So the other day ma heid wus nippin and a wusnae too sure why that wus so, and then I thought to masel maybe it’s gonny rain, ’cause ma Ma used to always say that her corn wus gein her jip and sure enough no lang efter it would rain and so I wus reminded of this the other day.

I had a lesson with Amy, one of my regular students and she said that she had been feeling unwell for a few days, she had been having really bad headaches. I told her that I too had been having a headache and wasn’t feeling 100%. My forehead was really sore and I felt that my sinuses were about to explode, which would not really be a good look.

I was then reminded about what my mother would say to us, she used to say that if the Corn on her big toe started to give her a bit of grief then it was going to rain. Even on the rare occasion that the sun did shine in Scotland for a few days then sure as the sun comes up in the morn it would rain and this is even if there was no rain predicted in the coming days. My Mum’s success rate for predicting rain was way better than Michael Fish.

Anyway back to Amy, later that night the rains came to Suzhou with a vengeance, the rain came pissing down and I should know because I got caught in it on the way home and got drookit. But Amy sent me a message to tell me that her headache had gone, when the rain started the pain went away. Spooky she said and she said that she did not want this “kind of magic” which I thought was great. I never thought of it as being magic before, but then this is the joy of the English language when someone with limited English can express themselves in such a simple but succinct way. And so I guess me Ma really did possess some supernatural powers.

Corns and calluses are hard, thickened areas of skin that form as a consequence of rubbing, friction, or pressure on the skin. Corns and calluses form on the feet and can make walking painful. … Corns generally occur on the tops and sides of the toes.

An amazing array of colours in this small Suzhou garden..

So this weekend is a holiday for all the workers and so they will have Monday and Tuesday off to celebrate but there is a catch, they have to work Saturday and Sunday. There’s no flies in this government 😆

For the passed few weeks I’ve gone down to the park where I have met a few old Chinese guys that do a workout that would put most folk to shame.

The oldest is 77 and the youngest is 68 I think. The use most of the gym equipment here and can do full body pull ups with hands facing either direction on the bar which is not easy. If you grab the bar with an open palm towards you then you will find this a lot easier than trying to grab the bar with an pen palm facing away, give it a try. Two of them, the oldest and the youngest can both do these pull ups. They do push ups, the do stretches which sees them having their legs up on the wall nearly at head height. The flexibility they have is quite amazing.

I just hope I’m as fit and mobile when I reach their age.

Got to love the free WiFi on the Suzhou buses, I’m currently listening to “The Old Grey Whistle Test”on the BBC Iplayer app. You have got to love technology……

For the last three mornings I have gone across to Central Park to do some exercise and to use the Monkey bars that they have there.

I’ve wanted to get back into a bit of exercise after what felt like a very fat winter in the UK. A week ago it felt like winter had returned but the last few days and in particular this morning, the sun has come out and it’s very pleasant. The sky is blue and there are very few clouds.

I go to the monkey bars and then do a quick circuit of the paths and then return to the bars once more. I’ll do three laps and by that time I’m unable to do another chin up and so I’ll come back to the flat for a shower. However I think I’m going to have to get up a bit earlier if it continues to warm up so quickly.

I went to my local cafe the other day and I was confronted with this contraption and I wasn’t sure if it was a bong or not.

But then I realised it was no more than an innocent coffee machine and it was quite interesting watching the process, although I don’t think I’ll be buying one any time soon.

It took a long time to make one cup and you also have to be very precise with your timing at each step.

And finally we have enough for two cups of coffee but to be perfectly honest it was not worth all the palaver.

I’ve now more or less settled into my new apartment in Suzhou City and I’m impressed by Sissi, the young girl that I’m sharing the flat with. It’s ultimately for her Airbnb enterprise which she seems to thrive on.

She has two other places that she rents and then leases out. One is a self contained unit near Pingjiang Lu and the other is a town house with two bedrooms and two toilets near the Suzhou Museum which are two great locations.

The third is a 4 bedroom apartment with two toilets and is huge. Mind you I’m not too sure how I am going to cope when we receive our first Airbnb guests this weekend. It’s a family so I’m not sure if I’m going to be totally cool about that, but I guess this is the compromise for cheap rent in such a great location. I mean I’m about 5 mins from two metro stations, there are buses at the front gate, I can walk to the city centre and the hundreds of restaurants and my two students that I have are within walking distance. And it won’t have guests all the time I suppose and if it does then I’ll get to meet a lot of new people.

Above is Central Park, about 5 mins from the apartment.

At night we have great city views and when the weather is nice, but not like today, you can sit outside on the balcony.

Sissi runs between the three places and is kept very busy. She has cleaned this apartment from head to toe and sometimes she uses a toothbrush to get into places that no other person would think of looking in. She is meticulous and I guess that’s why whenever you read the reviews about her she gets 100% and plenty of compliments.

She likes to meet her guests and tell them about the house and neighbourhood and generally helps them to settle in so that they can begin to enjoy their stay.

She’s a bit like the Energiser Bunny, because she never seems to run out of energy. I get tired just watching 😆.

So I’ll let you know how the first Airbnb experience goes after the weekend.

Sent to Bremer Forum for this week’s title which was Hunger.