{Time for Biking}

SO very happy that again we both find time to bike together on our new Schwinn Bikes!

Today we together took off, bikes on the bike rack of our Toyota RAV4, to a reasonable flat area where we could bike.
We do live in the Holly Hills subdivision, so that explains a lot!

This photo is from August 1, 2015 when I just got my new white Schwinn bike!

It took us almost one month and lots of mileage for getting it...

A horror story from K-Mart with once the wrong one sent and not willing/able to deliver to the local store but one hour driving distance away.

But finally it came!

Here, Pieter put it on our bike rack, behind our Toyota RAV4.

Yes, I opted for this white Schwinn Discover 700c Womens Bike with 21 speeds

It is in aluminum and weighs only 45.6 lbs or 20.7 kg

Spokes are steel...

I loved the color white!

It made me very happy!

The only negative aspect is that now we have the bike rack mounted on the back of our Toyota RAV4 and loading and unloading when we do shopping with this one (rarely!) is a bit tricky...

I literally have to hang over the seat (after the head support has been pulled off) and hand things to Pieter...

So here we go; both bikes on the bike rack!

This photo is from October 30, 2015 when we still could ride our bikes.

Pieter holding my Schwinn and his Schwinn (not aluminum and thus a bit heavier).

We park our Toyota RAV4 and cycle in a more flat and quiet area, hardly any traffic!

Left there were peanuts before and now cotton is being sown.

Pine trees on the other side... In the distance you can se our white Toyota RAV4 being parked.

We only paddled some 9 km or 5 mi and that is enough for an 87-year old heart patient! Even for me, building up my leg muscles again from too much sedentary life lately. We take twice a rest and drink water.

But it sure feels great for being surrounded by nature and for using your muscles!

Those pine trees will eventually get cut for the pulp wood industry.

Last week when Pieter wheeled by himself, he saw this snake on the road, being run over by a car...

When we got home around 5:00 PM it still was 32°C or 90°F

Related link:

{My Whtie Schwinn Bike} | My previous Schwinn Bike that I sold on Craigslist, also Pieter's as it did not have as many speeds and thus was too hard in our hilly region.

{Mom Did Wear Many Hats}

Indeed, during her lifetime, Mom did wear many hats.

She was above all a loving Mom, a devoted and submissive wife, a cook, a seamstress, a great housekeeper, and a very hard working partner working in the greenhouses and on the fields; harvesting vegetables and fruits.

The list could go on and on...

For readers from foreign countries who are maybe not familiar with the English saying of 'Wearing many hats', it means a person has different roles or tasks to perform.

Just because Mom made MANY sacrifices during her life time, being a Mom to a large family of 8, of which 7 survived, she NEVER could go on vacation.

So it was a joy for offering her four times this luxury for being able to fly off, across the Atlantic Ocean from The Netherlands to Georgia, USA.

Dad did come a total of six times and Pieter and I did pay for six of their ten roundtrip plane tickets. 

Mom & Dad have been escorted on March 20, 1996 by a dear friend of us who also was flying back from the Netherlands to Atlanta, Georgia!

The very first time, in April of 1987, they flew over together with both of us.

This photo was taken two days after she arrived in 1996.

Mom did not have to cook, clean, launder or do anything.

That is visible in her face; feeling very happy and pampered.

Mom was taken by the lady that gathered outfits for her, and who also did her hair and put lipstick on.

Meanwhile the clever photographer asked me to jot down some basic words in Dutch, for him to use - like 'chin up' - smile etc.

Mom LOVED it that he spoke her language and was so happy about the 'ease' of working with this clever guy. It is quite noticeable in these photos.

She even looks a bit mischievous in my opinion...

Both trips I took alone with Mom, just Mother & Daughter, for having those Glamour shots made and one week later, on April 4, to pick up the one photo that we selected on a computer screen, with several smal ones.
The above photos are taken from small sizes.
When we got home with our photos, Dad was very amazed and had to look at them, over and over...

In my leather bound journal I wrote on Tuesday, April 16 of 1996 that in the evening our friends arrived for coffee with dessert as a farewell to Mom & Dad.
The hit of the evening was my Mom with her Glamour shots!
They found she looked like a movie star and Uncle Bo found Mom now very worth while instead of another 'Mariet'...
Everyone found she also looked younger now than in 1987.
Dad got very quiet... he always had been used to being the center of attention, especially when he sang a solo as a first tenor.
It was great that Mom for once was the center of attention!

Next day we had one last breakfast together and drove to Atlanta to check in World Business class on our courtesy card with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
They were even that courteous for letting all four of us into the shared Lufthansa lounge.
Than came a very emotional goodbye, especially Mom was tearful.
The day before she mentioned that those photos were the most beautiful gift she'd ever received...
I did listen to her video tape where she did mention it at the end of that evening with our friends.
She was so very happy.
Fond memories around Mother's Day!

Yes, I too had one photo taken during that session with Mom...
 ~
Mom used to wear always a hat to Church when I was a girl, there still was a real millinery in my home town where I loved to peak inside the window.
Maybe that's where my fondness of hats originated from.
At least these pictures do remind me of my Mom when I was a girl.
Hope you enjoyed them too.
Wishing all those that still are fortunate to have their Mom around, a very Happy Mother's Day and also to those that are a Mom themselves.
For each of us it is a day filled with memories, that live inside our hearts forever.
I have been blessed with a sweet Mom and today when I watched the video, I've laughed a lot; so many fun things with lots of humor too.

Here this photo was taken by my Dad as I mostly video taped things.
Mom is waving goodbye, from the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a train in Tennessee from 1880.
So many farewells, for the 4 times that Mom came to the US and for the 64 times that we came to The Netherlands...

This is just 6 months after Mom & Dad went home and we went to Church in the morning, made this photo and then left for the airport on our 42nd trip to The Netherlands.
Me, looking happy for getting to see my Mom again!

Until it was that one final time...

They are not gone who live in the hearts of those they leave behind.

- Native American Saying

{Mom Lived 16 Days Short of Her 91st Birthday} showing Mom's writing in our guest book

Mom got called MOVIE STAR for once she was the CENTER of ATTENTION! | later post by me with video...

{Our Fragrant White Paeonia 'Ann Cousins' is Blooming}

Don't we all LOVE Peonies? We have tried over the years so many different varieties, mainly white ones but with the heat we have down south, it proves really hard. Last year no blooms at all...

But this year we got rewarded with a huge white and fragrant flower on our Paeonia 'Ann Cousins'

So I love to share it with you here!

Love this gem! 

Photo is made next morning as it was rather dark in the late afternoon for making any photos.

It is all white, no red specks or whatsoever.

White Flower Farms used to sell these but not any more.

The only place I found this 'Ann Cousins' is at Peony Paradise  ←just click the link.

Too bad Adelman Peony Gardens are located in Salem, OR... Would love to visit them!

Do you grow some peonies as well?

Related posts with peonies:

{6 Gorgeous 'Ann Cousins' Peonies in Baccarat Harcourt Pitcher}

{PEONIES: BRIDAL GOWN & LA TENDRESSE}