gold mine,Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway

About two hours outside of Auckland, Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway in Karangahake, New Zealand, used to be a gold mine in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Today, it's an eerie hiking spot complete with rusty mining equipment, pitch-black tunnels, and abandoned train tracks to nowhere.
Take a look inside this abandoned gold mine on New Zealand's north island.

abc letter x for xxxx

• Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway in Karangahake, New Zealand, follows an old railway line between Paeroa and Waihi.
• The trails also provide access to a historic abandoned gold mine with pitch-black tunnels and train tracks to nowhere. 

 see the XXXX on the bridge


ABC-Wednesday

ABC WEdnesday letter w for water

https://abcwednesday.com/

Went to one tree hill park. There was a BBQ, the gas was free so was the water.

ABC Wed letter V for Violin

ABC-Wednesday

We went to a business where they have all sorts of props.

shag

ABC wednesday for Q, Quinine

When my daughter went to be a volunteer in the Solomons, she had to take Quinine.



Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While used for restless legs syndrome, it is not recommended for this purpose due to the risk of side effects. Wikipedia


High risk months for Malaria are: January to December
Malaria transmission vector(s): A.farauti, A.punctulatus

 

 Beads from Solomons Island

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abc letter P for piercing

 This is an exquisite ear piercing ceremony by the Myanmar people for the girls. My friend Nang kham Set shared this story with me.

Yesterday, we talked about ear piercing among different nationalities,

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abc letter O

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exercise for the Old.

ABC wed letter N for National

China celebreted her 70 National anniversary. The amount they spent, they could feed so many needy people,

During my trips to China, I saw needy people.

I was so impressed with him. I went back to talk to him, his name is Mu Yik Yang. He couldn't use his leg and turned his interest into writing. He comes from Hunan. A skill like him should be National hero instead of begging.

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ABC letter M for machines

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a bereaved wish

A Bereaved Parent's Wish List
I wish my child hadn't died. I wish I had him back
I wish you wouldn't be afraid to speak my child's name. My child lived and was very important to me. I need to hear that he was important to you as well.
If I cry and get emotional when you talk about my child, I wish you knew that it isn't because you have hurt me. My child's death is the cause of my tears. You have talked about my child, and you have allowed me to share my grief. I thank you for both.
I wish you wouldn't "kill" my child again by removing his pictures, artwork, or other remembrances from your home.
Being a bereaved parent is not contagious, so I wish you wouldn't shy away from me. I need you more than ever.
I need diversions, so I do want to hear about you; but I also want you to hear about me. I might be said and I might cry, but I wish you would let me talk about my child, my favorite topic of the day.
I know that you think of and pray for me often. I also know that my child's death pains you, too. I wish you would let me know things through a phone call, a card or a note, or a real big hug.
I wish you wouldn't expect my grief to be over in six months. These first months are traumatic for me, but I wish you could understand that my grief will never be over. I will suffer the death of my child until the day I die.
I am working very hard in my recovery, but I wish you could understand that I will never fully recover. I will always miss my child, and I will always grieve that he is dead.
I wish you wouldn't expect me "not to think about it" or to "be happy". Neither will happen for a very long time so don't frustrate yourself.
I don't want to have a "pity party," but I do wish you would let me grieve. I must hurt before I can heal.
I wish you understood how my life has shattered. I know it is miserable for you to be around me when I'm feeling miserable. Please be as patient with me as I am with you.
When I say, "I'm doing okay," I wish you could understand that I don't feel okay and that I struggle daily.
I wish you knew that all of the grief reactions I'm having are very normal. Depression, anger, hopelessness and overwhelming sadness are all to be expected. So please excuse me when I'm quiet and withdrawn or irritable and cranky.
Your advice to "take one day at a time" is excellent. I wish you could understand that I'm doing good to handle him at an hour at a time.
I wish you understood that grief changes people. When my child died, a big part of me died with him. I am not the same person I was before my child died, and I will never be that person again.
I wish very much that you could understand - understand my loss and my grief, my silence and my tears, my void and my pain. But I pray daily that you will never understand.

abc letter M for musician

abc letter L for ladders

Letter L for ladders
http://abcwednesday.com

 

Some one was filming in the park, I conjecture the Japanese were filming for the rugby world cup. I stood quite far away to prevent the security guards from chasing me away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABC Wed k for Kingsland.

Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. Wikipedia

Rugby and cricket are played here.

They bring a lot of food for lunch and they always say, “Girl, come and have some of my lunch, you are too thin to play netball. I packed too much and I will otherwise have to eat them for dinner. If you go back to the islands, they won’t like it for being too thin.” When they return to the islands for holidays, bring me token gifts.

I have not seem other photos taken at this angle,

ABC Wed Letter J for jandal

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In New Zealand, the jandal is a national icon. Jandals stands for Japanese sandals. In Germany, my friend H tells me it is known as flip flop. In USA, I believe it is also known as flip flops, in Australia, they call it thongs, in China and Taiwan, it is cool shoes, and in Singapore, and Malaysia , we call it Japanese slippers or just slippers.

my brush with cancer

a recent post showed one in three New Zealanders will have cancer. A horrible statistics, and I became one of them. I am under the care of a new doctor, and she asked about my surgery and what it was for. I replied cancer, thyroid cancer.

It is one year since my surgery. The Cancer has not returned but I still have issues of not having a thyroid. I have Hypothyroidism, also called underactive thyroid or low thyroid, is a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. Everyday, I have to take hormone pills.

Praise God I am still alive.

ABC Wednday letter I for iced cake,

I made this Red riding Hood basket for my daughter D for her 5 years old birthday. This cake was the hardest cake to make. Andrew died on 22 Nov, we buried him on the 25th, D's birthday was on the 8th. I did not want to do anything, but I couldn't disappoint her.

 

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abc wednesday letter I

I lose my son in 1989. It took me 21 years to write my book,  The diary of a bereaved mother. The book came out at the right time, when the bereaved mums group were looking for someone like me to be in their  It's OK to cry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZk9w-uywAs&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR09ZbarrpIA_7BMM-3GrWjQ0zJVdOWAEUWVDSf1EjFQD4xMS-N5M2HODn8


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ABC Wednesday, letter H

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At “our Padang”,aka field. I remember the first time a helicopter landed near our house. We saw many army trucks and soldiers in the Padang when we were coming home from school, so we suspected something important was happening. It was one afternoon when Mother was tutoring us Chinese with her cane in her hand as usual; Charles and I were not paying attention. 

An army helicopter decorated in camouflage colours was hovering just above our house very low in the sky. We all ran to see to the Padang as fast as we could, totally ignoring Mother. As it landed, the draft was so strong that it messed up our hair and fluttered our skirts. We did not care and our patience and determination paid off. Out came handsome soldiers, it was so big, out of its belly came so many soldiers; we were amazed because, it looked so small in the sky. We were the few kids in Sibu, who saw a helicopter close up. I looked at the corner of the Padang, there was Mother, she was just as curious as us.

ABC Wed letter G for garden

Auckland's winter garden, a green house or glass house.

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ABC Wednesay, letter F for Fallen

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I went on a walking tour and went to ourAuckland War Memorial. 

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/auckland-cenotaph
Auckland’s Anzac Day ceremony was first held at the cenotaph on 25 April 1930.
The cenotaph is inscribed simply with the words ‘THE GLORIOUS DEAD’ and the dates MCMXIV [1914] and MCMXVIII [1918]. The names of the fallen are listed inside the Auckland War Memorial Museum.




I noticed McFarlane. My boss many years ago was a McFarlane.

bc wednesdayletter E for exhibition spaces,

Studio One Toi Tū is a inner-city creative hub that hosts studio and exhibition spaces, artist residencies, venues for hire, creative courses and workshops for all levels of experience. Its four galleries are located on the ground floor of the landmark Ponsonby building.

In my #Mail Order Bride book, I wrote  and her mentor as part of her therapy.

https://abcwednesday.com

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/…/studio-one-toi-tu.aspx

ABC Wednesday, D for duel

D for Duel.. They were buskers raising money for a liver transplant. They sing very well. They sing at weddings, social functions, Market, Business events and birthday parties,

www,tophatperformers.com
tophatperformers@gmail.com

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abc letter C for chicken

You need a permit if you keep more than 5 chicken in suburbans of Auckland.
You definitely need a permit to keep a rooster.
You will most likely be refused a permit for a rooster.

https://abcwednesday.com

yum cha

Went to Yum Cha with my NZ Chinese Women. The boss Danny Liang came personally to ask if the food is alright. The food is alright,

I was surprised by the walnut bun.It was a sweet bun with patterned brown skin. My Hongkong friends have not eaten. They reckon that they use a mold to make the pattern.

Cypress Restaurant is located 296 Dominion Road. Mt Eden, Auckland,

Ph: 09-90 0818

ABC letter B for bird

My niece Nicole took me to the Jurong Bird park and we had fun feeding the birds.

https://abcwednesday.com/

vegan-vigilantes-defacing-meat-packs

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/…/vegan-vigilantes-defacing-meat-pro…
I used to write about save the world. Some people go round telling not to eat meat. Now a group have gone too far. Their idiotic actions only tarnish their reputation. They go round supermarkets sticking labels with their extremest ideals.

tvnz.co.nz

Vegan vigilantes defacing meat products a concern for supermarkets

Escallonia

Escallonia is a shrub that has very beautiful flowers and is thus very ornamental. A summary of key Escallonia facts. Name – Escallonia. Family – Escalloniaceae. Type

Escallonia is a hedge that plant that provides beautiful colour to your garden with white, pink or red flowers emerging from June to October and evergreen foliage throughout the year.

double decker boat

My great grand ma/Ah Tai had one of these double decker boats. It plied up and down the Rejang river collected dried padi and taking them to her rice mill.

ABC Letter Y for Yucca

https://abcwednesday.com

When Auckland-based GP Diane Edwards decided to spend a morning  pottering around in her garden, she never expected to end the day having lost half of her hearing. 

The damage was done by the popular sword-leafed yucca plant, which recent medical research highlighted as a surprisingly common cause of nasty ear injuries. 

"I was just clearing the dead fronds off the yucca we had in our pool area," Edwards said. "One of the leaves wouldn't come off easily and as I gave it a final tug it catapulted me backwards and as I fell one of the green fronds snaked into my ear and went right through to penetrate my inner ear."

frost

what happens when fog lands on yr plant?
Nandina domestica (/nænˈdiːnə dəˈmɛstɨkə/ nan-DEE-nuh)[1][2][3] commonly known as nandina, heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas to Japan. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Nandina.Despite the common name, it is not a bamboo but an erect evergreen shrub up to 2 m (7 ft) tall by 1.5 m (5 ft) wide, with numerous, usually unbranched stems growing from ground level.

ABC Letter X, Mexico

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A treasured ancient food staple of Mexico and South America, with edible leaves and an abundance of protein rich seeds produced in long season areas, it also serves admirably as a cut flower and adds drama to the back of the border.  

Cultivated by the Aztecs 8,000 years ago and still a native crop in Peru, the ancient history of amaranth can be traced to Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. Today, it's grown in Africa, India, China, Russia, throughout South America, and emerging once again in North America.

Somewhat of an unknown quantity to many, amaranth is tall - often six feet – with broad green leaves, bright red or gold flowers, and around 60 different species. The flowers are made up of miniscule, grain-like buds, one reason why this plant often falls into the "grain" category. But amaranth isn't technically a grain like oats, wheat, or rice. It's sometimes referred to as a "pseudo-cereal" because its nutritional profile is very similar.

One of the most important aspects of this tiny grain is that it's gluten-free. When ground, the flour is generally a pale ivory shade, although the red "buds" can be ground as well for a red-tinged and very healthful grain. 

abc wed letter x

abc letter x for sox, Sox | Definition of Sox at Dictionary.com
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sox
This post is for my blog, an alphabetical meme.
Mar 9, 2009 - noun, plural socks or for 1, also sox. a short stocking usually reaching to the calf or just above the ankle. This pair of sox was provided by the hospital when I had my operation. It has tiny strips which prevents me from slipping.

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ABC WEdnesday, W for water filter.

saw in Australia, not sure what they are for. When I was very young, early primary school, in the government quarters, we had a porcelain water container similar to this.

Am very surprised that people still use this water filters. A bereaved mother told me that she donated a water cooler to her dead son's memory.

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Gomphocarpus physocarpus" swan plant

Gomphocarpus physocarpus" swan plant

Permaculture

I made a very interesting friend from Hungary via a friend from church.  Baji Béla is interested in permaculture.  I share 2 of his photos he sent to my facebook.

Permaculture is a branch of ecological design, ecological engineering, and environmental design which develops sustainablearchitecture and self-maintained horticultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems.^[1][2]

The core ethics of permaculture are:^[3][4]

• Take care of the earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish.
• Take care of the people: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence.
• Share the surplus: Healthy natural systems use outputs from each element to nourish others. We humans can do the same. By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

Hello Ann! Last weekend I was in a remote place of the great plain of Hungary. The leading people of the Hungarian permaculture had a convergence. The houses are getting abandoned on such rural site. But typically young people wishing to live a life more close to the Nature, buy such houses, renovate them. I'm sending you some pictures of the landscape, and their house being on halfway in renovating.

 

Miles Anthony Smith, MBA
Content Managerhttps://imaginasium.com/

We just published a more in-depth 2,200+ word guide that covers Environmental Graphic Design, and provides additional resources for readers. Here’s the link: https://imaginasium.com/blog/environmental-graphic-design/

 

ABC Letter V for volcano

Beyond where u see brown hill, is the remnants of a volcano. I was told when the British were fighting the Maoris, the Maoris hid there. The British barricaded them, but they couldn't force them to come out for months. The British found the Maoris had burrowed a long distance to the reservoir. The Maoris caught eels and had plenty of water.






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ABC Letter U for University

Decades after leaving school, after I had my degrees from Windsor University and Auckland University, AUT. Dad disclosed a worry he had once harboured.

In Primary One, my principal Mr. Wong Kie Mee told Dad that he suspected I was a retard, I was quiet. Dad disagreed with him. I seemed normal at home.

Wow! what a disclosure. Yes, I failed my Chinese. I continued to fail Chinese until I dropped it in Form 5. Dad had a sigh of relief, here I was showing my report book that I came first in the class.

By then, I was matured enough to analyse why I was suspected to be a retard. I could think of two reasons, I was the only Cantonese in a pool of Foochows. I did not attend Kindergarten.

This is my now primary school. It looks as good as any university. 

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ABC letter T for Tree

1.  

Couroupita guianensis commonly known as the cannon ball tree. Comes from
southern Caribbean and northern parts of South America; It's fruit is spectacular strong,  the stench and smell waft around. Got it's name from the fruit.

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