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Monday, March 27, 2017

WELCOME SPRING

On March 6, we did have our Azaleas near the Gazebo, looking their BEST. But it was a rather dreary day without sunshine... Hard to capture them! I did anyway...
All winter we are looking forward to this and then the moment is  there!
Bees happy humming around...
March 6, husband Pieter started feeding the roses and azaleas...
Spooky boy is almost like a doggy, always nearby and walks back and forth to the greenhouse with Pieter.
Two days later, on March 8, the sun came out so I snapped these photos!
Showing you also the blue sky above our Gazebo...
Closer to the gazebo where pink and white azaleas look their best.
Some yellow Carolina jasmines intertwined with them.
Nature's Poetry!
Imagine, being a bee and visiting all these blossoms...
Also their buds look lovely in a darker shade of pink...
Husband Pieter did bring in these HUGE white Azaleas that grow across the creek near one of our bridges.
Because I was crocheting again to finish my 2nd curtain with Fleur de Lys.
Yes, it is up and hanging since March 16 and I'm very happy!
But last week we suddenly had quite some frost on March 16 as it turned to -3°C (26.6 °F) by 6:36 AM
By 7:41 AM it even dropped to -4°C or  24.8°F...
Needless to say that so many tender blossoms and also young leaves got damaged!
All our Azaleas look brown, the Pomegranate trees are totally browned and so are the leaves from our Japanese Magnolias... A sad sight!

That's life and we have to hope for the best in weeks to come.

Hope you too have had some Spring Awakening in your area, or beginning of the Fall in the Southern Hemisphere.

Thank you for visiting me and I will catch up one of these days; promise!


Monday, March 20, 2017

Sweet Vet Amanda Came to Spooky's Home

One of our felines, Spooky Boy, dreads going to the Vet. He once got abused by somebody and received a terrible blow to his head, above his right eye. The Vet managed to heal him and we slowly got him to trust us once more. He had been hiding in the woods, a few streets away... Guess he suffered from Amnesia...
But he freaks out when we get the pet carriers for a ride to the Animal Medical Clinic of Laurens County, which is just around the corner.
Last week we had to see Vet Amanda with our eldest cat Barty as he was getting bold spots from excessive grooming himself.
She gave him a penicillin shot and some steroids and in a week time he has improved so much.
So we again discussed the difficulty with Spooky for his Rabies shot and others.
Vet Amanda offered to see him at his own HOME - How very sweet of her.
Here is Spooky after he got his Rabies and other Vaccinations...
He was even PURRING when Vet Amanda gave him his shots!
Maybe he still remembers how she did save his life on April 1, 2016 when he had a urinary track blockage. 
It was real easy this time and he got to stay with me in the veranda where I was crocheting on my 2nd Fleur de Lys curtain, which I finished by the way!
A pensive Spooky Panterino... very sweet and quiet against the Fleur de Lys pillow in our chairs with Fleur de Lys upholstery in Viscose fabric.
Yes, he has a Spanish 2nd name, just like his brother is called Bandido as their Parents were living in Acapulco, México.
Last year he got his ear injured... but it did heal almost perfectly.
He fits well with the little Egyptian cats on the Corian window sill...
We both are so pleased with this option of a Vet coming to our home!
No stress, no trauma!
If our fur babies are happy - we are happy too!

Our Spooky Panterino...

Thanks for your visit!


Related link:
{UPDATE...} | Previous post by me about Spooky's urinary track blockage

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Dutch PVV must WIN because Rutte is STEALING Money from 34,000+ ELDERLY in USA and Canada

On March 15, the Dutch people will vote again. Maybe this time they will vote smart and do away with the present, corrupt leaders!
AOW-uitkeringen; gekort (see the blue marking top right)
Dutch Social Security; cut
For USA and Canada alone it is for more than 34,000 elderly living abroad!
My husband commented on a post: Dutch election 2017 odds: WillGeert Wilders win in the Netherlands?
The Dutch election 2017 is set to be closely-fought battle between the far-right Geert Wilders and incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Here are the latest odds on the upcoming Netherlands vote (click on pink hyperlink above).
Expatriates are being FORCED to file their taxes as a ONE Person income, regardless if they are married or not! 
That is discrimination in the worst way possible.
The top figure shows you the taxes to be paid, versus two-person income at the bottom.

Are you a foreign taxable person? No tax partner and Not entitled to tax credits and deductions...


Over 2015, 2016 and 2017 this has already been the DISCRIMINATING TREATMENT for all foreign taxable persons.

When asked: 'Why suddenly such unfair treatment?'
The response was: 'For this question I have no answer, this has been a political decision.'
PM Rutte already started his preparations in 2012, when he cut all the funds for the Dutch World Radio.
That was the ONLY reliable information for expatriates, living all over the world.
Internet
Maar terwijl het internet de wereld veroverd, raakt de rol van de Wereldomroep op sommige vlakken uitgespeeld. In juni 2011 maakte het inmiddels gevallen kabinet-Rutte bekend dat het budget van de Wereldomroep met ingang van 1 januari 2013 zal worden verlaagd van 46 miljoen naar 14 miljoen per jaar: een budgetverlaging van 70 procent. Het maakt drastische keuzes onafwendbaar.

Internet
But while the internet conquered the world, the role of the world radio gets played off against some areas. In June 2011, the fallen Cabinet Rutte announced that the budget of the World Radio from January 2013 on, will be reduced from 46 million to 14 million a year: a budget reduction of 70 percent. It makes drastic choices unavoidable.

The Dutch World Radio always stood up for the Dutch living and/or working abroad. 
For several years, husband Pieter's Dutch Social Security (AOW) got deducted by witholding medical insurance, even with the fact that he could not make any use of it.
There was a lot of protest and World Radio let people from all over the world speak up!
The government finally gave in and took that deduction off.
BUT World Radio has paid the price for it and they were shortened on funds and then they finally had to disappear from the air... Sad fact!
They really were looking out for us.
What can we do as little people?
Especially because money from the elderly is being taken to fund migrants! - Maybe Citizen Journalism does have a little impact?!
They obviously removed my Tweet...
Hoping for the BEST results on March 15, for The Netherlands!
Socialism is not what the people want...

It took more than 6½ years but in the end the people elected Geert Wilders from the PVV and he won in a landslide: Dutch election winner Geert Wilders is an anti–Islam firebrand known as the Dutch Donald Trump ←click link.

Related links:
"Zestig procent van mensen in de bijstand is allochtoon" by binnenland.eenvandaag.nl 60% of welfare recipients are immigrants
NEARLY A QUARTER OF DUTCH VOTERS ARE 65 OR OLDER by nltimes.nl
What you need to know about the Dutch election by dw.com