HAPPY in Georgia with Feline boy Bandido

Feeling really HAPPY in Georgia and I'm a SUMMER person too.

Guess with my training inside the summer greenhouse (hot-house!) of around 120ºF or 49ºC I got very well pre-conditioned for living in Georgia and for working in the tropics!

All our Felines LOVE to frolic outside in the summer.
Either on the driveway, inside our gazebo, some spot on the patio or on the lawn.
They all find a favorite spot.
Here I'm holding our very silky boy Bandido.
He has a white cross on his chest.
His parents were Mexican, we did bring his Mamita home with us on the plane and had NO CLUE she was pregnant with 5 kittens!
All born at our home and we kept them.
We have lost since Bandido's sister Sacha but he still has 2 sisters and 1 brother.

Wearing cotton feels great, like this Outlet score a cotton top from Escada and the pants are from Apriori7, a line from Escada as well.
My cotton Hat Attack NYC Gavroche is also a favorite. Shown here earlier: {My Hat Attack NYC GAVROCHE}.

Showing off my Beach Wave hair...

Natural curls, the older I get, the more it curls! Color is 100% natural too.

Our Rose Arbor is still one of my favorites, even though the 2 Eden white or, Pierre de Ronsard roses, are struggling... 

Still loving our Golden Mist paint color + my crocheted Fleur de Lys curtains in the veranda...

View of the garden side...

Our Wood Trail starts here and winds to the right and towards the back...

Bye for now!

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

Related link:

{New Rose Arbor on High Heels} | previous post by me

Mom & Dad Often Talked About Siegerland in Germany so we Went Back!

Summer months were always peak season. But during my vacation time, when I still lived in The Netherlands, I helped them always out, by picking gherkins in the greenhouse.
Only in the summer of 1971 and in 1979, I did go with my late first husband to Germany and the South of France...
ALL other vacations, we helped Mom and Dad for several weeks managing their peak season.

By picking the gherkins a bit tighter we could skip a day and manage to make a one-day-trip to Germany with Mom &  Dad and my Dachshund Mauzie. This was on July 14, 1977 at the Biggesee (lake) in Germany.

Smoking a sigar on his special day off, together with Mom.
They always worked so hard!

Mom is here picking gherkins inside the greenhouse.
We always did start very early, at 5:00 AM because around noon it would get very hot, around 120ºF or 49ºC and that was no FUN! 
Even when Dad placed a big running fan in the isle...

Here you see Mom picking gherkins. 
Two wooden boxes on the special built cart by my Dad, on wheels for easy pushing it forward. 
Each box would contain 25 kg (55 lb) of gherkins.
We had to dump those boxes later on inside one giant wooden box for bulk delivery to the auction.
Yes, I could lift such a full box and lift it over the edge of said giant box to dump its contents.

From a distance, two rows under each pointed section of the greenhouse.
The leaves of the gherkins were very prickly!
I used to wear one of Dad's old long sleeve shirts to protect me from it.
Okay but now back to the subject!
Mom & Dad had been to Siegen/Weidenau in Germany by bus, with Dad's choir, to perform in the Bismarckhalle, also called Siegerlandhalle.

Here in October of 1965, Mom admiring the hills around Hilchenbach, Germany of beautiful Siegerland.

Mom standing in front of Hotel Deutscher Hof in Hilchenbach, Germany.
A beautiful centuries old building it was in traditional German Fachwerk.
Yes, it literally was as it burned down in December of 2016...
Photo quality is poor, this is what I received as scanned material from my youngest sister...
As for myself, I love to scan in higher DPI - takes longer but with far better results.
Nevertheless, they are very meaningful to me!

Here it was, photo from Tripmondo, as it did burn down in December of 2016...

Mom standing in front of the sign 'Zum Süssen Konrad' pointing to a German Konditorei, Bakery!
They always talked about how beautiful that region was and thus, my late husband and I said, let's take them back one more time!

So we went to pick Mom & Dad up in Horst aan de Maas, we lived in Panningen, a municipality of Helden, in the Province of Limburg/The Netherlands.

At that time we still had to cross the border of Germany, now it is open within the European Union.
To the right you see Hilchenbach, where Mom's photos got taken.

We passed through Helden in Germany - from Helden to Helden but not close to home!

You also see Biggesee.
The photo at the very top got taken there!
A big lake with beautiful surroundings, belonging to Attendorn.

My late first husband standing here at the Biggesee, Attendorn with the bridge behind him.

We also did visit Burg Schnellenberg in Attendorn, a 13th-century castle that now has become a hotel, just click link as it is in English.

Thursday July 14, 1977 was a rather cloudy day!
Taking a break on this medieval stone bench...
Yes, that was a lot of driving in one day; some 9 hours and we'd risen at 4:00 AM and will have to do the very same for next day, picking gherkins again...

Here Dad, Frans with dachshund Mauzie on the leash standing in front of Mom's feet...
So happy to know now that this 13th-century castle has been converted into a hotel!

All of us enjoyed Siegerland and Mom & Dad especially for being able to go back one day in their own footsteps...

Dad always loved singing in the choir and such trips were so special.

Now the journey home and early rising next morning!
We had an Opel Kadett Special at the time...

Hope you enjoyed this little journey back in time with me.
Meaningful to me, fond memories of Mom's happy days!
Thanks for your visit and comment.

Related posts:
Burg Schnellenberg in Attendorn/Luftbilder Videos/Drohne/4K | short Youtube video from the Castle
My Sewing Creation - My Bridal Gown with Damsel Sleeves | previous post by me + late husband
{Fond Memories of Mom with us in the Eifel, Germany} | previous post by me
{Mom Did Wear Many Hats} | previous post by me

{Papa is 90 today!} | previous post by me

Our Weekend at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne Regency Club

Traveling for work is NOT fun and it means you make long trips and live out of the suitcase a lot.

BUT, it also can have some great rewards!

One such super reward was our FREE weekend at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne!

Yes, for points earned over the years...

Grand Hyatt Melbourne  

123 Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia

Grand Hyatt Melbourne 

Where the grace of another era lives in harmony with the modern age.

Cousin Liz had picked us up at the Melbourne airport on Friday, September 3, 1993 and she dropped us off here at the Grand Hyatt.
The sun was so strong that it was nearly impossible to make any good pictures.
Pieter wearing his black leather jacket from Pond's India's Leather Garments Factory.

Yet we were happy with such a bright day!
When we arrived in Sydney a week earlier we had rain...
Still wearing my favorite leather jacket bought in the U.S.A.

We arrived the same day at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, as did the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, His Excellency Mr. Richard von Weizsäcker with his wife Marianne.

Lots of security...
Also Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer were there at the same time.
How lucky we were for having secured our FREE room!

But it worked out well; with only ONE Presidential Suite at $ 2500 at that time...

We did secure our FREE Regency Club room with special elevator key that goes up to the Regency Club level and lounge where you had access to continental breakfast in the morning, tea/coffee service, evening service bar and hors d'oeuvres.

At present it is changed into Grand Club...

Our room 3014...

View of the Yarra River from our room... Again lots of glare, just like in Hong Kong!

 More to the right, again view from the Yarra River.

Melbourne skyline view from the Lounge.

Melbourne skyline with me...

Nearly impossible with so much glare for capturing anything reasonable!

It is on our retina and it makes for fond memories!

Husband Pieter here captured from the lounge as well.

Both of us felt grateful!

Melbourne is a city of memorable buildings.

Left to right St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral rises in

Gothic splendor, the dramatic spire of the 

Victorian Arts-Centre, Flinders Street Station

is a much-loved landmark

On Sunday morning we went to the 11:00 Mass at the cathedral church of Saint Paul, Melbourne.

As I wrote, so much to be grateful for and that brings one close to our Creator!

On Saturday afternoon, cousin Liz came to pick us up for a stroll through Melbourne's Botanical Garden.

Such bad luck with good photos... too harsh light!

Princes Lawn...

One final photo of Liz with me with a lot of glare in the lens...

Liz took us also to her shop and that yielded this signature wooden EASEL!

Her Dad, uncle Louis made them and she gilded them, also adding those ornamental touches.

Ours is used for this pin tray on my antique oak tea cart with English Rose by Royal Doulton china.

We did have some tea/coffee with Liz in the Grand Hyatt's Regency Club lounge and than we had to say our goodbye... Short meeting but intensive!

On Sunday afternoon we got picked up by someone from the Campbell Soup mushroom farm and dropped off at the Eltham Gateway Hotel in a luxury family suite...

We went to work for the mushroom farm on Monday and on Thursday morning they moved us to a regular room at 7:00 before we went to work.

On Friday morning we could sleep in till 8:30 and brace ourselves for the very LONG journey home!

We did have one final meeting with the staff at 11:30 and we had supper at Andy Gulliver's home before he dropped us off at the airport by 20:30 and said his goodbye as he was planning to leave the company...

In 8 hours we flew from Melbourne to Bangkok, Thailand and hung around some at 6:15 in the morning before we did the next stretch of 12 hours to Amsterdam.

With only 1 hour in-between for a quick phone call with Mom, Dad was not inside, we continued the almost 9 hours to Atlanta.

We intended to sleep in but both woke up very early on Sunday morning at 5:30 and got up.

We went to Mass at 11:00 and went outside into the garden....

Thanks for traveling with us to 'Down Under' one final time!

Related links:

From Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia | previous post by me

Darling Harbour Cruise in Sydney for Surprise Birthday Party | previous Australia post by me

Working & Socializing with Staff from Melbourne Mushrooms | previous post by me

Two Cousins from Two Continents in Melbourne, Australia | previous post by me

Visiting Healesville Sanctuary in VIC, Australia | previous post by me

My 2nd Trip to Australia from Atlanta - Dallas - Los Angeles - Sydney - Melbourne | previous post

Katoomba & Jenolan Caves, Blue Mountains Australia | previous post by me

With Hawkesbury Valley Heritage Tours to the BLUE MOUNTAINS Australia | previous post by me

Sydney Centre Point Tower, Captain Cook Luncheon Cruise & Opera House | previous post

Surroundings of Melbourne Mushrooms in Mernda, VIC, Australia  | previous post by me

Visiting Uncle Louis in the Australian Outback of Broken Hill, NSW | previous post by me

My 1st Trip to Work in Australia and also Meeting my First Cousin Liz | previous post by me
Husband Pieter's 2nd and 3rd Trip to Australia | previous post by me

Trips to Australia | previous post by me

{Angels engraved on lucky calendar coin of 1969} | previous post by me

{My Teacher, Mentor, BOSS & Husband over 44+ Years} | previous post by me

{My Own Design of Brass Mushrooms} | previous post by me