ONe PhOtO a DaY jAnUaRy 2026

 

JANUARY 1st SOMETHING FRESH: Fresh from the provinces and on sale in the capital. One of my favourite types of mobile vendors and the kind that most often tempts me. Handmade, eco friendly, rural enterprise empowering and employing rural women and men in timeless traditions 

JANUARY 2nd  MY WORD FOR THE YEAR: is HOPE and I so often begin and end messages, letters, blogs even posts with “I hope …” I do, I genuinely hope not just for me and friends and family but for the world. 

“May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears” 

Nelson Mandela 

JANUARY 3rd A NEW HABIT: has become hibernating indoors and recharging. I haven’t been out at all today and possibly won’t. I haven’t been feeling myself at all recently. Not exactly sick but lethargic and ill at ease so I have decided to look after me more and spend more time simply allowing myself to be. Reading is not a new habit but one I increasingly spend more time on

JANUARY 4th MORNING LIGHT: from the terrace of the Aerie this morning moments after I opened my eyes 

 JANUARY 5th A QUIET MOMENT: late afternoon playing crapette, which is a bit like double handed patience, on the terrace 

JANUARY 6th MY SHOES TODAY: are my well worn and well loved Birks.  In the market it often pays to cover one’s toes 

JANUARY 7th SOMETHING INSPIRING: for me will always be words. I have always kept a book of quotes, over half the two hundred plus notes in my phone are quotes or my own writing, I write blogs about other people’s words and have inspirational phrases displayed at home. This is a favourite and the background photo is one of mine taken in our early days with the original class of the little monks of Kep 

JANUARY 8th A GOOD START: to today was a healthy breakfast, which included Ian’s homemade sourdough and a poached egg

JANUARY 9th A SHADOW: of us out walking in the afternoon for a change 

JANUARY 10th OUT THE WINDOW: in the living room, where we spend much of our time and through the window in the guest bedroom to the terrace where we spend even more time. I love flow of the space in this

JANUARY 11th SOMETHING I BOUGHT: to celebrate new year having recently tasted Aperol Bianco at a local pizzeria. Somehow on the night we were more inspired to have a Poinsettia cocktail (Cranberry Mimosa). Looks like an impromptu celebration is set to occur

JANUARY 12th A FAVOURITE PLACE: of mine has always been in the pool, swimming for sanity: my movement mediation, exercise and happy place 

JANUARY 13TH SOMETHING COLOURFUL: This beautiful tote bag adorned with an indigenous design for which the artist was acknowledged and rights paid

JANUARY 14th WHAT MADE ME SMILE: today was this street side shoe repairer’s chair, still very much in use. He’s got his spending priorities right because that’s his brand new fixed-wheel bicycle in the background and he is very proud of it 

JANUARY 15th IN MY HAND: the Tibetan Singing Bowl I bought in Bhutan which I absolutely love

JANUARY 16th A CORNER OF MY HOME: My cosy little corner of the bedroom

JANUARY 17th SOMETHING SOFT: The soft, fuzzy, new growth of the sword fern, we always refer to as a Mr Curly, in the garden bed

JANUARY 18th TODAY'S VIBE: is Spritz Bianco at twilight after quiet domestic day at home. The good life ….

JANUARY 19th MY DESK: is more of a collection point than an actual desk since I almost never sit there 

JANUARY 20th MY REFLECTION: in the review mirror of the electric tuk tuk we were in this afternoon 

JANUARY 21st A LITTLE CHAOS:  A typical corner in Phnom Penh with moto parking, street side vendors and a cafe with pavement tables behind that ensures all

pedestrians must walk on the road to avoid the chaos

JANUARY 22nd A SNACK: Mini toffee donuts in the local style on a tray, in the street and in the sun but a favourite snack of kids here 

JANUARY 23rd LOOKING DOWN: through the jumble of wires to the mobile vendor serving the young women taking a break from working in the bar below our apartment

JANUARY 24th A PLANT: Some cuttings from a stunning hibiscus I got to day and hope I will be able to successfully strike

JANUARY 25th A FAVOURITE THING: The city views from a favourite watering hole around sunset 

JANUARY 26th IN THE KITCHEN: We had a breakfast guest and I requested my favourite breakfast so Shakshuka in the making in our kitchen

JANUARY 27th SOMETHING TINY: the gaggle of new cacti that are appearing at the base of what is already the smallest potted plant I have ever had 

JANUARY 28th THE SKY TODAY: was grey and overcast without even much colour at sunset so I’m going with an archive shot taken a couple of weeks ago with moody end of year vibes

JANUARY 29th A MOMENT OF JOY: phone in hand, munching on birthday cake his smile says it was a moment of joy 

JANUARY 30th A GOAL I'M WORKING ON: adding variety to my exercise routine colour coded records help me see what’s missing - first yellow addition this month, today thanks to this prompt 

JANUARY 31st A FRUIT: breakfast for us today and there was yoghurt added too

*This one even made it into the Fab Four on Facebook 

PROMPTS 

One PhOtO a DaY JuNe 2025

 JUNE 1st THE MESS I’M IGNORING: The unfortunate truth about coastal regions in developing countries 

Second choice 

 

JUNE 2nd I FORGOT I OWNED THIS: tiny, Japanese, ceramic frog you keep in your purse or wallet. The Japanese believe if it’s in your purse it will never be empty. I realized I no longer had mine years ago and then when we were in Adelaide early this year I found it in a wallet I had left in storage with money in it!! Lucky me. Now it’s back in the purse I use everyday  

* the phone tool is for scale 

JUNE 3rd ACCIDENTAL ART: When an oil spot on the asphalt is turned into art by the monsoon rain. We saw hundreds of these colour spectrum splashes today 

JUNE 4th SHOULDN’T BE HERE: One of these shouldn’t be here. They are a “bungchu” or traditional Bhutanese food container. They are brand new and meant to be a matching pair which snap together to make a carrier and can be used separately as plates to eat from. It wasn’t until we reached home that I realised these two were different patterns. I guess there is therefore the opposite pair in the handicraft market in Thimphu still now 

JUNE 5th SOMETHING IN MY JUNK DRAWER: I don’t actually have a junk drawer but anything without a home usually ends up in a basket or in this drawer where I found a fabric dye I must have bought 5 years ago for a project I have long forgotten. Does it  have an expiry date I wonder? 

JUNE 6th THE LAUNDRY I IGNORED: firstly because the limited line space on the balcony was already full of sheets and towels and then because of the torrential monsoon rains 

JUNE 7th SOCK THAT LOST ITS PARTNER: I can honestly say that it’s never happened to me. I have only pairs and so instead this is the sock box that lives in the wardrobe as I almost never wear socks here in the tropics anyway 

JUNE 8th SOMETHING SUSS: Nothing would tempt me to enter a restaurant with this sitting in plain view on the footpath out the front. What do they use it for? Why would you want to advertise that as an ingredient? Very suss 

JUNE 9th WHERE MY KEYS SHOULD BE: I have two very different sets of keys. These for our cottage in Australia and those I use daily here. This is a case of where my key should be! These live in this bag with various items required in Australia but the last time I went the key to our storage unit which has always been with this set had mysteriously evaporated. We changed the lock but I still wonder where it went 

JUNE 10th RANDOM FRIDGE ITEM: An “atsara”magnet from Bhutan on the fridge door, holding entrance tickets a few favourite places we have been in recent times.  Atsaras are not just jesters; they are storytellers, master of ceremonies, and play a crucial role in both entertaining the crowd and encouraging spiritual reflection at Tshechu 

JUNE 11th WHAT’S IN MY POCKET?: If I actually have a pocket, it’s usually just my phone but that’s what I take photos with so only my hand. And why is it that women’s clothes so rarely have pockets anyway? 

JUNE 12th MAKES NO SENSE: This is apparently Eurler’s formula. It makes no sense to me. Although it was carefully explained in the riveting book (“The Housekeeper and the Professor” by Yoko Ogawa) I borrowed this morning and just finished, as usual all things mathematical seem beyond me 

JUNE 13th OOPSIE DAISY: This is now the third attempt at growing a rosemary in the tropics- one purchased as a plant grown locally and two from cuttings from different sources. I guess it’s just not a goer for our little balcony garden. At least the three varieties of basil, spring onions, chillies and Indian borage thrive. Count your blessings

JUNE 14th AN OBJECT OUT OF PLACE: This beautiful property had absolute Mekong River frontage for decades, so the pontoon was in regular use, but now that land reclamation has created an artificial island, the pontoon is redundant and the remaining strip of river is becoming overgrown with water hyacinths without the river flow and boating activities. The price of development ….. 

JUNE 15th FOUND IT LIKE THIS: We started a little micro-greens garden just four days ago and I found it looking like this fist thing this morning 

JUNE 16th BAD HAIR DAY: for me it means drag it all off my face and tie it back 

JUNE 17th A SNACK I DIDN'T SHARE: A homemade muesli cookie made by me yesterday and this one was devoured with coffee after a cleaning frenzy this morning

JUNE 18th SMELLS WEIRD: to me at least. Plenty of people love durian and it’s quite expensive even here but it’s is an undeniably weird smell. So much so that in many Asian countries there are restrictions about carrying it on public transport or consuming it in hotel rooms! I’ve never tried it myself, due to the smell when it’s cut open: hence the one I photographed

*the evidence at a bus station

JUNE 19th A PLANT THAT'S TRYING: These little snake plants or mother-in-laws tongues, which ever name you know them by, are battling fully immersed in water to reach the light. We already have so many but given that they are the number one filters of pollutants in the air, I continue to propagate more and find little niches for them or gift them to friends

JUNE 20th WHAT I SHOULD BE DOING: is reinstating the dining table, chairs, spirit house and terrace garden now that the new, veranda roof has been installed but given that it’s early evening and it has taken all day we are going out to dinner and leaving that task until tomorrow

* this one was selected for the Notable Nine on Facebook 

JUNE 21st A PET JUDGING ME: Not actually a pet but a stairwell cat that is alway unimpressed with people in its proximity. I call him Mr Evil Eye 

JUNE 22nd TOO MANY MUGS: Not sure why we have this many mugs but as someone disinclined to waste anything, I seem to be a hopeless hoarder in pursuit of second uses for all manner of things. I also derive incredible pleasure from finding an odd new purposes for said objects

JUNE 23rd A FRIDGE MAGNET: The one and only interesting fridge magnet in our house has already been posted this month so the rest are purely practical to display the responses to my snail mail project and other images I find interesting. This one I found and it is the street from which we enter our apartment in the year that I was born so it lives permanent in the display while others come and go

JUNE 24th THE WEIRDEST THING IN MY HOUSE: Coke! I drink it once a decade or less and only when I don’t feel well. So that’s how today panned out 

JUNE 25th A MASTERPIECE (SARCASM): I was stumped by this prompt but then walked by this as we often do. As a sculpture this is hideous and given that this gorgeous building has quite recently been renovated after years of standing in near decrepitude, I simple cannot understand why it wasn’t the first thing demolished 

JUNE 26th UNREAD BOOKS THAT DESERVE BETTER: This is a bookshop in Battambang where we arrived this morning. I think I have stepped into it every one of the now eight times I have been here and usually there are no customers. Today there was. But not one person was interested in this shelf and when I yet again perused the titles neither was I. Perhaps some of them had been there since my first visit in 2013

JUNE 27th WHO PUT THIS HERE?: Why it’s there I get. The fruit is often foraged from the street trees but I’ve never seen it bagged for protection except on private properties until today

JUNE 28th CHAOTIC CORNER: We never fail to attend a Phare Circus performance when in Battambang and tonight’s very somber but incredibly moving show was a demanding physical portrayal of the most chaotic corner of Khmer history. “Rouge” derived from the the Pol Pot era of the Khmer Rouge was a visual and percussive assault of the senses encapsulating that dark, chaotic past

JUNE 29th MY MOOD IN OBJECT FORM: I choose a cocktail. It’s Ian’s birthday and I’ve been feeling celebratory all day 

JUNE 30th WHAT'S THIS EVEN FOR?: in our house it’s a wall decoration but I actually do know…..

The Yi minority women of Yunnan province in China use them to protect their backs, when they carry heavy baskets of herbs, medicinal plants, wild food and seeds foraged from the mountains

PROMPTS