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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 Commercial 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

Sunday, May 30, 2021

Back into the Past in Rural North Georgia

 Coming back from our visit to Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, north Georgia I made a stop here at a crossing I'd passed in the morning...
HAD to capture this!
Don't you love the tractor?
Even if it had no engine...
Right on the crossing with Yellow Creek Rd and Conns Creek Rd in Ball Ground, Georgia
You can see the border line with the State of Tennessee above left and North Carolina above right.  The State of Alabama to the left... South Carolina to the right.
It was about one hour north of Marietta.
We had looked forward to finally visiting in person the Bernhards German Bakery
We always get their fresh baked Spelt bread shipped out to us, sliced and ready for stocking up our freezer and enjoying fresh.
They also have a restaurant but 'Danielle' did not allow us to sit inside... so we took our goodies back to our Hyatt Regency Suites Northwest Atlanta (border of Marietta), only about 8.5 km down the road, where we enjoyed them.
My Coconut Bearclaw was not 'American' sweet so I could sin for once and it was very good.
So was Pieter's Spinach/Cheese Croissant!
As per executive order our Georgia Governor had lifted Covid restrictions...
Unfortunately, many cafés, restaurants and others in the tourism industry have suffered way too long!

Friday, May 28, 2021

FAO of the UN published P.J.C. Vedder's article

 

Back when Pieter was the Principal of the Mushroom Growers Training Centre in The Netherlands, he worked together with the FAO of the UN.
The trend that time was to help under developed countries to produce some protein-rich food locally from waste plant-materials.
They even offered Pieter a job, then he would have had to live in Rome.
That is the FAO of UN - Headquarters in Rome, Italy
It was an impressive building in Rome...
New developments in the mushroom industry in Holland [1977] 
Vedder, P.J.C. (Centrum voor Champignonteelt-onderwijs, Horst (Netherlands)
It also got published in The Mushroom Journal May 1977 the official journal of the mushroom growers' association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Now available on the International Society for Mushroom Science's (ISMS) website.

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

HELP ME FIND INDONESIAN ABOEL HASAN AS'ARIE & WIFE RITA

 

Rita with one of her twin girls with me at the then Hyatt Aryaduta, Jakarta...
This was the name and situation on September 11, 1991
At the Borobudur in Yogyakarta
Rita with the twin girls Lola and Loly (3) and son Lauren who was 5 at that time and husband Aboel.
~
On April 27, 1991 we met Rita and all three cute and talented, singing and dancing children at the Yogyakarta airport.
We had a long wait and delay for our departure to Jakarta, due to President Suharto who was coming for the opening of part of the restored Prambanan temple.
Finally we are boarding and upon arrival in Jakarta, Pieter discovered that he had left his The Bridge bag in the seat of the waiting room in Yogyakarta...!
Excerpt from Pieter's diary:
At such a moment you would like to be all sorts of things at once, almighty, you would also like to sink into the ground and you should be a little less sloppy and... None of it helps. We get a lot of help from Rita, which is especially important when calling Yogya and making it clear to the people there what it is about. Minutes seem like hours, but the redemptive word comes; the bag has been found and is safe in the office of Bouraq Airlines with Mr. Ulun. 
However, they refuse to give it to anyone (due to the amount of cash inside!), we will have to pick it up in person. Is there another flight on this chaotic day? With Rita's help, I get an open ticket for Rupiah 199,700 (Rita paid Rupiah 50,000) and run to the plane... leaving Mariette behind.
In Yogya, Ulun already knew who I was and the manager was proud that his people had handled this so well. They happened to have a Pieter Ve(rmeulen) on their passenger list so they had not thought about the simultaneously departing Garuda flight. And of course we in Jakarta did not inform Bouraq Airlines!
The flight back is packed but with an additional payment of Rupiah 25,000 and some help from the Bouraq manager I manage to be on board in the nick of time. 
It's a good feeling to have the bag next to you again complete with a full Rupiah 8,000,000! We got all our travel expenses paid out in cash...
Mariette in the meantime had already arranged everything in Jakarta, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines cancelled, arranged for the Garuda flight from 21:00. She typed a neat thank you note on her portable wordprocessor for the helpful Garuda staff. Yes, speaking Bahasa Indonesia was VERY fruitful that afternoon!!!
At least 25 times we tried to call Rita, no success as the line is constantly busy or gets broken off.
Called my Parents to inform them about our later arrival due to a much later flight...
And so we flew from Jakarta to Abu Dhabi, with its fairytale airport (mosaic mushroom). We even found Mariette's favorite eye makeup but turned out later, that the wrong one was inside that Yves Saint Laurent box... of course; how could it be otherwise on this fateful April 27...!
On our way to Rome and then Amsterdam...
Pieter celebrated his Birthday on the 29th in The Netherlands with family and we flew back to Atlanta, USA on May 4.
Rita's brother came with her and her kids to the Aryaduta Hotel where we handed her the money back and a Makkum tile... This was on September 11 of 1991.
For our earlier work period in Indonesia, Rita was in Medina... so we could not meet her.
Rita with the twin girls Lola and Loly (3) and her sisters...
We were so happy to see each other again!
Rita was such a wonderful woman, very firm and helpful for us to obtain for Pieter a ticket...
Would so LOVE to find her via Internet as we lost contact.
Through the robberies in Wonosobo, her letters with address got lost...
ANY HELP will be appreciated!

Related post:

Monday, May 24, 2021

Blissful Relationship in the Tropics of Indonesia

Happy in the botanical garden of Yogyakarta and wearing the jeans that Pieter came home with from China.
My Mom was most amazed at how well Pieter knew my size... He told her that he had put his two hands around the waist of a Chinese sales person to check and said; that's the size!
He always could just touch his fingers by doing this around my waist...
Pieter very happy looking while standing under a ficus tree...
We both LOVED Indonesia and its friendly people, delicious food and its flora and fauna.
Probably our BEST years...!
Look at the trunk of this tree!
A Gecko that caught an insect...
Turning around the stem of the tree... trying to hide!
A sweet Mother and Child Garden Statue!
Haha, you see behind me some houseplant varieties that we ALL know; just a bit larger!
As long as it does not rain; you think you're in PARADISE!
Well, all that rain makes the plants and trees look the way they do...
Typical stone figures that are being made in the Yogyakarta, Java area.
That's what we loved to do upon arrival, rise early (is quite normal for the tropics!), breakfast and lingering at the pool and afterwards, walking in the botanical gardens...
Pieter wearing his comfy eco friendly Loints of Holland sandals.
Thanks for sharing the joy!
Bye for now...

Related links:
COME Cross the Tengger Sand Sea to Volcano Mount Bromo, Indonesia | previous post showing the eco friendly Loints sandals (Pieter's above)
True Indigo Indigofera Tinctoria in Pieter's Favorite Color | previous post by me with eco friendly Loints sandals

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Our Route to Work in East Java, Indonesia

Every morning we had to drive the 40 km around the mountain to reach another mountain back where the mushroom farm was located at some 1200 m or 3937 feet. Not high enough for having the benefit of a cooler climate so they still needed some air conditioning.
East Java is a lot greener than Central Java, with lots of trees.
Hardwood trees such as mahogany and kapok trees or Ceiba Pentandra, which we also knew from México.
In August you can see the kapok hanging from the trees!
To the left in this photo, you see a Poinsettia, they grow into sturdy shrubs in the tropics.
However the landscape is paradise-like, we would arrive feeling rickety from the many bends passing through one after the other Dessa (village) for reaching our destination.
Remember, we are very close to the huge Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park and close to our hotel (see previous post below)
Seen above here is a photo that Pieter took from the road, as we stopped on our way back from work, very close to our hotel!
A waterfall is visible between two mountain ridges...
There are several waterfalls in the Bromo area!
Pieter and I are standing here near a ravine, where you can see the waterfall near the Sukapura Sub-District, called Umbulan Waterfall
The same waterfall and it is very hard to capture it from where we were standing.
No doubt you could hike near it, for a far better view!
Above photos are all taken on November 11, 1996.
We did take my youngest brother Jan and his wife Wilma there on Sunday, August 10, 1997 after lunch for a ride through the mahogany woods and for seeing this waterfall.
Next day I escorted them to Surabaya from where they flew on to Brunei and back to The Netherlands.
It makes all the difference if you work in a country and have contact with the locals for knowing special places!
Tourists often have no clue what they might be passing by...

Previous post:
Raya Bromo in East Java, Indonesia Now Whiz Capsule Hotel Grand Bromo | where my youngest brother with his wife stayed next to us

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Raya Bromo in East Java, Indonesia Now Whiz Capsule Hotel Grand Bromo

 

Outside view of this beautiful hotel Raya Bromo in the Tengger Mountains near Mount Bromo...
The hotel is at some 900 m or 2953 feet altitude.
Breakfast at the Raya Bromo hotel on our first morning before going to work...
Heavenly fragrant Tuberose in a vase.
This was the name in 1996 when we stayed there.
Lots of young people that stay there for the sunrise (3:00 departure from Whiz Capsule Hotel Grand Bromo...) at Mount Bromo sleep in such an ultra modern capsule!
We always stayed in their Deluxe room with balcony...
In 1997 on August 9 when we arrived there from Central Java, at check in by 14:00, they told us that my brother Jan Van den Munckhof and his wife Wilma were in our adjacent room; they had arrived there! 
WHAT a surprise that was.
Made them coffee with bread (that we bought in Jakarta at the Hyatt Aryaduta hotel) cheese, corned beef (made from mushrooms and 20% beef!), marmelade and Dutch Evergreens that I'd purchased at Amsterdam Airport... They ate like wolves; they had been up at 3:00 for the sunrise at Mount Bromo and also to walk to the crater...
Pieter treated all of us on a Nasi Bromo for supper!
We spent the weekend together and I also did escort them with our personal driver to Surabaya where they stayed one night before departure to Brunei. 
Seen from above...
We loved to walk in their beautiful tropical garden.
This was on our 13th Wedding Anniversary and luckily that was a Sunday!
Such a beautiful area for walking...
A happy Pieter as he always loved Indonesia so much! So do I...
Pieter's two older brothers were stationed here, while in the Military and in the Marine and Pieter was not allowed to go there; not more than 2 at a time from one family!
Happily married... a blissful relationship in paradise!
A relaxed lunch together after walking the area...
Our 13th Wedding Anniversary lunch, with Tuberose again.
On our balcony...
Crocheting on a fine curtain with peacocks for a friend... 
Using the final daylight!
Before 5:00 the day starts and ends early too.
View of the mountains just before the evening...
Next day we will rise early for going up the mountains to the mushroom project.

Related links:
72 Years Later... Gevaphone Spoken Letters to Marine Brother Employed Overseas | Toon Vedder was deployed in this very region of East Java...
Pieter's Mom in DEEP Thoughts While Penning Letter - Followed by Disaster! | Pieter's Mom penned so many letters to Indonesia...

Hoisting of the Marshall Bell - Embassy of the Netherlands in the United States

 Both of us have been very proud of the fact that The Netherlands is one of the few countries that has repaid the Marshall Help, received after WWII


Today was a very special day...


Posted by Embassy of the Netherlands in the United States on Thursday, May 20, 2021
Related post:
{Bok Tower in Lake Wales, Florida} | Another Carillon in the USA. Writer and editor Edward Bok from The Netherlands who came as a young boy to the USA created a sanctuary and built this tower.

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

True Indigo Indigofera Tinctoria in Pieter's Favorite Color

 

In East Java, on May 25, 1996 I'm holding this beautiful purple flower. Pieter's favorite color and it is the True Indigo or Indigofera Tinctoria.
You can see the fruits hanging...
Hard to look up at Pieter with the strong sunshine...
Yep, I'm wearing my same eco friendly Loints of Holland sandals that I wore next day to the Volcano Mount Bromo, see link below post.
During the weekend we always loved to walk around and discover the fascinating flora and fauna of Indonesia!
Identifying this one has not been easy, but glad I found it!

Related link:
COME Cross the Tengger Sand Sea to Volcano Mount Bromo, Indonesia | wearing the very same Loints of Holland sandals

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

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