HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
Sofia is 2!
Posted on March 29, 2019
Approximately two years back, with the permission of parents E&R, MB started to chronicle the life of baby Sofia. Post Nr 1 was on the occasion of her Christian baptism. The idea was, and is, to record her life and its bigger moments, against the backdrop of the political situation in the Middle East. Two more posts followed subsequently. Read More
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Weathered or Worn
Posted on March 24, 2019
AC has set this week’s challenge with her ‘weathered or worn‘ topic.
For the challenge, MB has selected a shot of Boucher’s Castle from his HX homeland, taken on 01 January just past. Read More
Enter The Dragon (Part 1 of 2)
Posted on March 23, 2019
It’s the weekend
Posted on March 21, 2019
Always look on the bright side of life.
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle,
Don’t grumble, give a whistle.
Yes indeed dear followers, another weekend approacheth. Read More
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – History
Posted on March 17, 2019
Thanks to Patti for this weeks photo challenge.
Fox hunting, by means of horses and hounds, started in England some 500 years ago and has continued to the present day in Ireland and in a number of other countries. It was banned in Scotland in 2002 and in England & Wales in 2005. Interestingly, in these days of Brexit/Northern Ireland Backstop etc, fox hunting is still legal in Northern Ireland. Followers of the Brexit story will be aware that Northern Ireland Unionists are opposed to the backstop as they do not want NI to be treated any differently than the rest of the UK. The ‘fox hunting’ irony is obviously lost on them.
MB was out and about earlier today and caught the below shot from his car window. Being late afternoon, the pack of hounds and their Master were returning home after a day on the chase.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Around the Neighbourhood
Posted on March 11, 2019
Thanks to Tina for this week’s ‘neighbourhood‘ challenge. MB certainly has his work cut out to match Tina’s shots from her spectacular Kiawah Island home!
Below are ten shots MB took when he was home a few months ago for Christmas break. The lake, located in MB’s Irish HX neighbourhood and around which the shots were taken, is called Lough Gur. Followers can check out loughgur.com if they are of a mind to do so. MB readily admits that it’s hard to take a bad shot in his neighbourhood, given nature’s spectacular canvas.
Torba Farmers Market
Posted on March 8, 2019
One of the hidden gems of Doha is Torba Farmers Market which takes place every Friday and Saturday from 8am to 6pm. It’s a great place to chillax, drink coffee, eat some tasty food, listen to cool music, read a book, chat with random strangers which MB regularly does about all sorts of stuff, chat with more random strangers, read more books, drink more coffee and eat even more food.
In recent weeks MB has headed out early on Friday mornings to grab some Torba breakfast. MB’s awesome breakfast sandwich of last weekend features in one of the below pics. It was totally deadly. MB purchased it from Trader Milka who sells sourdough bread. Trader Milka comes from Denmark.
How awesomely cool is it to attend a Farmer’s market that’s got a Trader called Milka from Denmark?
Totally awesomely cool MB.
Thanks, lads. It surely is.
Anyway…..
MB was unsure how many pics to post with this particular post. Uncertainty in the mind of MB is as rare as hen’s teeth it must be quickly added. However, as MB is going to post a link to this post for all the traders to take a look, he thought it better for his personal safety to post as many as possible!
It’s the weekend
Posted on March 7, 2019
Take a stroll.
The Corniche area of Doha is the main drag for an evening stroll. The ‘corniche’ word is French in origin and in the Arab world means the roadway along any seafront. In other regions, it has different meanings.
Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Architecture
Posted on March 3, 2019
Architecture. Big thanks to Amy for the challenge.
The Al Shaqab horse arena in Doha, Qatar, is an architecturally-impressive mega-structure situated on the northern outskirts of the city. It features hugely impressive indoor and outdoor arenas of equal scale, which host show jumping, dressage, and other equestrian events. There is an emphasis on promoting the Arab horse breed. The below shots feature the outdoor arena FYI.
MB attended Al Shaqab for the first time yesterday afternoon to view a Swiss watch company Longines-sponsored international show jumping event, featuring over 40 horses and riders from many countries, including three from MB’s Ireland. Everybody who attended got a free USD 1,000 Longines watch to boot, which was extremely generous of the Qatar/Longines people. Longines company are producing quality watches in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, since 1832. MB just thought he would give them this little plug/mention in thanks for the awesome freebee, which should see sales hit an all-time high in the coming weeks.
MB did not have any super duper camera & zoom lenses with him. All below shots were taken on MBs Sony RX 100 M6 pocket camera.
“You’re a genius MB. How do you keep on doing it?”
“Thank you guys. Nail on the head, MB guesses. Genius.”
“And did you not take any shots with your Huawei Chinese Camera Phone thingy MB?”
“Of course MB did guys. But MB will save those for another post. Too much awesomeness could be just a little too much for followers to handle in one single post.”
“BTW guys. MB was just kidding about the free Longines watch!”
“Ha ha ha, MB. What a kidder you are!”
“Voila guys:”
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