Pieter wrote: Our Weapon—A Powerful Gesture together with Prayer

 At times we find messages that really stand out! This I found on August 17...

In Dutch, Pieter wrote: Ons Wapen = Our Weapon

It was glued to a kind of diary that Pieter kept.

A cross with the four letter word: INRI = Latin for King of the Jews

Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum

Latin uses the I instead of the English J

It actually is a Cursillo Cross and on its back it reads: CHRIST IS COUNTING ON YOU

Also a Crucifix Rosary Ring hails from Pieter's Cursillo...

On Thursday, May 4 of 1995, my Pieter left by 2:00 PM for Savannah. His friend Hank Basedow let him know last minute that he was not going. Pieter had agreed to join because of him, for being one more time together with a special friend...

But he left now with Church friend Pat Roche.

Pieter came home from Savannah on Sunday, May 7 by 8:00 PM.

A nice letter from Walt Kessel, the organizer, who passed away on January 23, 2021

Hank passed away in February of 1997 and Pat on August 8, 2005.

Fond memories of brothers in Christ.

Our nation has very strongly used its weapon of the cross and prayer over the past months.

God has listened to His People and things seem to be changing!

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the USA

Our Autumn Garden Blooms & HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 The 2022 Autumn has been very brief...

On October 9, our Hydrangea paniculata, Limelight still blooming like it would not end!

More in detail with perfect sunlight.

This was already blooming on September 8—the longest lasting blooms we've ever seen!

Check post below about 'Our Garden Blooms in Summer

On October 21, Pieter did bring in a giant red Hibiscus bloom.

Placed it in our Repoussé Silver Rose vase...

Showing here its proportion a little better...

On October 30 when we left for North Carolina and Tennessee it was very dark and drizzling so I could not capture our Sugar Maple.

Photo got taken on November 4, day after our return and as you see—most leaves are already down and not even turned completely golden yet.

Pieter's open hand gives you a good idea about the size of yet another red Hibiscus bloom on November 7.

Love this red Hibiscus with its very special center.

A detail of its fabulous center—too bad our hummingbirds are already gone to the Caribbean.

Not the best photo taken on November 13—that late into the season.

But what I wanted to show here is that these petunias, the Blanket® Double Chardonnay in our Fiberglass Window Boxes remained like miniature plants...

Very disappointing!

Blanket® Double Chardonnay Petunia Plant ←click link

GrowJoy claims that one plant grows to mature size of 10–inches tall x 24–inches wide or 

25 cm x 60 cm.

Our plants sure did NOT do that, they remained very miniature as you can see by my hand as comparison.

In post below you can see them also

On November 19, our Hydrangea paniculata Limelight had turned pinkish from some near frost nights...

There were more buds but they did not turn out the way the first two did!

On our patio the summer blooming azalea still performs well as a pot plant!

Another great performer on the patio as a pot plant is the Rosemary—they bloom year round!

On Sunday, November 20 I captured our regal Camellia Japonica Debutante.

You can clearly see the now raised wooden walkway that Pieter finished in June while I was in Europe solo...

Holding one regal Camellia Japonica Debutante in my hand...

Mariette's Back to Basics wishes you and your loved ones a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING

And all those that reside outside of the USA, THANKS for your VISITS over the years!

Black Friday is always on with FREE SHIPPING at Spectrenoir on line ←click link.

Related link:

{Our Fiberglass Window Boxes & Double Cascade Pink Petunias} | previous post by me

Our Garden Blooms in Summer | previous post by me

{Camellia Debutante & Chocolate} | previous post by me

{Let It Be A Happy New Year} | previous post by me

{Our Camellia Japonica Debutante} | previous post by me

Espresso with French Macarons | previous post by me

Our Camellia Japonica Debutante in Winter | previous post by me

Pieter Captured our Estate + Progress for me to View While in Limburg | previous post with Petunias

Winter and our House Plants in Delft White Pots

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all American readers!

Before I've mentioned how hard it was to keep all our house plants alive, while being away for 3 weeks at a time, doing consulting work.

With the water computer inside our greenhouse, things worked out perfect, together with a heater for the colder period.

Here is our excellent collection from that time...

When viewed on YouTube you can find English text below, with clickable points.Remember, we always talked Dutch, as those videos got mailed out to my Parents...A nice view of our Kitchen Bay Window and our Veranda—full with plants.

This was around Christmas in1985, our previous home where we had solid oak indoor shutters that were not painted white.

Me crocheting on some curtain with my feet up onto the leather foot stool.

You can see the same solid oak indoor shutters here now open.

Related links:

Houseplants in Delft White Pots in Our Veranda | previous post showing same orchid and some Christmas cactus

The often HIGH price of being AWAY for Consulting | previous post about what we found the same year...

Solid Oak Shutters REDONE: Now Professionally Mortise Hinged by Husband Pieter | our shutters in white

{Our 'GREEN' Bedroom} | showing the bedroom with shutters and windowsill as seen in video above...

{Our Living Room} | showing the white solid oak shutters

Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2018 like the Mayflower Pilgrims 397 Years Ago

All of us have so much to be grateful for, as compared to those Mayflower Pilgrims that left Leiden, The Netherlands on July 22, 1620

Mayflower 400 Leiden click link

Marking 400 years of history click link

Leiden, Holland click link to visit this interesting site about the Province of South Holland in The Netherlands.

Leiden American Pilgrim Museum click about the start of New England from this beautiful preserved home from 1365-1370

Where the Pilgrims settled in New England, we nowadays enjoy delicious cranberries coming from the region...
Wishing you a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Related links:
{Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2014 - Like the Mayflower Pilgrims in 1621} | previous post by me
Samoset 1590-1653 | information about this great Native American Diplomat!

List of Mayflower passengers | check those names of passengers that came from Leiden, South Holland in The Netherlands

Mayflower Compact | list of 41 male aboard and list of those that died at sea 

Mayflower passengers who died at sea November/December 1620

List of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620–1621

Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot | Great Information!
The Red Friends of the Pilgrims
{No fewer than 7 American Presidents are Direct Descendants of the Leiden, Netherlands PILGRIMS}| previous post by me
{Happy Thanksgiving - From Pilgrim to President} | previous post by me

{Happy THANKSGIVING 2016 and THANKS for so many FRIENDSHIPS}

Once again, we do have SO MUCH FOR BEING THANKFUL FOR!

The only negative is, that Thanksgiving comes around way too soon; another year is just about to exit...

On Monday, I did receive such a warm and touching card, with a sweet note from a lovely blog reader; Patricia from Ohio.

Thank you so very much Patricia and husband for being loyal readers of my humble blog!

In the future I promise you there will be more stories that you like.

THANK you ALL for being loyal visitors here and for lifting each other up in times when needed.

I believe in ANGELS and I know that many are living amongst us!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING

And all those that reside outside of the USA, THANKS for your VISITS over the years.

Indeed, FRIENDS are ANGELS of LOVE!

{Happy Thanksgiving 2015!}

Today, all plans got thwarted due to 7 hours power outage, a broken underground cable in our street...

They did repair it but also damaged first a water pipe, causing a fountain.

And they also struck the cable for TV and Internet!

But after 8 hours; all was back on again. 

Still being grateful for so many things!

Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot

Pilgrims who braved the Mayflower were profoundly shaped by their 11 years in Leiden, Netherlands, where they arrived 402 years ago this year. Deeply devout, they were also some of the most tolerant among Puritan groups who headed to the new world. Read more from source here: Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all US READERS!

Related links:

{Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2014 - Like the Mayflower Pilgrims in 1621} | previous post by me

{Happy Thanksgiving - From Pilgrim to President} | previous post by me

{Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2014 - Like the Mayflower Pilgrims in 1621}

Yes, we both being 1st generation immigrants, do have a lot of Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2014! 

Being alive and healthy and living in freedom with new found Friends that became Family, is a Blessing. 

'Friends are family members without kinship'. -- Ronald Giphart Dutch writer

Like those 1621 Mayflower Pilgrims who celebrated Thanksgiving for God's goodness.

Thanksgiving By Jennie A. Brownscombe ←click it

What a fate for half of those passengers that survived the sea and the first harsh winter...

And what a FEAST after those Mayflower conditions:

Sleeping with 80 persons in a cabin made to hold 30 people...

Food - Ship's biscuits that were infested by roaches, weevils and maggots...

Warm meals were too risky because they would set the sails at fire due to winds blowing those flames...

For 66 - Sixty Six days living like that!

The Pilgrims Come to the New World - Mayflower Conditions ←click it for excerpt above and below.

Indeed, after a Prosperous Growth during the Summer of 1621 they had a Thanksgiving Celebration for God's goodness... Only 50 pilgrims survived of the original 102

The Food - Wild turkey etc.

No wonder that this became a NATIONAL FEAST - Thanksgiving History (←click it and just scroll down)

as early as 1777 but without an official Proclamation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt did just that in 1941.
PILGRIMS, NOT PURITANS...

Often those early Mayflower PILGRIMS are being confused with the later PURITANS

Pilgrims, Not Puritans ←click it

     The story behind the first U.S. Thanksgiving  ←click it to link of the above

Wishing all American readers a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Related links:
Samoset 1590-1653 | information about this great Native American Diplomat!

List of Mayflower passengers | check those names of passengers that came from Leiden, South Holland in The Netherlands

Mayflower Compact | list of 41 male aboard and list of those that died at sea 

Mayflower passengers who died at sea November/December 1620

List of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620–1621

Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot | Great Information!
The Red Friends of the Pilgrims
{No fewer than 7 American Presidents are Direct Descendants of the Leiden, Netherlands PILGRIMS}| previous post by me
{Happy Thanksgiving - From Pilgrim to President} | previous post by me

{Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2013 - Like the Mayflower Pilgrims in 1621}

Yes, we both being 1st generation immigrants, do have a lot of Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2013! 

Being alive and healthy and living in freedom with new found Friends that became Family is a Blessing. 

'Friends are family members without kinship'. -- Ronald Giphart Dutch writer

Like those 1621 Mayflower Pilgrims who celebrated Thanksgiving for God's goodness.

Thanksgiving By Jennie A. Brownscombe

What a fate for half of those passengers that survived the sea and the first harsh winter...

And what a FEAST after those Mayflower conditions:

Sleeping with 80 persons in a cabin made to hold 30 people...

Food - Ship's biscuits that were infested by roaches, weevils and maggots...

Warm meals were too risky because they would set the sails at fire due to winds blowing those flames...

For 66 - Sixty Six days living like that!

The Pilgrims Come to the New World - Mayflower Conditions

Indeed, after a Prosperous Growth during the Summer of 1621 they had a Thanksgiving Celebration for God's goodness... Only 50 pilgrims survived of the original 102

The Food - Wild turkey etc.

No wonder that this became a NATIONAL FEAST - Thanksgiving History (just scroll down)

as early as 1777 but without an official Proclamation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt did just that in 1941.
PILGRIMS, NOT PURITANS...

Often those early Mayflower PILGRIMS are being confused with the later PURITANS

Pilgrims, Not Puritans (link)

     The story behind the first U.S. Thanksgiving 

Wishing all American readers a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Related links:

List of Mayflower passengers | check those names of passengers that came from Leiden, South Holland in The Netherlands

Mayflower Compact | list of 41 male aboard and list of those that died at sea 

Mayflower passengers who died at sea November/December 1620

List of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620–1621

Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot | Great Information!
The Red Friends of the Pilgrims
{No fewer than 7 American Presidents are Direct Descendants of the Leiden, Netherlands PILGRIMS}| previous post by me
{Happy Thanksgiving - From Pilgrim to President} | previous post by me

{No fewer than 7 American Presidents are Direct Descendants of the Leiden, Netherlands PILGRIMS}

We are once again close to the U.S.A. Thanksgiving celebration, on the 4th Thursday of November. Since there is such a strong historical link between The Kingdom of The Netherlands and the U.S.A. I would like to dedicate this post to some History about the PILGRIMS. No fewer than 7 American Presidents are Direct Descendants of those Leiden PILGRIMS that sailed from The Dutch Republic to the New World. 

Brooklyn Museum - Embarkation of the Pilgrims - Robert Walter Weir

This is how those Pilgrims went on board for arriving in the New World after having stayed in Leiden for about 11 years.

For Life in Leiden you can click the hyperlink to read about some very interesting facts.

For a Leiden Pilgrim Tour you can click on the hyperlink to actually see a video of the university city of Leiden where they lived all those years. ErfgoedLeiden.nl removed that video...

Indeed, no fewer than 7 American Presidents are direct descendants of the Leiden Pilgrims.

The Pilgrim Archives tell the story of the Pilgrims themselves and the 17th century Leiden that was their home, the city where Rembrandt lived and worked.

ErfgoedLeiden.nl - link no longer shows the above info...

From Leiden Pilgrim to American president - link from where you can take a look at the familytrees of these presidents.
Presidents Bush Sr. and Jr. do share the same ancestor with Barack Hussein Obama: Thomas Blossom.
Have a look as it is quite interesting!
Wishing all U.S.A. citizens a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Too bad the above info has been taken down...

Related links:

{Happy Thanksgiving - From Pilgrim to President} | previous post by me

{Happy Thanksgiving}

Due to severe back pain, I will just re-post my 2011 Thanksgiving post for you to read. Can't manage anything new today... Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving with all your loved ones! {Happy Thanksgiving - From Pilgrim to President} Just click this hyperlink...

{The Little Black Dress & My MOM}

Ever since I read this page in The Costco Connection of May, 2012 I had this post in mind. Writing about The Little Black Dress and fond Childhood Memories of my dear Mom.

It is so true that FASHIONS COME and go but the timeless little black dress has survived decades of trends.

My Mom got married in a black dress in February of 1949. After WWII there was not much, therefore they had to postpone everything. Working hard and saving for their big day, finally after dating for seven years, my Parents could marry. 

My sister Diny still has that wedding dress, a beautiful black rayon georgette.

When I was about 9 years old I had to travel by bus with my Mom each year for a check up for my eyes. That was in the city of Venlo, The Netherlands at the hospital where the eye doctor was. Afterwards Mom always went with me to the large department store of V&D, for a cup of coffee with something sweet. It was also for her a special day off. That was so much fun; just the TWO of us... At the next department store of C&A she found a beautiful Little Black Dress in velvet (also available in a Bordeaux color). Mom asked me to zip up the long zipper in the back, which I did. She loved to be elegant but it was nearly impossible with seven kids, me being the 2nd born and eldest alive out of eight. But I can close my eyes and see her turning proud and pretty in front of the mirror...

I found her SO beautiful, she radiated such happiness, just for a moment enjoying the other, more elegant world. Then she would ask me to open up the long zipper again and she stepped out of her Little Black Dress. Gone was the moment of glamour and luxury and with the bus she rode back into her own world of hard work in the greenhouses, on the fields and in the house. Never an escape, no vacations, pure devotion to her family. Nothing luxurious, but wearing her apron with pride and only on Sundays she would dress up, complete with an elegant hat for going to Church with us. Guess that I'm the only one with my hats to enjoy the same...

We are blessed for still having her with us, even with her limited freedom due to the kidney dialysis three times weekly.

My Mom... She lived a hard life, as during the Great Depression she was sent to a big farmstead as a maid; at the tender age of 14. Just imagine... being away from your Parents and on your own in servitude.

She worked hard and long days, and her dream of studying and becoming a seamstress, never materialized. No money, no time and with WWII coming all dreams were shattered.

NO FREEDOM...

Everybody at that time had poverty, there was absolutely no luxury.

The young generation would not be able to live through such times.

In a way, my Parents have been away from their Parents as a teen. Dad too, at the age of 15 he went into servitude, and they worked long days and for that they got food and shelter, a simple bed and a little pocket money. They still managed to save. 

I have always admired Mom's skills, from her great hand writing, to knitting sweaters and socks. Also crocheting fine lace doilies or baking the most delicious pies for us on Sundays. She was a great cook and when we came walking home from school for lunch (12:00-13:30 o'clock) the smell of her home made tomato soup with sauteed onions made us put a spring in our steps. 

On Sundays she cooked a soup that is still being served at fine restaurants and for weddings. 

She felt so proud for feeding her family and I learned a lot from her!

A true role model and of course I wish she could have enjoyed her younger years more.

But she was not alone... so many of her age never had any luxuries.

There are even today many countries where there is nothing but the basics of life.

A good thing for pondering about, as once again our Thanksgiving is coming close.

A feast for family, for being grateful to God for the love, the strength and high ethics that stayed with our Parents and Grandparents and let us pray we will keep their exemplary culture alive.

Closing with a photo where Mom is proudly wearing a beautiful brocade suit that we together found in Atlanta at the Outlet of JC Penney when they were in the USA with us. And I, with my Apriori7 suit from the Escada Company Store.

Mom also wears her Majorica pearls that we gifted her in December of 1983.

This was at my Parents' garden.

Fond memories...

{Happy Thanksgiving - From Pilgrim to President}

Happy Thanksgiving to all American readers!

Hope it is a meaningful day, for you and your loved ones, reflecting on all the things we truly have to be thankful for. Some 400 years ago, life was not the way as we know it now... Therefore we should not take for granted what we have, our freedom and an abundance of food.  

Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot

Pilgrims who braved the Mayflower were profoundly shaped by their 11 years in Leiden, Netherlands, where they arrived 402 years ago this year. Deeply devout, they were also some of the most tolerant among Puritan groups who headed to the new world. Read more from source here: Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot

FROM PILGRIM TO PRESIDENT

Some interesting information for reading at the Pilgrims Archives, Leiden The Netherlands.

ORIGINS

Leiden, City of Refugees

Where did the Pilgrims come from?

STAY IN LEIDEN

The Pilgrims in Leiden

DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA

Departure for the 'New World'

LEIDEN IN THE US
From 3rd of October to Thanksgiving
Civil Marriage

Elected government

PILGRIM PRESIDENTS

Nine times from Pilgrim to President - read: From Leiden Pilgrim to American president

Obama Bush Related? video

Mayflower 400 Leiden a video about just to better understand where those Pilgrims stayed for twelve years before coming to America.

Read more awesome stories about LIFE IN LEIDEN 

History: The Pilgrims Journey Documentary video