In Kalpitya main street, Puttalam district, Sri Lanka, little doors into a shrine tucked into a small room on the roadside.
Thursday Doors is run by Norm Frampton. Thursday Doors 03 March
Category 2016
Monday Window:#6 When is a window not a window?
When it’s taxed… Avoiding 
Thursday doors:
Monday Window:#5 Dubai high rise windows
Dubai’s new centres are the high-rise city. Home life and office working hours are invariably carried out many floors up. Windows are important in this aerial city, the only link between you and the outside world. Modern buildings here, windows form an important part of the building design. Not so many traditional windows in this city, mostly bland and featureless but somehow complementing the modern architecture. I often photograph the buildings marvelling at the construction and extravagance…
Thursday Doors: Ancient door at Angkor Wat
Monday window: #4 Panayia Chryseleoussis, Emba, Cyprus
The old church in Emba village…
Small barred windows at the ancient Byzantine church of Panayia Chryseleoussis, small circular windows in the dome too.
Tackling the trash: Ocean waste, a perennial problem.
Attending the Open day at the Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG), located beyond Jebel Ali, our host, Major Ali, the lynchpin of this non-governmental organization introduced us to the stalwart work carried out by this non-profit group. Continue reading
Thursday Doors: Fishing port, Dubai.
When I spotted this corridor of doors and not having seen any of the “No photography” signs, I spent some time snapping, then, on turning around, a security guard is standing right behind me …politely, “Ma’am, no photos please here”… Oops, profuse apologies, but I wasn’t snapping the super yachts moored behind me, just this lovely view down a corridor of doors ….
Pacing the Palm Jumeirah….
Weekends in Dubai are my time to explore the city. Even though views from my flat are of the Palm Jumeirah (just) and it seems a stone’s through away, getting there is another matter. You really have to plan your journey in this city, no random heading off in “that” direction, the road network is superb, but requires advance planning otherwise you can be many miles from your chosen destination, spoken from experience! Continue reading
Garden Challenge : February: Monochrome
Ethereal in the sunlight
A feathery weed in sunlight, monochrome highlights the structure and formation of each frond.
Monday Window #3 : in Bristol, UK.
It’s a Banksy window.
In June 2006, Banksy created an image of a naked man hanging out of a bedroom window on a wall visible from Park Street in central Bristol. The image sparked “a heated debate”, with the Bristol City Council leaving it up to the public to decide whether it should stay or go.After an internet discussion in which 97% of the 500 people surveyed supported the stencil, the city council decided it would be left on the building.The mural was later defaced with blue paint. (Wikipedia)
( Photo Vicky, April 2015 on a Bristol city visit)
Thursday Doors
A typical Omani door in rural areas. This door leads directly into the house, sometimes the houses have a walled courtyard and larger doors or gates are the entry point, with no visibility of the house behind, for privacy purposes.The colour in this desert environment is a welcome sight and stands out from the muted surrounding sand tones.
Introducing my favourite place in Oman…. Masirah Island
I first visited Masirah in October 2013 and have been back many times, the island’s simplicity and beauty draw me like a magnet. It’s a complete contrast to anywhere in the UAE and I never fail to relax amidst its rural island atmosphere. Continue reading
Monday Window #2
Windows in an old Omani house in Mirbat, Southern Oman, still occupied.
Monthly Memories : January 2016
January always brings a sense of a new start. After the end of the year, it feels as if a cold shock is required to kickstart the new year. In northern climes, the cold shock is inevitable, in middle climes, it’s a beautiful time of year. Intense, exhausting summer heat several months ahead, but the temperate weather over the winter brings, for me, the advent of weekends travelling and exploring this beautiful region.
Christmas family celebration time fell during New Years week for me, work commitments required me to remain in Dubai, where this time of year isn’t flush with Bank holidays and mince pies. A 5 am New Years day start for the airport, through the city which never sleeps, the new year had commenced. My joy to go home. Cyprus, chilly nights, beautiful blue sky days, precious family time with the children. Perfect winter weather, central heating and thick boots, this was my coldish start to 2016.
Cypriot cyclamen…
Winter succulent…
Proof of the boots…
Olive tree, starting it’s 2016 growth…
Mandora, A Cyprus winter fruit…
A Cyprus winter sunset…
Back in the sand, the annual Gulf News fun drive, a weekend of dune bashing with 1000 others out in the Western Region, then a trip over to the Oman coast, walking along empty beaches, not many souls in sight, with only flocks of flamingos and herons for my company.
Catching squid…
Scaring the birds…
Crab en guarde…
Sand dollar exposed by the tide…
Whose footprints in the sand….
The Flamingo three…
Last weekend was a Dubai weekend, time to tidy up but do some in-town exploring but this past weekend was our cold shock. Weather warnings filled the papers, rough seas, rain and the temperatures forecast to descend below 20 degrees.
Clouds were in our normally sand filled blue skies, black over the desert threatening rain. In a country where rain is an infrequent pleasure, it was time to dig out something warm and head outside from the 35th floor flat and breathe in some fresh air.
Cityscape from the beach…
Dubai winter beach…
Kite surfing at the city beach…
Oh, yes and I started the diet this month too. 2016 is the fat-busting year.
Joining into https://thoughtsofasociallyanxiousextrovert.wordpress.com/my-monthly-memories-monthly-blogging-event/
Admiring the Arabian oryx….
Driving in the desert in the Emirates, if you are lucky enough, there is the chance to come across the Arabian Oryx or white Oryx (Oryx leucoryx). Continue reading
Thursday Doors
Beautiful wooden doors at Siyja fort, Abu Dhabi region, UAE.
There are many old forts restored in the UAE. This one is in Al Ain region, Abu Dhabi, UAE. This is a small little fort, off a road where not many people travel, but it’s beautifully maintained and a pleasure to visit.
Google maps: 24.020525, 55.632556
Monday Window
Starting off my windows with a very small one….
A little window of light at the top of the stairs… Siyja fort, Abu Dhabi region, UAE.
Weekly Photo Challenge : Optimistic
Yesterday’s sunrise giving hope and optimism for the brand new day…
Sunrise in Ash Sharqiyah Region, Oman.
Weekly Photo challenge : Optimistic #2
- disposed to take a favorable view of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.
- reflecting a favorable view of events and conditions and the expectation of a positive outcome; demonstrating
In distant areas of Oman, towns are small, huge distances between each and surrounded by thousands of kilometers of sand and gravel plains, with some dune desert areas. Sand is everywhere… in this region, it’s part of life. Flashing through one of these small towns yesterday on the way back to the big Dubai city, passing these workers, their task of sweeping the sand away seemed somewhat optimistic.
Optimistically sweeping the desert sand off the road…
and sweeping the other side of the road… was the sand being swept across to the other side ?
A chance encounter….
Have you ever met up with someone in a remote place, that you either know or knows someone you know? One of those moments where the world seems very small… Continue reading
Desert driving for everyone – GNFD 2016…
Every year the Gulf News, an English-language paper in Dubai, runs a fun drive in the desert during the winter.The event has been running for 30 odd years, with a route carefully planned well in advance, tickets go on sale before the event and it’s always a sellout. Continue reading
Flamingos in the city…
Right in the midst of urban Dubai development is Rhas Al Khor wildlife park.
Full of Flamingos and in sight of the iconic skylines of the high-rise city. Surrounded by highways, the traffic whizzes past this urban sanctuary 24/7. Continue reading
Cyclamen in Cyprus….
My greatest pleasure is to come home… home is in Cyprus, a million miles in mindset away from the big Dubai city in terms of pace, progress and landscape and of course heat. Cyprus has its own special pace, the nation has been struggling through a turbulent period of ups and downs since it’s foray into the world of the EU and is still a divided island since the 1974 invasion. Continue reading
Who am I and why am I here…
Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s okay. You’re here to live your life, not to make everyone understand.
A recent quotation, currently journeying around Facebook, is a fairly apt statement as to why I have decided to turn my hand to blogging my exploring and travels .. you don’t have to understand it, just enjoy it with me ! Continue reading
Travels in the Middle East and beyond 