{1899 Windmill 'Eendracht Maakt Macht' in my City of Birth}

• Guess for lots of people, all over the world, the Dutch symbols are: windmills, tulips, wooden shoes...
• Okay, let me show you at least one of those; Windmill 'Eendracht Maakt Macht' Unity is Strength in Horst, my City of Birth. 
• As a matter of fact, the windmill is located in the little hamlet of Meterik, that belongs under Horst aan de Maas. 
• This is the largest municipality in the Province of Limburg in the deep south of The Kingdom of The Netherlands. 
• By the way, on April 30, it will indeed become a Kingdom again as Queen Beatrix will pass the crown to Prince Willem-Alexander.

• This photo is taken on Saturday, September 26 of 1987, when we went to The Netherlands with our American friends, Hank & Doylene. Funny is that here I do wear a plaid Burberry skirt and below I also wear plaids...

• Here I am 8 years old (l) with brothers Martin and Piet and sister Diny.
• Walking on a Sunday and Dad making pictures with his Agfa camera...
• Mom always did iron those hair bows for us girls to wear with a special barrette.
• Did any of you get to wear such hair bows?

• And again, all four of us...

• This is a Moundmill, with the name: Eendracht Maakt Macht from 1899
• Just click the hyperlink for reading more, in English.
• Also here is a website about Molen 'Eendracht Maakt Macht' in Meterik
• They newly also do have their own FB Fan Page: Molen 'Eendracht Maakt Macht' in Meterik where you will also find great photos!
• Via google gevonden, een ontzettend leuke blogpost met foto's van de molen door de jaren heen. Mariette bedankt! 1899 Windmill 'Eendracht Maakt Macht' in my City of Birth (click and see how they used my post).

  Hope you enjoyed this trip into the past of my childhood area! 

{Taxes & Running a Business Legally}

• Wow, so glad that on Thursday March 28, I could sign my business tax papers at our CPA's office! 
• Don't you hate to go through this annually? That is, if you run a business legally. 
• Wow, there is so much to take care of. 
• The annual registration on line, for a Limited Liability Company, at the Secretary of State's Corporations Division for paying our fees. 
• Handling the annual Sales Tax on line etc. etc. 
• These two I can handle myself but for all the other forms we have our CPA; I would be lost without him!

• For my business MARIETTE'S BACK TO BASICS LLC, I have to register annually and pay my fee.

• Our Capital in Atlanta, Georgia/USA (off the Georgia Secretary of State's website...)

• Business Filings on line for a Limited Liability Company
• Do you manage your Business Taxes yourself or are you also using a CPA?

Frankly speaking... I HATE accounting! I was far better in Algebra... that WAS my favorite and I always had to come up to the blackboard to work out new steps. But I doubt if I could repeat that now...

{190 Countries Visited - Welcome Belize}

• Thank you so much for visiting my humble blog and for leaving comments! On March 27, country # 190 visited; Welcome Belize from Central America and the Caribbean!

So where is this country located?

• BELIZE  is located to the south east of Mexico and also bordering Guatemala, just click on the hyperlink and than on Geography.
• Slightly smaller than the State of Massachusetts, U.S.A.
• All Countries are welcome; large and small!

Hope you enjoy reading this blog and do come back.

You might also like:

{189 Countries Visited - Welcome Saint Pierre and Miquelon}| previous post by me

{# 148 and my blog is 1 year old today!} previous post where I explain WHY I changed to Mariette
{# 484 and my blog is 2 years old today!} previous post about post # 484
{Romancing the Home} my very 1st blog post... November 23, 2009
{186 Countries Visited - Welcome Burkina Faso} | previous post by me

{Happy Second Easter Day}

• In Europe they do celebrate TWO days of Easter; First and Second Easter Day! 
• So let me wish those lucky ones a very Happy Second Easter Day!

• My Organdy Beribboned Easter Eggs in yellow and salmon...

• This is the book from which I got the idea to make those Organdy Ribbon bows...
• Photo from the millennium year with lovely Easter bouquet from our own garden!
• Tablecloth and placemat is from Le Jacquard Français.

• Yellow roses were Midas Touch but we lost them all to the drought.

Related link:

{Challenge Accepted + Easter Photos} | previous post by me

{HAPPY EASTER to all my readers in 190 countries!}

• Wishing ALL my readers a very HAPPY EASTER! 
• Thanks for visiting my blog and let's hope that SPRING will start with this Easter Weekend! Literally a day of New Life.
• Showing you my cute Easter lambs that will hold a place card or menu. Together with my porcelain Villeroy & Boch egg vases. 

• Vintage egg platter that hold some of my porcelain Villeroy & Boch egg vases + real eggs.
• Easter lambs and chicken salt & pepper that goes with the egg platter.
• Don't you love these Victorian hybrid 'Rosebud' Pelargonium inside those egg vases?

• The linen and hand crocheted tablecloth is from friend Marianne. Her Aunt made it for her and she gave it to me.
• Those Victorian hybrid Pelargonium 'Red Rosebud' look just like real rosebuds!

• Wish we could have those Victorian hybrid 'Rosebud' Pelargonium year round!

• 'Appleblossom Rosebud' Pelargonium + real egg...

• Nowhere is the egg; symbol of New Life, better incorporated than here at the Kruisherenhotel in Maasricht, The Netherlands. 
• Just click here to see how they actually did integrate an EGG into their reception.
• May Easter be the true symbol of New Life and also the symbol of Spring for all that live in the Northern Hemisphere that is.
• Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy and Meaningful Easter!

Related links:
{HAPPY EASTER to all my readers in 163 countries!} | previous post by me with more info about the Chateauhotels/Kruisherenhotel
{Happy Easter with Our Pelargonium 'Rosebud'} | previous post by me with more Pelargonium info
12½ jaar L1 - Amerikaanse president in Limburg | Château Hotel St. Gerlach where President George W. Bush stayed during his visit to Margraten in my Province of birth (part in English!)
Dutch Queen and Bush lead VE Day memorial | YouTube video

{Easter Table Setting}

• For Easter I have done a special Table Setting for you to see...

• Using photos from previous years, because we don't have any daffodils or narcissus blooming and only very few for 2013...
• Picture frame vase with daffodil and rosemary.
• Easter lamb holding the place cards.
• Easter Bunny Dad with Bunny Infant...
• Baccarat Piccadilly Crystal stemware and Villeroy & Boch porcelain egg vases...

My sister Diny did find them for me in The Netherlands after I'd seen them in a Dutch magazine!

Do you ever get something you find in a magazine? 

• Le Jacquard Français tablecloth and napkins.
• Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet flatware.
• Wedgwood cream color on cream color china.

• Heavenly fragrant Obdam  Narcissus in Wedgwood pitcher...
• Porcelain egg vases inside large Wedgwood Gardenia Bowl.

• Closeup of the porcelain Villeroy & Boch egg vases inside the Wedgwood Gardenia Bowl.
• Don't you LOVE these orchid narcissus?

• Cute porcelain egg vases with Thalia orchid narcissus!

Related link:

{Easter Season} | previous post by me

{CIRCLE Vase with Candles for Easter}

• As promised previously in my February 24 post: JUST enough Daffodils to fill our CIRCLE Vase, here is another display. The Speedy bunnies you already saw on March 22...

• On top of the glass plate I now placed candles...

• The yellow pillar candles are Müller Kerzen from Germany that I received from my German friend Marlene.
• Those pillars are called Flower Garden and burn for 32 hours.
• You can click on the above hyperlink for their info.

• Tablecloth is from Le Jacquard Français and the cups and saucers are Royal Albert Friendship series in the daffodil pattern.
• Salt & Pepper shakers belong with the egg platter that I showed two days ago.
• Spoons are ceramic from Avon with daffodil.
• Round candles are Bolsius from The Netherlands. 
• Are you a candle favorite as well?

• That's what I LOVE about our IKEA chairs, their backs are low and never obstructing the view as they barely come above the table!

• Those candles are a perfect match with the daffodils!

• Too bad that those daffodils were blooming on February 25... 
• Way too early for Easter and we didn't get any others; this was the entire crop for 2013.
• At least I have the photos for showing.

• So what do you think about the different uses for this CIRCLE Vase with glass plate to display whatever on top?

Related links:
{Daffodils in CIRCLE Vase & Leonardo Figurine Bunny SPEEDY} | previous post by me
{JUST enough Daffodils to fill our CIRCLE Vase} | previous post by me

{Hand Made Easter Egg Gift by Friend Ellie}

• Since it is Holy Week, we are getting into the mood for Easter. 
• Out come these three lovely Easter Eggs, hand made by dear, almost life-long Friend Ellie from my hometown, Horst in The Netherlands.
• This very talented friend did a great job on some artfully created Easter Eggs. Have a look...

• Had to display them on our silk brocade table cloth that husband Pieter did bring back from his trip to China with the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program

• Don't you think this pale blue will bring SPRING to our area soon?

Related links:
{Elvira my 1st and only Goddaughter} | previous post by me
{Wedding Elvira & Bob - Michelin Star Top Restaurant Brienen aan de Maas} | previous post by me
{Silk Embroidered Birds from China Trip} | previous post by me
{Our Mouth Blown Glass Nativity} | previous post by me

{Hand Knitted Easter Gift from Sister-In-Law}

The sweetest gifts are often those that are hand made. We call it here in the USA; Labor of Love. My sister-in-law, Elly Van den Munckhof did knit for me six cute egg warmers. A set of Easter Chickens for placing over a boiled egg. For years already, both of us don't eat eggs but I do use them over some special egg shaped Easter candles. Have a look...

Here they are; that is four out of six. 

The Chickens to the right had a bad hair-day...

I've only given them a new felt crest and silk organdy graduating ribbons around their neck.

They held up really well.

Elly did make the eyes from a glass bead.

Nice Easter grouping... except that the weather was actually too dark to make decent photos...

A tiny bud vase with blooming Pelargonium from our Green House. 

Because we will have frost on Tuesday night, our potting plants are still inside!

Dark days with a mean and cold wind...

The lazy Chick on the yellow plate we got one year in the mail from our 'German son' and family.

The lacquered and hand polished laser cut brass Egg window decorations are from Germany, Jech Kunstgewerbe.

FAKE Egg... it is a candle in a mini-terracotta pot with gold sparkle.

The top plate is from Blokker in The Netherlands where we bough them with my niece Maartje Van den Munckhof... Three out of four survived so far!

The tablecloth is all cotton Le Jacquard Français.

So what do you say about my Easter Chickens?

Related links:
{RARE ANTIQUE ROSE: JEANNE D'ARC (1818 FRANCE)} | previous post by me showing hand crocheted doily by Elly
{Our Garden's Winter Blooms for Christmas} | previous post by me showing hand crocheted doily by Elly
{Easter Season} | previous post by me showing the brass window decorations with link
{Our Organdy Beribboned, Porcelain and Brass Easter Eggs} | previous post by me showing the brass window decorations with link

{My Hand Made Filet Lace Embroidered Angels}

• Yesterday you could see a shadow of an angel, reflected in our high gloss bathroom cabinet vanity. 
• Today I want to show you more of our window treatment, that I made by hand.

• Getting a good photo of these angels is about as hard as making the curtain...
• You can see the balcony's balustrade to the right and the white vinyl fence below.

• Such a window treatment is very hard to capture on camera but at least I tried!
• Here I've hand made two angels facing each other in filet lace embroidery.

• This is the machine made net on which I did the Filet Lace Embroidery.
• There is a crocheted edging all around for being able to fasten it on the tiny brass nails, that are painted white.
• Very easy for laundering and putting it straight out from the washing machine back onto those brass nails. 
• Never do they get rust stains because of the brass.

• Even from the outside it is very hard to capture as it is way up high and behind a vinyl fence.
• So I had to zoom in, standing below on the ground.
• There is a screen in front of the window, that makes the filet lace embroidery look less clear.
• Our home will get a pressure wash and a new painting coat in May; that will also take care of the screen as they have to come off.

• This is the pattern I used from the book: Hemels Handwerkboek by Marie van den Berk-Mertens
• Above link will send you to Amazon.com

• hemels handwerkbook
• heavenly handworkbook

• This book is in Dutch but language doesn't really matter for following the patterns.

Is anyone of you also working with Filet Lace Embroidery?

Related links: 

{Our New Shower with Dreamline Frameless Sliding Shower Door} | yesterday's post by me with reflection of this angel Filet Lace Embroidery with Angels

{Crochet Edging on Antique French Knotted Filet Lace} | previous post by me showing you such hand crochet edging that I did
{Acrylic Frame with Transparent Acrylic BOLTS & NUTS} | previous post by me showing you a French antique filet lace angel frame for hanging - ONLY ONE left in my boutique...

{Our New Shower with Dreamline Frameless Sliding Shower Door}

• As promised, here I will show you our finished Bathroom Renovation with Our New Shower with Dreamline Frameless Sliding Shower Door. 
• As you may already know from different rooms in our home, we both appreciate simple lines. 
• For kitchen and bathroom that means LOTS of WHITE. Since we have a combination of an Italian bathroom cabinet vanity in high gloss lacquered white and Danish Damixa faucets it is a unique mix.

• Our New Shower with Dreamline Frameless Sliding Shower Door with 3/8" or 10mm thick glass.
• We managed to have it all DONE before Christmas of 2012.
• The tiles we chose were from Home Depot in Bright Snow White for the walls, ledge and front.
• Clean and simple lines.

• Completely frameless glass design with 2 integrated glass shelves.
• Danish Damixa Plus Shower Set (Water Saving Product Design).
• Danish Damixa Space Mixer

• Showing the bottom part of the Dreamline Frameless Sliding Shower Door.

• Above to the right is a Hotel Cabinet with Cubbies in White.
• Do you like our Night Stand Pet House? One of our felines sleeps frequently inside, on top of her pillows... Click the hyperlink to see a picture of cat stepping out of it!

• Our Conair magnifying mirror above the towel rack.

• In yesterday's post about the renovation from tub to shower, I did show you one picture with a 'gap' between the shower pan and our white tile floor from Italy. 
• Husband Pieter did solve it by adding one layer of backer board in front of the pan and we had it than tiled the way it is in this picture. No more gap!
• All our wooden base boards we replaced by tiles, so much easier to clean!

• A better view of our Hotel Cabinet with Cubbies in White.
• Our wall paper just remained the way it was; no damage at all.

• Our exceptional Vossen International Terry Towels and wash hands (not wash cloth...) that I have for 35 years.
• Read below a previous post that I did about them.

• Our bathroom cabinet vanity in high gloss white from Italy. We did bring  that back home  to the USA with us, after not building our home in Italy. In our guest bathroom we do have an identical cabinet vanity, we shipped 2 back from Italy. There I have added IKEA GODMORGON high gloss white cabinets as well. They did match perfectly and I was so happy finding them in Atlanta.
• Danish Damixa faucet.
• In the cabinet door you can see the shadow of an angel... That is in the window but I will post separately about it. 
• All our windows, except in the veranda and kitchen, do have solid oak indoor shutters that are lacquered in white.

• The other side of the window with the indoor shutter in the Charleston style, just like our doors.
• Brass with white porcelain knob on the door for hanging robes.
• Here you see our Restoration Hardware Cartwright Medicine Cabinet with mirror, above the toilet.
• Toilet is by Toto with softclose lid.

• Ending full circle...

And 'H', do you like our bathroom renovation?

Related links:
{Our Bathroom Renovation from Tub to Shower while Caring for the Environment} | previous post by me
{Our Rose Suite Bedroom} | previous post by me showing our other, integrated bathroom, with shower
{French Country Style at Mariette's Back to Basics} | previous post by me showing the IKEA GODMORGON high gloss white cabinets
{OUR EXCEPTIONAL VOSSEN INTERNATIONAL TERRY TOWELS} | previous post by me about our 30+ year old towels
{2 Ideas picked up at the Grand Hyatt, Atlanta} | previous post by me