.bsky.social – of an abandoned movie theater in Dresden, Germany. It really struck me, so I tried to draw it.

I was finishing up the details when a couple came up to me. They were very complimentary about my efforts, and I told them they made my day.

Here’s the painted sketch –

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I slept well last night and went to the gym this morning. Just at the end of my walk on the treadmill, the Ugly American came in. I was sitting on the bench waiting for Brian to finish. The man came in, tripped on the door sill, causing me to smile (inside.) He didn’t fall. He passed me and said, “Good morning.” It’s in my upbringing to be civil, so I said it back, gritting my teeth. And so it goes.

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We had one of my favorite dinners last night. It’s a burrito with chicken, salad, nuts, and cranberries, plus some kind of dressing. It’s absolutely delicious. It’s really too large, though, for a meal, and Brian really doesn’t like leftovers, so we won’t have it often.

It’s official – I’m down 100 pounds and a little over 94 inches now. I’m officially into maintenance now, just trying to keep my good eating habits, but allowing myself to branch out a bit, and concentrating on building strength, flexibility and stamina.

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A lady on Substack thinks I should write a book about my impressions of Thailand and include my sketches. I’m just going to concentrate on writing articles for Substack at this point and see what the reaction is.

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I have met another lady on Substack lately who just left Chiang Mai to go home to her native Australia. Apparently, she loves Chiang Mai, has been here several times and knows a whole lot more about than I do. She plans to come back in April and maybe we can arrange to meet!

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www.bykateeelford.com – C.K. Tice

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July 3, 2026 · 12:29 am

Friday 7-3-2026

Jutta Bauer – PsychoBitch

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I’m having my usual Fabulous Friday. I did fine this morning at the gym. We had a good breakfast and I got a truly wonderful massage. It had been a while since I thanked the two ladies especially, so I gave them hand-painted thank you cards today. They seemed to really like them, smiling and showing each other the card they received. :0)

Brian and I just had a snack and we’re spending some time at my place and then will move to the cafe to be out of the housekeeper’s way in a bit. Meanwhile, I’m writing posts for the blog and catching up on some other things.

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These are my latest sketches. The bottom one shows two women on their hands and knees scrubbing the outside, floor, and steps of a building with rags, a brush, and buckets of soap. I was really impressed at how hard they worked and that it seemed to be a normal part of their duties.

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When I came home from the cafe yesterday afternoon, Brian was at my place finishing up installing a brand new shower assembly! The shower head I was using was 7/8 clogged and the whole thing was leaking pretty badly. It had gotten to the point where I was scrunching myself up in the corner in order to get enough water to soap up, wash my hair, and rinse off again. Brian called the maintenance man who brought a tool to install a means of securing the bottom part of the assembly more securely, and the job was done!

This morning was the first time I used it. I was in Heaven! I didn’t want to come out. I actually have a luxurious rain head in there now, plus a 2nd hand-held head if desired (you can switch back and forth) plus it’s the one the housekeeper uses for cleaning the shower. I already had the instant hot water heater, so I’m simply delighted!

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I had a fun time at the cafe yesterday. A lady from China (I think) stopped and asked me if she could see some of my sketches. I showed her, and we had a really nice conversation. She is an artist and does her drawings on something electronic. She showed me a drawing of an eye that was stunning. She was really good. Anyway, she was going back home yesterday afternoon, but it was the kind of spur of the moment thing that can happen in a large city like this that has a lot of tourists. I just love it!

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Pamela Schifano – Mermaid Musings – @pammypoo on Substack

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January 22, 2026 · 11:46 pm

Friday, 1-23-2026

“Elephant and Bird” – Shaaz Jung

This is one of the most wonderful photos I have ever seen. I just love it.

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BC – SPCA

I had my massage this morning so I’m feeling wonderfully loose and comfortable right now. Ahhhh!

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Yesterday right at 4pm it got very quiet outside. This is really unusual because there is always a lot of activity on the street. I got up to see what was happening – or not. There were lots and lots of policemen on foot, stopping the traffic and even the pedestrian traffic on the road. Everything was at a complete standstill. The road was empty!

Suddenly, a police car came speeding down the street, lights flashing. It was followed by at LEAST 20 more, one after the other. Then a white van passed, followed by three more. When they were out of sight, the policemen on the street motioned that activity could resume. Immediately, the street was full in both directions with cars, buses, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, motor bikes, scooters, bicycles and people walking as if nothing had occurred. A truck came by with a man who was grabbing cones and putting them in the back of the truck. Another came out in the opposite direction.

I tried to find out what had happened, who was in the motorcade, but Google showed nothing scheduled for that time, and the general explanation was that it was probably a governmental official.

Certainly was dramatic! 😳

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We’re going to the cafe soon to get out of Khun Nong’s way while she cleans my place. I will bring my sketchbook and supplies, my Kindle, my earbuds, and my sweatshirt, because sometimes they keep the temperature in there like a freezer…

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I’ve read that a LOT of the U.S. will get really nasty weather starting tomorrow and lasting through Monday or so. UGH. My former home, Arkansas, has declared an emergency, as well as several other states. I hope you can all stay safe and warm. ‘Hole in’ if you can, getting all you need before it hits, and then staying home. I hope your power stays on and that you ‘weather’ this storm well.

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November 7, 2025 · 9:08 pm

Saturday, November 8, 2025

Unsplash

My day started with walking a mile on the treadmill at the gym, then breakfast with Brian, followed by a glorious massage. I look forward to my massages each week. I will NEVER forget Lynn Moody, and my wonderful massages in Arkansas🙏🏻, but I’m grateful I found another really skilled massage therapist I can trust here.

It occurred to me that I might not have left a review on Google about the place I go, so I checked this morning and I had NOT! So I rectified that just a minute ago, basically telling people my life has changed since finding a beautifully run, clean, caring place that has experienced people who care about their clients. Khun Weaw has her work cut out for her, dealing with a 78-year-old with a lot of stress. She knows just how much pressure to use to give me relief, but not ‘break’ me! 😁 🙏🏻

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I got back to my place, changed clothes and Brian and I went to visit Harvey at the nursing home. We had to pay an upcharge and long wait time to get a Grab, but I guess that was because of the Loy Krathong and Yi Peng celebrations. A lot of shops close, and maybe Grab was short of drivers with people going home to be with family. Also, people come from all over the globe to see these remarkable celebrations, so demand was probably very high for transportation.

Harvey was more alert than he was the last time we saw him. He wasn’t making a lot of sense, though.  I was talking about something about the condo, and he asked “When did you move?” He said to Brian, “I thought you lived on Earth.” He talked about starting an import/export business, and then wanted us to bring ‘a dozen’ things from the grocery so he could sell them at the nursing home… He did acknowledge we were leaving and said, “See you soon.” He seemed comfortable, wasn’t hostile, and seemed glad we were there. 

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By the time we got back, it was already time for my terrific housekeeper, Khun Nong, to be cleaning my place. We didn’t need to bother her because I had taken the things I wanted to take to the cafe to Brian’s place when we shared breakfast. We grabbed our stuff and left.

I enjoyed making some more sketches, read more of my current book in my Kindle, people and traffic watched – since I got my favorite seat by the front window – while enjoying an iced mocha and later a lemonade.

My housekeeper did a stellar job as usual. There isn’t a particle of dust anywhere, and everything is scrubbed. Things on tables are straightened and all is neat – not one of my strong suits! Today I sat down at my computer to catch up on email and saw this! The white flowers are in a shot-glass size glass vase and were left on my computer table. I just couldn’t stop grinning. I’m so grateful to have found her.

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We were gone from just after 11:00 until about 5:30. Then we had dinner and visited awhile. When I got back to my place and had caught up on email, I was so tired and sleepy I just didn’t write any posts for the blog. Apologies.

I hope you’re having a really nice day/evening today.

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