We drove past a new outlet today which was devoted to the retail of all things dog related. For some reason, this awoke my wife’s entrepreneurial spirit.

“When I am rich, I am going to open a place just for cats!”

Notice the “when” rather than “if”; she who must be obeyed is convinced that her various business schemes will one day bear fruit. I am remain cautiously pessimistic; but if it does happen, I have reserved the first twenty million for a Ferrari. I have learned that best response when these scenarios are raised is to just say “that’s a good idea darling”, and then see what happens next.

My wife has a cousin whose life has been turned upside down.

She was married, with a loving husband and two children. Her husband had a job with the government which involved going out into rural areas and providing help and education. She was a successful saleperson for medical products. A typical, comfortable Thai family.

Then her husband contracted cancer. For more than two years she had to juggle the demands of a dying husband with caring for two children and holding down a job to support them all.

Our new, smaller, home has created some issues in terms of storage and display. My pathetic hoard of motor racing trophies, once proudly on show in a glass cabinet, are now stuffed in a cupboard and are likely to remain so until I either throw them out or dump them on an unwilling son as a reminder of his feeble heritage.

More fortunate have been some of my old film cameras. Previously dragged out from hiding to bore unsuspecting visitors; I have always thought they might make for a wall display. Never happened in the condo, but the management allocated me a small piece of wall in the new place, and I managed to find some suitable shelving; eh voilà:

Been raining most of the day, but a dry spell this afternoon was an opportunity to walk around the garden, enjoy the smell of damp earth and grass (quite a treat after 16 years of condo living), and take a few snaps: