{Tea at Château Neercanne in the Carrière Poswick & Orangerie}

In MAASTRICHT, the capital of my Province of birth in THE NETHERLANDS, we had the XVth INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON THE SCIENCE AND CULTIVATION OF EDIBLE FUNGI. My husband had been lecturing many times for the INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR MUSHROOM SCIENCE. So for the Millennium year we decided to fly to The Netherlands for meeting with a lot of former colleagues and friends from around the world. Even though my husband had retired, he still liked to meet with them. BUT, not having to lecture himself, as all previous years, he too could join the Spouse Programme and thus we ended up together for Tea at Château Neercanne in Maastricht.

This Tea was given in the Carrière Poswick  & Orangerie.

My husband is seated right in front of the waiter...

As you can read below, the Carrière Poswick and Orangerie is hewn into huge Roman marl caves as you clearly can see in this photo.

Balcony of The Netherlands

Funny that they call Château Neercanne the Balcony of The Netherlands... (just click above link)

It even is the only terraced castle in the Benelux (Belgium - Netherlands - Luxemburg)

This was the occasion...

First we of course did have a nice walk around this special castle that also is an UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

Here I am to the right (in jeans suit from Escada) with dear friend Judy O'Neil from Canada.

This sadly was the very last time I got to see her...

We did consulting work for her husband's mushroom plants in Canada.

Sande Chase (from the blog: A Gift Wrapped Life) from East Windsor, Ontario knew Judy personally. 

Judy worked from Sande's design studio years ago and they went together to High Point, North Carolina for the Furniture Show one year. Small world...

While they prepare for our Tea, we have a nice conversation with this International group.

This is a photo taken from the terrace looking at the Carrière Poswick & Orangerie where we enjoyed our tea and/or coffee.

Here I enjoy the splendid view over the Jekerdal valley.

You can have a look for yourself by watching this short video...

Neercanne | video showing the Château outside and inside

Related link: 

Château Neercanne | Camille Oostwegel showing you the Château in English language

{Our Adenium obesum Desert Rose Surprise}

On May 28, Pieter had a surprise for me in the greenhouse. The Adenium obesum Desert Rose was blooming! We used to have this on the window sill in the bay window area but since it is a poisonous plant for pets, it had to go to the greenhouse... As much as I love plants; I love our felines even more! In Africa its toxic sap from the roots and stems is used as arrow poison. It is native to the Sahel regions, south of the Sahara (from Mauritania and Senegal to Sudan), and tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and Arabia. 

As a matter of fact, Travel - Fashion - Lifestyle blogger friend Tammy Lau from Edgymix did show them in their natural environment in one of her posts: The Most Alien Place on Earth-Socotra  isolated from mainland Yemen you can view them in the top photo, above the subject line.

It is happily blooming inside our greenhouse! Quite a Surprise...

They do have lovely flowers!

Related link:
Adenium obesum | Wikipedia

{Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis 'Snow Queen' - Variegated}

On August 6, I did capture a few photos of our flaming red Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis 'Snow Queen' - Variegated. Let me show it to you:

Tropical Hibiscus Variegated Snow Queen

See link below post from Emerald Goddess Gardens

Now you can see our white picket fence underneath the red blossom... The Southern Magnolia tree is to the left.

We view this from our bay window area and it is in a pot.

You also find them in the link from Almost Eden Plants, below this post.

Here you clearly can see the picket fence and the magnolia trees. The Japanese magnolia tree to the right and its leaves above in this photo. Our Southern Magnolia tree is to the left...

Do you have a variegated hibiscus in red?

Related links:
Tropical Hibiscus Variegated Snow Queen | Emerald Goddess Gardens
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Snow Queen' | Almost Eden Plants
{Our Luna White Hibiscus or Rose Mallow} | previous post by me
{Our Hibiscus syriacus 'Diana' - Rose-of-Sharon 'Diana'} | previous post by me

{Our Pink Hibiscus Syriacus 'Aphrodite' - Aphrodite Rose of Sharon} | previous post by me

{Our Hibiscus syriacus 'Blushing Bride' from Quero, Belluno in Italy} | previous post by me
{Our Hibiscus syriacus Jeanne D'Arc & Our Life in Italy} | previous post by me
{3 Hibiscus Varieties 'KONA' - 'CONFEDERATE ROSE' and a RED variegated} | a previous post by me