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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, October 31, 2021

Dog Shit and POLICE

On January 30, 1989 all our furniture got packed up and loaded into a container.
On the way to Italy where we both would move to next...
Next day, January 31, we drove first to the Philadelphia airport for getting us a rental car for the remainder of our stay in the USA.
Pieter standing in the door opening of our small apartment in Shillington, Pennsylvania...
Our final moments...
Pieter in the backdoor of our kitchen, before closing up and returning the keys.
The inspection had been done and we got our $ 750 back as the apartment looked a lot cleaner now then when we moved in!
It was the day that the movers would come to load up our two cars.
Seen here bottom left...
Looking for an area with the right slope for easier getting the Mercury Sable onto the ramp into the container.
So here we go, in caravan, truck with container, one of the moving company's men in the rental car and Pieter in our Mercury Sable, then me inside the Ford Escort.
There were also some boxes with clothes inside, that got quickly swung outside onto the road...
Pieter looking on, alongside our Mercury Sable as we were NOT allowed to touch our cars.
They were now under the moving company's insurance!
Pieter has put on his portable jacket as it was cold...
The selected area proved barely having enough slope...
Here the guy stepped into some Dog Shit... đŸ’Š
Ouch, after having cleaned out our cars on the inside meticulously, as being demanded!
I'd taken them to the carwash, for the exterior.
But we had now nothing to clean it off with... what a nasty smell from that humongous turd!
Soon the blue lights came flashing by!
A lady in that neighborhood had alarmed the police as she thought of another car theft...
~
It was tough for legitimating us with a Georgia/USA drivers license, a heavy Dutch accent and the 'unbelievable' story that we were loading up for our move to Italy!
Haha, so many cars got loaded up right there!
Now my 'Essy' was ready to be driven onto that steep ramp!
Luckily, the guy with the Dog Shit under his left foot, did not handle my Essy... so she would not stink inside!
Pieter had pulled the hoodie over his head as it was so mean cold...
Now both, Merc and Essy were inside their container for making the long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, to the harbor of Genoa, Italy...
It would be around Easter when we FINALLY retrieved both of them in Triest, Italy.
Due to a harbor strike in Genoa, they had to go elsewhere!
Those were our 8 weeks of living out of our suitcases... see link below!
Our Pennsylvanian chapter closed...
Driving in our rental car to Wilmington, Delaware for staying with our Jewish friends.


Related post:

Friday, October 29, 2021

Beautiful Ride Home from Sad Event

 On October 2nd, I drove with my Pieter to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
This is the Hyatt Place where we stayed for two nights and from where I started our ride home on October 4...
5:18 hours behind the wheel and 574.6 km or 357 miles and 108.4 km/h or 67 miles per hour.
A very smooth ride home!
This was my passenger Pieter... wearing his comfy Ermenegildo Zegna jeans.
This was the driver for the 579 km or 360 miles one way. Comfy in my Escada jeans skirt and my still fitting Chanel leather belt in size Small.
The traffic was awful on the way over, and we arrived JIT = Just In Time
Murfreesboro, Tennessee was about to start having its showers!
Also for the next day when I had to drive another 152 km or 94.4 miles for reaching the area where the funeral would be.
We lost a young person who had serious heart problems, had his open heart surgery in 2017.
Leaving behind a young son of 11 years and his wife of 17 years.
He's with his Dad who died less than two years ago...
From heaven they sent down some much needed rays of sunshine and the heavy downpour stopped for a while when we were at the cemetery!
We'd stopped in Atlanta for our warm meal at Whole Foods Marketplace, so now we only had to settle in and relax. It was one hour 'earlier' in Murfreesboro, so we gained an hour of night rest!
The Hyatt Place was only 4 months in business!
 No wonder the car's GPS did not accept the address but I got there by using my iPhone's GPS.
Breakfast in the morning was good and fully hot and cold buffet; no restrictions which was a relief during this time.
On October 4th, before breakfast I did put some things up in the car and took this picture with the entire hotel width visible.
A very nice place and very courteous staff!
Tennessee's economy is doing very well in general.
Below is Relive video from DRIVING HOME

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Working with my Kodak Negative and Slide Scanner

 There is now a very handy negative scanner on the market and it also does slides!
Another handy tool for archiving family memories!
Yep, pushing the negatives just through... they're embedded inside a hinged and fitted holder, according to their size.
Found my Kodak Slide N SCAN Film and Slide Scanner on Amazon just click through via link.
WHY does Kodak not provide the necessary SanDisk?
Locally it was not available... so it resulted in waiting till this one got delivered.
The users manual reveals that it ought to be a SD or SDHC SanDisk and ONLY 32 GB
Only having negatives for scanning, I used one of the 3 Film Adapters
SanDisk inserted and all cables (USB and HDMI) plugged in
Connected to my MAC
Ready to go by pressing the OK / bar on top in front
Film Type for additional selection of size
Selecting the 135; 110 or 126 Film size
Or the 50 mm Slide...
You also get to select Color Negative or B&W Negative
If you touch Gallery, it shows the total slides/negatives being scanned
Easy uploading onto my MAC and another Mega Task got done!
Found some treasures, will show them later... 😉


Related links:
Video Capture - Mega Task DONE with Multi-System and Hi8 VCR | previous post about digitalizing things
{UPDATE...} | previous post about scanning photos
{Fighting the Water + Scanning Slides} | previous post about digitalizing slides

Monday, October 25, 2021

Chipmunk photo captured with my new iPhone 13 Pro

 SURPRISE when my iPhone 6 Plus suddenly died...
So I ordered a new one at Apple on September 17, and could pick it up in Augusta, GA on the 24th by appointment.
About a two hour drive one-way.
Next day on Saturday morning I saw our Tiggy-Tiger girl hold something in her mouth, as she was opposite the kitchen bay window, near a shrub...
So I ran outside in my Happi-Coat (see below) and demanded she give it to Mami!
She did drop it and I grabbed it, thinking initially it was a small bird... no idea that this was a teenage Chipmunk with sharp teeth...
So I told Pieter to grab my iPhone 13 Pro and capture it inside my hand.
The very 1st photo taken with my iPhone 13 Pro!

Chipmunk sure was not hurt at all and started to be very agile and I decided to bring it across the creek, using our 3rd bridge and letting it roam there. 
That is at least a spot where our felines seldom (if ever) go to look for a 'playmate'...

Related link:
{Japanese Fireman's Happi-Coat from my 2007 Trip} | wearing my Japanese Fireman's Happi-Coat above...
Pieter Building Wood Trail with Rabbit and Chipmunk Nearby | short video where you see this striped chipmunk or Tamias striatus

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Escada Rose Dress with Butterfly Shawl Tutorial

 Just would like to show you the silk Escada Rose Dress...
Wearing it here with Butterfly Shawl
Below post you will learn how to do that yourself!
Of course wearing my Majorica pearls...
This photo perfectly reveals the sleeveless dress as the 'Butterfly' did kind of slide off...
My hair in a ponytail with a silk rose barrette...
My Pieter found me this shawl when we were at a Rotary Club District Conference and I did check out the Escada Outlet.
Was grateful for Pieter spotting it as the banquet was a very cold happening with the airconditioning setting way too low!
Wore it gratefully with my Escada silk evening dress with roses, see post below...
The butterfly has full wingspan!
Pieter in his Burberry summer wool suit with silk tie in roses...
Haha, our Speckie girl did rough-up Pieter's suede shoe, the foot he's placed foreward.
So much for living with kitties!
A better view of the silk tie with roses.
Those were always the perks of working as international consultants!
You know that I love roses and angels...
Good enough for a blissful relationship! 😉
As promised, showing you how to obtain such a butterfly shawl.
It is in the Hermès CarrÊ book of shawls...
This is it; you tie the ends together, than turn it good side out and wear it!
VoilĂ !
This is from an Echo Scarf Booklet...
Works of course perfect with a wool shawl for winter time.
So that is the outfit I wore with the 'Hat Elastic' shoes from previous post!


Related link:
Hat Elastic for Preventing my Shoes from Sliding OFF | previous post showing dress with small tote
{Back Home from a Wedding in Provence-Alpes-CĂ´te d'Azur, France} | wearing the silk evening dress with roses  at a wedding in France
{Angels engraved on lucky calendar coin of 1969} | previous post with photo of Escada evening gown

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Five out of Six Swinson Brothers died while serving during Civil War

 Yes, at times history can be very cruel...
This happened also to one family, here in Laurens County, Georgia; the Swinson family where FIVE out of six brothers that served, died during the Civil War.
Yes, they all SIX served in the military... Imagine the pain it caused for the Parents! 
Here are Mom & Dad, visiting this historical site on April 10, 1996.
Swinson Family Cemetery Memorials ←click on link and on each name
Only brother Starkey Warren Swinson did come back home alive, after his service during the Civil War.
Gabriel G served in the Georgia Infantry and died in Vicksburg, Mississippi
John A served also in the Georgia Infantry and died in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Starkey W served also in the Georgia Infantry but was the ONLY brother that survived, and he died in 1914 in Broxton, Georgia
Thomas Elliott served as Volunteer in the Georgia Infantry and died in Raleigh, North Carolina
William Pinkney served in the Georgia Infantry and died in Laurens County, Georgia
Young Woodward served in the Georgia Infantry and died in Richmond, Virginia

FREEDOM has its price...

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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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