@Transient
  private Properties                  properties       = new Properties();

  @Column
  @Lob
  private String propString;

@PrePersist
  private void convertPropsToString() {
    propString = new String(Base64.encode(SerializationUtils.serialize(properties)));
  }

  @PostLoad
  private void convertStringToProps() {
    properties = (Properties) SerializationUtils.deserialize(Base64.decode(propString));
  }