GOK's TogBlog

Yes, yes, this is somewhat late; unfortunately, I slipped over on a rug and dropped my laptop, so it had to be sent away to Agadir (an hour and a quarter’s drive from our apartment) – hence the delay. All done now – yay!

So here are the themes for December:

(Image courtesy of Emma over at The Gift Shed)

Gifts

I photographed this in the Berber souk in Taroudannt, where I was living until last week. These gift boxes are huge (around a metre tall), made from velvet and silver or brass (and probably either thick card or thin wood) and from what I have been told, are often used to house wedding dresses, gowns, etc. I think you could get a huge load of chocolates in there!

Inspiration

As ever, this is the category I have most difficulty with – not because I’m not inspired by anything, more that there is so much which inspires me!  Last week, during an evening stroll with amato mio along the beach in Essaouira, we watched the sun go down over the sea, and I realised that that is exactly the kind of thing which inspires me to keep on wandering and taking photos. As long as the world continues to be full of wonders like this sunset, I will continue to be inspired!

Something I made

Living the life of a wanderer as I do, I rarely get the chance to make anything particularly tangible. I thought about taking a photo when I made the bed in our apartment in Taroudannt… because it was something of a rare occurrence but I feared that only amato mio would understand its significance!  So instead, I present you with a photo of a vegetarian tagine I made… complete with steam!  It was delicious! If you’d like the recipe, it’s over on my food blog, Yumsome!

Motif: Stars

The Moroccan flag is a very simple five-pointed green star on a scarlet ground, so I had no shortage of ideas for this category. However, I wanted something which reflected Taroudannt as well as Morocco, so here is an image of part of the wall around the kasbah (the old fortress). We lived inside the medina of Taroudannt, which is enclosed by a wall dating back several hundred years; within this medina is the kasbah – an area I found particularly fascinating. Along the front of the wall, there are decorations which apparently light up at certain times of the year. Sadly, we didn’t see them alight but they were still very cool, and we loved seeing them!

Tradition

Inside the medina, a lot of the time there is no room for cars or vans etc. so the traditional way to transport goods is with a donkey and cart. Even on roads, it’s not in any way unusual to see donkey carts alongside cars, motorbikes, bicycles, etc. Donkeys are as much a part of daily life in Taroudannt as is bread!