that's My World, ABC Wednesday I for IKEA

I think that you all know IKEA . These are some of the things we bought at IKEA. We like it because it's strong, modern, Scandinavian and not expensive.

Here is a bit about the history of IKEA.

IKEA was founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden, named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad ), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden).It is a privately held, Swedish international home products company. It designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture and anything we need to furnish a house with, like crockery,cutlery and curtains.IKEA is the largest furniture retailer in the world.

My grandson was moving house and wanted his room furnished in black. So far we found a black carpet, a black chair, and black cupboards, but a lovely red hassock, which could serve as a table. The other photos were taken at IKEA's itself and show a variety of garden benches.

That's my World is hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia - 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



With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with I.

Psalms Challenge, Psalm 11

 

In the LORD I take refuge;how can you say to my soul,
"Flee like a bird to your mountain,

 

for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?"
The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
The LORD tests the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.


 

Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For the LORD is righteous;he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.

Reading Dina's explanation helps me to understand this psalm better. I thought at first that the psalm was full of hatred and revenge, but that is because I don't have any knowledge of Hebrew. I know from an uncle of mine that the translation from Hebrew into the modern languages is extremely difficult because a verb might be used in the past tense, the present tense or the future tense. Dina shows that in her translations and that puts the psalm in a totally different light. Thank you Dina!


The verses from Psalm 11 are contributed to Robert's new Psalms Challenge meme at Daily Athens. To read more psalms click on Robert

Our thoughts are with Japan

 

All morning I have been watching TV and the horrific news about the tsunami. I am shocked to see the flood coming so fast into the city of Sendai. The earthquake was very strong and the tsunami followed very fast. Well I am sure you all are watching. I hope that our Japanese bloggers are safe. I also hope that the people from Hawaii, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, California, Mexico, Chili and all other countries in the Ring of Fire will be safe.
Pray if you can pray for all those people! I admire the brave and levelheaded Japanese people and the way they face the catastrophe.

Weekend Reflections Under the City of Den Bosch

Click on photo if you want to see more details!

We made this boat tour in the canals under the city of Den Bosch and this lead us through many hidden (and atmospherically dark) corners of the underworld of this city! See the boat tour

To see more details, click first on "View All Images"and then on "Original View".


Weekend Reflections 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, H for Haarlem

Wikipedia says:
Haarlem, Harlem in English, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Noord Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic. Haarlem lies in the northern part of the Randstad, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in Europe.
 

Haarlem has a rich history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on a thin strip of land above sea level known as the strandwal (beach ridge), which connects Leiden to Alkmaar. The people on this narrow strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea from the west, and the waters of the IJ and the Haarlem Lake from the east. Haarlem was able to become wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships and travellers moving on this busy North-South route. However, as shipping became increasingly important economically, the city of Amsterdam became the main Dutch city of North Holland during the Dutch Golden Age. Haarlem became a quiet bedroom community, and for this reason, Haarlem still has many of its central medieval buildings intact. Today many of them are on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonuments. The list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighborhood, with the majority in the old city center.

The oldest mentioning of Haarlem dates from the 10th century. By the 12th century it was a fortified town, and Haarlem became the residence of the Counts of Holland.

Illustrations by Anton Pieck


With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or
Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with H.

that's My World, 8 March, International Women's Day

This post is dedicated to International Women's Day! We commemorate all women who became victims of brutal oppression, and all women who haven't got the same rights as men. Just realise that the fight is not over yet!


World Press Photo of 2010 was taken by a South-African photographer Jodi Bieber. She took a portrait of the the 18 years old Afghan woman Bibi Aisha who featured the cover of Time Magazine.

According to the jury this photo of the woman with a mutilated face is a symbol, which is significant for the situation in which many women still live.

Women displaced by armed conflict – often living alone with their children – are frequently exposed to sexual violence, discrimination and intimidation. Many face poverty and social exclusion as well. International humanitarian law therefore includes specific provisions protecting women, for example when they are pregnant or as mothers of young children.

When Aisha was 12, her father promised her in marriage to a Taliban fighter to pay a debt. She was handed over to his family who abused her and forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals.
When she attempted to flee, she was caught and her nose and ears were hacked off by her husband as punishment.

Left for dead in the mountains, she crawled to her grandfather's house and her father managed to get her to an American medical facility, where medics cared for her for ten weeks.

They then transported Aisha to a secret shelter in Kabul and in August she was flown to the U.S. by the Grossman Burn Foundation to stay with a host family.

This month, she had a prosthetic nose fitted at the non-profit humanitarian Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital in California as part of her eight-month rehabilitation.


As long as there are women who are surpressed, abused, forced to marry men they don't love, and whose rights are not the same as those of men, we have to fight for them and observe 8th March as International Women's Day.

That's my World is hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia - 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

Psalms Challenge, Psalm 10

Psalm 10

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

 

German concentration camp.

10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
11 The enemy says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

 

Japanese concentration camp for women and children. Boys older than ten were sent to a camp for men.


12 ARISE, O LORD; O GOD, LIFT UP YOUR HAND;
FORGET NOT THE AFFLICTED.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.

16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.


The verses from Psalm 10 are contributed to Robert's new Psalms Challenge meme at Daily Athens. To read more psalms click on Robert

Weekend Reflections, The Netherlands,

 
 

In our polders there is a lot of water, and where there is water, there is REFLECTION!

Weekend Reflections 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, G for Greenman

A Dutch Greenman.
The photos are borrowed from Wikipedia.Except for the Dutch Green Man. This was taken by one of my daughters.

Wikipedia says: "A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found on carvings in churches and other buildings (both secular and ecclesiastical). "The Green Man" is also a popular name for English public houses and various interpretations of the name appear on inn signs, which sometimes show a full figure rather than just the head.

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance," representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history".


I wonder if you ever saw a "Green Man"in your surroundings. From now on I am going to be more attentive and I am going to look for Green Men!!

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started round 8 of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with G.