oNe PhOtO a DaY fEbRuArY 2021:

THE PROMPTS 

FEBRUARY 1st TODAY’S WEATHER: “Mackerel Sky not long dry”. Not a hint of rain in the forecast but this is today’s weather

 

FEBRUARY 2nd FLORAL: Just about the only time we see cut flowers outside of Phnom Penh is in the Phasar Leur (market) in Kampot. Today’s shopping expedition did not disappoint. This floral display was very tempting but I resisted as I know they would not survive the Tuk Tuk ride back to Kep very well

 

FEBRUARY 3rd SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL: A traditional, dragon face brooch and the traditional woven container I store it. Both are treasures from Bhutan. I have worn the brooch innumerable times with my traditional clothes and I look forward to being able to visit and do so again in the future. I just can't bring myself to wear it with anything but kira

 

FEBRUARY 4th DUO: It’s no secret I love rattan and baskets so when I discovered these rattan bangles I just couldn’t resist. I struggled to decide which design I liked best and finally settled on the lower twisted one which was out of stock in my size, at the time, so I had to order it in Siem Reap, where they are made. That meant I had to wait for it to be delivered. One day later in Phnom Penh I saw the elliptical one and instantly bought it. Now they are a duo and I have never worn them except together. In fact, now I’m sure I’m going to wear them again tonight

 

FEBRUARY 5th MY HAPPY PLACE: I would ordinarily have said that is the pool but I have spent so much time indoors recently, my new happy place is in a Tuk Tuk. I think the cheesy grin confirms it. It means I’m out of the house, the wind is in my hair and I feel life is regaining some normality, even if a huge truck is barrelling down on us. Make your own adventures

 

FEBRUARY 6th FREE CHOICE Best surprise ever ..... We had a visit from one of our most capable and serene monks today. Nit you made my morning. Catching up on the monk gos. Sadly, he came to tell us of the many boys who have now left the monastery either for other temples or to re-join their families! We can’t wait to see them again. Maybe March... we miss you boys.

Today’s actual prompt is “Something Borrowed” but I am just not a borrower: a lender yes. I haven’t posted our little monks of Kep for so long that I’m going with this

 

FEBRUARY 7th MORNING: After rain overnight, it’s a rare, fresh, cool morning here. The raindrops on my favourite orchid inspired me to get out of bed to take photos before they evaporated

 

FEBRUARY 8th BRIGHT: The bright almost gaudy murals on the pagoda walls are almost complete now and we had the opportunity to visit today with a benefactor and dear friend. I bit the bullet and returned to the exact spot where I had my accident and actually took the photo I was trying to when it happened

 

FEBRUARY 9th FAVE FOOD: I don’t really have one fave food but I do love this lotus root salad and of all the dishes I make it is certainly the most popular among friends. I always get fresh lotus roots when they are available here but it isn’t always possible. We never see it in Kep but it is on my list again when we shop in Kampot market tomorrow

 

FEBRUARY 10th LOVE IS.. surviving the seven-year itch twice and then getting married. This is my favourite of all our wedding shots. Our two witnesses and very best friends at our secret wedding ceremony and this was taken at the photo shoot after in the Botanic Gardens. Still going strong twenty four years later. Love is knowing this is forever

 

FEBRUARY 11th 10am: My two favourite Chinese dishes are almost ready to be packed to take to the Chinese New Year celebration we were invited to yesterday. Luckily, we were heading into the Kampot market at the time so I could get all the ingredients. The raw veggies need to be combined with the tofu skins, mushrooms and cashews as soon as that cooked component is cooled. Busy morning in our house but I might just get showered and get these dishes assembled and packed before our 11am pick up. Fire crackers have already startled me twice this morning

 

FEBRUARY 12th KINDNESS: is a habit I learned from my Mum and a tradition I continue after having lived many years in Asia, where almost no-one has an oven. Always give away half of what you bake! These banana and chocolate chip muffins, which just came out of the oven are destined to be mostly gifted to friends for Chinese New Year treats. Well OK there’s zucchini in them too but don’t tell the kids that

 

FEBRUARY 13th RED: These are 红包!: red packets, which are traditionally given with money inside to children, for Chinese New Year. They are actually left over from last year - Year of the Rat but I didn’t buy any this year - Year of the Ox. I chose them because they have my favourite Chinese blessing written on them. 万事如意！“10,000 matters as you would wish them.” This is the first year I can remember that we haven’t cooked a Chinese banquet for friends but we were invited to celebrate with the Khmer family of a friend, two days ago on New Year’s Eve

 

FEBRUARY 14th HEART: My repertoire of origami increased from only paper cranes to include hearts today as a result of this prompt. A friend demonstrated and I followed along: I still need more practise to remember the whole sequence but it’s a start

FEBRUARY 15th PINK: The flash of pink bougainvillea on the roof of the pavilion at the pool

 

FEBRUARY 16th SOMETHING NEW: Last trip to Phnom Penh less than a month ago I got myself a new phone. Considering the previous one lasted over five and a half years I still think this is very new and I’m still learning what is capable of. Sometimes I think it’s smarter than I am

FEBRUARY 17th A FAVE PHOTO: Sisters and cousins taking an outdoor, hot stone bath in Bartsham. We were hiking with friends and heard the screaming and laughter long before we saw this. It was taken in 2011when we lived in nearby Rangjung, in eastern Bhutan. It is one of my all-time favourite shots and a print hangs in our home in Cambodia now

 

FEBRUARY 18th A VIEW I LOVE: The jetty at the Sailing Club in Kep. We are rarely there at this time of day preferring cocktails at sunset but it never disappoints

 

FEBRUARY 19th SOMETHING OLD: Every visit to Kampot I enjoy looking up and discovering the old facades that are still a prominent feature of the buildings. I actually prefer those that have not yet been renovated and this one is my latest discovery. The tattered remains of the Khmer flag sure adds to that old-world atmosphere though the wires are certainly a distraction

 

FEBRUARY 20th SWEETS: No candy in the house and no desserts either so a drive by the beach in a Tuk Tuk provided this as the only option. Ice-creams and Fairy Floss, as we Aussies say, were the only sweets I saw all day and I wasn’t tempted

FEBRUARY 21st THIS MADE ME SMILE: Our house owner at the top of this “ladder” putting plastic bags on the mangoes on the heavily laden tree, to get them to ripen. I also had to rush out there and hold on to the ladder until Ian took over so I could take a photo

FEBRUARY 22nd A GOOD THING: First time back on my bike since my accident over three months ago .... Baby steps. Stationary riding. The road to recovery is slow but a bit more confidence getting on and off and starting and stopping and I’ll be mobile again!

 

FEBRUARY 23rd A LOVE STORY: 39 years in the making and today we combined our love of photography and creativity in a workshop with Artist in Residence Sophal at Knai Bang Chat to take black and white portraits and transfer them to wooden tablets. We each took each other’s photos learned the magical process

 

FEBRUARY 24th SOMETHING BLUE: One of the renovated buildings in the magnificent Knai Bang Chat Resort is painted aqua blue. This is where we did our photography workshop yesterday and the setting right on the waterfront is breathtakingly beautiful. Those moody storm clouds are pretty dramatic as well

 

FEBRUARY 25th HANDWRITTEN NOTE: I’ve always been a purchaser and collector of postcards and greeting cards and a big fan of snail mail. In fact, many of those I buy I can’t bear to give away. I also keep many of beautiful images and messages I have received and display them in our home. This prompt made me immediately remember one such message, from the best principal, most inspirational leader and most devout Buddhist I have ever worked for. I treasure it and our ongoing friendship

FEBRUARY 26th A WEDDING PHOTO: I have exactly one digital image of our wedding and I actually already posted it this month, so here is a shot taken on the day of the Royal Wedding of HRH the King of Bhutan. On that day we were living in Rangjung, eastern Bhutan which was a full 2 days drive from the capital. Like all schools in the country we were given several days of special public holidays to mark the occasion. My school held a daylong celebration, starting with this morning prayer session, which lasted several hours. There were blessings for the royal couple, sports events, watching the televised ceremony and finally an evening of traditional dance performed by both the students and staff and the local primary school also participated. The picture depicts the morning prayer session and the assembled body of boys as well as the lighting of butter lamps as a sacred blessing on the upper level. The girls were also present but on the opposite side of the hall. The white shawls are a formal sign of respect and worn on all important occasions 

26a A little bit of memorabilia from that day

FEBRUARY 27th LIFE IS: what you make of it. Be present and grateful

 

FEBRUARY 28th WHAT I’M READING: The final book titled “A House Divided” in the Pearl S Buck trilogy - The Good Earth. I mostly read digitally these days but I still keep this bookmark for when I simply must read a paperback. I have also downloaded four new books this morning thanks to this prompt

IN 2021 THE PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE HAS INTRODUCED A FREE CHOICE OPTION SO    I HAVE OPTED FOR FREE CHOICE WHEN THE PROMPT DID NOT INSPIRE ME 

oNe PhOtO a DaY jAnUaRy 2021:

IN 2021 THE PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE HAS INTRODUCED A FREE CHOICE OPTION SO FOR THIS MONTH I AM GOING TO MIX AND MATCH CHOOSING FROM THE PROMPTS OR OPTING FOR FREE CHOICE IF THEY DON’T SUIT 

THE PROMPTS 

 

JANUARY 1st THIS IS ME: In my new to me, $2 charity shop cut work top I haven’t had an excuse to wear until now

JANUARY 2nd PAPER: This is our orange gratitude envelope. As the year progresses we write a simple account of the achievements, successes, highlights and red-letter days on a coloured piece of paper. The tradition is to read back all those reflections on New Year’s Day and feel grateful for good times. That is exactly what we did last night. This past year of all years, it was illuminating to realise that amongst the chaos, crisis and challenges there were still so many memorable moments. Gratitude is an attitude! I’ve adopted it

 

JANUARY 3rd FREE CHOICE: Since the prompt today wasn’t one that inspired me I thought I’d do a free choice post. Here’s our inaugural Sunday Brunch. Starting a monthly brunch tradition with a garden party and cranberry mimosas

(The prompt was car but I’m going to be completely honest about this. I sold my last car in 1989.)

 

JANUARY 4th SO COLOURFUL: A colourful collection of vegetables from the crisper. Most of these will go in the coconut, tamarind vegetable curry we are having for dinner. Eat a rainbow

JANUARY 5th FREE CHOICE: Our new favourite lunch is Ian’s twist on Korean Pa Jun- rice flour pancakes with garlic chives. This was packed to have as a picnic after the new swimming and knee strengthen exercise routine was completed. Perfect treat to celebrate a personal best in the pool today

(The prompt was pet but I’m going to be completely honest about this. I don't have a pet and I didn't see one all day.)

JANUARY 6th FLOWERS: Right now, the mango trees in the yard that are not already in fruit, are laden with flowers. It’s going to be a bumper harvest

 

JANUARY 7th THE SKY: There is a good expanse of sky visible in this shot taken this afternoon. Our mission for the day was a thoroughly enjoyable one; picking up 100 backpacks and pencil cases paid for by donors in Switzerland and made by IWA in Kep and delivering them and distributing some of them to village children at Kep Gardens Association. Thanks to Mr John our friend and Tuk Tuk drive for snapping the shot

 

JANUARY 8th I ATE HERE: We arrived at the beach with a picnic dinner and unexpectedly met several friends but we in fact I ate right here tonight and got to see the sunset too. Count your blessings

JANUARY 9th CLOSE UP: Given that I’ve had a couple of rather strenuous days recently and that today has been spent in totally lazy mode, I give you a close up of part of the design on the T-shirt I am wearing while not even venturing outdoors

 

JANUARY 10th SOMETHING NICE: I bought two handwoven, naturally dyed, Kapok shawls in the ‘Made in Cambodia’ market several months ago. Today I finally found my mojo and got around to hand stitching the two of them together to make a new bedspread. Now to find some matching sheets and pillowcases and it will be even nicer

 

JANUARY 11th SHOES: The sum total of all the shoes I own. Like me they have felt a bit like just walking away from all these knee issues recently but we’ve decided to stick it out together: maybe even help each other out. For the record I do own a couple of pairs of flip flops and sandals as well as a pair of boots but the pedant in me won’t let me call them shoes

 

JANUARY 12th TECHNOLOGY: This is it in our house; phones, and one tablet and one computer we share. I tend to have specific purposes for each. I mostly take photos and play on social media on my phone and almost never actually make phone calls on it. I almost always read on the tablet and occasionally use it in class with the monks for reading too. On the other hand, the computer is almost exclusively used for writing emails, blogs and worksheets to print out. Such a creature of habit. It actually scared me when I thought about this. The delineation into these specific purposes evolved over a decade ago and hasn’t changed much. Maybe it’s time to mix it up bit!

 

JANUARY 13th SOMETHING IN NATURE: This impressive, edible, seed pod is produced by the pandan tree, which grows prolifically in Kep. We often see people harvesting them in public places but have yet to taste them

 

JANUARY 14th HOLDING SOMETHING SMALL: The lovely silver and orange charm that I was given recently as a most unexpected gift and for no real reason except the buyers thought of me when they saw it. I also wore it today for the second time and I love it

 

JANUARY 15th I LOVE THIS SMELL: The spices, herbs, toasted seeds and nuts and citrus scent of my embellished version of Greek Pilaf, which is used as the filling for dolmades. The smell as it cooks is mouth-watering and intoxicating. As we can’t get vine leaves here I steamed Chinese Broccoli leaves and used them. Dinner is ready and now to go swimming before we are tempted to just sit down and eat them

JANUARY 16th I CAN DO THIS: Adapt a recipe to fit what I have on hand and my own preferences. This was my first ever attempt at oatmeal cookies today and I used different salt, flour, oats and oil than the recipe suggested, less and different sugar, a duck egg instead of a regular hen’s egg, raisins and sunflowers seeds instead of chocolate and only the baking soda and vanilla remained as stipulated! Delicious nonetheless. Definitely making this again and possibly with chocolate chips now that I know it works! Never waste good chocolate

 

JANUARY 17th IN MY CUP: Black coffee as a late afternoon pick me up after having friends over for lunch. Living the simple life

 

JANUARY 18th I LOVE THIS FOOD: This is a standard breakfast in our house and I love it. After over 25 years of almost always eating muesli for breakfast, then mixing it up for a while, now this is it: toasted baguettes with chilli jam or Vegemite, amaranth greens, cheese, tomatoes, basil and black pepper. Yep I absolutely love this food

JANUARY 19th MORE THAN ONE: Today our walk along the seafront and through the fishing village enabled us to see more than one of these horseshoe crabs but these two were the only ones close enough together to photograph. We flipped one over as they were on their backs and discovered they were still alive so we returned them to the ocean. I assume the local fishermen removed them from their nets and I’m not sure why they didn’t return them to the ocean but we felt compelled to. The name is actually a misnomer as they are not crabs at all but brackish water arthropods

 

WEDNESDAY 20th A FRIEND: My little, Cambodian friend, who I see every time we swim and who is finally relaxed enough in my presence to say a few words to me. He used to run away and hide

 

JANUARY 21st WATER: The faint glow of sunset on the waters of the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh, where we arrived today. Also, one on the first photos taken with my new iPhone. Wooo hoo there’s lots to learn now!

 

FRIDAY 22nd ON THE FLOOR: The spectacular original tiles in the newly renovated Hyatt Regency, where we went for drinks today. We have watched this renovation take place for over 3 years and now it’s complete.

 

The whole building just for fun

JANUARY 23rd SUNSET: Well as close as we got to any kind of sunset colours in one of our favourite spots to sit and watch it happen. It turned decidedly grey after this. Phnom Penh you’ve got the looks

 

SUNDAY 24th THUS IS FUN: Meeting new Bhutanese friends, Kezang and Dorji for the first time in Phnom Penh, for an Indian dinner and instantly making a connection and planning future connections. You get out of life what you put into it, I think. Feeling blessed. Thanks to the lovely young girls at the adjoining table for taking this quick snap

 

MONDAY 25th SWEET TREAT: Always the last task before we leave Phnom Penh is a visit to the Central Market for all the fresh produce we never see in Kep. This morning we also wandered the eatery section which was hopping with locals eating breakfast and sweet treats galore. Local honey still in the comb took my fancy but I resisted the urge. We have already had quite a spending splurge this trip

JANUARY 26th WHERE I STOOD: Right here at the edge of the pool on the wet tiles with wet feet. Might not seems like much but it was an act of bravery as I fractured my kneecap by slipping on wet tiles just over two months ago and they induce fear in me these days. Not about to give up the swimming routine though

 

JANUARY 27th A PATH: This is the path to the steps to the old pier in the fishing village. The path is lined with pylons that remain from when the pier actually reached the road. I wonder how much longer it will be able to service this community

 

JANUARY 28th THIS IS MINE: A sweet little purse with a whimsical character on it. It was handmade and purchased in La Paz, Bolivia about four years ago. I love it and have used it every day since then

JANUARY 29th LUCKY: We feel extremely lucky to live in Cambodia, to be able to go out and visit friends, hug each other, feel safe and relax in such a beautiful rural setting with traditional village life just outside the window of the open plan living area of a dear friend’s house. Live with gratitude

 

JANUARY 30th SUMMER: It’s always summer in Kep. Late afternoon and the fishing boats are returning home

 

JANUARY 31st THIS IS ALSO ME: playing around with a new dress hoping I can make it look formal enough to wear to our first Khmer wedding this time next Sunday. I was also playing around with the camera on my new phone and learned a few new tricks once again, thanks to PAD

*This month I challenged myself to take every picture on the actual day and not to use any archive shots so a couple of free choice shots snuck in, as the prompts on those days didn't suits my day.