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Yuk!!! The first snow has fallen. For Richmond in Yorkshire this might be normal, but not in Richmond upon Thames. My garden doesn't look too inviting......but the acacia tree is always a pleasure to look at, whatever the season, and so also is the large silver birch tree further down.
Some of you will have noticed the absence for almost a year. It's not easy to post a good photo day after day. Other priorities intrude. But I've not been idle, and the photogrpahs are still being made, though not in the same way.
We last saw the colours and delights of Oman (a country I grew to like very much), so it's a good idea to return with a classic shot of the City of London.
These days I spend a lot more time in the centre rather than out in the suburb of Richmond. If this blog continues, it'll be a mix of Richmond, London and anything else that comes along. Let's see where it goes.
It's clear that the human animal loves colour. This family of young Omani girls (all sisters) shows how women all over the world love to dress up and decorate themselves.
Another shot taken in Muscat at the white marble colonnade in the ceremonial palace.
I am not making many postings at the moment (good reasons, so nothing to worry about) but nevertheless I have, during this "quiet time", picked up yet another watcher. Amazing!).
Here, again is a photo from Oman, not Richmond. Sorry. It's not tweaked. (Well only a tiny bit). This is more or less exactly as I saw it and how the camera captured it. Wonderful.
Musandam is the rocky, mountainous, area at the very northern tip of Oman which, though tiny, resembles "Norway in the sunshine", by virtue of the deep sea fiords that cut into the steeply rising mountains. Musandam forms one side of the Straights of Hormuz and Iran is only 30 miles (a 45 minute trip in a smuggler's speed boat) away across the water.
The straights are the main waterway for the giant tankers exiting from the Gulf oil fields and are the prowling ground for powerful warships of opposing navies of nervous antagonistic world powers.
For tourists, Musandam is a place to see the remnants of very ancient lost civilisations where early man lived his primitive life in a totally different and somewhat damp climate! Today it is a dry desert. It is also a place to see Dolphins, dive to see wonderful fish, and to meet pleasant, amusing Omanis, full of fun and courtesy: a place where the men rub noses when they meet. For Westerners this is an hilarious thing to see!!
This photo catches the dawn as it rises out of the East and climbs above the rocky peaks of the Musandam mountains that are so typical of Oman.
Some of you expressed admiration - rightly so. Here is a snap of the whole model.
The legendary sailor, Sindhbad, was an reputedly an Omani, who voyaged far and wide to exotic places and had astounding adventures.
The legendary voyages of the real sailors of Oman were no less exotic, and the traditional dhows are still built. The only difference is a diesel engine inside a fine, seaworthy, traditionally styled wooden hull.
The dhow yard at Sur still builds these beautiful ships. They also make wonderful models worth thousands of pounds. Here's a snap showing a builder completing a magnificent model; no doubt being built to order.
This time another tiny little hummingbird of a different colour. They flit and twitter through the leaves, so small and hard to spot.
International air travel gives more and more the opportunity to see these scenes for themselves, and magazines frequently show such pictures. Nevertheless I longed to capture such a photo for myself. Here is one, taken in the sandy desert area of Oman known as Wahaiba sands.
"It's been a long time" as the Frenchman says in the old Cointreau advert.
I've been away in Oman (again, as last year) and brought this back. There were hummingbirds in the garden and I had to be smart and get the timing right. They (there was this one and an irrridescent blue one) appeared at around 09.30 in the morning. The snap succeded. It was worth waiting and watching.
