OCTOBER 1st FLOWERS: -lotuses to be specific. Today is the first of the three days of Public Holidays for Pchum Ben here in Cambodia. These flowers have been especially folded for altars and offerings and so I had to buy a few for our little spirit house this morning
OCTOBER 2nd TEXTURES IN NATURE: presumably designed to protect the tree from climbing foragers but so very prickly. Tree huggers beware
OCTOBER 3rd A FEATHER: from Australia but now I’m not sure if it was from a magpie or a piping shrike. I can’t resist collecting little treasures from the streets and surrounds on our walks
OCTOBER 4th A MOUNTAIN VIEW: Hard to believe that only four months ago we were hiking in the Himalayas and surrounded by what have to be some of the most iconic mountain views in the world
OCTOBER 5th BEAUTY IN THE ORDINARY: Twilight at Wat Phnom the hornbills are a very common sight, but I still get a huge thrill out of seeing them and capturing them in flight
*Happy to see this one appeared in the fabbers grid for this day
OCTOBER 6th GOLDEN HOUR: At Wat Phnom yesterday. I waited today but it’s stormy and about to rain
OCTOBER 7th GREENERY: on our terrace in the early morning, with evidence of the violent, evening storm activity we have been experiencing in the final throes of the monsoon season. Not complaining at all. The storms are dramatically spectacular and mostly confine themselves to the late evening thereby washing everything clean for the start of each new day and the garden is booming
OCTOBER 8th A FAVOURITE TREE: in the National Park in Kep and one aptly named and labeled the “Increditble Tree”. We visited it often when we lived there
OCTOBER 9th ON THE GROUND: at the entrance to one of the many buildings in Wat Ounalom, is this lovely, if somewhat grubby terrazzo depiction of a lotus
OCTOBER 10th A BODY OF WATER: I waited for evening to get the sunset cruise boats returning to dock on the Tonle Sap just a couple of blocks from home
OCTOBER 11th BIRDS IN FLIGHT: This is an archive shot and I’ve already posted a hornbill this month but I never tire of spotting hornbills and we see them so very often
OCTOBER 12th A CALM MORNING: in the streets of Phnom Penh before the chaos of traffic and the local monks are at the flower and fruit vendors’ stalls issuing blessings on their morning alms walk. They do not eat after noon until dawn the following day so the donations of food or money sustain them and in exchange they chant blessings. It’s always a delight to see them
SEPTEMBER 13th SHAPES IN NATURE: Lotus root being prepared for one of my signature dishes - Lotus Root Salad
OCTOBER 14th WILDLIFE: in the inner-city besides marauding monkeys, there are limited opportunities to see wildlife. The dragonflies swarm sometimes in the early evening and this one with beautiful translucent wings came to visit our terrace a few days ago
OCTOBER 15th WATER DROPS ON A LEAF: on our terrace this morning. As the monsoon season winds down, it occurs less and less often. Only a week ago mops and squeegees were on standby to ensure that there was no flooding
OCTOBER 16th GARDEN PATH: at Umpherston Sink Hole in Mt Gambier: an archive shot from our last visit home
OCTOBER 17th DRAMATIC CLOUDS: at that time of the afternoon when the skies start to darken and the thunder rumbles before the monsoon rains start
OCTOBER 18th SEASON: Here in Cambodia there are basically only two season the wet and the dry. Today began with one of the dramatic torrential rain storms that occur at the end of the monsoon season
*Checkout the rain at breakfast time this morning when this shot was taken
OCTOBER 19th A SERENE LANDSCAPE: the lush paddies of young green rice and the sugar palms of a quintessential Cambodian rural scene
OCTOBER 20th A TRAIL: This is an archive shot on a quiet and deserted trail leading up to Semtoka Dzong in Thimphu earlier in the year. Shinrin Yoku or the practice of forest bathing, soothes the soul
OCTOBER 21st UP CLOSE OF TREE BARK: This reminded me of the shot I took of an elephant’s eye so I couldn’t resist posting it
* the elephants eye
OCTOBER 22nd UNDERNEATH A BRIDGE: The covered bridge in Thimphu from a time now long gone when you could still hang prayer flags from it
OCTOBER 23rd PATTERNS IN NATURE: A dried seed pod from a lotus flower. I love how this pattern starts in the root continues through the stem and reappears again in the seed pod with the number and configuration of the holes remaining the same. Nature’s fascinating little quirks
OCTOBER 24th A FIELD: An archive shot of a field of ripening rice looking as the fields appear right now except that we live in the inner city and no longer get to see them as often
OCTOBER 25th NIGHT SKY: A moody monsoon night sky at twilight. Taken a couple of days ago when I got completely bamboozled and thought that was the prompt on that day, as you do
OCTOBER 26th VIBRANT FLOWER: a water lily spotted on the riverside today when we were out for a walk
OCTOBER 27th FLOWER MACRO SHOT: The random coxcomb that mysteriously appeared in a pot on the terrace this year. It has an amazingly maze like inner structure
OCTOBER 28th A SPIDER WEB: This is a back pad used by the Yi minority women of China to protect the small of the back when carrying heavy loads in wicker baskets. It’s a long shot but the design is a symbolic representation of a spider web and tells the legend of how these women were protected and hidden by spiders’ webs.
the object in use in the streets of Dali Yunnan
OCTOBER 29th AN ANIMAL IN NATURE: spotted from the car window in Wangdue Phodrang in April this year and snapped while passing. Yak yak yakkity yak
OCTOBER 30th UP CLOSE WITH INSECTS: I have no idea what it was but it enjoyed seeing itself in the reflection on the bathroom mirror and stopped to admire itself frequently enough for me to get my phone and snap a shot
OCTOBER 31st GREEN & BLUE: After prevaricating all day, a miniature snake plant in a favourite, blue pot is all I’ve got but it is sweet
PROMPTS
