Jackal Jackpot
11 months ago
Friday, July 25, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Kitchen construction phase
In the usual fashion in Sri Lanka, everything has to take its own course, and however hard I try to rush it all work on the kitchen construction is at the pace of the Baas who this week had to collect his wife who returned from the Middle East and then the normal procedure of taking her to his village, as they live in her village and all the customs attached thereto to be followed before he gets down to work on this project,
My schedule is limited and trying to coordinate with a schedule which always says he will come tomorrow and does not come is how things happen as the word I cannot come is not in their vocabulary!!!!
I have earmarked two rather unattractive trees by the kitchen to be cut for the wood for the main beams in the room, so that I can grow some more old growth trees instead in this space in the future, hopefully with little damage to the environment. Such is the uniqueness of the site where the bricks were made around the corner, the rocks quarried about a km away and the wood from the property, with the cement and roofing sheets coming from afar, as I have decided once and for all to put sheets instead of the coconut thatching which is short term. I would have like to use tiles, but the monkey menace where they are on the roof all the time needs to be taken into to consideration in making these choices.
Living rough on my own on Ratmale has been an experience, as villages don’t want to leave you alone even spending the night in the verandah on the floor because it is far more pleasant than in bed in their homes, all closed up and hot, while here is open and breezy with the windy season in full swing.
In the usual fashion in Sri Lanka, everything has to take its own course, and however hard I try to rush it all work on the kitchen construction is at the pace of the Baas who this week had to collect his wife who returned from the Middle East and then the normal procedure of taking her to his village, as they live in her village and all the customs attached thereto to be followed before he gets down to work on this project,
My schedule is limited and trying to coordinate with a schedule which always says he will come tomorrow and does not come is how things happen as the word I cannot come is not in their vocabulary!!!!
I have earmarked two rather unattractive trees by the kitchen to be cut for the wood for the main beams in the room, so that I can grow some more old growth trees instead in this space in the future, hopefully with little damage to the environment. Such is the uniqueness of the site where the bricks were made around the corner, the rocks quarried about a km away and the wood from the property, with the cement and roofing sheets coming from afar, as I have decided once and for all to put sheets instead of the coconut thatching which is short term. I would have like to use tiles, but the monkey menace where they are on the roof all the time needs to be taken into to consideration in making these choices.
Living rough on my own on Ratmale has been an experience, as villages don’t want to leave you alone even spending the night in the verandah on the floor because it is far more pleasant than in bed in their homes, all closed up and hot, while here is open and breezy with the windy season in full swing.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
our cooking arrangements a glimpse of photos
Spot the fire with three dishes on the go at the same time!!!
a new glimpse of Ratmale
It has been just over a year since I last stayed here, as I have been busy with my planting in Hingurakgoda, and therefore while always visiting this place never stayed the night. I still have a kitchen to build and sort out the water tank and a few other areas before this becomes the livable lodge lovable lodge it is planned to be. I spent the 10 days over Vesak holidays in Polonnaruwa, first to oversee the sowing of my paddy fields before the Vesak Poya (see http://www.villagerinsrilanka.blogspot.com/) I then moved over to Ratmale 15 km from the agricultural site to Kumbuk Pokuna to ascertain what is required and plan to finish the rest of the work as soon as possible.
Needless to say the man I am relying on to get the work started does not see the urgency, and have to subtlely get him moving to get the work done, and my presence at the place would I hope get him to be a little more serious.
I had Gamini and Sagara join me. W
e really lived off the land. We first had to clear the place, cut the underbrush, sweep the area, clean the pond, bring some order and clean and mop the place that had gathered dust.
Most of the fish we ate as well as the 4 large lullas were caught in the pond in front of the lodge as the photos will attest to the size of the fish and we ate some fried and dried some in the sun to eat later in the week as waw karavala. The kitchen is yet to be built and accordingly we cooked by the side of the pond as seen in the photos, and in front of the house to minimize the area we have to take care of from predators while the food is cooking.
The people in the village descend here in the evenings to have their bath, but at nightfall it is deserted as everyone heads home before dark to avoid confronting an elephant. We are therefore really left with the feeling we are in the middle of the jungle and the elephants, who have better sight at night than humans are watching us from their vantage, while we scurry around to catch bait in the canal for fishing the big fish in the main pond.
We even invited some friends in the village one night for dinner cooked in the outside fires, as we promised them safe passage in the cab to their homes due to the fear of elephants in the dark.
I even slept in the 7ft bed for the first time in the verandah to experience what it would be like with mosquitoes, stars and wind and slept soundly!
Needless to say the man I am relying on to get the work started does not see the urgency, and have to subtlely get him moving to get the work done, and my presence at the place would I hope get him to be a little more serious.
I had Gamini and Sagara join me. W
e really lived off the land. We first had to clear the place, cut the underbrush, sweep the area, clean the pond, bring some order and clean and mop the place that had gathered dust.Most of the fish we ate as well as the 4 large lullas were caught in the pond in front of the lodge as the photos will attest to the size of the fish and we ate some fried and dried some in the sun to eat later in the week as waw karavala. The kitchen is yet to be built and accordingly we cooked by the side of the pond as seen in the photos, and in front of the house to minimize the area we have to take care of from predators while the food is cooking.
The people in the village descend here in the evenings to have their bath, but at nightfall it is deserted as everyone heads home before dark to avoid confronting an elephant. We are therefore really left with the feeling we are in the middle of the jungle and the elephants, who have better sight at night than humans are watching us from their vantage, while we scurry around to catch bait in the canal for fishing the big fish in the main pond.
We even invited some friends in the village one night for dinner cooked in the outside fires, as we promised them safe passage in the cab to their homes due to the fear of elephants in the dark.
I even slept in the 7ft bed for the first time in the verandah to experience what it would be like with mosquitoes, stars and wind and slept soundly!
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