oNe PhOtO a DaY jUnE 2019

THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH

SATURDAY 1st THIS IS GOOD: Homemade iced coffee with chocolate brownie, vanilla ice cream

SUNDAY 2nd I CARE ABOUT THIS: - preparing the materials and resources we will use with the little monks to optimise their learning and enjoyment.  Planning this week’s classes and ordering flashcards was how I spent my morning

MONDAY 3rd REPEAT: Chocolate chip shortbread- mix, roll, bake and repeat. Half baked and half about to go in the oven. This is the most popular treat I make and there is never any shortage of takers, when I follow through with the vow to give away at least half of everything I bake. This time it will go to the bar run by a dear friend, who is the most frequent repeat receiver

TUESDAY 4th HERB: The local basil we grow and the peanut pesto made from it

WEDNESDAY 5th OBJECT: Now that we have visas to visit Bhutan we have begun the process of laundering our traditional clothes to take and wear on formal occasions. This object is my ‘rachu’- traditional handwoven ceremonial scarf for women. It brings back happy memories and I’m joyous about the prospect of creating more

THURSDAY 6th A DRINK: Cheers it’s now officially drink o’clock and after a day of near constant rain, I can say with certainty that the monsoon is here and I need a cheer me up. For the first time this year we needed to take a Tuk Tuk to the monks’ class this morning and we still optimistically did the washing and cycled to the bakery when we got home. Bad decisions ....

FRIDAY 7th PERFECT: The perfect gift for two café owners we know in Thimphu. Locally sourced bamboo and stainless-steel straws. Also the perfect way to put your money where your mouth is - these will be the 4th and 5th café, restaurant or bars we have given eco-friendly straws to - changing the world one small step at a time

SATURDAY 8th IMPERFECT: My favourite hiking pants very visibly and imperfectly mended by me. Proud to repair rather than replace whenever possible, even if it is imperfectly

SUNDAY 9th SOCK: I just love these compression socks given to me by a friend. This is an archive shot from when I first received them last year in winter in Oz. Here in Cambodia I think I have worn socks just four times this year. I also love that only after this shot was taken did I realise that they are labelled left and right and of course I have them on the wrong feet

MONDAY 10th A ROOM: in our little house in Kep. This small room doubles as a living room and dining room and it is where we spend a great deal of time reading, relaxing, eating and chatting with friends. I love the prayer flags flying and all the photos of our travels on the walls and the geckos love hiding behind them too

TUESDAY 11th I LIKE TO EAT THIS: It’s my twist on street food we used to eat in Beijing decades ago, so it’s dubbed Beijing Salad. A combination of tofu skins, mushrooms and sliced lotus root simmered in soya sauce and black vinegar and chilled.  It’s served with cashews and raw veggies after marinating for 24 hours. I really like to make and eat this but it’s not always possible to get all the ingredients. Tonight, it will be part of our dumpling feast for friends in Kep.

The step by step process is also included in the shots above

WEDNESDAY 12th SPOTTY: This illustration from a series of Dreamtime children’s books is more accurately described as dot painting but there is no denying its spotty. Of course, of the 35 drawings I could have selected I gravitated toward orange but settled on a crab - for crabby ole Kep

THURSDAY 13th OPEN UP: We headed off to teach the little monks today with sun protection, only to discover that due to a misunderstanding they thought we had already begun our break. We weren’t expecting the skies to open up but they did and we got drenched cycling home. However, by the time we returned the sun was out in force again and dripping wet we had to rush to open up to avoid being sun burnt - thanks to Ian for the shot of me cycling

FRIDAY 14th PURPLE: A purple possum, drawn by Adam Oehlers and found in the book “Celeste, Nick and the Magical Tea Party”. Since I don’t like purple I had to search the house to find this. I’m now even more grateful to the lovely French woman, who gave me this exquisitely illustrated, Australian, children’s book before departing from Kep. It also prompted me to read the story again

SATURDAY 15th CHOCOLATE: I’m not really a big fan of chocolate but I have often admired the chocolate tarts at the French Patisserie here in Kep. This prompt was the excuse I needed to finally purchase one and a lemon one which is more my style

SUNDAY 16th IN A BOWL: Homemade trail mix in an orange lacquered bamboo bowl from Vietnam. Once we are in cooler climes I will add chocolate to it for the perfect travel and hiking snack

MONDAY 17th CIRCLE: These woven baskets are all perfect circles and they lock together making a perfect, flexible, storage container. Made in Bhutan and known as “Bungchu” they are very both artistic and utilitarian. I love and use them regularly

TUESDAY 18th PEACE: Nothing quite says calm, compassion and peace like the image of Buddha for me. An ancient carved Buddha from the wall of our favourite eatery in PP and taken before I sat down to order dinner tonight

WEDNESDAY 19th I WATCHED THIS... : Daily life - ordinary people doing what they do in the Central Market and Streets of Phnom Penh

THURSDAY 20th MONEY: We are flying to Bangkok this morning. With five different currencies in my passport wallet I decided the Vietnamese Dong and Sri Lankan Rupees belonged in the Red Cross Charity box. The Thai Baht will be spent by the end of the day, Cambodian Reil will come in handy when we return and well American dollars are good security wherever you find yourself. Can’t wait to see those Bhutanese Ngultrum again

PS: I’m flattered that this one was chosen for the Fab Four on Instagram

FRIDAY 21st ON MY MIND: Right now, my home class from 2011 and 2012 are on my mind as we plan to see as many of them as possible in the next week. This is one of many shots I took of them in our final year together. I love that I can still put a name to every face and had to go searching to find some of them in the photo and found a couple were missing - oh yeah ... left school that year.  They changed me more than I influenced them, I’m sure

SATURDAY 22nd MUSICAL: My bag and wallet or purse have had bells on them ever since a bell on my rucksack woke me up and prevented it from being stolen on a train in Italy. The musical security which accompanies me daily is this version

SUNDAY 23rd A STORY: We arrived back in Thimphu today and this is the main intersection in the centre of town. I don’t know if it’s true or not but there is a story that traffic lights were installed at this intersection and the local people found it too impersonal so it was returned to its original state and a team of elite traffic police man the traffic circle during the day, directing and controlling ever greater numbers of vehicles. Not that it was busy early on this Sunday morning

MONDAY 24th UNEXPECTED: We have had a bit of an evolving Bhutanese shopping list for a while but today we received an unexpected request for an item I would never have purchased otherwise. Very fortuitously we were out shopping at the time and so I purchased my first ever football jersey in the Bhutan national colours

TUESDAY 25th THIS SEASON: For students in Bhutan this is the end of the exam season, it’s also the beginning of the rainy season and the summer season but for us and our former students and colleagues it is certainly the reunion season

WEDNESDAY 26th I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS: Education! A small sample of the many educational settings I have found myself in over the 40 years I have had this passion

THURSDAY 27th SUN: The sun flare and bokek on the Buddha Dordenma in Thimphu. We have visited this exact spot today and been privileged to hear part of the prayer service delivered by the Je Khempo but this is an archive shot as today is overcast and there are throngs of devotees and monks at this auspicious time

FRIDAY 28th ORANGE: A monk in orange robes painted on the interior wall of a huge prayer wheel enclosure in Zongdok Peleri Lhakhang Thimphu

SATURDAY 29th ON MY FRIDGE: This is the bar fridge in our hotel room in Thimphu, so in reality it’s not actually my fridge. However, I did manage to decorate it with the slips of paper containing the pre-written quotes I prepared so I could continue to post for my 100-day project while we are travelling

SUNDAY 30th HOLE: The rails on the covered bridge in Thimphu have holes that are painted in exactly the same patterns as traditional window frames

oNe PhOtO a DaY mAy 2019

 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