Just want to share with you two memories of a WHITE world here in the Heart of Georgia.
It does happen once in a while...
About Me
- Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder
- 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
Showing posts with label Our Greenhouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Greenhouse. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2023
YES we have had SNOW here in the Heart of Georgia!
Saturday, August 27, 2022
On August 29 in 1983 we arrived as Immigrants in Georgia, USA
There were no FREE GIFTS upon arrival
NO FREE CELLPHONES
NO BUSES WAITING TO BRING US TO POSH HOTELS...
Sanctuary Cities did NOT yet exist at that time.
We paid our own way, came with a lot of specialized expertise and we came with our legal documents!
And we LOVED to come to the USA under President Reagan! 🇺🇸
We got picked up by a Campbell colleague and set up our bed and by 3:00 we went to sleep...
Happy in front of our new home... no garden yet but we were HOME with Mauzie–girl our Dachshund.
Happy Pieter, wearing one of his Indonesian batik shirts on September 11, 1983.
Happy me on September 11!
On August 30, Pieter put the pedals on his bike and left for the store to find something edible, while I searched for some china and cutlery in the 30 boxes...
The wicker basket on top of shelf in boiler room got used for Mauzie to ride with us on the bike before the real basket arrived...
By 12:30 we went to Dairy Queen with Campbell colleague Ed, who'd picked us up the day before.
He also went with us to Bell South for a phone and then on to Macon to Huckabee, a Honey of a Deal in order to buy our 1st American car.
Buick Century 4–door Sedan
Now we can drive around and start our NEW LIFE!
Mauzie loved our new car and she got to ride in it often.
Pieter had already purchased this Whirlpool washer and dryer set when he was alone in Georgia for two weeks, prior to our immigration.
On August 31, our refrigerator/freezer got delivered and the guy gave a demonstration of the washer.
A favorite Lois jeans from Pieter shrunk and came out too short... MALE😏!
On September 2, our phone got finally connected and I called Mom right away at 11:30.
She sure was glad to finally get a token of life.
Ed had promised to let the phone ring 3 x upon our arrival (would not cost him anything...) but he'd not done so. Mom & Dad could barely sleep after our very first departure; so worried!
We've kept that routine all those years, whenever we got home we let the phone ring 7 x and that way they knew we're home safe!
September 3, shower curtains got hung...
Oh that ugly wall paper in our bathroom and the carpet!
It was a new built home but not 'all' our taste.
Guest bathroom was less wild...
Of course a mushroom towel!
Also managed to cook my first meal on this huge stove.
Dutch appliances were by far not as big!
On Sunday, September 4, I ironed all newly bought curtains and Pieter hung them.
Mauzie happy in her oak pet bed...
Those wool Smyrna rugs with roses got hand made by me—knotted with a latch.
Two ovals beside the bed and one half round behind the bed.
Our then living room.
A strange construction with 2 steps down into living room area.
Sure glad we don't have that anymore!
Mauzie looks at us from kitchen.
From kitchen looking into veranda with screens — no windows!
We never understood WHY they build like that as the rain came inside and also the pollen and dust...
Mauzie in an empty veranda and me peeking out of kitchen door.
Mauzie in office with organ...
On October 6 our new TV got connected...
Quite a story as I answered the door and a tall black man said in dialect: 'I come to hook up your TV'...
Hook up was strange to me but I'd heard the word TV and knew what he came for.
So the curtains are hanging and a TV but not yet a wood stove...
Also on October 6, my Singer sewing machine got delivered!
Slowly things started to look like being complete and yes, like back in The Netherlands—we had houseplants!
Also on October 6, in one of the 90 total of 40–foot containers that came from The Netherlands to the harbor of Savannah for the construction of the mushroom farm, came Mauzie's basket for on our bike.
Before we had her in a wicker shopping basket but that was not so safe, she fell out once...
Happy with that and ready for a spin!
Mauzie loved to ride with us.
On Sunday, October 9, I dropped Pieter off at the Atlanta airport, he had to fly to Michigan for Campbell Soup.
Remember, we had but ONE car, so I drove home alone with Mauzie.
Got a phone call next day that our silk rug from Kashmir had arrived at the Customs.
Pieter had ordered it, more or less the same as he'd left behind with Thea, his ex...
She got the house, all the furniture, a brand new car and some cash as Pieter was so happy with finding true love and now he wanted to close the book of living 27 years like brother and sister...
On October 12, I drove to Delta Air Cargo in Atlanta with the photo album from Pieter's trip to Kashmir.
A very friendly female customs agent handled it and I paid a very reasonable fee.
Then I went to the airport with Mauzie and I'd gone to the gate and spread out the silk rug and placed Mauzie on it.
She growled at anyone daring to step ON it...
Pieter smiled when he walked out of the plane and saw us; ONLY you could pull something like that off he said!
Oh, on November 20, when we all three came back from The Netherlands on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Pieter looked puzzled as the same female customs agent hugged me as she recognized me!
Here is our new silk rug from Kashmir, together with some Dutch pewter on our oak coffee table in the living room.
Top right is our Reuge music box from Switzerland; a precious gift Pieter once received for his helpful advice to solve mushroom related problems.
Writer Pieter J.C. Vedder at his oak secretary desk.
Due to his previous 'marriage' of 27 years, living like brother and sister, the world gained the prized 'mushroom bible'.
Pieter's 1st Dutch edition was published in 1961.
After 5 Dutch editions, it also got published in English. Now a total of 8 languages and we published our newest, most complete edition in 20020: modern mushroom growing 2020 harvesting ←click it
On October 29, Pieter built this little plastic green house to shelter tender plants for winter cold.
We also purchased some wood for our wood burner that got stacked up against the house.
On November 22, our new wood stove got delivered!
Mauzie loved being in her basket in front of it and I loved to knit.
That huge bottle of 3.7 liter (0.97 gallon) wine was a gift from our mushroom friends in Italy and we emptied that on New Years Eve in the Highlands, North Carolina with 12 friends.
On December 8, another container had arrived, in which our newly bought rattan set also was transported to the mushroom plant's site.
So our kitchen bay window area now also got filled up!
My hand crocheted table cloth on top of rattan table.
We were really having a home again by the end of 1983.
Related links:
{My Teacher, Mentor, BOSS & Husband over 44+ Years} | previous post by me
August 29, 1983 We Immigrated to the USA | previous post by me
Our First Christmas and DEEP Frost in Georgia | previous post by me
More about Mauzie our Dachshund that Immigrated to the USA | previous post by me
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Our 3 Bridges got Severely Whacked by Flooding
Of course, right before going on a long 11–day trip something happens...
Click in center to view 16 second video:
Sure enough on July 8, we had severe weather with quite a downpour and of course ALL our bridges + pond + greenhouse flooded...
It broke my heart to see Pieter's hard work partly being destroyed!
Wearing my rubber clogs, I went outside and look at the center bridge's first pole being whacked out!
Debris all over the bridge...
The force of water is strong.
Lots of sand also comes in the roaring stream; from elsewhere of course.
Here you can see how it got whacked out.
Also the soil below the start of the bridge got washed away...
The debris is hanging in the shrubs...
This is the final bridge, our third one... There was even more debris that whacked agains it full force.
So much sand left behind on the lawn.
Zooming in to all that wood and debris from whatever and wherever...
When I walked over to the greenhouse, there was water inside as well!
Our pond is constantly being fed by an underground spring and there is an overflow by means of a drain pipe that leads excessive water away to the creek.
But now it all got flooded and Pieter had to poke the pipe open, as it got clogged up from debris, like leaves.
Did walk closer to our first bridge, near the road.
An entire pole rammed into it.
Our Moonflower Ipomoea alba was happy with all that excessive rain!
Of course, Pieter managed to repair the bridges once more, just before we departed on July 16.
While we were gone, we had again some damage to the center bridge due to yet again severe rain!
Related links:
NOW or NEVER — Travel WEST with us | previous post by me about our 11–day journey
Building a Bridge in Two Days | previous post by me about how it all started
{IMPACT and AFTERMATH of TROPICAL THUNDERSTORMS} | previous post by me with short videos for getting an idea how severe it looks...
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Pieter Capturing his Progress on the Wood Trail while I was in Limburg
While I was in Limburg, Pieter got determined to finish our Wood Trail, adjacent to the gazebo, till the greenhouse in the back.
The grass looked rather lush and you can see Kwekkie standing near the pond.
Greenhouse in the back and gazebo to the left.
Speckie, our youngest kitty–girl, is watching over the wooden poles that Pieter hauled back home for placing under the Wood Trail, for elevating it out of the ground so it won't rot that easily.
Thus we stayed in touch over 8,000 km away from each other but still maintaining a Blissful Relationship and Pieter also had the kitties as companions...
Saturday, May 21, 2022
We Almost Grew BANANAS
Well, living in the tropics and also having friends from India, Thailand and Vietnam, makes one appreciate exotic things.
So from our Thai friend we got a young banana tree...
Both of us were thrilled to see it BLOOM!
Quite a sight on July 25 of 1993!
We just had completed adding the balcony with storage room below.
What do you think about our banana tree?
Of course we never got to harvest the mature fruits.
They grew but then before maturity we had frost and a banana tree can absolutely NOT handle any frost.
Yep, less than a month after the little greenhouse got completed, we had SNOW!
That banana tree was way too big for transplanting into the greenhouse...
So it wilted away and in the spring it started again from the roots up.
Our Home in the Snow... only in the morning for a couple of hours as it melts away FAST.
Related links:
Pieter Built our Greenhouse | previous post by me
{Our Garden White & Icy Today as Snowstorm Slams South} | previous post by me
{RARE Icicles in Our Garden} | previous post by me
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Pieter Built our Greenhouse
Never actually showed you how our greenhouse came about...
Of course, husband Pieter built it himself and I helped.
First the foundation got built.
Pieter had built the roof part together and I helped him lifting it on top of the aluminum frame!
Just the two of us... 😉 on Wednesday, November 17, 1993
Good team work!
Thursday, November 18; proud greenhouse builder! Putting the aluminum Alcoa parts together.
This was a gift from Krijn Leendertse, Voskamp.
We had to move to Pennsylvania at that time so now it finally got build!
Monday, November 22nd, Pieter was in a happy mood, doing something that he'd done before, as a young man.
Immediately after the war, Pieter worked for a few months in greenhouse construction, glazing in his area.
Pieter's Dad, after WWII bought two greenhouses in the West of The Netherlands (Westland area) due to urban expansion they had to clear. Pieter and his brother Toon did break them down and carried them to the road. Lots of water ways where no truck could go! Pieter and Toon had to cross a narrow bridge.
They had stuffed wood wool in their jacket, to support their shoulder! Also for carrying the iron rods and ledges.
Final segments...
We're getting there!
We almost got a greenhouse...
Friday, November 26 we have a greenhouse!
First resident for winter...
Inauguration...
Yep, it is DONE!
Plant table is done!
More residents got moved inside...
A Minimum–Maximum thermometer hangs down on the left near planter.
Another wood trail as a walkway towards the greenhouse.
Let the weekend begin!
Only 8 years later, on Tuesday, April 17 of 2001 Pieter did rebuilt the greenhouse with the help of my Dad.
Somewhat bigger this time!
Pieter dug up the entire foundation and built it all new, from scratch.
Mom is watching as Pieter is caulking.
Dad standing in front of the greenhouse, wearing a Campbell cap and one of Pieter's old work shirts.
Did you notice our roses?
We always have had electricity in our greenhouse as well, for our heater in winter time.
Pieter installed it all.
Thursday, April 19, 2001. Being creative...
I was weeding and did serve some Dutch rusks with chocolate flakes and coffee.
The wheelbarrow with the old greenhouse door on top functioned as a table 😜
So happy for having archived all those photos...
Related link:
{Fall & Winter Preparations} | previous post by me where Pieter added brick patio and addition
{SHATTERED Winter Dreams...} | previous post by me where addition got shattered...
{New Heater for Greenhouse} | previous post by me
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