Monday 10 August 2009

that's My World, Friesland



Last week I was in Friesland, near Drachten, and stayed with Frisian friends. Friesland is one of our 12 provinces and apart from Dutch, the Frisians speak Frisian. We can regard the Frisians as our aboriginals. They are the original inhabitants of our country. Their language dates from the 8th century A.D.The period of the peat workers in Friesland started in the 18th century A.D.They were poor people with often large families. Their houses consisted of one room and a place to cook. They were often forced to spend their wages in the shop and the pub, which were owned by their boss, who also lived in the same building. To get them attending church, they got a cup of pea soup after the service on Sundays.
Peat was used as fuel in houses and factories, even after WWII.
In one of the photos you can see a lawei. That's a basket on a long pole. Is the basket high, it means: Work! Horizontal: lunch! Low: You can go home!



Thank you Klaus,Sandy,Ivar,Wren,Fishing Guy & Louise for this wonderful meme. You can see more of the world of other bloggers by clicking on the logo in the side bar or on that's My World

47 comments:

Anya said...

Daar ben ik wel geweest :)
Mooie provincie echt geweldig,
het is wel alweer een paar jaar geleden.
Ik maakte me een beetje zorgen,
ik ben blij dat U er weer bent.
Ik had de hele week geen nieuw blogje gezien hihihi.....
U laat de mooiste plekjes van Nederland zien :)
Ik zal ook eens meedoen met
'My World'
komt Limburg ook eens op het internet ;)
groetjes !!

cherie said...

i enjoyed this a lot, ms. wil! and i guess it's lunch then - i found the pole with the basket! i am glad you had a most enjoyable visit. happy Monday!

Anonymous said...

I did like the looks of things there and the birdhouse was interesting to me. I never thought of doing one like that for the birds but it would be worth a try I suppose. I liked their flower beds and their homes too. Very nice place. Your photographs are also nice to see.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Off again without me, I see. I thought we had a deal. :-)

The colors in your photographs are so vivid. The greens are so green. I loved the Owl Board photo although I have no idea what that means.

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi dearest Wil,
How fantastic! that you bring this subeject of adopting a pet, here under the attention, I would sure take a pet, if I had none, byur my DOG (pet) is taking energy for 10!

I also red your interesting post comment of last week, I also Love France and the Castels, rivers eveything! So that interest we have both too.:)

Greetings and see my post about France.

JoAnn D Eyes from Holland now in France

The Weaver of Grass said...

Most interesting - I presume that is where Friesian cows originate too reader wil.

Dina said...

Nice, Wil! Some things here I see for the first time, like peat and a watermill.
Thanks!

Texas Travelers said...

I loved this post a lot. Great photos, and an enjoyable history lesson. It was really interesting going through all of the photos.

Great choice for MWT. Iam glad I came by before MWT officially started and I had some time to browse.

Come visit,
Troy and Martha

Arkansas Patti said...

Very interesting but a bit sad. It seems every culture has a group that are not treated particularly well. Glad that is way in the past.
I am a fan of the Friesian Horses with magnificent manes. I imagine they came from that area. You always broaden my world. Thank you.

Sylvia K said...

Marvelous post and photos, as always, Wil! Always feel as though I've been right there with you!

Have a great week!
Sylvia

Miss_Yves said...

Une région très originale !
Vous avez déjà le logo d'ABC Wednesday ?!Quelle est la date de reprise ?

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Okay Will,
I misunderstood but FRIESLAND is greta to visit I agree, the way you are showing this is very nice,

Greetings from(now in France)
JoAnn from Holland

Eve said...

Wow - what a history!
I was especially impressed by the small house that 13 lived in!

Mark Kreider said...

Thanks for the history lesson. The slide presentation is wonderful.

Guy D said...

Your blog is always a treat to visit, this day included.

Have a great week
Guy
Regina In Pictures

Anonymous said...

Reader Wil, what a beautiful slide show of an intersting subject.

You have a beautiful country side. I love the stone houses.

James said...

Thanks for the wonderful tour.

Jeannette StG said...

Great pics Wil! Hubby is from Heerenveen. Before we were married, he had to translate everything for me, coming there. I had the feeling like being in another country! You probably heard about all the peculiarities of the Frisians - they're true! They're intense people- extremely stubborn and stiff necked, but also loyal to a fault:)

Jane Hards Photography said...

Always leave here learning a strangle little fact like the the use of the peat. Lovely video montage to wander through.

Jeannette StG said...

Thank you for your comment on my blog (you mentioned that the Frisians look Scandinavian) - my vague memory of grade school history, is that the Vikings landed there first? So, I wonder if some intermarried with the native population there. Hubby looks Scandinavian...

Renie Burghardt said...

Hi Wil,

Wow, what an interesting history lesson and beautiful pictures. I know it will sound dumb, but I had never heard of Friesland before. So I learned something new. I'm glad you had an enjoyable visit with your friends in Friesland.

Hugs,

Renie

A Colorful World said...

This was a fascinating post! I learned something I knew nothing about, and it was fun. The photographs are wonderful! What a great My World post! I have missed seeing your posts this summer....was gone for 2 months then home but had the grandson here for a month and a half. Am trying to catch up as I can....
Marie

Patty said...

You have some very nice photos. Thanks for sharing. The flowers looked beautiful, so colorful. Glad you arrived home, safe and sound.

penny said...

What a wonderful group of photos you took of your visit to this beautiful part of you country, Wil. Thanks for sharing.

Irene said...

Thanks so much for the tour.

Ebie said...

Hello, ReaderWil, I have enjoyed the journey, and there are somethings that interest me, the watermill and the clogs, besides the the surrounding garden. Thanks for the tour!

Indrani said...

Great shots in the slide show. I didn't know so much of details of Frisians...interesting read... a slice of past from 8th century.

Vicki Lane said...

Thank you, Reader Wil, for enlarging my world again! The house that 13 lived in looks like the sod houses that early settlers on our Great Plains built.

Rajesh said...

The scenic snaps of Friesland are lovely. Never heard about the language Frisian before. It is amazing to see how a basket is used to communicate with people.

Etje said...

Wil ik al jaren eens een bezoekje brengen maar komt er nooit van.

Reader Wil said...

Hi Jeannette, to answer your comment: The Frisians are our Aboriginals; they were here before the Romans came in 70 AD. The Vikings came a thousand years later . They were here from 800 till 1100 AD. Then they settled in France and England, in Iceland and even for a short time in Greenland, but also in Russia. The Frisians still have their "noormannenpoortjes"( norsemen gates) in churches. They were low and opened to the north, so that any one leaving a church had to bow to the north, where the Vikings came from. Part of the prayers in church was: " Oh God,deliver us from the Norsemen!" Friesland was not interesting for the Romans . It was a country that was too wet, too cold and too poor.As far as I know the Frisians were there first.

Marites said...

what a beautiful place and interesting thing about the pole:D

Wolynski said...

Why do poor people have so many children or is that children make you poor? Lovely community and the photos are gorgeous -I like the red walls with the green door.

Glennis said...

I didn't know there were Dutch Aboriginals. I saw the basket on a pole, great idea as a message pole. I also didn't know you could make peat. Very interesting post I learned lots.

Reader Wil said...

Hi Glennis! What I mean by Aboriginals is the original people of a country, like the Celts in Ireland, our Frisians, may-be the Vikings in Norway, who are all white people like you and me. I am not an Aboriginal for I have French, German and probably more foreign blood in my veins.

Euroangel said...

i love esp. those blue hortensie flowers...happy MWT! have a great day too!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Wil: That was a wonderful trip through the town. thanks for sharing that neat area of your country. BTW: That sod roof was much better then the one I showed.

Carver said...

Thanks so much for the tour. What a wonderful place. I enjoyed the tours through the houses and the bushes in flower and landscape shots were also great.

antigoni said...

Amazing photos. I love to see old houses and learn their history.

Brenda said...

Very interesting story. I always enjoy hearing the traditions or ways of life that others live. Having to attend church to get the pea soup was different, but I bet there are more stories behind that one.
I always appreciate the slide show you put together.

arabesque said...

the pictures are so lovely!
it's definitely a wonderful tour...^-^
it looks so serene and so clean and full of greenery shrubs!

Jack and Joann said...

Friesans. Isn't there a breed of horses called Friessans? I love all those kitties over along the side. And I think I will just fly across the Atlantic and steal that cute puppy dog that you have at the top of your blog. One can't help but smile looking at that dog. What a cutie patootie!

Lew said...

Beautiful place and great photos! Thanks for the tour and history. It is great that some of the history has been preserved. I think it makes us appreciate more the hard life our ancesters lived. It is also interesting that other people are now thinking of wind power as a new discovery.

SandyCarlson said...

Those flowers are very beautiful. Thanks for this open-air bouquet!

Happily Retired Gal said...

How fun to see this video clip. My grandfather hailed from Friesland. Emigrated to the USA as a young man and married my grandmother who was also a Dutch immigrant. They settled in Michigan to raise their family ... eventually relocating to Southern California where I was born. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs and blessings,

Swarna said...

Beautiful slide show!

Barbara Martin said...

Beautiful countryside, and I believe this is where the wonderful Friesen horse originates.