oNe PhOtO a DaY mArCh 2019

THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH

FRIDAY 1st SOMETHING COLOURFUL: It just has to be our delicious lunch of grilled vegetables with pesto sauce from Simple Things in Kampot today

SATURDAY 2nd ALONE: When we took our little monks for an activity and yoga session this week they all responded quite differently to the experience. Doe, who is often quiet and pensive, really enjoyed the alone time. They are almost always together and currently living in cramped quarters as a new temple is being built. He delighted in telling me he could see monkeys and they were eating bananas when I came to find him. His nature seems to suit his calling and he obviously enjoys being alone

SUNDAY 3rd OLD: style cures and remedies from Lao. I spotted these two small bottles at the Mangroove Guesthouse Kep today. I think you’d have to be pretty desperate to want to consume something infused with either scorpion or snake

MONDAY 4th HAPPY: Nothing quite says happy like smiley face stickers - rewards for clever little monks

TUESDAY 5th FLOWERS: I adore Lotus flowers and with the petals folded in prepared for offering on Buddhist altars they are even more striking

WEDNESDAY 6th OUT OF THE WINDOW: An archive shot of me looking and leaning out of the porch window in a house I love in the fishing village in Kep. I snuck up to the porch and was in fact taking the photo, I posted for the turquoise prompt at the time. Thanks to Ian for taking this shot

THURSDAY 7th PHONE: This is what happens if you leave your phone unattended during the painting session in the monks’ class! An looking pretty happy to be taking photos with Sophie’s phone

FRIDAY 8th GRATEFUL FOR: We are extremely grateful to Madam Yary for providing us with the opportunity to interact with the little monks of Kep and allowing us to swim in her pool. Today she gave us the chance to enjoy the pool with the little monks and the excitement level was off the scale

SATURDAY 9th BIRD: With today being a 9 Market day I was wondering how I could get a bird shot with only my phone, then this delightful little Blue Jay popped up on my memories. Taken on this day in Washington DC two years ago; this was my first sighting of a Blue Jay and I happened to have my camera with me

SUNDAY 10th WORDS: I have been trying to establish a regular meditation and mindfulness practice and these words from the app I use rang true for me today

MONDAY 11th ABOUT ME: First and foremost, I’m a passionate teacher, despite officially being retired. Without a doubt I am also an avid cyclist, swimmer and traveller. That’s is without even mentioning being a creative vegetarian cook or committed nature loving environmentalist .... The list goes on. Thanks to Ian for capturing these shots of me doing the things I love over the last few months

TUESDAY 12th MY MOOD TODAY: is peaceful and calm just like the waters of Kep Bay. Our session with the monks this morning was productive and rewarding and tonight we have 15 guests coming for dinner and preparations are under way and it all seems to be falling into place. It might just get a little frantic around 7pm!!

WEDNESDAY 13th JEWEL: “Om Mani Padme Hum” is often translated to the jewel in the heart of the lotus referring to Buddha and how he is often depicted seated in a lotus flower. Mani is therefore the word jewel. Whilst I do not claim to be a Buddhist I have lived in and loved many Buddhist cultures and find the precepts and philosophy both fascinating and insightful

THURSDAY 14th SIMPLE: getting your bs and ds backwards is a simple mistake actually

FRIDAY 15th KID: Just because he is a monk doesn’t mean he’s not still a kid. This was last Friday when we had the opportunity to take our little monks swimming. Chit is one of the older ones, but when it comes to playing in the water, he is truly like a kid in a candy store. Although teaching is our priority we do love to give them the opportunity to just be kids for a while sometimes

SATURDAY 16th ON THE GROUND: A lovely new, Blue recycled single use plastic bag mat is the latest addition to our decor on the ground in the guest room. Created by the talented and hardworking rural women employed by IWA Kep and kindly donated to us by our neighbour who is moving out today. We are going to miss you Anne

SUNDAY 17th SOMETHING GREEN: Mangoes on one of the many trees in our yard. These green ones are fabulous in salads and the trees are simply loaded with them right now. Time to experiment with a new raw salad I think- a perfect lazy Sunday activity

MONDAY 18th JAR: A jar inside a jar actually. It’s Ian’s salt water pickling, which of course often involves chillies

TUESDAY 19th FUNNY: Moving house with only a motorcycle. Our neighbour, until just few days ago, relocated, sold and delivered most of her possessions by “moto”. Crazy loads are not such an unusual sight here but it’s usually locals who get up to theses antics. I guess that’s when you know you’ve adapted perfectly to the culture

WEDNESDAY 20th PILE: This pile of pastries tempted me this morning when we went to L’Epi d’Or to get our baguettes. The birthday celebrations begin now with a few of these treats

THURSDAY 21st WALL: Ironically this wall is almost directly opposite one of our favourite vegetarian restaurants in Phnom Penh

FRIDAY 22nd CRAVING: A ‘Phnom Penher’ to celebrate my birthday in the very capital it’s named after. Great way to revive after walking miles in the searing heat

SATURDAY 23rd OK: This is quintessential Phnom Penh - an ancient cyclo-rider relaxing with a cigarette, in a hammock, in his cyclo in the central market area. He was thrilled I wanted a photo

SUNDAY 24th BLACK AND WHITE: One of the unplanned purchases we made yesterday was a book of mandalas for colouring or painting. I think some little monks we know are going to love them

MONDAY 25th FASHION: Traditional, formal Khmer style fashion spotted yesterday just outside the National Museum. I love that it’s still possible to see people dressed like this

TUESDAY 26th SKY: Although it has been overcast for days, just as we were leaving the monastery this morning the blue sky peeked through the clouds above the heads of the golden Buddhas that line the driveway

WEDNESDAY 27th HOME: This is our current home from the perspective of the chair, where I almost always sit in the living room. It incorporates aspects of many different cultures and places where we have lived in the past as well as a double helping of Cambodia. Wednesdays are at home days mostly and right now it smells of delicious Asian treats created with spoils from our last trip to the capital

THURSDAY 28th STICK: So, what do you do when one of a pair of chopsticks is damaged, broken or lost? Turn the remaining one into a swizzle stick, of course

FRIDAY 29th MIRROR: Playing with a tiny makeup mirror and the Buddha, which sits in the living room altar I created

SATURDAY 30th PARK: The Incredible Tree labelled as such in Kep National Park, where we were once again this afternoon

SUNDAY 31st FIX: Perfect Sunday activity- experimenting with making eco- wraps. One small action towards a plastic free lifestyle. We all need to do the little we can to fix our ailing planet

oNe PhOtO a DaY fEbRuArY 2019

THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH

FRIDAY 1st BLUE: Vincent Van “Gam” in our little monks’ class seems to be going through a blue period!

SATURDAY 2nd STREET ART: spotted yesterday on the external wall of a new bar and restaurant in old market street in Kampot called “Moi Tiet”, which means one more in Khmer

SUNDAY 3rd CARROT: Ian’s famous homemade carrot pickles

MONDAY 4th PEEK-A-BOO: An, the youngest, cheekiest, cutest, most mischievous and most playful of our little monks playing peek-a-boo with his robes during class. It’s an archive shot from a couple of months ago but he hasn’t changed a bit

 Also delighted that this shot was selected din the Fab Four grid on the day it was posted

TUESDAY 5th WATER: The shallow water of Kep Bay in the early morning at high tide when the fishing boats are taking a break for Chinese New Year! 新年愉快！恭喜发财！万事如意！

WEDNESDAY 6th OPPOSITES: Cambodian style Affogato - (Not ice cream topped with espresso but strong, hot, black coffee topped with vanilla ice cream) enjoyed with dark rich fruitcake and light buttery shortbread. Yummy opposites

THURSDAY 7th CARD: The newest member of our monks’ classes demonstrating his comprehension with a flashcard

FRIDAY 8th FAVE SMELL: Latest fave smell is lemongrass and I have quite a few products at home to attest to it

SATURDAY 9th PET: We don’t have a pet as our lives are too nomadic to take on that responsibility but we did man a stall in the market today. It was in a local guesthouse and this pet lives there. She was quite at home among the stalls in the burning sun while I came home with heat rash having sat in the shade all day!!

SUNDAY 10th UMBRELLA: Just a little phonetic colouring sheet I came across when I was doing some lesson prep earlier in the day. Coloured umbrellas by the little monks of Kep

MONDAY 11th FRIEND: My first and best Khmer friend looking pensive at the not so happy occasion of her brother’s memorial service today

TUESDAY 12th WORK: We don’t actually work anymore but this project with the little monks of Kep is certainly a work in progress. They are all working hard on literacy and numeracy skills. Letter recognition, phonics and spelling it’s finally coming together as demonstrated by Gam this morning. I also just noticed, when I posted this, that there are eleven dots so he is twice as clever for realising that that was supposed to ten and just getting on with the task a hand!

WEDNESDAY 13th SUPER DUPER: We’ve taken on another volunteering project. Selling at the local markets for the super-duper products made by IWA Kep. They upcycle cement, rice, fertilizer and other woven bags and one-use plastic bags into all kinds of household products and bags. Just to show how huge the $7 laundry bags is I decided to sit inside it. Photo credit to Ian

THURSDAY 14th LOVE: We LOVE our little monks to bits and I know a couple of them would just LOVE to ride off on this motorcycle. However, they restrained themselves and simply played on it making the appropriate sound effects

FRIDAY 15th INK: The whiteboard markers, refill ink and the ink stained cleaning cloth that became the mainstay of our teaching regime when our blackboard was repurposed with a whiteboard screwed to it!!! Still prefer the more environmentally friendly blackboard with infinitely more colour choices in chalk but what’s done is done

SATURDAY 16th BALANCE: We were at the Meraki Garden Party today selling up-cycled plastic products for IWA Kep. Displaying the bags and backpacks required ingenuity so we balanced bamboo poles in the trees and held them in place by balancing the bags displayed

SUNDAY 17th KINDNESS: Time for a little self-kindness today. After a busy few weeks I bought the final book in a fascinating four-part series set in the 15th century and spent a quiet Sunday at home reading with a little coffee and cake to heighten the pleasure

MONDAY 18th SHADOW: Me and my shadow - just the two of us chilling after a swim. The late afternoon fading light gives the shadows a smoky quality

TUESDAY 19th ABOVE YOUR HEAD: Even though most of the “pagoda” where we teach the little monks is now a construction site, if you look up you can see this now very dilapidated religious banner, installed for a festival, months ago, still flying above your head. It’s an ever-present reminder of the impermanence of things and I always take the time to notice its current condition. Today was no exception

WEDNESDAY 20th A PHOTO: from 2011 when we were living in Rangjung, Bhutan and went on our first trip to nearby Bartsham. While hiking with friends we could hear the squeals of delight long before we spotted these young girls taking a bath in an outdoor wooden tub heated the traditional way with stones warmed on the fire

THURSDAY 21st LITTLE DETAILS: A lot of the little details in this tiny sketch might be wrong but it was drawn with love by Doe in this morning’s monks’ class and everyone identified the subjects as Ian and me. We might just need to keep working on the body parts vocab and sketching the correct number of fingers!!

FRIDAY 22nd SOMETHING YOU WANT: My first attempt at using local green peppercorns to duplicate the original salted fresh pepper I now love

SATURDAY 23rd INSPIRATIONAL: Nothing is as inspirational as nature. Remarkable tree in Kep National Park where we hiked this morning.

SUNDAY 24th CREATE: Today I used the cloth I bought at the vintage shop in Kampot to create a more restful zone in the guest room. I hand stitched two backing cloths and attached them to each of the blinds to block more of the morning and afternoon sun

MONDAY 25th SEEING THE GOOD: is just another way of saying - Gratitude. I’ve been focusing on gratitude with this little app and writing three things I’m grateful for everyday for almost four years now

PS If you are wondering why there is no 10^th It’s because I posted it after midnight and there are two entries for the 11^th as sometimes happens

TUESDAY 26th BLUE AND GREEN: I was about to post coloured pencils when I remembered this archive shot of a hummingbird I took in Peru. The iridescent green and blue of its feathers makes “blue and green should not be seen without a colour in between” a lie

WEDNESDAY 27th RAD: Ian is addicted to all things chilli and he regularly makes chilli jam and various other chilli concoctions. This however is the super-heated version of the daily jam. We have 3 jars of regular chilli jam, this super-hot one, 2 jars of pickled chillies, chilli flakes and tabasco sauce all home made by him, as well as dried chillies, chilli powder and fresh home-grown chillies in addition to market bought fresh chillies in the house at the moment. Doesn’t everyone eat chilli jam on their toasted baguette for breakfast?

THURSDAY 28th SLEEP: Littlest monk An pretending to sleep today when we took them to Vagabond Temple for a yoga / activities session. They often pretend to sleep when they find comfy sofas

A note from me and a fun shot that Ian took this morning!

Last month the little monks hardly made an appearance in my shots and this month they seem to dominate! Since they are a huge part of our lives here it does seem rather fitting. Nice to see a few archive shots that bring back precious memories too.