The Kitty I Had Already so I Ordered the Hand Knitted Sweater

In the Dutch Nouveau magazine I fell in love with this...

You could order it from Nouveau, handknitted and ready to wear; which I did.

Here I am with kitty Spooky II, and wearing the hand knitted sweater.

My sister Diny did mail it as a parcel from The Netherlands to Georgia...

Spooky was a happy boy!

Related link with previous post by me:

{Our Felines - Sweet Spooky II...}

Our Fragrant Hoya Carnosa Wax Plant in Metal Ring

 Used to keep lots of planters on the window sills...

A favorite was this oval Delft white planter with a Hoya, that I guided around a metal ring.

Also in our kitchen bay window area I did keep two Hoya plants on such a metal ring.

Hand crocheted table cloth by me.

Rotan set, we gifted to my younger sister Gerd, when we moved back from Italy to the USA.

She could use it well in her apartment.

The wool Moroccan rug was a wedding gift from our Swiss mushroom friends. 

Also here you see such a Hoya in a ring on the windowsill in our veranda.

Guess, having a windowsill is typically Dutch!

Related links:

{Our Fragrant Hoya Carnosa - Wax Plant} | previous post by me

{Our Fragrant Hoya Wax Plants in October} | previous post by me

{Hoya Carnosa Nectar for Hummingbirds} | previous post by me

Pieter's Former Student and Mushroom Grower Took us up into the Sky

It is obvious that in 1985 a lot of things happened.

Unusual things too.

We had taken the son of one of Pieter's former students, a mushroom grower, with us on a trip to Florida.

He was here for the summer, on an exchange from Roteract youth, staying as a guest with families from our local Rotary Club.

So now, they wanted to kind of take 'revenge'...

We were back in The Netherlands and got invited:

We arrived on October 7, around 11:00 at the home of Pieter's former student and mushroom grower in Standdaarbuiten, in the Southwestern part of The Netherlands.

After a coffee, we also joined them for lunch and then they took us to the Royal Tree Nursery of Piet Van der Bom, in Oudenbosch.

After that, they took us to Oudenbosch Basilica a replica of the famous St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Then they took us by 14:00 to airport Seppe.

Vliegveld in Dutch means Airport
Daan Van de Nobelen seen to the left, the father of the Roteract youth that stayed in Georgia for summer.

Husband Pieter to the left with pilot and loyal former student(s) Dré Heestermans, and Daan Van de Nobelen

Daan Van de Nobelen, me and husband Pieter next to the little plane

Pieter's former student, Dré Heestermans from Ulvenhout, took us one by one, up in the air for viewing the different mushroom farms from above, over the region where Pieter for years drove to from Horst, for giving classes.

Wearing my Burberry skirt and trench coat, it was autumn in The Netherlands.

Pieter let me go first... 

He's always been a true gentleman, and living by the motto: 'Ladies FIRST'...

Pilot Dré, took me up first for 45 minutes, above Tholen, the area where Pieter taught its mushroom growers.

Son Rudy Van de Nobelen, had organized this for Pieter, as a THANK YOU

After I slid out of this little plane, it was Pieter's turn.

Pieter was taking off with one of his most loyal former students from that area...

Pieter's turn

Pieter ready for take off... but due to sudden weather changes, they were back after 35 minutes.

We all went to Kreekdijk, for supper with the Van de Nobelen family and after that, around 20:30 by surprise, all Pieter's former students from that region, where he gave classes in the 1950s before he established the practical training college in Horst, triggered in.

They served hors d'oeuvres, and after Pieter showed some slides with news from the Campbell Mushroom farm, they each told their story.

Quite an experience and rather moving for Pieter.

We were in bed by 1:30 in Standdaarbuiten en after breakfast in the morning we went with the son back to Van der Bom and then we drove to Limburg where we stayed with my brother Harry and his wife.

Related post:

Yerseke Oyster Fishers got Trained by Pieter J.C. Vedder to become Mushroom Growers | post by me about nearby 

Immigrants that Move from Stamp-sized Yard to BIG size

Yes, that is so TRUE!

Having lived in The Netherlands, one of the world's most densely populated countries, with small property sizes in general, we moved from a Stamp-size Yard to a BIG size.

Our late friend Roy Chappell, also a Rotarian, dropped off this special tow behind spike aerator with lawn roller for behind our John Deere.
It was February 23, 1985 when spring soon would start.

You also see that husband Pieter is wearing his semi wooden clogs!

Pieter's clogs are in the center.

To the left were mine, when I was 3 years old I wore them and there used to be a leather strap for keeping them fit snug.

To the right are tourist clogs, a gift from Pieter's Mom, that we had hung on the wall on our patio.

 Those black ones were leather upper with wood bottom.

Pieter also loved to wear those when traveling to the different mushroom farms, for keeping his feet dry when walking on the compost yard.

Here you see such wooden clogs with leather (or man made) upper: Oase PU Klompen Dichte Hiel 232 just click link.
One early morning, after Pieter had left home for driving the good two hours to the airport, for such a farm review for Campbell Soup, I noticed his wooden clogs in their plastic tote.
I was in nightgown, so what I did, was put on my morning robe and grabbed his tote and RACED in my Ford Escort behind him...
That was SPEEDING, as I had to catch up with him!
Flashing my lights, when I saw his Buick in the distance, Pieter thinking, what idiot is coming behind me in the early morning?

Then, I drove on the left lane beside him, while holding up the plastic tote, and Pieter grinned.
Soon he pulled over into the roadside, and I quickly handed him his 'forgotten' tote with wooden clogs!
Pieter was happy; a quick kiss, and he only shook his head as I swiftly made a U-turn through the median, and went back home, now no need for speeding!

Lucky me for not encountering any Sheriff or State Patrol... 😉

Related links:

{Saint Nicholas | Sinterklaas} | previous post where you see my little wooden shoes

{SAINT NICHOLAS - SINTERKLAAS 2013} | previous post with my tiny wooden shoes

Visiting Dutch Mushroom Grower in Marl Cave

Being the Founder/Principal of the Practical Training College, my then boss, now husband Pieter, did take all of us in September of 1970 to the ONLY existing Mushroom Growing Marl Cave.

That was in the deep south of The Netherlands, in Maastricht the capital city of my Province Limburg.

Here we are inside the Marl Cave, of Mount Saint Peter, studying the mushrooms on those ridge beds ― on the floor!

Just imagine, what a toilfully labor it must have been for growing mushrooms inside a cave...

To the left, only her leg is visible, was a 2nd cousin, then 2nd from the left in the red lacquer coat its me... My sister Diny is standing with her face towards the ridge beds. Pieter is next to her and writing on the wall is my late 2nd cousin... Some other colleagues and the gentleman to the right in the back was our guide. 

Writing on the wall was easy, as this limestone is rather soft!

This is also inside Mount Saint Peter, from an old post card that Pieter saved from long time ago.
Those ridge beds on the floor were covered with ground up marl.

Photo by Lahaye, from P. J.C. Vedder's Moderne Champignonteelt, his Dutch publication.
After WWII some people started growing mushrooms in caves in the southern part of The Netherland; a way of growing at that time already quite common in France...

Also in Mount Saint Peter from one of P.J.C. Vedder's publications...

Hill beds in St. Peter's Mountain. The soil is not always flat and the dams to prevent the flow away of water sprayed, through the paths are extra needed. Cream mushrooms. (Photo "The South")

This photo is from the No. 4 - SEPTEMBER 1957 Champignon-cultuur, the Dutch mushroom magazine (click link for full Pdf from ISMS)

This photo is from the No. 4 - SEPTEMBER 1957 Champignon-cultuur, the Dutch mushroom magazine

Mr. Geijtenbeek studies the first tests with new culture technique inside the caves (Photo ENCI)

Fa. Gebr. Pluymackers, Maastricht

This is HISTORY now!
But grateful for having seen this with my own eyes, so did my colleagues after we'd visited first the ENCI (Eerste Nederlandse Cement Industrie or First Dutch Cement Industry) from 1926.
An interesting video about ENCI: bedrijfsfilm 2016 (in Dutch but still good to see how it all gets done). In July of 2018 they stopped with further digging, they still produce cement but haul it from elsewhere.

Related links:
1978 - P.J.C. Vedder's Modern Mushroom Growing Book Published in English | previous post by me
{My Teacher, Mentor, BOSS & Husband over 44+ Years} | previous post by me
{Angels engraved on lucky calendar coin of 1969} | previous post by me

Finally Taking my NONAGENARIAN up the Blue Ridge Parkway

Guess, over the years we've come across the Blue Ridge Parkway at least some 6 times.

When our foster-daughter Anita was staying with us, we tried to drive a segment of it and I ended up driving with my head sticking out of the window due to heavy fog so we left it first opportunity.

We did drive a segment again with my sister Diny and her significant other and then the times we went back and forth to Pennsylvania to move, for visits back to Georgia and visits back to our Jewish friends in Delaware.

On October 28, we'd planned to depart early after breakfast, from our Log Cabin in Tennessee.
BUT again, it was way too foggy for driving through the mountains!
So here we are, after all those years, again waiting till the sun came to chase away the dense fog.
Around noon time we'd reached the beginning of BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
Sunshine as you can see!

This was around 12:38 and look at that blue sky - we got SO lucky and the fall colors were spectacular.
View Haw Creek Valley at an elevation of 2100 feet (640 m) and from where we stood it was 2720 feet (829 m) at MP 380 (MP = Mile Post)

Taken at the same spot, just giving an overview of what we saw.
My Pieter is color blind but he's red/green disturbed and luckily the colors were mainly yellow and golden so he too could fully enjoy this!

Only 10 minutes later view of Bull Creek Valley

At 13:01 we view Black Mountain, North Carolina with the view of LANE PINNACLE where the elevation is 5230 feet (1594 m) and from where we stood 3890 feet (1186 m) at MP 372.1
It was named for Charles Lane, who owned the land in the early 1800s.
Such a golden 'autumn carpet'...

Here we are at Craggy Gardens near Barnardsville, North Carolina at 13:20 and MP 364.2
You fail to drink it all in!

MP 364 Craggy Gardens
Nature's garden flourishes on these high slopes. Rhododendrons blanket the mountains in pink in early summer. Wildflowers bloom along hiking trails.
Incredible views all the time and no doubt in May those Rhododendrons make a fabulous color show!

Pisgah National Forest, Burnsville, North Carolina at 13:54 with RIDGE JUNCTION OVERLOOK elevation 5160 feet (1573 m) at MP 355.3

A view of the Black Mountains and into South Toe Valley...

Pisgah National Forest, Burnsville, North Carolina at 14:05 at GREEN KNOB OVERLOOK elevation 4760 feet (1451 m) at MP 350.4 with on the left Mount Mitchell 6684 ft or 2037 m (highest point east of the Mississippi River) see map below

Pisgah National Forest near Burnsville, North Carolina just to give you an idea of how this Blue Ridge Parkway looked with its golden fall colors.
We also got to see deer, both does and a buck with antlers.
And a group of wild turkeys paraded in front of us, crossing 'their' territory!

In order to make some progress we had to quit stopping at every overlook...
This is Blue Ridge Parkway at Linn Cove Viaduct from boulder viewpoint just click and click through

MP 304 Linn Cove Viaduct
Looming above the viaduct, Grandfather Mountain is home to more rare plant and animal species than any mountain east of the Rockies.
The viaduct was engineered to protect this beautiful but fragile area.
Stop at the visitor center to learn how this engineering marvel was built.

With Pieter's heart condition there was no hiking involved, we only walked a short trail near the Craggy Gardens overlook.
You can spend weeks on end here if you are in for hiking and visiting more!

We did see lots of motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Parkway and on the narrow road, that must be an excellent way for traveling.
Riding The Blue Ridge Parkway just click and click through...

My short Relive video: The Blue Ridge Parkway's Visitor Center's address on the website was not accurate so I had to make a detour in order to get to Entering Blue Ridge Parkway

Total of 684.9 km or 425.6 mi for the entire day.
Starting out from our Log Cabin in Tennessee on Highway and also Interstate, hence the high(er) speed!
You find the first photo from Entering Blue Ridge Parkway. Last section is also not on Blue Ridge but we went to our Hyatt Place in Roanoke, Virginia for the night.
Relive is doing the same as most  pre-set GPS systems in cars; not showing true compass direction 🧭
We traveled all day to the north and NOT to the south!

Correct Address for GPS: Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center near Asheville, N.C.
Time in previous image includes also the non-driving time with all stops for gas. visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway's Visitor Center for maps and brochures, lunch stop etc.
At one overlook stop I made a wrong turn also... it is very hard to stay focussed on this route as the Mile Posts are hardly noticeable and there is NO other sign! Would be great if each parking at an overlook had at least North and South signs... At least there were plenty of Restrooms!

Stay tuned for the next part.

Wishing those in the Far East and Down Under a Happy New Year coming their way soon!
Good Health for ALL 

Related link:
Our 2nd Cabin Stay at the Hill on Cherokee Lake | previous post by me
SO Proud of my NONAGENARIAN | previous post by me
Our Cabin Stay at The Hill by Cherokee Lake in Tennessee | previous post by me

Merry Christmas and My Previous High Tea

Merry Christmas to All of You Worldwide! 🌲💝
Sharing with you our High Tea from December 20, 1997 that we donated to our Rotary Club's auction.
Offering a High Tea for 12 and this was all done in the Christmas spirit...
We donated our time and love... Worked till 2:30 in the morning for baking and preparing it for the afternoon's presentation and use.

Everything done in Christmas style and using our Egyptian cotton damask Cottimaryanne Firenze tablecloth from Italy.
Our hand made silver coffee set that we bought while living in Indonesia, it took six men to hammer and decorate it in six weeks!

That's me checking the final details... Coffee Cups to the right.

Did use the Tea Glasses with silver plated holders instead of Tea Cups.

Also in the kitchen I'd placed edibles to savor with tea or coffee...

Table runner on red tablecloth used is our Portuguese Guimarães white work, we bought in Coimbra in 1994 while on tour through Spain Portugal for 19 days.
Our Rotary Club of Dublin, Georgia USA sponsors always a foreign student for one full year of college education.

For 1997 it was Kaisa Jogi (probably Jögi) from Latvia, she did her presentation to the Rotary Club, 3 days after this High Tea.
Kaisa was in such good humor for tasting the European culture again at our Dutch home in the USA and for touring it. 

Just like to show you this very short video of our High Tea Table
The talking is in Dutch as we always did so for my Parents to let them share in our life here across the Ocean.

Thanks for your visit and comment

Related link:

{Have YOU Ever Seen the Making of Silver in Kotagede, Indonesia?} | previous post by me showing you the silver works