About Me

My photo
Here I would love to share with you our travels and adventures as international mushroom consultants. MEMOIRS about husband Pieter Vedder, who was a SCIENTIFIC PIONEER in Mushroom Cultivation Education. His practical handbook is in 9 languages and is called the MUSHROOM BIBLE: https://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2020/08/modern-mushroom-growing-2020-harvesting.html
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Our NATIVITY and Angels from Italy

Christmas Once again...
So let me show you our hand carved wooden nativity scene with angels from South Tyrol, Italy. The birth of Jesus is the reason for the season... Our Saviour, who came into this world because of LOVE.
The wood carving is so meticulously done by the Italian craftsmen!
Love the angel holding a HEART; the universal symbol of Love...
At present we do have some Paperwhites blooming again. 
As well as fragrant Chimonanthus praecox (Calycanthus p.) (C. fragrans) which you see in the center of this Mandalay Chartreuse vase by Mason, together with Ilex decidua 'Finches Golden' a yellow berried Ilex. 
Last year we only had the yellow Ilex (holly berries) but this year there are plenty of red Ilex.
Do you have a special nativity scene in your home?
Wishing you a Merry Christmas with all your loved ones!

Related link:
{Our Garden's Winter Blooms for Christmas} my previous post about this Wintersweet flower...
Christie's Mandalay by Masons showing you the Mandalay by Mason, as is my vase above...

Friday, December 23, 2022

Precious Gift from Best Friend Ellie—Mouth Blown Glass Nativity


What is this season all about?
The Third Sunday of Advent is coming and all this leads up to CHRISTMAS the birth of our PRINCE OF PEACE.
Like to share with you a display of a beautiful nativity scene.
My dear friend Ellie gave it to me, the year we had our 25th wedding anniversary.
She for years volunteered at a Dutch 'Wereld Winkel' or Fair Trade shop.
Mouth blown glass with strokes of silver to mark hands, wings and halos. 
Baby Jesus in his manger... with an oxen to the left.
This is art work from the Andes.
Mary with her silver lined halo and the angel with silver lined wings and halo, besides their hands and some brush strokes of silver on the garment. Air bubbles are still visible...
I've placed it on a silk brocade tablecloth that Pieter did bring home from China when he went with the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program. 
See more info about the Ambassador Program at: {Silk Embroidered Birds from China Trip}.
That is a treasure of course and even more so, since Pieter got to see how they do make such silk brocade.
It is a handmade tradition of more than 2,000 years and originally only was for the emperor.
Watch this short video → Chinese brocade (Hello China #85)
Silk Brocade; fit for our PRINCE OF PEACE

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Our Permanent Resident Angels & Cross Stitch for Christmas

Just reposting this 2011 post...
On November 9, I did already write about Our Living Room ANGELS - CHERUBS that have taken up permanent residence, not only for the Christmas season. All our ANGELS - CHERUBS are the REAL thing, made out of special wood and hand carved in South Tyrol, Italy. So here they are shown once more to you as they sure belong to the Christmas season.
The golden wreath we added for the Christmas season...
Quite an angelic population on our mantle... They are our Permanent Residents!
From Bad/Münstereifel, Germany I did bring this pure linen cross stitched Christmas bow back home.
The edging of the linen band is done in gold and the hand embroidered cross stitching also used gold for the stars as well as for some contrast stitching.
Hard to capture on photo.
I've just finished a scan from this bow & stars cross stitch pattern, for those of you that are interested in it.
Look for it below and feel free to print it out.
My German friend Marlene, did bring me a second one when she and her husband Egon did visit us after their tour through Mexico.
They are hung each year in the living room from the doorknobs of the oak wall unit.
This is the scan and I put it as a larger size. The width of the linen band is 7 cm or 2.8"
The entire cross stitch pattern is 11 cm long or 4.3" so you can determine the thread count accordingly.
If you love it as much as I did at first sight, okay - here is the pattern for you.
Just a small Christmas gift from me—to my loyal readers!
~~*~~
Obviously many visitors loved this... 11,044 views.


Related links:

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

Monday, December 19, 2022

Will You be KISSING under the Mistletoe?

 YEP, being Old World Americans we did do this tradition! 
Of course, Pieter and I HAVE KISSED each other under the MISTLETOE as a Christmas Tradition!

HAVE YOU?!

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Our Wreath with Silver Christmas Balls and Angel

Out comes of course our favorite wreath with Silver Christmas Balls and Angel...
LOVE the Silver Angel especially!
Love this quote:
'If we do not live, speak and think in the language of enchantment, including naming angels and recognizing spirits... then the soul will go out of our lives and communities, and we will wonder why nothing seems to hold together and nothing seems to have value anymore. ~Thomas Moore'
This is where I got the idea... from the hardcover book of Argenterie Giovanni Raspini, Florence/Italy.
Those wooden shutters remind me of my childhood as we used to have them like that!
Used to sell those silver Christmas Balls but they're all gone—only these silver gifts remain→click link: Spectrenoir
Oh and certainly candles belong to Christmas!
Different wreath as the natural moss one did not last...
But these are our solid oak indoor shutters. 
Only ONE final Angel Cherub is hanging around in Spectrenoir ←click link.
A very sweet French door knob lavender sachet...
Yes, made in France that is!

Thursday, May 5, 2022

By Husband Pieter: MY LIFE AS A TEEN DURING THE WWII ERA

 May 5 is Dutch Liberation Day, as it is 77 years ago today. 
May 30 is Memorial Day here in the USA, so it is appropriate for sharing Pieter's story.
First presented, without any images, to the Monday Night Club in Dublin on February 23 of 2009, where Pieter has been a long–time member through March of 2017.
Pieter made this presentation with slides for the Rotary Club of Dublin, Georgia USA on December 3, 2010.
Dublin Rotary Club
Pieter gave a very heartfelt and moving presentation to the club about his experiences growing up in The Netherlands during World War II.
Map of Western Europe
Now I like to take you back to the period of the mid–1930s and 1940s in the 20th century, now some 90+ years ago.
What you see here is part of the map of Europe and in the center top you can see The Netherlands; a small but densely populated country; one fifth of the size of Georgia/USA.
I am born in 1929 in a small village near the city of Arnhem, in the Eastern part of the country; close to the German border.
Liemers
The soil in that area is rather fertile, because of the sediments of the numerous flooding of combined rivers in the past; the Rhine, the Neder Rhine; the Ijssel and their branches. Therefore, a number of people in that small village were Market Gardeners, as my hard working parents were too.
Vedder Family (Pieter center) during the Depression years 1930s
We for sure were not rich, but at least not as poor as most other families, especially those with more children; six or seven was quite normal then and ten or eleven no exception.
As you can see, I am the youngest of only three boys.
Greenhouse with Boston lettuce at my Dad's with my late husband
My Dad's produce business was somewhat ahead of most of his colleagues, we had greenhouses and some of them even heated by a big coal boiler.
As you perhaps all know, the economical situation in Europe, and likewise in the U.S., at that time, was really bad; there was a lot of poverty.
I remember that my Dad once came back from the vegetable auction with a full load of Boston lettuce, grown in our greenhouses, almost in tears because nobody was interested in buying the product. There was however a government program that in such a situation one got one cent per had and a box with 12 cans of corned beef. The product then had to be destroyed.
There also was quite a bit of tension in Europe. The instability of Europe was for the biggest part the result of the political deals, made after WWI in Versailles in 1918–19, a Treaty very unfavorable for Germany.
Ijsselstein – German war cemetery
You know that after four years of fierce fighting from 1914 till 1918; resulting in ten million casualties and twenty million wounded, after many flattened cities and industries completely destroyed, finally, with the help of the U.S. the Germans had been brought to their knees. For almost one hundred years, The Netherlands had been able to be neutral, mainly as the result of the fragile balance of power in Europe, after WWI. However, that balance was crumbling; big powers like Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey had lost their influence in Eastern Europe; the Balkan.
There were new, strong nationalistic movements rising up which were creating political tensions. Also, for the problems in the Middle East, there were solutions created which were sure guarantees for new conflicts which still exist till present day.
I remember that my Dad and his friends often were discussing the situation in Germany.
Based on the limited information they obtained about the situation in Germany, it didn't sound too alarming because almost everybody was hoping for some change and some foreign leaders were just promising that.
Hitler
There was an upcoming leader in Germany, named Adolph Hitler, who gave thunderous speeches and he was telling the people exactly what they liked to hear. He was gaining a lot of power and surrounded himself by a group of loyal but also very fanatic men. He also built up a very efficient propaganda machine. There were however also some people, who had their doubts about his intentions; they did not trust that guy. What he did in e.g. Poland was for sure not right. And what he did to the Jewish people was also not correct. Still, my Dad and his friends, and most of the people however were not so much concerned. Again, at that time they did not have all the info we have nowadays and Czechoslovakia and Poland were far from our bed anyway. Okay, there was a problem with the Jews, but they for sure were not so popular in our area anyway.
The Dutch government was watching what was going on with our big neighbor with suspicious eyes, especially when Hitler was building up such a strong army and why he was constantly talking about the need for more, Lebensraum (living space) for the German race. In Hitler's eyes, Germans, that means the pure race with blond hair and blue eyes, were a superior race and therefore Jews, Gypsies, the handicapped and homosexuals were disturbing elements. On the other hand, Hitler indicated that The Netherlands had nothing to worry about; we, the Dutch were also of the Germanic race. We would be part of a peaceful, prosperous bigger Europe. Besides that, the British prime minister, Chamberlain, went to Germany and came back with the assurance from Hitler himself that nobody had anything to fear. Also, most politicians were naïve, asleep, or just too focused on their own career. I clearly see some similarities here between our politicians, the upcoming Nazi movement at that time and the fast growing influence of the (extreme) Islam nowadays. Despite all the nice propaganda, the tension within Europe was growing. One thing I have to mention here, that a number of Dutch businesses, including my Dad's and his friends', were profiting from the situation because Germany was buying more and more of our products. At that time, I suppose, people did not realize that Germany was preparing for something and stocking up on materials and food for their growing army.
Anyway, the economy in the Low Country was doing well. But, like on a clear blue sky, suddenly dark clouds can show up; in October 1929, Black Thursday was the first indication that the party was over; that we were at the beginning of a deep, worldwide depression.
Soldiers Dutch mobilization
The Dutch government kept watching what was going on at the other side of the border and our intelligence warned that it would be better to mobilize our troops and prepare for a German invasion. So I remember, soldiers everywhere around and also that heavy, concrete barriers were being built over the dikes; that pieces of railway rails, so called asparagus, were put in little holes into the main roads so that not any vehicle could pass, that bridges were wired with explosives etc. Also the so–called water line was prepared. I have to explain this perhaps a little bit more.
You might know that a big part of The Netherlands is below sea level. The philosophy therefore was that we could easily prevent an intruder from the east by inundation, which means flooding, certain parts of the country by closing sluices in the river and canals.
It was in the early morning of May 10, of 1940, shortly after my eleventh birthday, that we woke up by the noise of low flying airplanes and some thunder in the distance. The German army invaded our country and simultaneously Belgium and France. We were at war.
Although there was some fierce fighting, our relatively poor equipped army was not a match for the well trained and equally well equipped German forces. Besides that, there has been quite a bit of corruption on the Dutch side. Members of the National Socialistic Party collaborated with the Germans wherever they could. To give you a few examples, the anti–tank guns in the fortress, where the bridge was crossing the River IJssel, were all at once taken off their base for maintenance. The wired explosives to destroy that particular bridge failed, for whatever reason etc. The Dutch army held their positions in the heart of the country for a mere five days and then capitulated. One of the main reasons was the German superiority in the air. Also the Fallschirmjäger/paratroopers which they dropped behind the water line, but even more so because they bombed the city of Rotterdam and almost erased it from the map.
Rotterdam bombardment 1940
Immediately after that, they threatened to do the very same with the city of Utrecht. Belgium also had to give up soon after the Dutch and even the French, despite their famous Maginot fortifications, had to capitulate after only 18 days. The Dutch government including the Queen, fled to England. In the first couple of weeks after the invasion there was quite a bit of bitterness because our queen and big part of the government had abandoned its people. There also was bitterness because people were convinced that the early capitulation was for a part the result of the treachery through the members of the Dutch National Socialistic Movement.
Did the German occupation change our personal lives? Really not that much during its first year. The Netherlands was not under military control but under civil management, under a special appointed Reich's Kommissar (National Commissioner); Seys Inquart. He tried very hard to win the sympathy of the Dutch people; mainly for two reasons. The first one being materialistic; the Germans needed a strong industrial economy in The Netherlands as well as our food production and also our harbors to support their war machine. The second reason was more ideological. The Germans were looking to the Dutch as their neighbor–brethren, part of the Germanic race and should therefore be a part of the new, big Europe. Part of that ideology, in Hitler's vision, was also that the population had to be cleansed from foreign elements like Jews etc. Hitler mus have been very disappointed because the Dutch in general did not cooperate at all. So the tension was growing and Hitler then decided that from now on the brutal Waffen SS would be in charge. That drastically changed the situation. It worsened even more after June of 1941 when Hitler started the war against the Soviet Union; a war that didn't go very favorable for the Germans. Hitler seemingly did not study the lesson from Napoleon; who made the same mistake before. On top of that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor with the result that from then on also the US was involved in the war. From that moment on, the Germans started a complete exploitation of the occupied countries, under the brutal leadership of Albert Speer. Coal, steel and all kind of products and even complete industries were transported into Germany and, as the result of that; there was a shortage on almost everything.
Jews Boarding Trains for Chelmno
In May of 1942, the Germans decided that all Dutch Jews were losing their citizenship and should be deported. Their possessions should be used to finance that operation. Over 100,000 Dutch Jewish men, women and children have been transported to destruction camps in Auschwitz, Dachau, and Buchenwald etc. Only a few survived. Also more than 250,000 Dutch men over 18 years of age were forced to labor in the German war industry. As the result of that approx. 300,000 men including some Jewish, were hiding (you perhaps know the Anna Frank story) often in rural areas on farms, living in barns and places where the Germans hopefully couldn't find them. If they got caught, it meant execution for them and also for the enablers of those hiding places. In 1943 the German exploitation changed into complete straight robbery. For example; all the copper wiring from the above ground electricity network was taken down and likewise all Church bells; some of them with great historical value. We literally lived in the cold and the dark since there was no electricity anymore and everybody had to darken the windows completely, to make sure that the navigators from the allied bombers could not use them as beacons on their way to bomb the German industrial areas.
Armada of planes – Market Garden lineup planes
As young boys you can imagine that we liked those armadas of big bombers flying over. Laying on our backs in the grass, we for sure enjoyed the often fierce dog fighting between the escorting Mustangs, the Spitfires and the German Messerschmitt. I have seen many of those bombers being shot down or crippled. We even had a Bristol bomber crashing into our back yard. My elder brother Toon and his friend Willy knew the marsh area between the dikes and the rivers, covered with reed and willow bushes, as their pockets. They helped several shot down pilots to hide and smuggled them on Dutch river barks that were on their way from Germany to harbors in Rotterdam or Antwerp to escape from there, to England. Very dangerous business. 
My Dad and one of his neighbor friends, did the very same, hiding some crew members between two locks in a river branch, where they built a small wooden platform under the overpass for that purpose. They got caught (somebody more than likely talked too much) and my Dad ended up in jail and his younger friend got deported into Germany and never came back.
Map of EISENHOWER'S 'WIDE' PLAN
Some hope came about when an immense number of allied troops and equipment landed on the coast of Normandy in June of 1944. Everybody started enthusiastically talking about the war being over very soon now. 
Were we ever wrong!
The troops from General Eisenhower and Patton fought their way through France, Italy and Belgium and then got stuck in the Ardennes and later at the big rivers in the southeastern part of The Netherlands and that is exactly where we lived as I have mentioned earlier. To cross those rivers, the allied forces needed bridges and therefore the British General Montgomery came up with the idea to drop paratroopers behind the front line to save the important and crucial bridges near Arnhem; the famous operation Market Garden. 
It was September 1944. If they could save these bridges, the main force advancing from the south, could join them and then the road into Germany would be open. General Eisenhower was not in favor of Montgomery's plant but gave in. It for sure as a spectacular happening.
Arnhem 1944 Paratroops
September 17, 1944
We were lying in the ditch and watched the armada of airplanes and clouds of paratroopers and gliders come down. What a disaster. Perhaps you have seen the movie 'A Bridge Too Far'?
The paratroopers were dropped too far from those bridges first of all; did not have transport material or heavy weapons. As the result of talking to the German soldiers (by the way we were forced to speak German at school!) we knew that there was a concentration of German troops and heavy equipment just in that particular area. Another problem was that the big force from the south was not able to advance because of underestimated heavy German resistance. After days of heroic and fierce fighting, and heavy losses, the operation ended in disaster. No bridge and no river crossing. It was a very bad situation; for us as well. We lived already for the biggest part of the day, and each and every night, in self built bunkers but from that moment on we got the full load of air raids and artillery attacks from you guys 🇺🇸, from the opposite side of the river. We had in our home a family, actually friends, who lived closer to the river and they therefore had to be evacuated. Part of that family were two sons, the age of my eldest and middle brother. On one afternoon they left with my middle brother for their daily chore to pick up fresh milk at a nearby farm. This was absolute forbidden (as the Germans claimed all produce!); therefore they walked with their blue milk jug through the fields.
Plane wreck – crashed German plane
Halfway a heavy dog fight started, all hell broke loose and the one after the other came down, actually three on a two–acre lot, two German ones and one allied, not that far from the farm the boys had yet to reach. Being nosy young boys, they went to the spot to see the burning wrecks and they were not the only onlookers. The half drunken SS Germans were furious and shouted that everyone had to leave the scene. The three boys made a wrong decision; and went the opposite direction because they still had to reach that farm. Therefore they were sneaking through the ditches. At the end of the ditch the brothers were detected by the drunken SS soldiers. They were forced on their knees, and both got executed; the one after the other. My brother escaped. The Germans stated that the boys were partisans and had stolen weapons from the wrecked planes; my brother however said that they only had put some instruments into their pockets. Unnecessary to mention that everybody in our home was devastated, especially of course the parents of the two boys. A couple of days after that incident we again had a heavy artillery bombardment from the opposite side of the river. We had quite a number of casualties in our village and also dead cattle and farm animals everywhere. The Germans had their artillery pieces and anti aircraft guns hidden inside the orchards surrounding us and that attracted all that fire from the allied forces. On a certain evening I was inside our family–bunker with my parents; my two brothers decided to sleep that night in the house, very much against the will of my parents but they couldn't stand the most and narrow, musty smelling bunker. After that heavy attack they came to the bunker to show my Mom a skillet and a blanket with holes in. I have told you that we had greenhouses. My eldest brother told me that our greenhouses also had been severely hit because he had heard the shattering of glass. He insisted that we together assess the situation. It was a moonlit evening and, as normal after such a heavy attack, it was very quiet. My parents were pleading with us to stay inside the bunker but we went anyway, insisting that for now the bombardment was over. Our greenhouses were approximately one hundred yards away from the bunker. At the very same moment that we were near them we heard a whistling sound of incoming shells and having experience, we of course dodged into a shallow ditch. For me too late; I got struck by a piece of shrapnel, passed out and was bleeding heavily. My brother dragged me inside the bunker in that condition. Can you imagine how my Mom was feeling?! They had of course heard the impact of the exploding shells.
Exodus – evacuation
This was the drop in the bucket; the next day we got ordered by the Red Cross to evacuate to safer grounds away from the dangerous river area. 
We could grab only a few limited items and clothes and stashed it onto the little horse wagon we had. Covered by a white bed–sheet so that we didn't get shot from the air.
It looked almost like the Exodus from the land of Egypt. 
After two days of walking, we arrived at our new destination, some 25 miles or 40 km away!
My parents and eldest brother got separated to stay at another farm location and my middle brother and me at a neighboring farm. 
The war went on, but at least we felt safer.
It became Christmas Eve and we longed to go to Midnight Mass at a Catholic Church in a neighboring village. We had to walk through the fields because nobody was permitted to be on the road after 20:00 o'clock. My brother and I celebrated Christmas, singing out loud; Peace on Earth.
On our way back after Mass, again walking through the fields, we saw something burning and of course we wanted to further investigate. It seemed to be an airplane shot down during Mass. Walking up to the burning wreck, we got halted by a barb wire fence. We then were deeply shocked when our eyes met a head and other human parts hanging on that barb wire. That scene remains forever engraved onto my retina for the rest of my life; Peace on Earth.
Living on a farm meant that we at least never got hungry but not everybody in The Netherlands could say that. Especially in the bigger cities of the western part, The Provinces North and South Holland, people suffered a lot because of famine. That period for most of the Dutch has been tagged the Hunger Winter. No food, no soap, no gas or electricity, no coal, no fire wood, just hungry, cold, sick and even dying people.
We didn't have much information about how the war was going; nobody had a radio anymore, they all got confiscated. From the underground however we knew that the Germans were losing this war and they paid a high price!
In April of 1945 we saw the demoralized, surviving German soldiers destroying their vehicles and equipment and for the very first time we saw American and British tanks and soldiers.
Hitler committed suicide and we could not believe that the war was finally over. 
But FREEDOM IS NOT FOR FREE!
Margraten – American war cemetery in Limburg, Mariette's Province
It really came as a shock. After a couple of days we were allowed to return home, to find out what would be left of it. My Dad, middle brother and I made the trip back to our village. What we encountered there was devastating; most houses destroyed or heavily damaged, including ours, greenhouses shattered, trees uprooted and so on. That very night we all three slept inside an old carpet, we of course didn't have a bed. When we woke up in the morning, a couple of days before my sixteenth Birthday, the sun was already shining and as we stood there, overlooking the ruins what once we called home, my Dad put his arms around our shoulders and hugging us tightly said: 'We are the happiest, luckiest people on earth–we are free and all alive!'
THANK YOU AMERICA
The war in Europe was over but not for our family, because the Dutch were still at war in Indonesia.
My oldest brother served there for three years.
My second brother, a marine, for two and a half year.
And I served in The Netherlands for two years as a commander with the 155 Howitzer battalion.
I did not have time to go into all the detail but believe me; this period had a big impact in my life.
One very important lesson I have learned is that FREEDOM IS NOT FOR FREE but is ONE OF THE BIGGEST GOODS IN LIFE.
GOD BLESS AMERICA! 🇺🇸
Pieter J.C. Vedder

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Nothing is more Heavenly than Händel's Messiah

 Once more I enjoyed singing in Händel's Messiah, did so with Pieter together in 1995 in a community concert.
Georg Friedrich Händel was German by birth but lived and performed in England.
There is no better language than music and especially this masterpiece, for touching ones soul...
First United Methodist Church Christmas Concert 2021 ←click link to YouTube video from TV35 WDIG!
Our organist Zachary Golden is visible in the mirror, next to our director M. Dwain Little...
Second from left, I'm visible... our soprano corner.
Händel Messiah
Chancel Choir and Orchestra
Tenor Collin LaHood who traveled from Macon to join us.
Matthew Kersey also traveled quite a distance for teaming up with us to sing his solo pieces.
Matthew Kersey ended up singing the parts of Elizabeth Colemann as she was unable to be with us...
Matthew is an excellent choral educator who studied at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.
Soprano Cindy Claxton did an excellent job singing her solos.
Soprano Kathy Jones, as usual did an excellent job!
Our Orchestra:
Erica Cliett, Oboe
Jeremy Messenger, Trumpet
Mark Lee, Trumpet
Richard Horne, Timpani
Zachary Golden, Organ
Ben Cork, Violin
Julia Sellman, Violin
Amanda Zhang, Violin
Brant Harlacher, Cello
Our Director M. Dwain Little put a lot of time and effort into this and it was worth it!
Pieter said, he would not have wanted to MISS these two performances.
It makes one happy and most people appreciated it.
Such a joy to perform for others, to enjoy Händel's Masterpiece.
The final part of Hallelujah was well received and turned into a sing along for some.
~
Merry Christmas to ALL!

Related link:
LOVED singing in Händel's Messiah | previous post by me from 2018

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Four Nights at Sanur Beach Hotel Bali

 From the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Jakarta we departed for a flight to Denpasar, Bali
December 20 of 1986, my 2nd visit to Bali
Fanning out my rose dress, just like the shape of the Traveller's palm or Ravenala madagascariensis behind me! 
For four nights, we would reside here...
On Sunday, December 21, we had a lazy pool day, walked on the beach and from 10-11:00 with a Prahu on the sea, which was blissful.
Pieter wrote cards and helped a Dutch widow from Itteren, Limburg who came from Darwin, Australia and lacked enough English... 
She tagged along with us, in a taxi to the Catholic Church in Denpasar.
Mass at the Gereja Katolik (Catholic Church) St. Joseph in Denpasar that lasted 1.5 hour and was so full, that people were standing outside, to follow Mass over the loud speakers...
People were very respectful and well dressed!
We all sang the Latin Avé Maria and the Dutch widow, just like both of us, were very impressed.
On Monday, December 22nd, after first doing some business at Bali Raya, the tuna cannery, Rita went with us to Mas and Ubud, the artist villages.
Quite a collection of wood carved items!
Also being able to see the artist at work...
They do use gold foil!
Several items went home with us and also three wood carved panels, one for ourself.
At Bali's oldest jeweler we bought several gifts for my sisters Diny and Gerd, a silver necklace for Mom and some silver bracelets with 22k gold and moonstone for Pieter's Goddaughter and for me and also my best friend. 
We also asked if they had matching brooches, and they would custom make them for us!
Two days later on December 24, we departed on our 10:15 flight to Yogyakarta.
We ended up in Central Java where we later lived and worked at the mushroom project.
Christmas Eve at the Catholic Church of Wonosobo, Java
A beautiful two hour Mass at the Catholic Church, without a Christmas tree but with lots of orchids!
People all wished us Merry Christmas; a warm feeling.
On December 27, we drove back to Yogyakarta for our flight to Jakarta at 9:30 and as a surprise we received the silver with 22k gold and moonstone brooches, hand delivered inside the plane.
In Jakarta we went back to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, feeling quite at home there.

Previous post:
My 2nd Trip to Jakarta and in Heeroom's Footsteps | our stay at the Mandarin Hotel, Jakarta

Copyright:

MARIETTE'S BACK TO BASICS © 2009. All rights reserved - Text and images may not be copied for distribution or sale.

213 Countries visited with 277 flags since:

free counters

Total Pageviews

Blog Archive

Google Analytics

Labels

4th of July (8) Accordion (7) Advent (24) ALL SAINTS DAY | ALL SOULS DAY (2) Aluminum Roofing (11) Amaretti cookies (15) American Airlines (4) American Mushroom Institute (2) Angels (123) Angels We Know By Name (12) Archiving (29) Arizona (19) Australia (25) Auto Immune Disease (12) Ava Grace's closet (10) Baccarat Crystal (65) Backyard Wildlife HABITAT Certificate (8) Barlow Tyrie Capri Lounger (2) Bathing Suits (10) BB and L (4) Belgium (2) Benjamin Moore (14) Biking (33) Birthdays (38) Blissful Relationship (113) Blog Award (20) Blog Pageviews (14) Blogger I Admire (33) Blogger Tips (27) Bobèches (6) Bok Tower (3) Bridal Gowns (6) Britex Fabrics (12) Britex Notions (10) Bulgaria (3) Burberry (31) Burberry Tuxedo (5) Bypass Surgery (8) Cable Car (5) Camille Tharaud (9) Campbell Soup (42) Canada (31) Canada Rail Vacations (4) Candles (40) Carbon Footprint (10) Carillon (2) Cat Nurse (1) Cathedral/Basilica/Church (88) Ceramic Chandelier (6) Certified Podologist (2) Chanel (20) Chaperon (5) Cherubs (20) Childhood (19) Chile (7) China (15) Chocolate (33) Christie's (28) Christmas (63) Christofle (28) Christofle (Memoire) David Rosenberg (11) Chronic Kidney Disease (15) Citizen Journalism (8) CitizenM (2) Coffee Cup (5) Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass (8) Communism (14) Conference (35) Congress (29) Consulting (152) Costco (2) Countries visited (38) Courtesy (1) Croatia (1) Curaçao (14) D.S. Mullis (Author) (1) Dad (115) Damixa (7) Danish (6) Daughter (69) De Gaerde (1) Declaration of Independence (5) Delft Polychrome (1) Delftware houses (10) Delta Airlines (11) Denmark (2) Dessert (10) Diabetes (13) Diabetes type 2 (22) Diabetes type 2 Recipe (10) Dialysis (12) Dieng Plateau (2) Dining with Royalty (1) DMC (28) DNA (6) Doensen Sfeerhaarden (2) Domain Name (1) Door Décor (1) Doris Plaster (1) Down Duvets (6) Dupuytren's Contracture (3) Dutch American Heritage Day (5) Dutch King's Day (5) Dutch Queen's Day (4) Dweilen (3) Easter (25) Eco Friendly (31) Eco Storage (4) Edible flowers (11) Education (79) Edward Bok (5) Energy Star (10) England (16) Escada (138) Etiquette Training (5) Fairmont Hotels (16) Family (166) Family Memories (117) Filet Lace (12) Filet Lace Embroidered (4) First Lady Melania Trump (2) Fleur de Lys (11) France (6) FREEDOM (11) French (72) French Country Style (55) French Lavender Sachets (5) Friendship (273) From Pilgrim to President (2) Genocide (2) Georgia (36) Georgia State Flag (4) Germany (12) Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet (17) Gevaphone (4) Gift from Blogger Friend (36) Gillis Video (7) Giovanni Raspini Charms and Co (42) Giovanni Raspini Silver Desk Items (11) Giovanni Raspini Silver Frames (11) Giovanni Raspini Silver Gifts (17) GIVEAWAY (23) Going Green (36) Graham H. Boonzaaier (5) Grand Canyon (4) Graze Picking (1) Hand Crocheted (105) Hand Embroidered (28) Hand Knitted (29) Hand made Lace (23) Happy New Year (10) Hawaii (5) Healthy Heart (20) Healthy heart recipe (27) Healthy Living (73) Heart Attack (19) Heeroom (13) Helicopter (2) Hermès (2) High Tea (8) Highlights of the Mississippi Cruise (8) Holocaust (1) Hong Kong (7) House Blessing (2) Hungary (16) Hurricane (4) Hyatt (117) I Will Follow Him (1) India (44) Indonesia (23) Interlock Metal Roofing (15) International Workshop & Seminar (2) Irok gallery (13) ISMS (34) Italy (58) Japan (7) Kashmir (9) Kichler Xenon Under Counter Lights (2) KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (57) Kruisherenhotel (1) Lace (6) Lacquered Brass Window Decorations (14) Lampe Berger (11) Lampes Berger A Century of History by Gérald Vilcocq (10) Language (67) Last Call by Neiman Marcus (24) Lavender Sachet (4) Le Chameau (2) Le Jacquard Français (37) Leather Coat (3) Leather Garments Factory (12) Leather Shorts (2) Leather Skirt (3) Leather Vest (5) Leprosy Infection (5) Leprosy Project (10) Leprosy STIGMA (8) Limburg (48) Limoges (18) Limoges Table Lamp (7) Log Cabin (6) Logee's (12) Maharaja Amarinder Singh of Patiala (1) Mainstream Media (1) Margraten (6) Marl Caves (12) Mason's Patent Ironstone Mandalay (18) Maximum Baggage Weight (10) Meeting Blogger Friend (9) Mega Task (33) Memorial Day (8) Mexico (22) Miele (18) Millinery (13) Mom (129) Montblanc pens (1) Moral Compass (19) Mushroom Cultivation (73) Mushroom Editorial Review (24) Mushroom Quality Criteria (23) Mushroom Technology Transfer Seminar (10) Mushrooms Canada (4) Mushrooms in our Garden (19) My Boots (26) My French Connection (2) My Hats (18) My Publications (7) My Sewing Creation (54) Nativity Scene (6) New Netherland (2) New Orleans (11) New Orleans School of Cooking (2) New York City (28) Organ (15) Original Content (30) Ormolu (6) Our Balcony (17) Our Bathroom (8) Our Bird Feeders (10) Our Bird Houses (16) Our Bridges and Wood Trail (58) Our Canine (31) Our Dutch Clock (3) Our Felines (160) Our Fiberglass Window Boxes (34) Our Flower Bulbs (67) Our Flowering Shrubs (134) Our Flowering Trees (29) Our Flowering Vines (37) Our Flowers (63) Our Fragrant Flowers (172) Our Garden (59) Our Garden Critters (78) Our Gazebo (57) Our Greenhouse (22) Our Home (163) Our Life in Indonesia (76) Our Life in Italy (36) Our Magnolias (55) Our Palm Trees (20) Our Pet Squirrel (1) Our Pond (28) Our Pot Plants (52) Our Rose Arbor (5) Our Rose Suite (16) Our Roses (61) Our Shrubs (7) Our Trees (53) P.J.C. Vedder's Memoirs (183) P.J.C. Vedder's Publications (84) Patio (35) Pearls (27) People to People Citizen Ambassador Program (28) Plagiarism (6) Poem (1) Poinsettia (7) Poland (1) Pond's India (23) Pre-Diabetes (9) Prednisone (9) Princess Diana (10) Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold (32) Quotes (61) Religious Paper Lace (2) Relive (54) Replacements Ltd. (19) REPOUSSE Silver (10) Resilientista (31) Ristorante da Maria (35) Romania (5) Romantic Boxes with Pansies (2) Romantic Rose Boxes (7) Rose Jewelry (10) Rose silverware (65) Rose Stepping Stones (5) Roses (6) Rösle (7) Rotary International (5) Royal Mail (1) Saint Nicholas (13) Saint Valentine's Day (14) Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th (12) Santa Barbara Plantation (3) Santa Claus (12) Saving Energy (18) Scraped Content (9) Serbia (2) Servitude (1) Silver Knife Rests (19) Sinden Award (13) Singapore Airlines (1) Singing (35) Sinterklaas (10) Skiing (5) Socialism (7) South Africa (20) Spain (1) SPAWN MATE SYMPOSIUM (2) Spectrenoir (95) Storage and Organizing (6) Super Power Readers (4) Sweden (2) Switzerland (13) Table Setting (32) Taiwan (3) Tanner Krolle (4) Tavel (1) Tea (25) Tea Cup (15) Thailand (2) Thanksgiving (11) The Bridge (13) The Netherlands (22) Theodore Haviland France (2) Toile de Jouy (5) Tornado (3) Toyota RAV4 (14) Transparent Acrylic Bolts and Nuts (3) Travel (436) Travel by Rail (25) Tropical Thunderstorms (4) Uncle Bo Whaley (17) UNESCO World Heritage Site (22) United States Citizenship (10) United States Flag (12) Vases (100) Viking River Cruise (10) Vintage Lampe Berger (13) Vintage Woodworks (33) Vinyl Picket Fence (22) Water Control (20) Wedding (13) Wedding Anniversary (20) WeFie (14) WGXA.TV (3) Wolford (22) Wool Fedora Hat (8) World Bank (2) World Leprosy Day (4) World Polio Day (3) Writing (92) Yves Delorme (8) Yves Saint Laurent (3) Zegna (12)