Growing Weed at Home

What started off as laziness became a fascination with nature in a local ecosystem.  In our balcony, we have pots of red Hibiscus framing the small space.  It's been here for nearly three years until last summer it was furiously attacked by tiny little white flies.  I had to trim all the trees down to a single stalk removing every leaf.  Miraculously, this seems to have worked and new leaves are starting to unravel.  Two weeks ago, I noticed small weeds growing in the pots.  What struck me was the variety of the flora that found its way to our first floor.  I kept putting off removing them until a 'proper' gardening afternoon.  The weather has been too nice and I found myself playing with my kids instead of tending to the plants.

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Star Struck

If you live in Kuwait, you will know that you're almost never further than five metres from a tall street light.  The whole city is brightly lit all night and the roads illuminated to the furthest points near the south and, more recently, the north borders.  It's therefore hard to imagine a place in our tiny country without light.  When the generator was switched off during our camping trip, I was amazed by the number of visible stars.  With a clear night, which is rare, and having remembered to bring a tripod, even more rare, I attempted a star-trail photo to remember the night.  The photo had to include part of the tent to make it a little more special than just a sky shot.

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Beauty is Nothing

I couldn't find time to visit my friends' desert camp last year.  In fact the last time I spent a night out in the desert was over twenty years ago.  Over the past few years, I did visit camps for lunch or tea, usually in the south of Kuwait.  Camps in Mina Abdullah area and those a little further are often closer than people's chalets.  Whilst the relatively short drive does offer a change from every day life, the very busy location removes any feeling of being 'away'.  The number of tents there makes it look like one giant camp.  The cars, bikes and generator noise remove any peace offered by the concrete-free surroundings.  This trip was quite different.  We headed North.

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End of a Chapitre

I arrived in Paris on an evening flight from London. At the airport I would usually collect a reserved car and drive to a small town about two hours away.  This time was different. I will not be needing a car to drive to my French office every morning and back to the hotel in the evening. I was there on a one-day farewell visit. Instead of a rental car, I looked for my name on the customary stained-card carried by the traditionally bored and often overweight taxi driver. Frequent business travelers will know what I mean. To be fair I was greeted by a courteous young gentleman. After a long quiet drive, and as we reached Sens, he asked me with his limited English: 'First time visiting Sens?'. He spoke in a very strong French accent. 'No, but it may well be my last' I replied rather quickly, in an equally strong English accent. I have no explanation. It seems to creep in whenever I'm saying anything serious.

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Merry Christmas

Our tree feels at home after a few weeks in place, the fireplace is hosting some candles (not cold enough here for anything stronger), the presents have been piling in, and the cards have decorated the room.  The kids are almost as excited as their mother.  It will be an early start tomorrow, but a day full of joy and good food.

Merry Christmas.

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Istanbul Twenty Two

In a feable attempt at making this post 'seasonal' I start with the above image of the beautiful roasted chestnuts.  Yes... this is the second set of twenty photos taken in Istanbul presented in no particular order.  There is a significant difference between a business trip and a holiday in terms of photography time.  Even on longer work trips I managed a maximum of two posts from a location.  For Istanbul, this is my sixth from a trip of just over a week.  It wasn't even a holiday dedicated for photography,  but my family were very patient.  Older posts from Istanbul are listed below, in case you missed them.

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Istanbul Twenty One

I've put off sorting these images for  long enough.  I tried to find time to write more posts: perhaps one on the Blue Mosque, or Topkapi Palace, maybe another with some stories of our time there...  Then I realised that I have already written four posts about Istanbul alone! I will list them with links tomorrow.  Instead of trying to write another 'themed' post, I am today publishing twenty random shots of this magnificent city.  I will do the same with another set tomorrow - hence the title.

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London Falling

It is impressive how much colour our local park in West London produces.  I don't just mean today's warm rainbow of autumn shades, but more the colours throughout the years.  I've had the opportunity of taking silver shots of frosty grass, heavenly greens in the height of summer, brilliant white when snow covered the ground and branches, and more recently infrared shots of the rich foliage which resulted in a wonderful ghostly feel.  Autumn is by far my favourite look with all the colours imaginable and the green stubbornly there in the form of grass if in nothing else.  The air is fresh and cool which makes the perfect combination of weather and sights for lovely walks.

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Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Every time I drove from Dubai to Abu Dhabi I would see this beautiful mosque under construction.  Over the past year or so, I drove past it knowing it was possible to stop and have a look, but unfortunately without the time to ever do so.  During my trip last week, which may well be my last business trip to the UAE, my colleague and I had a free afternoon.  He too enjoys photography so I timed our drive to allow us a good one-hour stop between Asr and Maghrib prayers; and arranged for our driver to stop on the way.  

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Colouring In Time

It's that time of year again when I need to do a little more than the usual tidying up in the garden.  It's time to introduce colour and scent.  The summer passed with only a few expected casualties, including a couple in this post.

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