White Donkeys

The original donkeys were grey with black stripes on their legs, a black bar over their shoulders and a black stripe down their back. Somewhere along the line in Egypt the predominant colour for donkeys has become white and I have no idea why. But this had to have been one of the whitest donkeys I've ever seen

Colours of Home

Light shining in from upstairs highlights the bright lime green of the entry way. The villagers love their colours.

Colourful Cleaning

Village families don't own cars for the most part and there are no shops out here so salesmen come out and wander about with pickup trucks, donkey and horse carts and motorcycle trucks filled with goods that households might need. This man is the local version of the Fuller Brush man.

Colour Changes in Spring

It's the season for our bougainvilleia to be bursting in colours over the garden walls. But one of the interesting things is the way that the plant gradually can change colour. The picture on the bottom is from the same garden and the same vine as the white blossoms above, but they are gradually turning pink. I have no idea why or how.

Colourful gardening

Wheelbarrows are quite simple to make and despite the cheap factories of China, most of them in Egypt are still made here. And Egyptians like colour. So why shouldn't your wheelbarrow match your flowers? The wooden poles in the barrel are handles for tools that are also made by hand by our blacksmiths

Camouflage

A year or so ago some friends gave me a fleece blanket for Christmas that happened to be white with black spots. Oddly enough, I have a dog just that colour and when she crept onto the bed on morning for a nap, I almost didn't see her.

Fire Season

The flame trees (poinciana) are in bloom now and they light up the roads, countrysides and gardens. They provide beautiful shade all summer and then the leaves fall in the winter. A perfect Egyptian shade tree.

The Black Land

In the time of the pharoahs Egypt was divided into the Black Land of the Nile Valley and the Red Land of the desert. Most of the desert near the valley is a reddish colour. You can tell where the antiquities were by a slight white tinge to the desert where the stone chips still cover the sand after the limestone was cut up. The black soil of the valley used to be replenished by the silt from the Nile during the yearly flood. Now it is replenished by the addition of the manure from the water buffalo, silt dug out of the canals during dredging and the careful rotation of the crops by the farmers.

Beginning a Batik

A staff member at Wissa Wassef explains how the batiks that they make there are prepared. This one is floral and starting in a startling orange.

Living Colour

There are no building codes in Egypt, at least not that I'm aware of, and people are free to use their whims and imaginations when it comes to decoration. The villagers seem to have pretty colourful imaginations.

Washing Rugs

Bright rag rugs hang in the sun to dry. These are made of recycled fabrics by the villagers and the zebaleen. They wash beautifully and make great rugs or throws on sofas.

Green Wool

Driving into the Wissa Wassef compound we found one of the daughters supervising the dyeing of the wool used for weaving their famous tapestries. They use natural dyes from the plants grown on the premises.

Woman And Goat

This is simply one of the most lovely photos I've ever seen of our village women. Kelly went out for a walk along one of our riding trails one afternoon and in one cluster of homes, the children and women all asked for their photos to be taken. As soon as my knees are better I'm heading out to deliver copies of the pictures to the women and children as Kelly printed them before she left.

Colour Coordinated

Serendipity! The orange bougainvilleia exactly matches the cotton batiks that are hanging in the courtyard after their first dye job.

A Spot of Refreshment

Just passing along the Corniche in Giza near Garden City I noticed that someone had set up a drinks stand on the railing. The bright coloured glasses were enticing even if it was a cool day.

Colour Everywhere

Our houses in the countryside are simple (unless they are ridiculously ornate...but that's another story) and people like to use colour as an accent. White turns brown from the sand and dust rather quickly, but the yellow/beige that many people like weathers well. This contrasts beautifully with the red/orange of the poinciana tree that looks out over the wall.

Colour!

Truck drivers here like colour. They paint their trucks blue, red, yellow and then apply stickers and such to add even more colour and pattern. I was sitting in traffic next to one and these colours just grabbed my eye.

Time To Dye

Driving into the Wissa Wassef center the other day I found lovely red wool hanging off the palm trees. It must be the season to be spinning and dyeing the wools for their tapestries. They do their own dyeing from herbs and plants grown on the property.

The Colours of Tools

The other day while taking a scenic route out of downtown Cairo we passed through Septeya, a district that is basically the giant Home Depot of Cairo. This wonderful area specialises in tools and construction materials. As a life long hardware store addict, I'd rather go to Septeya than City Stars. The brilliant yellow of the storefront and the glitter of metal and colour hanging out to view caught my eye.

Red

Village women wear black when a family member dies but they really love and look wonderful in strong primary colours and, my old favourite, purple.