{Lampe Berger Cherub Cameo (Angelot)}

Lampe Berger Cherub Cameo (Angelot) is one of my favorites! This one is made out of porcelain and comes with the heavy gold cap. If you love authentic French Cherubs, Angels or Angelot as much as I do; this is your chance to own one too. It is in perfect condition!

No longer available but I do have ONE for sale in my boutique...  Mariette's Back to Basics. The opaque Cameo is surrounded by a golden circle to make it even stand out more.

When I made these photos we were lucky for having some Gardenias blooming for using in the pictures with this romantic Lampe Berger. Again I have used the very finely hand crocheted table topper made and gifted by blogger friend Susan's Mom from Ava Grace's Closet.

If used with some authentic Lampe Berger 'Precious Jasmine' oil this is pure heaven!

Such Lampe Berger together with such heavenly Jasmine oil would make for a truly angelic gift!

Who could resist this? All the romantic ingredients needed for creating some heavenly atmosphere within your own home...

The bottom side with its Lampe Berger mark. This is the REAL French thing. You will not find any better French Country Style than this. 

Sorry Sold out...

Related links:
For a video on how to use these lamps, please see my previous blog post: {Lampes Berger 1898 - 1998 A Century of History} click on the blue link: Live in Air you Love
{My Private Lampes Berger Collection + Boutique Items} | previous post by me
Lampes Berger: A Century of History; click link for info about book by Gérald Vilcocq.

{Do you know Dutch DWEILEN for Mopping up Water?}

When we had the Flash Flood problems we were using 17 Dutch style DWEILEN for mopping up the ground water that came in our basement. Besides the two wet vacs that we ran all the time. What a job. I ended up ordering 6 more of these Dutch Witte Dweilen, from Michigan's VanderVeen's also called: The Dutch Store. Just click on both links and you also might want to get their Dutch Chocolate Letters in time for the holiday season.

From Albert Heijn

A 50 x 60 cm DWEIL in white cotton...

It is woven such that it has a high absorption of water.

The way I use this is with a squeegee that I place over the wet 'dweil'. This one is dry, just for demonstrating on our balcony.

Next you turn the 'dweil' over the squeegee  and now you can move over your tiles.

I do this with a wet 'dweil' then I rinse it out and wring it dry and go over the same spot again for drying it off.

Those cotton dweilen (plural for dweil) I throw into my Miele washer and they get laundered on 170°F for cleaning and disinfecting them for the next use. This is a very hygienic way of mopping floors.

{Writing a Thank-You-Note and Acknowledging a Parcel Received}

For sure most of you have received over the years some meaningful and touching Thank-You-Notes, hand written for a gift received, or for something else special.

Example of hand written thank you note on Cotton Crane & Co. Stationery...
In the front you see my Montblanc travel fountain pen.

LOOK: this beautiful Thank You note we received in the mail on Friday, October 4, following a dinner that we hosted for sweet friends. This is such an incredible thank you note, with a sweet personal touch...

Dear Friend Pam's Grandmother actually hand tatted these lovely thank you cards...
They are the most precious thing I've ever seen!
Such labor of love...

Even the back of the envelop showed a lovely tatted pink flower...
It got a bit smudged by handling in the mail but what a lovely presentation!
~♥~
Below is another example of ready printed thank-you notes, also in Cotton Crane Stationery

My husband Pieter receives the monthly Rotarian magazine; being a long time Rotary member himself.

In the September issue of 2013, there was a nice article about Writing Thank-You Notes...

Below post you can also read it in full screen mode.

Much obliged

Writing thank-you notes is hard. Too bad

By Paul Engleman

Expressing thanks is a fundamental social skill and should be a simple task..

The best way to do this is by a hand written note!

~♥~

We often have sent parcels from the USA to The Netherlands for family and friends and most of the time we never got even notified when they arrived...

Only after we called, following a long wait and worrying that maybe the parcel got lost... (God forbid) we got the statement: 'Oh yes, we received that a long time ago...' 

Except for brother Martin, who always right away picked up the phone and told us very excited: 'Wish you could have seen their faces...' when my niece and nephew unwrapped things that got delivered in the mail.

Is this only both of us, or are there more examples out there, where acknowledging a parcel/gift in the mail did never happen?

Whenever we ourselves received anything in the mail, we hastily grab the phone to let the generous sender know that things arrived in good order and that we're very pleased with them.

With Germany we do have excellent back and forth rapport but not so with The Netherlands.

However, some of my clients from The Netherlands did follow up and let me know they received my parcel. 

That too is very courteous and it is more the exception than the norm!

Some very touchy notes I received from happy customers, from Australia and from the UK also.

Is this culture related? Or are people's morals and standards lacking...?

Both of us have always followed our moral compass!

What are your thoughts on this subject?

~♥~

ISSUU - September 2013 vol2 by Rotary News India | On page 16 here you can find the same story from above - just click to open below. It will fully enlarge for easy reading. Just click Esc to exit full screen mode. 

{These Wasps Stung Me Near my Eye}

On September 7, when we finished putting our LPG Gas Tank on its new spot after I made photos, I liked to snap some shots from our white bird houses in the gazebo. On my previous post about Our Gazebo (see link below) I got some comments about our bird houses. So I thought why not show them up close...

Oh my; I was in for a surprise. When I pulled the drawer out with its heart shaped opening, I felt a sudden pain around my right eye. Turned out that wasps had built their nest inside... I dropped the drawer and went inside the house to put some Tea Tree Oil on the spot that was burning so bad. It was my right eye, my only good eye... Now I was tearing from the Tea Tree Oil but it sure helped to take out the burn. 

This photo I had still snapped right after being stung and when I'd dropped its drawer...

I did sit at my PC for uploading the LPG Gas Tank photos that I'd just shot, to check if they were okay.

Doing that, teary eyed and still hurting, I heard a FB comment come in and when I did check it was my sister-in-law, in The Netherlands, asking me what is a John Deere EZtrak. I'd written on FB to her that with all the underground springs in our garden it still causes a problem for Pieter on his John Deere EZtrak. He got stuck twice already.

With my swollen and teary eye, I did Google it for her and typed my reply, that it is a Zero-Turn Mower, with the note that she herself easily could have looked it up via Google.  

Wow; that was enough! So much for nice relatives that bug you at the wrong time...

I did give my eye some rest after that... It gave me quite a scare as I got stung three times; close to the corner of my eye, below the eye and to the side of my nose. 

This is almost an hour later, that's what was inside in the top part of the bird feeder. 

I went back to the gazebo for revenge, to spray them all to death. 

With the rains we had not been able to fill this particular feeder with some nuts inside that drawer. 

That's what our little birds usually snack on. 

They even occupied an adjacent birdhouse!

Those little bastards! 

How painful their sting is but they paid with their lives...

What a tiny waist those wasps have...

But still, what a venom comes from them!

Related links:
{Moving Our LPG Gas Tank} | previous post by me
{Our Gazebo with Chair Cushions} | previous post by me
{Our 'GREEN' Bedroom} | previous post by me and last photo is showing this bird feeder up close; last photos

{192 Countries Visited - Welcome Djibouti}

Thank you so much for visiting my humble blog and for leaving comments! On September 19, Country # 192 visited; Welcome Djibouti in the Horn of Africa!

It was only on September 5, Country # 191 visited; Welcome also to Swaziland of Africa!

Thanks to ALL of you from all other countries visiting here!!

You might also like:

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

{186 Countries Visited - Welcome Burkina Faso} | 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

{Our Tree Hugger}

Sometimes one can laugh when walking through the garden... We can observe funny things in nature. Our Live Oak or Quercus Virginiana has been hugging itself from the beginning on. A true TREE HUGGER!

Funny sight isn't it?
You can see the tree here below in a previous post:

{What Type of Feet do YOU have?}

Have you ever looked at the shape of your feet? 

There are different Foot Types and I found out that I have Egyptian Type Feet.

Voilà -- My Egyptian Type Feet!

Yep, that's ME: Egyptian Foot - The Egyptian Foot tends to be a narrow foot. It has a longer big toe and the rest of the toes taper down from longest to shortest. It is the most functional of all the foot structures.

However because of the long big toe, you must be careful in your choice of shoes.

Ha, being careful with choice of shoes?

Even more careful with choice of panty hose. 

That's one reason I wear Wolford hosiery as they last and last.

All other brands I can trash after doing some walking or God forbid; dancing... 

Which Foot Type Are You... Egyptian Roman Greek... 

Tell me in the comment what yours are... I am anxious to know your DNA.

Egyptian Type Feet with shoe size 8... Or European size 38. 

Guess if my big toe would not be that long I had a size 7 or 37.

This photo is taken at the Camino Real, hotel in México City. 

This is how consultants relax during the weekends. 

The above was my all time favorite bathing suit with wrapped skirt from La Perla, Italy.

I was so proud for finding it at the Aventura Mall, Aventura FL (near Miami).

Sadly it vanished from the Camino Real Mexico City hotel... 

The above picture is from the Dutch magazine Nouveau where I found it.

Looking down on my toes from my chaise at the Hyatt House Miami Airport while at the pool last month...

On our balcony...

No change; they definitely are Egyptian!

Elite Feet Tapered toes or Egyptian feet | link to Urban Dictionary

Female feet where the big toe is the longest toe. The most attractive type of feet. (Hello, how many pair of panty hose they pierced?!) They are fairly uncommon, but that's one of the reasons why they are so great. Also sometimes called tapered toes or Egyptian type feet.

Putting my best foot forward still does not change it...

Big toe is LONGER!

See my left foot below; it's very obvious.

Mummy's False Toes Helped Ancient People Walk Like an Egyptian (click link for reading full and very interesting story...)

I start feeling very ANCIENT myself...

Maybe, just maybe—this is why I LOVE these toe loop sandals?

What is your favorite sandal?

Before I start feeling like an endangered species, I want to compare my toes with others...

By the way, Perfect Ten Salon & Spa did a great job on the pedicure!

But are my toes also perfect ten?!

One of my favorite toe loop sandals from Indonesia... WISH I had bought several pairs of these!

Do you ever regret you didn't purchase more of something that proves very comfy?

Here we stand: My husband Pieter as a true Roman (?) and I as an Egyptian...

Pieter's right foot even looks like GREEK, with the 2nd toe longer than the big toe. Not so his left foot.

~ 

Long second toe

Indicates leadership qualities. Rulers from ancient Egyptian and Hawaiian royal dynasties all had long second toes. You need to be in charge.

That is TRUE for my Pieter!

For sure, husband Pieter has not a narrow foot...

He stands on this earth very firmly!

Had to add this as it already did confuse me with Irmi's small sized German feet in a size 4.5 but that is 37.5 European or a 7 in the US. Got confused once again with all these differences...

Guess this is an interesting subject with 28,061 views.

Related links:
What Do Your Feet Say About You? interesting info
Wolford atThe Colonnades Outlets
{My First Trip to the City of Romance | VENICE, ITALY} | previous post by me

{World Animal Day 2013 and My First Pets}

October 4 of 2013 is again World Animal Day. 

Let me introduce my favorite Dachshund Mauzie-girl to you:

This photo was taken in our garden in The Netherlands by my brother Martin Van den Munckhof

Cute Calender is the link for above text to read more.

~♥~

Enjoy my previous post here below; just click on its link...

Showing you our Mauzie in Paris, France – a trip during summer, when we took my Parents along after helping them pick their gherkins in the greenhouses very tight so we could 'skip' one day. Next day it was back to the greenhouses again by 4:00 AM for picking lots of them. I've always helped my Parents out during my summer vacation when I took time off from my Government job.

They worked hard all their lives and never got to escape to some scenic places otherwise.

I'm so glad I did take them along! 

Fond memories...

Related links:

Day-Trip to Paris & Versailles in France with Mom & Dad | Mauzie in Paris

{World Animal Day started in 1931 in Florence, Italy} | Mauzie at home with cat Bartje my first kitty...

{Angels from Italy Are Selling Out}

If you are looking for unique and valuable hand carved wooden Angels, Cherubs or Putti, have a peak at my Zen Cart powered on line Boutique. Several of them have already taken flight... so you better don't miss out on them. Enjoy visiting and browsing!

Sorry Sold out...

Related links: {5 Angels - Putti from Italy & Germany} | previous post by me {6 Antique & Vintage Italian Angels, Cherubs Putti} | previous post by me Our Living Room ANGELS - CHERUBS | previous post by me {Conrad Moroder, Italy | Angels & Cherubs} | previous post by me