{My Very 1st Blogpost: Romancing the Home}

As usual, I forget my Blog Anniversary!
Maybe it is because of such a sad period in my life, you can read more below blog post from previous links...
Anyway, now in 2014 on November 23, I had a total of 1,205 blog posts written.
So let's go Back to Basics and show the beginning.
On November 23, 2009 I started blogging and here is my very first post:

Autumn is the time of year to turn inward again, for making the home into a warm nest where we savor the memories of summer and sunshine. All about Romancing the Home...

A few last Midas Touch roses from the garden in a lovely silver vase adorned with a silver rosebud (that will at least last all winter long!) while indulging in a cup of hot chocolate with a Bon-bon, while reading an invitation to a winter wedding on February 13th... How romantic the outlook; just a day before Valentine's Day!

After all, these special moments will pull us through the dreary winter. With the memories of warm sun rays kept alive inside our hearts, we will get to springtime again.

Romancing the Home... Indeed, trying to extend the season of roses all year long!
The yellow roses on the tablecloth are hand embroidered by me...

Detail of the silver rosebud vase with rose...

{Post # 484 and my blog is 2 years old today!} | previous post by me with the sad story...

{Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs}

This is such a lovely Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs. Would make a perfect bridal gift or as a very special, romantic gift.
Again this is only available at my on line Boutique and I will as always, do ship Worldwide.

Just click here: Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs in order to go to my online Boutique.

One can only admire the talented silver smith that once created this ornate piece in solid repousse silver...
Perfect match with the beautiful hand crocheted table topper by blogger friend Susan from Ava Grace's Closet's Mama.

Yes, I certainly love to use our roses whenever I photograph beautiful silver pieces. It is such pure romance.

Together with a healthy piece of dark chocolate, filled with dried apricots, nuts and seeds, that I made myself, it displays very well.

Here you can see the silver mark which is German.
First the 800 is visible, followed by a half moon and a crown.

 On Page 21 of Johanna Gehrlein's book: Rosen-Bestecke you can see those silver marks shown in the 1st and 2nd image, resembling a half moon and a crown.

Johanna's excellent book Rosen-Bestecke, about Rose Silver flatware has always been such a great reference!

Sold out...

Related links:

{Splendid book about Silver Rose Flatware} | previous post by me

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver ANGELS Napkin, Letter or Card Holder} | previous post by me showing similar cherubs, angels or putti.

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin, Letter or Card Holder} | previous post by me 

{Our Camellia Japonica Debutante}

Already on January 21, I have taken the following photos of our lovely pink Camellia Japonica Debutante. Have a look at this perfect beauty. Its form is absolutely perfect and it also makes a better candidate for cutting. 

What do you say; very lovely isn't she?

Like several layers of petty coats...

Lovely color too!

So far I have not seen the Siamese twins as with Camellia Japonica White by the Gate...

We were lucky for not having had heavy rains while they bloom, as that will brown them easily.

Stepping back enough here, for letting you see the entire shrub. It is loaded with blossoms!

Below is another previous post where I did show them with Chocolate...

Of course, I do not need to confess here again that I am a chocoholic! 

Dark chocolate that is and I am not even willing to kick that addiction, as it is good for you.

Don't you love this variety?

Related links:
{Camellia Japonica White by the Gate} previous post by me

{Camellia Debutante & Chocolate} previous post by me

{Our Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant and Japanese Magnolia} previous post by me

{Let It Be A Happy New Year} previous post by me, showing Camellia Japonica Debutante

{Our Camellia Nuccio's Gem & Christmas Angel Gift} previous post by me

{Our Camellia Sinensis | Tea Plant} previous post by me

{Hot Chocolate Tastes Better From an Orange Cup}

• On January 8 of 2013, I came across the following article: Drinking hot chocolate from an orange or creme colored cup makes it taste better...
• So I had to check it out if: Hot Chocolate Tastes Better From an Orange Cup! 
• Out came our vintage Dutch cups & saucers from Potterie de Driehoek and together with our FIRST fragrant daffodils and some DARK CHOCOLATE I made the test, together with husband Pieter. 

• Yes, I did make Hot Chocolate from Dutch processed Droste Cocoa, using Half & Half  (half milk and half cream). No sugar added...
• Indeed, my very first vase with fragrant Sweetness Daffodils. See more about them in links below post.

• Friend Barbara from Switzerland made the brown mug...
• Dark Chocolate is healthy too, so we had to have some!
• The tablecloth has been hand embroidered by my Mother-in-law.
• She made probably hundreds of those on request; she still had a long list when she died at almost 95...

• Sure, some Rose Silverware has to go with this setting as well... that will also add to the taste!
• Silver plate with silver mark: E ST 925 and repoussé roses.
• I placed a crystal bowl on top for the chocolates...

• Alvin Bridal Rose demitasse spoons...
• Okay, go ahead and take some dark chocolate!

• What is your idea about WHAT will make Hot Chocolate Taste Better?

Related link:

{Our 1939 Sweetness Daffodils} previous post by me

{Ehrlicheer & Sweetness Daffodils on my Birthday} previous post by me

{WONDERFULLY FRAGRANT SWEETNESS DAFFODILS} previous post by me

{Chocolate Letter LOVE}

In my previous post: {Since 1896 Dutch CHOCOLATE LETTERS - Have YOU Tried Them?}, I did mention towards the end that we gave two years ago a package with the word LOVE to a very special extended family member... It meant so much to him. And there was not much more we could give him, other than true LOVE and this symbol written out in CHOCOLATE...

Great idea for Santa Claus!

LOVE

Sweet Chocolate LOVE... to a dear extended family member.

The son of my dear friend Natacha, who is like a younger sister, and her sons are like our own.

Sadly they moved away and we managed to visit still; Miami is not the end of the world!

Below this post you find a story about: Our EVERGLADES ADVENTURE with friend NATACHA.

In that EVERGLADES ADVENTURE post you will see photos of their cute sons.

The sad  thing is that their eldest son lost the battle of brain cancer, just last month.

Young; just turned 30 and only married for a couple of years.

Such a tragedy and it did hit hard.

It was Natacha's son that received the word: LOVE in chocolate...

Because otherwise we both were at a loss for words. What to say? What to do?

He fought the battle for more than two years but he lost it.

Now he is in heaven, a new Angel that probably is even closer to all of us as before.

Christmas is a happy time of the year; sure.

But with the loss of several loved ones, it also is a melancholic time of the year...

Certainly there are others that feel like I do.

May we all find the strength to open our hearts again and to trust the Angels for guiding us on our earthly journey. 

For the same reason I do love those silver alphabet Angels from Giovanni Raspini, Italy | they can express so much sentiment.

Chocolate can be bittersweet and I even like it that way.

Life can be bittersweet but we never like that part.

Together  we can do it.

LOVE heals...

Related links:

{Our EVERGLADES ADVENTURE with friend NATACHA} a previous post by me

{Since 1896 Dutch CHOCOLATE LETTERS - Have YOU Tried Them?} a previous post by me

{Chocolate and Silver Alphabet Letters for Saint Nicholas} a previous post by me

Mariette's Back to Basics my Zen Cart powered on line boutique for Giovanni Raspini Angels in silver

{Since 1896 Dutch CHOCOLATE LETTERS - Have YOU Tried Them?}

Hah, today I managed to get my order for Dutch CHOCOLATE LETTERS placed on line with Vander Veen's, The Dutch Store in Michigan, USA. For decades we've been ordering them as a gift to our friends. Or bringing them home with us, in the suitcase at the time we were able to buy them in The Netherlands. In 2008 we did so when we were in The Netherlands with our foster daughter Anita from Indonesia. She got so excited, searching for each letter on my shopping list! Everybody loves them and they are SPECIAL! Look at the great design on the box they come in, that looks so different from any other chocolate. It is a fine Dutch lifestyle tradition since 1896 and fond childhood memories for me. For my Canadian readers, I too have an address for getting those CHOCOLATE LETTERS: at The Dutch Market Ltd. Sorry for all other countries, they might be able to obtain them from The Netherlands and there could be some Dutch import into Australia as well... You let me know.

Not only for the traditional Dutch St. Nicholas or SINTERKLAAS, on December 6, but they make fine gifts for the Christmas season or for Santa Claus. As a matter of fact I would enjoy them year round with a cup of coffee... How about you?

Sure, I do LOVE dark chocolate! It is said that: A Dark Chocolate a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!

Click on the link (all colored ones are links) to find out more... I surely live by it.

Those silver Giovanni Raspini Charms & Co alphabet angels from Italy are available on my Zen Cart powered boutique on line: Mariette's Back to Basics - worldwide shipping. 

Below post is a link where you find them.

If you want to order CHOCOLATE LETTERS for the USA or Canada, you better do so early, as later on maybe not all Letters will be available... First come; first serve!

Today I got all mine secured; all 41 that is. Yes, my orders have been growing steadily as they are so much LOVED. That brings JOY to the giver as well.

Only 3 out of 41 are dark chocolate letters; including mine. 

What is your preference? Milk or Dark...? 

You might have gotten an idea.

Oh, we gave two years ago a package with the word LOVE to a very special extended family member... It meant so much to him. And there was not much more we could give him, other than true LOVE and this symbol written out in CHOCOLATE...

Related link:

{Chocolate and Silver Alphabet Letters for Saint Nicholas} a previous post by me 

{Chocolate Letter LOVE} | post by me

{USEFUL TIP: Peppermint Tea for Anti Bloating}

• When living in The Netherlands, our back neighbors were from Turkey and I learned quite a lot from their culture. 
• They passed on age old remedies for certain ailments. One of them was, serving hot tea from fresh Mentha Piperita leaves. 
• Sure I learned about this USEFULL TIP as Peppermint Tea for Anti Bloating. 
• Since than, I've been drinking this soothing Peppermint Tea for decades, adding also some healthy Green Tea as well. 
• We always keep mint growing in our garden. So how do I brew this useful tea? Let me show you...

• Freshly brewn inside our Mandalay Chartreuse by Mason's teapot.

• With my Gardena Garden Scissors I did snip off a handful of Mentha Piperita leaves from our garden.

• Rinsing them off in my Rösle Strainer...

• Together with a bag of green tea they go inside the teapot while the water is boiling.
• Pour the water over it and let it steep for a few minutes before pouring into your cups.

• I used Trader Joe's Organic Green Tea...

• Peppermint-Green-Tea with a healthy chocolate dessert, decorated with edible marzipan rosebuds...
• Why don't you sit with me?

• Closeup from the Peppermint-Green-Tea and my dessert...

• Please sit down and join me...!
• By  the way, this amazing chocolate dessert came out of the freezer and works great for freezing it!
• Below the post you find the recipe for this diabetes type 2 and heart healthy 0% cholesterol chocolate dessert.

• This is a very soothing and relaxing tea, you ought to try it for yourself!

• No, I did NOT add any sugar...
• So what do you think? Are you going to try this out as well...?

Below are some links for more info.

Related links:

Mandalay Chartreuse by Mason's  available at Replacements Ltd.

DOES HOT TEA HELP BLOATING & GAS AFTER MEALS? 

Gardena 359 All Purpose Stainless Steel Garden Scissors

{Our Liz & Telepathy + AMAZING Chocolate Recipe!} | previous post by me

Flat Belly Diet Foods - Meet the MUFAs! | previous post by me

Foods that Support the Skin | previous post by me

Natural Healing Chart for almost all Sickness | previous post by me with a wealth of information!

{9 'Harmless' Habits That Age You} | previous post by me with great tips

{SUGAR is your #1 enemy!} | previous post by me

{STIR UP ANGELIC TEA FOR TWO}

May I invite you for a TEA FOR TWO? Just thought you would like that... For the occasion I made some special handmade chocolates in the shape of an angel and a rose. Stirring up an angelic tea party!

Also I would like to show you this very special high end solid silver spoon by Giovanni Raspini, Italy. A very unique solid silver spoon with two angels, I want to share with you today. It would become a lovely heirloom piece for your family, if this spoon, with twin angels, is given in honor of a new born baby or any occasion involving LOVE. Like I said before, Giovanni Raspini makes High End Silver Gift items that are equal to the Tiffany & Co quality and style. I feel fortunate for being able to bring their unique boutique style items to the American, Canadian and world-wide public. See my Zen Cart powered Mariette's Back to Basics Boutique link, below this post.

From France I have this heavenly angelic tea doily. A vintage treasure done in filet lace needle embroidery on handmade netting.

Sold out...

The silver twin angels do have company... Filet lace doily with angels and roses and a beautiful French cross stitch embroidery on pure unbleached linen in tone-on-tone and framed by my most favorite home town Gallery +IROK galerie lijsten kunstuitleen FOTO ALBUM , in Horst aan de Maas, The Netherlands. They do a museum quality job and I will get back on that in a later blog, with more of their exceptional work. We're loyal customers for about three decades; even from the USA!

French Country

The Giovanni Raspini silver spoon is showcased together with my first wedding china from Germany, Mirabell White by Seltmann Weiden. 
Of course, even Replacements Ltd. does have some of its discontinued pieces!
The paper doilies are from Europe as you cannot find the 4" (10 cm) size pieces here... Everything is bigger in the USA.
Well, I must admit that we do live the Going GREEN way as those smaller pieces of China fit more items inside our dishwasher... great for the environment.

More angels on the solid silver napkin holder. 

You can also use it on a desk, for holding cards and letters! 

My passions are angels and roses and this is a nice way of showing that.

Sorry Sold out...

I TOLD you I love angels and roses and I even do EAT them alive... 

Are these hand made chocolates not divine? It is so much fun making them and even more fun to eat, as I use the 70% and higher special dark chocolate for making those. That is supposed to be good for your health as well! Will write more about that later... So much to do still! Subjects will be endless. But bit by bit you get to know what I'm doing...

French Country

Of course, I did search for the book with the beautiful TOI & MOI Angel embroidery. It is in French, but languages are no barrier for me, so I found it on the German Amazon and ordered it from there. 

As said before, this is the Museum Quality Gallery of Irok that does all our framing for three decades already. You can visit Ingrid's Irok Gallery blog below, she  also has a translator.

I like to make a mention here as to the fact that Irok also provides art work for the Hospice facility near our former home town. In that facility on July 22nd of 2010, Mrs. Dora Van den Bekerom passed away. She used to be the secretary of my husband Pieter, at the world's first and only Practical Training College about Mushroom Growing; the one he founded.

Therefore I like to name this blog in honor of her. She was a dear colleague to both of us, very loyal and she not once forgot a birthday. Since she went to heaven to re-unite with her husband who passed away of cancer in 1967 and is now living amongst angels; this will be quite appropriate for ending this blog...
Republished today.

Are you stirring up things with angels at your home?
Would love to know about it.

Related links:

+IROK galerie lijsten kunstuitleen FOTO ALBUM  IROK Gallery in HORST, The Netherlands

Mirabell White by Seltmann Weiden, Germany