Lotus blossom flowers

This has to be one of my favorite photos that I took on my spring break. This was taken at a temple that was found on the grounds of the Cambodian President.

In case you don't know.. the lotus blossom is important to Buddist cultures.. because, legend (or the story?) goes that BUDDA was born on a lotus blossom. That is why you'll see it on carvings, paintings, etc.. in countries that participate in the Buddist religion. *iwouldratherbeknitting knows this because she has lived in various ASIAN countries for 14 years. It just doesn't seem like that much time has passed.

*To really appreciate the photos- you need to click on them...

Apparently, I like BLUE, GREEN, and PURPLE..

Here is the progress of my knitted log cabin squares. I have 21 of them completed and will need to knit 3 more (one is about half way finished) and then knit solid blue borders and join all the squares together to make my first afghan. However, due to the 'you need to start going through your household goods' like A MONTH AGO situation..because of my upcoming move to Germany there is no time to knit now. Here are my squares stacked and mocking me.. ok, maybe they aren't really mocking me and are instead just waiting?



As part of my preparing to move.. I, of course, started to sort my knitting yarns. I also pulled all of the yarn that was stored in bags, my wooden wardrobe, shelves, and plastic storage containers. Let's just say this, it is amazing how much yarn a person has.. when it is all hauled out to one area.

I went through my 'cotton' or summer yarns.. and I noticed something.. I had 4 yarns that were almost exactly the same color of soft blue. Maybe, if you took them out in the bright sunlight and looked at the with a magnifying glass- you 'might' be able to tell a difference. This same thing also happened with a couple of purple and green yarns.

So, I decided to make a 'yarn swatch' and cut off little pieces of my yarn and taped it down w/ fiber content so, I could take my little 'yarn swatch' with me and not duplicate the same colors again.




Here is another project that I need to be working on.. but, can't at this time. Knitted lace..

you don't always get what you ask for.. sort of..

One hot, hot, hot, day of 98*F, while on vacation, in the temples of Cambodia.. which seemed like a hot, steamy day of 128*F to a person who had just left 'cooler than usual' spring temps of 58*F.. a few of our group 'opted' out of looking at anymore temples or.. what I called: STACKED ROCKS...

and decided to sit in the hot sun.. but, under a canopy, at the small food snack place, so, it was a little less hot. One thing that hot, tropical, steamy locations do have is.. wonderful tropical fruits. So, I noticed on the menu of selected drinks and fresh fruits to purchase.. fresh coconut

I haven't had fresh coconut out of the shell in years... so, a friend and I decided to share the order- I was the only one of us with some $$, in my pocket, as my friend's money and the rest of my money was locked in the tour guide's van.

The long awaited coconut arrived after a flurry of chopping and preparation and I immediately knew it wasn't what I remembered eating when I lived in the Philippines.. oh no.. this coconut was so fresh it was still green. which was also found in the Philippines-- but, the type of coconut that I avoided when I lived there.

I had had 'green coconut' in the past.. once.. and it was enough to let me know that I didn't like it at all- it's slimy, barely tastes like coconut.. sigh.. I had spent all the money that I had in my pocket and it was useless to think of the fresh mango, or papaya that we could be eating instead.



Oh, I might add that they also gave us the fresh green 'coconut milk' in a glass that was on the inside(which you can see the full glasses behind the coconut in the photo)... which does not taste anything like the coconut milk from a 'mature' coconut or even less like what 'coconut milk' sold in a can in the grocery store tastes like.

So, there we were.. waiting for another 2 hours, for the others in our group to return,... with the green coconut staring at us like it was a rejected orphan or something. And there we were with no more money to buy an alternate drink or fruit snack.

It did give us something to laugh about...

Apparently, I am easily amused..

Because when I saw these in the little grocery store (shopping for water) on my last day in Siem Reap, Cambodia.. I snickered out loud.. dug out my camera and 'YES, I took a photo with others (locals, I might add) around me.. just doing my part to keep the 'American tourist impression' going.. :D



I didn't buy them.. but, so wanted to.. to see what they tasted like. I was running out of money (had to save money for lunch and the departure fee of $25.00) and I was also running out of room in my over packed 20 kilo (about 40 pound) one suitcase that we were allowed to have on the plane.. and little did I know that it would be about 5 hours before the next chance for a bathroom break.. so, in retrospect, it was a good thing that I didn't buy both of them to sample. I mean after all- how could you DECIDE which one to buy?

They say a photo is worth a thousand words..

Well, I got this in an email from a friend today.. and decided to pass it on here.


Since, I work on a USA Military base overseas.. this photo really touched me.. and I wanted to share to those who read my blog.

PS.. In case you don't know, that is an Enlisted Marine Dress uniform.

And, click on the photo for a larger image.
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This Picture is Worth 1000 Million Words...




We truly take a lot for granted. Forget the football "heroes" and movie "stars". Pass this on so that all may know the price of freedom
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you,
Jesus Christ and the American Soldier
One died for your soul; the other for your freedom.
How can you NOT PASS this along, we all send dozens of joke

Where there is a will .. there is a way...

We saw so many unusual things being hauled on the bicycles and motorcycles in both Vietnam and Cambodia. Often, we'd be in the van with our tour guide.. and didn't have enough time to dig the camera out, turn it on, and focus in time...

I think that some of the most unusual items hauled were:

About 5-6 huge hogs with legs tied together.. stacked behind and in front of the motorcycle driver like stacks of big whitish pink wood.

And, speaking of wood.. I did see a huge wood pile being hauled too.

Here are some of the ones that I did manage to take a photo.. of.. Enjoy..

*To appreciate the images better.. Click on photos for a larger view..


A Ladder???

Wanna see more photos of Vietnam??

I bought some post-cards from this guy. I liked his 'resourceful' mode of transportation. I'm sure that he lost his limbs from a mine or the previous occupation of Vietnam and Cambodia.
*Click on the photos for a larger image..


Click on the photo and check out the name of the store.. pink and white sign.. I loved the 'pronounce it out' spelling.


Fancy dress version of the 'traditional dress'.. of Vietnam



I found Vietnam such an interesting place.. The next two photos are in front of the temple that was on the island that the red bridge led to in the previous posting.



Aren't these doors beautiful? I wish that I could have bought something like this and turned them into screens for my living room. Of course, even if I could find them-- they wouldn't fit in my one 40 pound suitcase that we were allowed to have..


A postal drop box. I tend to take photos of local phone booths or postal drops. I didn't see too many phone booths- and wasn't on the street so that I could take a photo of them when I did see them.


Hanoi was such a bustling, busy city, full of life. You could see the poverty, the sadness, but at the same time the reliance of the people too.

Interesting tidbit: Prices were quoted in American dollars... even on menus. No coins were given as change. They had small 'local' paper money that was given for change if the amount was less than one USA dollar.