THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH
WEDNESDAY 1st WHITE: A single white orchid flower from our garden - an offering to Buddha
THURSDAY 2nd BLACK: A favourite black pendant I bought in New Zealand a long time ago. It’s a lacquered razorfish shell
FRIDAY 3rd RED: A rare treat of Australian red wine and the PAD prompt as an excuse to enjoy it
SATURDAY 4th ORANGE: A rare photo of me that I actually like. I put on this same orange outfit and attempted another take today but just couldn’t pull it off. Had to choose this archive shot taken by Ian
NB I have to say that this one only got a look in because the suggestion from admin for this group thought we should accept the challenge to make it a rainbow fashion month, but my wardrobe wasn’t up for that with the very limited colour range I possess, so I promised myself when I got to orange I would include a photo of me wearing an orange outfit I love – pity you can’ t see the perfectly matching orange footless tights too
SUNDAY 5th YELLOW: A yellow prayer flag from Bhutan, flying in our home in Kep. I love to fly and see these flags and I am hoping to get more this year
MONDAY 6th GREEN: The green mosaic interior of the coconut bowl I was given as a birthday gift last month
TUESDAY 7th BLUE: Our attempt to be “green” and gentle with the planet means we have two blue, glass, dipping sauce bowls from the Japanese recycle shop in Kampot and a mat made from recycled single use blue plastic bags by the talented women at IWA Kep
WEDNESDAY 8th PURPLE: A small woven basket often used to as an alternative to wrapping for souvenirs in this country. This one was left at our home by some recent guests. Purple is not a colour I ever wear or choose
THURSDAY 8th AQUA: padded iPad case made from recycled mosquito nets by Smateria- an empowerment project in Cambodia with outlets in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. We have several of their quality products. Buy Local! Think Global!
FRIDAY 10th PINK: One small pink shell I found on Kep Beach
SATURDAY 11th GREY: One of the hundreds of flashcards we use to teach the little monks has a picture of a grey elephant- They are now up to making summaries about various animals. On a good day some can tell us, “It’s big. It’s grey. It has a long tail. It has 4 legs. It has big ears!” Tusks have been described as both teeth and horns and I think that’s making pretty good use of the limited language they have
SUNDAY 12th BROWN: A small, brown, wooden Buddha in the little, wooden spirit house in a dear friend’s garden. This one includes several shades of brown including nature’s addition of leaves
MONDAY 13th SILVER: jewellery of course. I’ve never worn gold! All from different points on the globe, all with stories of significance, some bought some received as gifts, some worn daily some on special occasions only, some worn for decades some recently acquired - all treasured and that’s just one hand. The other tells another story and took the photo
TUESDAY 14th GOLD: One of the many identical gold Buddha statues that line the entrance and boundaries of the ‘pagoda’ where we teach the little monks of Kep. Each has a sign stating the name of the donor. They certainly add to the ambience of the place especially now that the main buildings are a construction site
WEDNESDAY 15th POP OF COLOUR: The tiny Buddha, which sits on a shelf in the window of our kitchen needs a pop of colour behind him to be noticed. It is smaller than first the joint of my thumb and has travelled the world with me for almost a decade. Oops two Buddha posts in a row- I guess I’m obsessed
THURSDAY 16th MATCHING: When the little monks we teach tired of using these letters as jigsaw puzzles, we used them to practise matching upper and lowercase letters. At first the matching colours really helped them but now even that task is too easy for most of them
FRIDAY 17th PASTEL: A flock of pastel paper cranes. This prompt made me get on with a small house warming gift I planned to make. I bought a small Japanese bell without a ringer from the recycle shop for 30 cents. Now I have added a copper ring. Although I had selected the papers, I had only folded two cranes, so today I actually folded the rest. Now all have to do is string them under the bell, weigh them down with coins and voila a wind chime to tinkle in the breezes
SATURDAY 18th BRIGHT: Dragon fruit can have this bright pink or white flesh and grows on a cactus like plant. I can never tell which colour the fruit inside will be but all the vendors in the local market stock both and always know which is which. Anything that brightly coloured just has to be good for you. As soon as the power returns we’ll have mango and dragon fruit smoothies
18B - And since I actually posted the
wrong picture on this day, this is the one I intended to post, coz in my blog it’s my rules and I can therefore post both!
SUNDAY 19th NATURAL: The all-natural packaging on one of the local products I always use. I feel compelled to remove the labels and keep these containers to repurpose them. It’s so lovely that traditional skills are utilized to reduce plastic waste
MONDAY 20th ONE COLOUR: After a long and somewhat stressful day I’m going with liquid gold - beer!
TUESDAY 21st TWO COLOURS: Just a few of the many blue and white pieces of crockery we have bought from the Japanese recycle shop in Kampot. I do know white is technically not a colour but I still think blue and white are two colours which complement each other perfectly
WEDNESDAY 22nd PATTERN: Most of my clothes are plain colours but I do like patterned accessories. This embroidered purse was a gift from recent a houseguest but I’ve yet to find the perfect use for it
THURSDAY 23rd BLACK AND WHITE: mosaic design inside a new coconut bowl I bought myself
FRIDAY 24th RAINBOW: This is not your standard rainbow flag. It is the symbol for Theravada Buddhism. We first encountered it in Thailand. I love that it also indicates vegetarian food is available, when eateries display it. Yesterday, this was among the many flying at the monastery (construction site) where we teach the little monks
SATURDAY 25th MY FAVE COLOUR: Anyone who knows me knows that’s orange. Another of my favourite things is scarves so here is a selection of those in shades orange
SUNDAY 26th CLASHING: Crab traps
and fishing boats aptly represent the clashing interests impacting the waters of Kep Bay - the need to preserve and protect the sea life is clashing with the need for local fisherfolk to survive
MONDAY 27th LIGHT: as a feather. One of the many props we use to help our little monks grasp the meaning of new words. It’s somewhat battered from the number of little hands that have had to hold it and play with it. Nonetheless, they still always return it to me knowing they will get to see it again another day
TUESDAY 28th DARK: My formerly favourite, black pants almost a decade after purchase and after almost two years in the Cambodian sunshine, can only be described as dark! They are now almost completely restitched by hand and faded to dark charcoal grey but I still love them and wear them constantly..... I’m no fashionista. One leg is inside out to show the original colour!
WEDNESDAY 29th WHAT I WORE TODAY: My Speedos! Best bathers ever for swimming laps. I have worn the same design in various colours for a decade and when I heard they were discontinuing it, I ordered 3 pairs immediately. I still have 2 brand new pairs so I’m set for the foreseeable future
THURSDAY 30th ON MY FEET: One of the balls that have survived months of play with the little monks of Kep and well, let’s not mention the mud from the cycling to the temple and back today!
FRIDAY 31st ON MY HEAD: -books and why not? I have actually been trying to improve my posture recently but not like this. I just wanted to end the rainbow month of everyday objects and items on a fun note and with the irony of a black and white shot
No comments:
Post a Comment