After success with planting shallots last weekend we decided to do more. They appear to love the clay rich soil in this area.

All the kids pitched in with Jor and Nu doing the heavy work, turning the soil to make it suitable for planting.

The improvements continue thanks to a great bunch of kids.

Tai had done more prep in the morning, tightening the roof poles and then the whole team went to it in the afternoon. With the promise of a special outing next weekend if they can complete the Villa work , we are expecting another all out push this afternoon.

Fantastic effort kids.

After selecting their wood they came back and set to work. The finished stilts are not yet complete, Tai is still outside working on his (9 p.m); but I’m sure they will have lots of fun when they’re done.

Very inventive!

The children especially enjoyed with further work on the hill over the tunnel as it meant getting really messy with the mud being used.

The Monkey bars are now done all bar sanding and staining.

The hanging Bamboo is complete.

And the climbing frame is taking good shape.

We’re not expecting the crew back until next week now so the hardest job is to stop the children using the playground before it is all complete and checked for safety. Thankfully the children here are usually very good doing as they are instructed so hopefully it won’t be a big problem.

We understand that some of the crew who have been working here will have moved on by next week and we would all like to say a big thanks to you all for all your hard work and please feel free to drop in if you ever return and see the kids enjoying your efforts.

After a hard mornings work and with a shortage of water from our normal supply there was a short break in the afternoon when the children went for a swim in the river nearby, supervised by myself, House Mother Muay and some of the Art Relief International volunteers. Great fun and a great way to cool off.

To see all the photos from today please visit our photobucket album here.

There some more gravel to be spread first.

Its hard work in the heat of the morning, hats were a must.

But it was great to see everyone working with a smile on their face.

Then, after a well earned break, three volunteers set to scrubbing the garden walls clean, ready for painting.

The rest of the crew all took a paint brush and put first coats of paint on the concrete rings that will serve as the vegetable plots.

As usual veryone pitched in with lots of effort.

With two wall panels cleaned and first coats of paint on all the concrete rings we decided that everyone had worked enough for the day and broke for lunch before spending the afternoon at Huay Tung Taow.

For more videos please visit our youtube account here.

With help from my friend Ally I have been learning to use the Moodle learning Centre software in order to set up courses for local children to follow via the internet.

These courses will include multi-choice questions, speaking practice, using videos of both myself and the children themselves, speaking English and much much more.

Just this weekend we managed to get some very good videos of the Stratton House children practising basic introductory conversation.

Some of the videos will soon appear on Thai Schools English as a practise aid for other children in the community.

 This time we took two of the bicycles with us to extend the range of the days activities.
As usual the kids had lots of fun playing in the water.

Water snail collecting seemed to be the popular past-time for the day.
In between times the bicycles were put to good use as was the nearby play area with swings, climbing frame, etc.
With so much to do the children were very undemanding giving myself and Boon time to relax and enjoy the atmosphere too.

For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.

And here are some video clips:)