The often HIGH price of being AWAY for Consulting

 Whenever we went to Indonesia, due to the long journey in itself, we were gone for 3 weeks.

Also for India it would be around 2.5 weeks and 2 weeks for Mexico.

Not so good for home and garden when being absent that long!

Consulting often resulted in an unexpected HIGH price of being AWAY

How we kept our HOUSEPLANTS alive...In our kitchen bay window area, I kept many Delft white pots with houseplants, as well as in our veranda with its long windowsill on both sides and planter tables with larger pots.We had friends offering to water them and they did, mainly on the final day before we would return home... to proof they DID water! My collection of 16 beautiful orchids shrunk rapidly.A neighbor once insisted she would water while we were gone, so Pieter brought the most delicate houseplants over to her home. She placed them in her laundry room, Pieter thought she would place them later into the light, and in their final spot...NOT SO, upon his return for picking up the houseplants, they ALL came out of her laundry room, without any window. She sure watered them but they looked all brain dead and yellow; many of them did not survive...So we looked for better solutions.

A programmable Gardena Water Computer...

On March 17 of 1994, Pieter bought our Gardena Water Computer and also a heater for the greenhouse, so we never again would loose our tomato plants to frost in March!

Old spray caps being inserted in pipe, for misting plants from above, using the Gardena Water Computer.

On March 25 of 1994, Pieter worked on a system in the greenhouse with hanging pipe from above and using the old spray caps of Dad's greenhouse in The Netherlands.For being able to do so, Pieter had extended the water pipe, outside on our garage wall, for use on the driveway with a faucet and eventually a hose. So he could use a valve for bypassing the piping system that he'd dug in over our entire garden, and not using the water being pumped up by our pump, but coming directly from our home water system.Pieter hung all plants and checked if they got adequately water, even changed some that needed more than others.It got all PERFECTED and once more we were off to Indonesia for 3 weeks.Feeling at ease with all our precious plants being watered inside the greenhouse.When we came home, we went to the greenhouse and both of us were SHOCKED!We were staring at some skeletons hanging down... ALL DEAD!Then, going inside and wanting to step into the shower, after such a long journey from Jakarta to Atlanta, we noticed we had NO WATER!Great welcome home — what a feeling for hitting the mattress like that.Only in the daylight of early morning, Pieter figured out that the teenage boy, who did cut our grass, had run over one of the pipes with faucet for attaching the water hose for sprinkling. Since Pieter had reversed the system on our main water pipe from the HOME, it kept flooding. So he brilliantly turned off the MAIN VALVE! Killing all our green children in the greenhouse by doing so...He'd cut off more often a pipe so our dream of having our houseplants safe and cared for was out of the window.We ended up instead, putting those Delft white pots in the trenches that Pieter dug alongside the Wood Trail to the left of our Gazebo area where it was rather wet in early years.They were always wet from some underground wells and water was running constantly and there was shade from the trees above.Worked perfect, except my Delft white pots were no longer WHITE... It was quite a task of cleaning them one by one and taking them back inside!So that is what you see in this short video. So many challenges and right now I have no more houseplants... We gave up after all those years.
Related links:{Fall & Winter Preparations} | previous post by me{New Heater for Greenhouse} | previous post by me where you see the nozzles on the overhead pipe

YOU'RE A SMART COOKIE - Hilarious true story about my successor in Italy

Here comes a hilarious true story about my successor in Italy as I tried to COMPLIMENT her!

Marina Dalle Valle had just finished University and she started her 1st job.

So, I had to train her...

YOU'RE A SMART COOKIE! ←click link

Yep, when our boss Dr. Gigi Bagnasco came to check with me, about her ability, she was left out of the conversation as she did not speak English.

Knowing how she felt, I translated to her what I just told Dr. Bagnasco in English, that she picked up rather quickly and she is a smart cookie.

So I turned towards Marina and said in Italian: Marina è un biscotto furbo!

We almost wet our pants from laughing... This was one of those moments where translation is impossible.

Neither can you say in Dutch: Je bent een slim koekje...

But she understood that I only wanted to compliment her in a gracious way, and Dr. Bagnasco was quite pleased with that knowledge; meaning they hired the right person.

Cookie comes from the Dutch word 'koekje,' which means 'little cake.' The first cookie-like 'cakes' were thought to have originated in 7th century Persia, one of the earliest countries where sugar was cultivated.

Smart Cookie

The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms says that a smart cookie is 'someone who is clever and good at dealing with difficult situations.' The term 'cookie' may have referred to women as far back as the 1700s, and 'smart cookie' may have been a comment on women's intelligence.

The Cookie Idioms: Smart Cookie, Tough Cookie ←click link

Here Marina is next to me on the right during one of our visits back to Italy, on September 30, 1995.

Happy to see that she did so well!

Wearing my own sewing creation, skirt made from some raw silk. Paired with a silk sweater and a wool Yves Saint Laurent scarf.

She continued the Statistical Process Control that I'd introduced, as a tool for being able to pin-point 'where' in the process of e.g. producing compost, we were 'off'.

Also we used that, for more accurately being able to predict the yield of an incoming 1st break of mushrooms.

If any of the above ingredients were 'off', that already predicted less good quality mushrooms with less piece-weight and thus lower market value.

BUT, Marina my successor was a smart cookie!

Hoping she is still doing well. 

Related link:

{Yes; I was at an Yves Saint Laurent Prêt-À-Porter Show in Jakarta!} | previous post by me

Our Terrace Tablecloth in Gazebo got SHREDDED by Pack of Dogs

 Oh my, with all our hard work and weeks of consulting and doing seminars for mushroom people, we finally went on a real VACATION.

By luxury bus, from The Netherlands that is.

First going 'home' for seeing Mom & Dad and Family and Friends...

The vacation via France to Portugal and Spain was just wonderful; one of the BEST we ever had and a good group of some 19 people on that bus.

We took turns for having a different view in the bus and really indulged in it all.

Then you have to fly back to the USA and drive home.

BUT we did not expect to see this...After finding a very special terrace tablecloth in a Dutch magazine, I bought this from The Netherlands.It does not blow away from wind, because the fabric had a vinyl coating. Found out it was made in Germany, brand Friedola.Never have been able to locate any like this, nor being able to replace it...
Have you had surprises like that in your garden, gazebo or on the patio?