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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 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 Baccarat Crystal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baccarat Crystal. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Exotic Flowering Vines—Bird Poop Gifts

 On March 19, Blogger friend Martha Jane posted about some Trillium that showed up in their garden in her Spring! post ←click it.
In my comment I stated that birds eat seeds and then they 'poop'... We got lots of such bird gifts! ♻️
Really an Exotic looking—Bird Poop Gift! 
Already for 6 years we see this exotic Clematis Josephine... see posts below.
Sitting in a small Baccarat crystal vase
And another Bird Poop Gift—Clematis Silver Moon a lilac beauty.
Our golden pansies look happy in our bay window boxes and make a nice contrast to the lilac.
Beautiful in the sunshine...


Do you have any Bird Poop Gifts?


Related links:
{Our Lovely Lilac Clematis 'Silver Moon'} | previous post by me from 2013
{Our Lilac Clematis 'Silver Moon'} | previous post by me from 2014
Surprise Clematis Josephine - Bird Poop GIFT | previous post by me from 2017

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Wishing you ALL a MEANINGFUL 3rd Advent Week

 As time is passing quite fast—may I wish you worldwide:
 a MEANINGFUL 3rd Advent Week!

This is a time for burning our fire place and for lighting candles—our huge pillar candle from our 25th Wedding anniversary is also visible.
To the left you see a typical Austrian or Italian Tyrol region nosegay made out of spices and tiny cones—called Gewürtzsträusschen.
I tied raffia around my gilded magnolia grandiflora leaves with some Nandina (heavenly bamboo) berries...
A perfumed pillar candle with some holly and real cranberries on the green Hardanger table topper.
My red Hardanger tablecloth with the beautiful table runner—done in Portuguese Guimarães white work. 
We bought this in Coimbra, Portugal during our 19–day trip by bus from Limburg/The Netherlands to Spain and Portugal in September, 1994.
On eBay I once got a hold of this Baccarat Crystal Vesuve / Vesuvius Caviar Server (2 pcs) because the inset was missing—it was a bargain...
Perfect for filling up with cranberries and floating candles!

Friday, April 29, 2022

My Pieter Turned 93

 Yes, today is a very special day as my Pieter turned 93!
Thanks to a great Cardiologist and complete change of medications he lived beyond the grave message we received from our previous cardiologist; who actually neglected him.
Prayers also DO help!
Just to show you our ABUNDANCE of fresh flowers back then...
All varieties of Calla lilies and sweet smelling white Lathyrus.
I used all kind of Baccarat crystal vases for them, also Baccarat perfume bottles.
Below is a 1:33 minute short video from our vases with garden flowers on Pieter's 74th Birthday.
At 0:46 you see our white fragrant peonies.
Immediately followed by pink roses in my Rose China with sprigs of Forget–Me–Not.
A DREAM! 
We have no roses left, and if you see how many we had back then...
Guess the competition of the now huge oak trees and others is way too fierce.
And we miss the spent mushroom compost already for two decades!
That was the very best from mushroom cultivation.
A Happy Pieter on his 81st Birthday on Dutch Queen's Day celebration in Atlanta.
This was good 4 months before his heart attack and open heart surgery on September 3. 2010.
Wearing my Escada suit that we saw while in Budapest but could not afford it then, at full boutique price.
Found it later on eBay.
Around Pieter's Birthday, our Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold is at its BEST.
One of our Palm Trees is right in front of it in this photo.
Sadly today was the funeral of the late Georgia Congressman, the Honorable J. Roy Rowland who had a special U.S. flag flown over the U.S. Capitol for both of us on December 30, 1993...
April 23, was Pieter's 29th Birthday as a United States Citizen!
Post shared on FB Page
Shared also on my FB...
Pieter had a very special and happy Birthday!


Related link:
Our Garden at the Time we had Access to Spent Mushroom Compost | previous post by me with video from Middle Georgia Magazine
{1993 Today, the American Flag was flown for both of us...} | previous post by me 

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Solid Silver Diyas our Consulting Gift from India

Already quite a while ago I've promised a dear friend from India, to show our Solid Silver Diyas, that we received as a precious gift while doing Consulting work in India for then Pond's India.
So Finally I made some photos...
Not easy to find the ingredients for making photos!
For me that is FLOWERS with the object and good light.
Here you see our Camellias in a Baccarat vase and the two solid silver Diyas in front, complete with some incense cones.
Very tricky to make photos against the light from a window on the south side.
You can see the gazebo through this window from our living room.
Love the scent of these incense cones, this is Jasmine.
Or Sandalwood!
Taking this beautiful solid silver Diya somewhere else without direct sunlight.
There are 5 openings for such an incense cone.
Here are the solid silver Diyas on their own.
You noticed that I've not polished them before making photos.
This only becomes obvious when looking at the photos later!
One more photo against the closed indoor shutters from our arched living room window.
Yes, inside our home we do have a lot of fine gifts from India and we treasure them!
Having done Consulting in India for over 10 years, the country has a special spot in our hearts and we loved not only its delicious food but also its culture.

Have any of you ever traveled to India?

Related links:
{Did YOU Ever Touch Baby Elephants?} | previous post by me about our work period in India
{Our DEEPER Reach In Bedroom Closet} | previous post by me showing more gifts from Pond's India.


Thursday, February 9, 2017

Heavenly Fragrance of our 1934 Ehrlicheer Daffodils

Every year it is such a joy to fill a vase or two with our heavenly fragrant 1934 Ehrlicheer Daffodils!
This photo is taken on Saturday, February 4. 
Inside our veranda on a side table...
The fullness of these heirloom daffodils is like a dream!
The silver Christofle frame is holding this photo from both of us, taken on November 13, 1987
Yes, like heirloom daffodils, such photos too are rapidly becoming heirloom pieces!
Wearing both Burberry; Pieter a woolen tie and I wear the woolen skirt and a silk scarf in a matching Burberry plaid.

Thanks for visiting!

Enjoy your week and hope you got some fresh flowers too.

Related links: 

Monday, February 6, 2017

Our Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant in a Vase

What a HAPPY feeling for having fresh garden flowers in a vase!
We're that far again... Even if the weather is not quite spring like.
Too much wind still but sunny, blue sky. 
Love the sight of this Camellia Sinensis in the spring.
It blooms along the wired fence and visible from our Veranda.
A small Baccarat vase makes them look pretty!
Wishing you all a Happy Weekend!

Thanks for your visit.


Friday, September 16, 2016

{King Crab Legs from Costco}

When we had to go back and forth to Costco several times for husband Pieter's hearing aid test and adjustments, I had spotted their great King Crab Legs and we brought some home...
A previous supper for friends, I completely forgot to take pictures...
So here we are for an Al Fresco Supper on our Balcony!
Complete with Crab
This was the evening before we left for Florida...
June 26
Those legs were really huge
Haha, having to bring everything to the balcony and avoiding that one of our felines would slip out... was quite a task!
We even had an Oriental Lily 'Belgrado' in a small Baccarat vase.
Something is missing...
Something missing was not the utensils for cracking those crab legs... like our Rösle Nut & Seafood Cracker and the Lobster Picks from Italy.
Snapping away with my iPhone 6 Plus I still did not notice...
Oh my goodness I forgot the Diablo Sauce! Click link for recipe.
Here it is straight from the fridge and not looking good for the photo.


BUT it was a delicious and simple meal.

Do you also love crab meat?

Thanks for your visit!

Monday, August 29, 2016

{Cooking Dinner for Twelve at Our Home}

Only one week after we got our new Miele Dishwasher installed I had to prepare a dinner for 12 at our home.
Imagine, cleaning all that mess and having a neat home, shopping for the ingredients and cooking...
Shopping means a 2 ½ hour drive to Atlanta, one way!
This is one table setting, in our dining room for 9.
Tabecloth is French Le Jacquard Français.
And 3 more in our bay window section in the kitchen.
Tablecloth is French Yves Delorme.
Monday, January 25...
At Costco Wholesale we did buy this great and very healthy salad.
It comes with dressing, variety of nuts and seeds!
That helps for making things easier...
These delicious wheat rolls are from Whole Foods Market
Snow Flake Rolls they are called...
(Added this photo later)
Tira-mi-su I made the evening before... A favorite dessert at our home.
I would prepare a German style dinner and as meat choice I had Pork Tenderloin, baked in the oven.
Red potatoes, just pre-boiled and then pan fried.
I did keep them warm in my 30" Miele Convection Food Warming Drawer with dual heating system. drawer in the staircase area.
It is great, getting things out of the way and ready to clean up the cook top and kitchen counter.
From Cost Plus World Market I did have this Red Cabbage Salad from Lowell foods.
And yes, I did for once cover the Le Jacquard Français tablecloth with a soft plastic that I have... This is a HUGE tablecloth, I've added a small table at the end, from the Rose Suite downstairs.
Not easy for ironing such size so this saved me from doing that.
My Pillivuyt Sancerre serving plates combined with Cream Colour on Cream Colour by Wedgwood for salad and later also the bigger round dinner plates for the main course. I kept those in my Miele plate warming drawer...
Cups & saucers from the same Wedgwood Cream Colour on Cream Colour and dessert plates for the Tira-mi-su.
Table setting for 3 in the kitchen.
Often I use the round teak table from the balcony for ourselves, set also in the kitchen.
Here no Wedgwood china is used but instead the Pillivuyt Sancerre dinner plates.
Those Pillivuyt dinner plates also went inside the plate warming drawer for the main course.
   Seltmann Weiden Mirabell White plates for the salad.
I've also learned not to use my French Baccarat crystal but instead a cheaper crystal for glasses...
Hard to capture such a longer table from above...
Flatware is Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet and for dessert spoons silver Alvin Bridal Rose.
Sorry there are no further photos as it was only Team Vedder that did wait on these guests and no time for snapping any pictures from main course and such.
My French trolley from La Redoute, France that Pieter used in the veranda for creating a little bar...
The Baccarat crystal ice bucket with thong always comes in handy.
So that's my duty for Pieter's Monday Night Club as it is our turn to host the dinner.
The maximum I've done is cooking for 15.

I was sure glad when all was done and I also enjoyed the compliments about the food.
Next day I had severe back pain. That was mainly because that entire week, since our Miele dishwasher got finally installed and working, I had done the cleaning etc.
It is as I said above, for our home and garden, only Team Vedder!


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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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