ABC Wednesday, H for Hydrangea

Every summer I look forward to seeing my hydrangea getting bigger and more beautiful when it's in full blossom.

                                    Hydrangeas and geraniums

                                    are doing well together.

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

ABC Wednesday, H for Hauteville House. Victor Hugo

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.

Victor HUGO was born in 1802 in Besançon and lived in France for the majority of his life. However, he was forced into exile during the reign of Napoleon III — he lived briefly in Brussels during 1851; in Jersey from 1852 to 1855; and in Guernsey from 1855 to 1870 and again in 1872-1873. There was a general amnesty in 1859; after that, his exile was by choice. Victor HUGO, who was the author of "Les Misérables, and " Notre Dame de Paris" ( The HUNCHBACK of Notre Dame) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France. He died on 22 May 1885.

The house where Victor Hugo lived in Guernsey.
When we were staying in Guernsey we saw this magnificent house.

The interior of the HAUTEVILLE HOUSE is from floor to ceiling decorated with a lot of wood work carved by highly skilled wood engravers of the island. Victor HUGO, himself, often made the designs for the wooden panels, the wall paintings and the tapestries on the walls. He bought old furniture, which he dismantled and used for decoration. He had old doors carved and used them as the tops of tables. The house is a unique museum, and worth while seeing, whether you like the interior or not. From March 1862 on, a weekly meal was held in this house for deprived children. He started with twelve, but the number rose quickly to forty.

 

 

The Red Drawing Room

The Dining Room

Victor Hugo's Bedroom

The Studio

Thr Blue Drawing Room

The Tapestry Room

We saw this house when we were staying in Guernsey and also admired

    the garden around it.

 

ABC Wednesday, H for Home, House

We thank Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and we must thank Roger too for the weekly job to find  ten bloggers for each of the ABC Team members  to visit and to read their posts. We are beginning to find another round for all the 26 letters of the alphabet. This will be now the letter H.

Last Friday morning I came home again. I felt being home as soon as I stepped into my (humble) abode!

There were flowers  and a "welcome home" card, telephone calls and "welcome home"e-mails.

 In spite of the great time I spent with my daughter and family, it felt good to be back home.

 My home is my castle even if it's a terraced-house in a narrow street. Sometimes I am asked: " do you want to live in Australia?", then my answer is: Perhaps, if I can take my family, my friends and neighbours with me!"

Welcome Home

 An  Australian man sings about his home.

Home among the gum trees

I've been around the world
A couple of times or maybe more
I've seen the sights, I've had delights
On every foreign shore
But when my mates all ask me
The place that I adore
I tell them right away

gumtrees

Give me a home among the gumtrees
With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Verandah out the front 
And an old rocking chair.


You can see me in the kitchen

Cooking up a roast
Or Vegemite on toast
Just you and me, a cup of tea
And later on, we'll settle down
And go out on the porch
And watch the possums play

Give me a home among the gumtrees
With lots of plum trees
A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo
A clothesline out the back
Verandah out the front
And an old rocking chair


There's a Safeways up the corner
And a Woolies down the street
And a brand new place they've opened up
Where they regulate the heat
But I'd trade them all tomorrow
For a little bush retreat
Where the kookaburras call

Kookaburra

ABC Wednesday, Greece, H for Hosios Lukas

On our way  we visited several churches and monasteries. This monastery is dedicated to the holy Lukas who was a hermit and healer.
Osias Loúkas was born in Aegina in 906 AD.
When he died in 953 the first monastery cells and the first small church were already built.

In 1011 this late-Byzantine  church was finished.

This post is dedicated to the letter H, and we thank Mrs. Denise Nesbitt for creating this meme. You can participate in this game. You only should find a photo or a subject in poetry or the name of a famous person....beginning with H.

And... please refer to Mrs. Nesbitt and the ABC on Wednesday. You can also put the logo in your sidebar or post. If you have any problems please contact one of the team members.

 

The interior of the church is worth seeing too! With many frescoes about the life of Jesus.

 

 

Jesus appears to his disciples and shows his wounds to Thomas

Jesus washes the feet of his disciples

 

ABC Wednesday, Australia, H for High Heels

My younger granddaughter loves to dress up and wear silver or golden shoes! She found a pair of silver coloured high heels in the library where my daughter worked that day. She tried them on and walked around as if she had done it all her life.

 

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

 

ABC Wednesday, H for Hip Hop

A group of children of Cooktown and surroundings attended a hip hop course during their holidays. The man in black with the blue-white cap is the teacher.  He travelled all over Australia to teach children to do something useful and nice. My grandson in the red t-shirt enjoys dancing very much and more young people enjoyed this course. The children practised this several times before the real performance. The quality of these videos is bad but it shows how we saw the boys and girls  doing something quite different than their usual activities on Facebook.

 " Hip hop is a dance style, usually danced to hip hop music, that evolved from the hip hop culture. The first dance associated with hip hop was breakdancing."

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

Our World Tuesday, ABC Wednesday, H for Health Care, Hospital Ship

Mercy Ships

From Wikipedia,

Mercy Ships

Founded	1978
One of my neighbours spends a lot of time to gather money for the Mercy Ships. These ships are actually hospital ships. She also tells about the work done on the ships, and she makes beautiful cards for Christmas, birthdays, weddings, well... for all sort of occasions. She sells them for this great cause.Watch this video to see how this work on the ships can make a difference in a child's life. But not only children benefit from the work of the Merci Ships, adults also do.
The boy in the video had been operated on his legs, and got straight legs, which meant that he could live and play with the children of his hometown.
Website	www.mercyships.org

"Mercy Ships is an international charity that was founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens. Mercy Ships currently operates the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world providing free health care, community development projects, community health education, mental health programs, agriculture projects, and palliative care for terminally ill patients.
Mercy Ships has operated in more than 70 developing nations around the world, with a current focus on the countries of West Africa.

A major inspiration for Mercy Ships founder and President Don Stephens was the work of the international hospital ship SS Hope. Stephens' research showed that 95 of the 100 largest cities in the world were port cities. Therefore, a hospital ship could deliver healthcare very efficiently to large numbers of people. The birth of Stephens' profoundly disabled son, John Paul, also inspired him to move forward with his vision of a floating hospital. A visit with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, further deepened his commitment to serving the world's neediest people."

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt,  who created ABC, and Roger, who took over from her. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with H.

Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar. Thank you Team of O. W. T.!

ABC Wednesday, Australia, H for Home

There are several expressions about our home:
My home is my castle!
Home is home be it ever so homely!
All indicating that the best place on earth is Home!!
Well the song you are going to hear is the wish of an Australian man 
telling us what his idea of an ideal home should be. 

© 1975 MUSHROOM MUSIC PTY LTD

I've been around the world A couple of times or maybe more I've seen the sights, I've had delights On every foreign shore But when my mates all ask me The place that I adore I tell them right away Chorus Give me a home among the gumtrees With lots of plum trees A sheep or two, a k-kangaroo A clothesline out the back Verandah out the front And an old rocking chair You can see me in the kitchen Cooking up a roast Or Vegemite on toast Just you and me, a cup of tea And later on, we'll settle down And go out on the porch And watch the possums play Chorus There's a Safeways up the corner And a Woolies down the street And a brand new place they've opened up Where they regulate the heat But I'd trade them all tomorrow For a little bush retreat Where the kookaburras call. Chorus

Some people like their houses With fences all around Others live in mansions And some beneath the ground But me I like the bush you know With rabbits running round And a pumpkin vine out the back

 Chorus( 2x)


The song has become one of the most frequently recorded Australian compositions of all time and is a standard in Australian folk music. A variety of artists have covered it, ranging from bushbands like Paradiddle to international superstar violinist André Rieu ( Dutch!), who included it on his 2008 album Waltzing Matilda. John Williamson performed Gumtrees at the 2006 memorial service to commemorate popular Australian wildlife expert and TV personality Steve Irwin; the program was followed by a worldwide television audience reputedly numbering 300 million viewers.

 We thank Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and we must thank Roger too for the weekly job to find  ten bloggers for each of the ABC Team members  to visit and to read their posts. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words    beginning with H.

ABC Wednesday, H for Hadassa Medical Centre

One of the last days of my visit in Israel, Dina took me to the Hadassah Medical Centre.
The Hadassah Medical Centre, outside Jerusalem, consists of a modern hospital, which has recently be extended, a couple of buildings for the various medical professions, belonging to the university, and a synagogue containting the famous Chagall windows. The students of this university are from different backgrounds and origins like Jewish, Arabic and others.
The garden and park around Hadassah Medical Centre are beautiful and show many modern objects of art.
The name Hadassah means Esther.

Wikipedia says:"The hospital was founded by Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, which continues to underwrite a large part of its budget today. The Medical Center ranks as the sixth-largest hospital complex in Israel.

In 2005, Hadassah was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in acknowledgment of its equal treatment of all patients, regardless of ethnic and religious differences, and efforts to build bridges to peace".

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

Our World Today Tuesday, ABC Wednesday, H for Hope Vale in Queensland

During the Second World War, Cooktown became an important base for the war effort. The civilian population of Cooktown was encouraged to evacuate in face of the Japanese advances and by 1942 the vast majority had left. The Aboriginal people of the Lutheran missions at Hope Valley and Bloomfield were forcibly removed - most being taken south to Woorabinda in May, 1942, while some of the elderly people were sent to Palm Island. The senior missionary, Pastor Schwartz (known as Muni to the local people), was arrested and placed in internment as he were suspected as being an enemy sympathiser,but he was not an enemy sympathiser, he was German, highly respected and loved by the Aboriginal people, who have been greatly thankful for his efforts to give them a proper home and work and education. The Aboriginal people were not allowed to return to their homelands until 1949, well after the end of the war.They got a new region to build their compound, which was more in the west of Hope Valley. This new abode of the Aboriginal inhabitants is called Hope Vale. Many Aboriginal people died when moved from their traditional lands, and many Aboriginal and white families never returned from their exile.
Yet many of the elderly people are without feelings of revenge. One of the elders once said to me:"I don't feel that I am a VICTIM, I feel that I am a VICTOR".

Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our new logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar.

Australia is part of my world too for my youngest daughter lives here, and she has written down the lifestory of one of the uncles of her first husband in a book called: "Cockatoo", My Life in Cape York. See http://www.creativespirits.info/resources/books/cockatoo-my-life-in-cape-york

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.


Below Hope Vale with its spacious streets and houses, all built after 1949. To see more details you can click on the photos.

ABC Wednesday, H for Honesty.

The tulip is the most honest flower. It does not promise empty promises and it is simple and exactly what it looks like.

I often asked myself:"What is honesty?" Is it saying what you think. May be! Is it saying what you think without being asked to give your opinion? Only when it's a positively kind remark. If I don't like something, I don't say what I think unless it's a political or religious statement and then only if I don't hurt someone's feeling., but never about somebody's house or clothes or blogs. Lots of people think that you must be honest in the sense of criticizing all the time without being asked.Well, no! There is no need to do that. Ignore the things you don't like, and there is always something that you like in one's house or on one's blog.
A friend of mine used to say when he didn't like something in my house:" It's interesting!", because he knew that I like my house and he didn't want to hurt my feelings. He was a kind man, a good friend. So what do you think about honesty?

Here are some quotes of famous people!

If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. ~Mark Twain

Who lies for you will lie against you. ~Bosnian Proverb

No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar. ~Abraham Lincoln
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world. ~Thomas Carlyle

A half truth is a whole lie. ~Yiddish Proverb

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.

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.