oNe PhOtO a DaY: aUgUsT 2016:

THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH

MONDAY 1st COLOURFUL: Contemporary design with colourful traditional fabric as upholstery

TUESDAY 2nd MONEY: The Ngultrum of Bhutan is pegged to the Rupee of India and I can't think of two more beloved and benevolent world leaders. Rupees are prized here where they enable purchases in foreign countries, as the Ngultrum cannot be exchanged. Even small denomination Gandhi bucks are saved

WEDNESDAY 3rd SHADOW: When the air is crystal clear both the clouds and other mountains cast a shadow on the Himalayan backdrop of Thimphu city

THURSDAY 4th GEOMETRIC: Scouring the school today for geometric patterns I was delighted to find this chart in a class one room. It's the features of a house in Dzongkha and it's full of geometric shapes  

FRIDAY 5th SIDE BY SIDE: House Assembly on Fridays always ends with a march off the ground side by side in house teams lead by the school scouts

SATURDAY 6th FLORAL: Buddhist iconography often includes floral designs predominately incorporating the lotus flowers and buds

SUNDAY 7th CLOUDS: Out in the great outdoors with brilliant blue skies and marshmallow clouds at our lunchtime picnic spot today

MONDAY 8th FENCE: These brightly painted decorative designs adorn window frames, door frames, lintels and even fences it seems here in Bhutan

TUESDAY 9TH DRAW: Buddhist iconography is so complex but this is one I spotted today on my class 8 field trip, that perhaps anyone could draw, with the right geometric equipment 

WEDNESDAY 10th BLUE & WHITE: An archive shot of the first flight I ever took over the Himalayas into Bhutan. Spellbinding blue and white

THURSDAY 11th MEALTIME: Healthy vegetarian food and rice is a staple in our house most days thanks to Ian. Tonight's dinner fit the bill precisely

FRIDAY 12th AN ACT OF KINDNESS: This beautiful book came to me secondhand through the act of kindness of dear friend Jenny who mailed a huge box of books to Bhutan rather than toss them out or donate to a second hand shop and she paid the postage herself. Now that we are planning to leave Bhutan we are trying to reduce and pass on our possessions and having completely forgotten the prompt today I gave this book to an art loving couple my colleague- Karma and her artist / animator partner

SATURDAY 13th SALTY: I'm definitely a savoury over sweet kinda gal and these are my all time favourite salty products. I'm trying not to think about the fact that the Vegemite is empty and the miso approaching the same state with no chance of purchasing either here in Bhutan.

SUNDAY 14th KITCHEN: From early morning preparation in the kitchen, to a kitchen packed full of friends to learn to make frittata and simple lacto pickling and finally out of the kitchen and feasting

MONDAY 15th DELICATE: A delicate blend shades of my favourite colour, which I received as a gift yesterday. I love it and will treasure it because knowing the artist personally makes it so much more than just a painting

TUESDAY 16th WRITTEN: All my Class VI students have written their essays on environmental issues and I just have the stack of marking to complete. Hand-written essays in exercise books with beautiful hand writing is definitely a dying art

WEDNESDAY 17th I AM OBSESSED WITH ………… Prayer flags and the flashes of colour and light they create especially on the covered bridges. 

This is a an archive shot of the bridge leading to the Weekend Market in Thimphu and one of my favourites

THURSDAY 18th EARLY: evening view from our upstairs balcony - dining alfresco tonight

FRIDAY 19th LATE: our "late" view. We haven't seen it of "late" as the construction next door has blocked the view but this was taken on this day last year when it was lit up for the first time. It has since been lit up every day

SATURDAY 20th BRIDGE: The covered bridge leading to the weekend market and the end of a long and exhaustingly hot day

SUNDAY 21st LEGS: The legs of the stools all lined up at the window in our favourite cafe in Thimphu

MONDAY 22nd HAPPY: I'm happy to make happy, healthy lunches and even happier to eat mine by the time lunchtime rolls around at school

TUESDAY 23rd SAD: Many a sad and sorrowful existence has been turned around by the untiring work of Lama Shenphen who helps street kids and addicts turn their lives around. This book tells some of the success stories of sad lives reformed and new hope reborn

WEDNESDAY 24th ANGRY: I put up photographic displays to honour the students who have achieved, contributed and excelled at my school. I really get angry when students peel off the photos or damage them when they are on display. It only takes a few to spoil it for everyone. So disheartening

THURSDAY 25th SCARED: I've always been a little wary of these steep traditional stairs in Bhutan but now that Ian has tumbled down them all the way to the concrete final step, I'm absolutely scared of them. This is the exact flight he fell down 26 months ago and recovery is still underway even though there have been vast improvements.  The entrance to our once home in Samtengang

FRIDAY 26th EXCITED: Sports Day and being out of the classroom and in the sunshine is a great reason to be excited even if we've only just finished the warm up and practices

SATURDAY 27th LUCKY: I feel incredibly lucky to have had the good fortune to be able to live and work in each of these places in my career and to still be able to envisage more places I intend to live in the future

SUNDAY 28th HAT: I often see monks wearing in this type of crazy looking but very practical sun hat and I hoped to find one today. Luckily this gentleman was in the market when we arrived

MONDAY 29th LIFE: This play area is the liveliest place in the school and this is certainly the best part of the life of a student. Our new Canadian student is also pretty much the most popular boy in the school

TUESDAY 30th UMBRELLA: looking up through the big guns umbrella when the monsoon is just too much and you know you'll get soaked. Luckily today this was an indoor shot and one collapsible umbrella each was all we ended up needing to walk to school  

WEDNESDAY 31st SUNSET: The sun just faded out of existence behind heavy cloud cover here in Thimphu tonight, so this is and archive shot of sunset in Adelaide where my heart and thoughts have been flying all day to my darling sister. I hope this brightness begins to illuminate her life and turn things around very so