Bench of the Week, in the snow!

 
 

Please sit down! And have a nice piece of Christmas cake and a cup of hot coffee. These are two benches in my garden.

RuneE of Visual Norway
began this informal meme on "Bench of the Week". Please visit his site for other participants. PERBS has a whole site dedicated to benches called "For the Love of Benches", which is going on for two years and every day she posts a new bench.

Weekend Reflections in Winter

 
 

Click on photos to see more details.

On a winter's morning last year I took these photos showing the sunrise through the mist reflected in the water.


 
 

This meme was started on 27 September 2009, by James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to James to tell him that you are on, or click on the logo in the sidebar.This meme is created for any type of reflection.

that's My World, ABC Wednesday W for Winter in Holland

Click to enlarge!

A rare sight in the Netherlands. These are photos taken on last Sunday.We measured the amount of snow that had fallen : it was more than 15 cm high!. It's difficult for traffic because nobody was prepared to deal with so much snow and there's more coming!

That's my World is hosted by Klaus,Sandy,Ivar,Wren,Fishing Guy & Louise - a Team of experienced bloggers, whom we thank 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


ABC is created by Mrs. Nesbitt and a team of experienced bloggers. Thank you all.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with W.

Sky Watch, First Snow in December 2009

 
 

Click to enlarge.


This is what I saw this morning, when I woke up! It hides all dirt and makes the world look better! Happy day to all of you!


Sky Watch is hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy & Louise
Thank you so much for this great meme, it's always a pleasure to participate, and see all the other skies around the world. If you want to see some real skies please click on the logo in the side bar.

ABC Wednesday V for Vivaldi

Here we see Giovanni Antonini playing Vivaldi's concerto RV 443 on the recorder.



Vivaldi was born on 4th of March, 1678 in Venice, Italy
He died on July 28, 1741 in Vienna, Austria

He was a composer of the baroque period, like Bach, Handel, Haydn, Telemann, Albinioni..
Baroque 1600-1750
Most of us know The Four Seasons by Vivaldi.

Nicknamed the "Red Priest" because of his red hair, Vivaldi was trained for music and the priesthood by his father. He left the priesthood in 1703 because of ill health, but continued to pursue a musical career. He became head of the Conservatory of the Ospedale della Pieta which housed over 6000 orphaned girls. Music was an integral part of their training at the Conservatory and Vivaldi wrote over 400 concertos for his students.

His personality was one of contrasts - quickly changing from irritated to very calm. His music reflected this trait. It also showed contrasts in dynamics, harmony and varied rhythms. The Four Seasons was his most popular work for which he wrote sonnets to match the seasons.

ABC is created by Denise Nesbitt.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with V.

Today's Flowers

 
 
 
 

I got these beautiful flowers and plants on my birthday from friends, my daughter and my sister.



TODAY'S FLOWERS was created
by LUIZ SANTILLI JR
Now it's managed by SANTILLI and DENISE BC Thank you, Luiz and Denise!To see more flowers click on the logo in the side bar.

Reflections on "The British Character". by Pont

 
 
 

Click to enlarge!

These cartoons were taken from the book " The British Character" by the British cartoonist Pont, who was a collector of clichés in Britain.He was one of the most observant humorous artists of our time. He died at the age of thirty-two. The British Character appeared in book form in 1938 and edition after edition was sold. As I had a horror story two days ago for ABC, I thought it appropriate to continue a bit in that direction and show you these cartoons, which gave me the idea that the British love horror stories!!

This meme was started on 27 September 2009, by James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to James to tell him that you are on, or click on the logo in the sidebar.This meme is created for any type of reflection.

ABC Wednesday, U for Urban Legends(horror stories)

U for Urban Legend.
"Urban Legends" are tales that have been passed from person to person, town to town, over the years and told as true stories.

It all happened on a holiday in France. A Dutch couple, their two children and the grandmother stayed at a camp site in the south of France for a fortnight. All went well and everybody was enjoying the wonderful warm weather and the surroundings until Grandma complained of a terrible headache and she felt terribly sick. Before the daughter and son-in-law could warn a doctor, she died. What to do now? If a doctor was sent for it would certainly mean that the police got involved, and would be investigating this sudden death and it would take a lot of trouble to explain this situation. It would also mean that they couldn't go home for a while, because of all the red tape which usually follows such an event.So the couple decided to wrap granny in a lot of canvas and put her body on the luggage rack of their car. So they set off for home. On their way they had to stop for a meal at a wayside restaurant. They parked their car at the carpark. They had a quick meal and ate it in silence, the four of them not feeling happy at all. When they returned to their car they saw to their horror, that the big canvas bundle had gone! Stolen!!

What happened next I don't know myself, for I made this story up!.(sort of... half of it at least ...LOL)
I believe Gran was never found again, but the empty canvas case was found lying in an empty ditch and there were some bones scattered around. They were presumably human, but as DNA was still not heard of at the time, and the children didn't report her missing, nobody thought of Granny.
My daughter suggested that she was not dead at all and recovered in the cold night air in the ditch. She crept out of the canvas case. She met a nice man her age and the couple started a bed and breakfast. All went well until many years later her daughter and family decided to stay in this B&B. Gran had to hide until they left.

More urban legends are to be found if you click on: Urban legends

This is a true legend, but not for the "faint-hearted"!!:

A couple checks into a hotel and have to put up with a foul odor in their room all night. They call the staff to complain and somebody figures out the stench is coming from the bed.

You're almost hoping at that point that it'll turn out the last guest just got drunk and pooped behind the headboard. But, no, the staff take off the mattress and discover the couple has been sleeping over the rotting body of a dead girl who had been stuffed in the box spring.

UCH... I sincerely hope that I didn't frighten you away from my blog!!!



ABC is created by Denise Nesbitt .For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with U.

Weekend Reflections, Netherlands, Rotterdam

 
 

Click twice to enlarge and see the details!

These boats are all lying in Rotterdam.
Today it was 76 years ago that I was born in this city.

This meme was started on 27 September 2009, by James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to James to tell him that you are on, or click on the logo in the sidebar.

ABC Wednesday T for Tennis

Click to enlarge, please.

Four ways to play tennis, drawn by W.Heath Robinson in his book "Absurdities, a book of collected drawings".

W.Heath Robinson was born in 1872 and died in 1944. Heath Robinson, having studied art at the Islington School of Art and sporadically at the Painting Schools of the Royal Academy, truly wished to make a living as a landscape painter. At the age of 25, however, came the rude realization that making drawings for the burgeoning publications of the day was likely to earn him a living, whereas the sale of just one landscape that year (to a friend) was not. His brothers had already started their illustration careers, and it seemed it was time for young Will to join them. That year, 1897, he produced illustrations for four books:

* The Giant Crab and Other Tales From Old India
* Danish Fairy Tales and Legends of Hans Andersen
* Don Quixote
* The Pilgrim's Progress


ABC is created by Denise Nesbitt .For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with T.