Atlantic City Boardwalk, New Jersey

Fond memories of our trips with friends to the Atlantic City Boardwalk, New Jersey!

With husband Pieter on a sunny day in July of 1987...

There are 4 miles, 6 km of wooden board walk!

Fun feeding the pigeons!

To the right is Aron Kinrus, Pieter's colleague from Campbell Soup at that time.

Perfect outdoor day...

With Aron's wife Shyfra I'd been there previously, by bus from Wilmington, Delaware.

Never forget my FIRST attempt to swim in the Atlantic Ocean there.

Walking briskly into the ocean, together with some Russian ladies that were with us, I made a quick return to my beach towel. SO COLD in July! 

Guess I am spoiled by living in the South and being used to the warmth...

Here Pieter and I were standing in front of OCEAN ONE the mall built in the shape of a ship!

Ending a perfect Sunday with friends at the Golden Nugget restaurant in Atlantic City...

Blissful Relationship with Friends together.

GOLDEN NUGET, Atlantic City, N.J.
In the previous year, I'd visited on my own together with Shyfra, while Pieter was several days away for Campbell Soup.
That was my FIRST ever encounter with a Casino...
A couple of days later, I did write about that experience in our local newspaper's section: OPINIONS
We met a retired FBI agent who was a columnist and writer, Bo Whaley was his name.
He became my 'Uncle Bo'...

Left column, bottom I wrote:
Any man (or woman) who pops chewing gum. Last week I spent a whole day in Atlantic City. On the boardwalk, in the ship-like built shopping mall called Ocean-One, there is a nice restaurant with a view of the beach and of course inside some of the famous casinos. Though I didn't play, I had more fun watching all the fanatic playing people. I'm not sure how it's related to gambling or to loosing or winning (but) it was a fact that the beautiful carpet looked alright in the alleyway, but along the automats it was covered with sticky grey spots, a flat remainder of chewing gum. How does it get there, I wondered, and I watched people win and lose their quarters and dollars, anxious to see when they drop it... It's still a big question mark. How human beings can behave... Nobody said hello or asked, "How are you doing?" I suppose I even could walk topless and still go unnoticed! Now after watching those dirty-handed (from all the coins) crowds, I was certainly glad to return back to Dublin... because I was leery of them!
The entire OPINIONS was a reply to "Uncle Bo's" column on his being leery of...
Oxford English has a different meaning for it as meaning "just"; knowing, sharp, smart, alert.
In American it means suspicious of.

Have any of you ever observed people at a casino, gambling?

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA 1st North American Mushroom Conference

September 23-25, 1979 the 1st North American Mushroom Conference was held at the San Francisco, CA Fairmont Hotel.

Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA

Husband Pieter did give his presentation about 'Shelf Plants' P.J.C. Vedder just click link for his publication.
At the time Pieter was still Principal of the Practical Training College for Mushroom Growing in The Netherlands.

Discussions after Pieter delivered his presentation.

A thank you letter from the American Mushroom Institute:
Dear Pieter:
Thank you very much Pieter, for participating in the program of the 1st North American Mushroom Conference. Your presentation was superb, and it was quite obvious we all benefitted from the experience. It was, indeed, our pleasure and very generous of you to help us make the conference the success that it was.
On behalf of the A.M.I. its Board of Directors, and the Conference Committee, I would like to extend  to you our sincere appreciation. I hope that your visit to the United States was enjoyable. We look forward to working with you again in the future.
Best regards.
Sincerely,
Charles J. Ciarrocchi
Conference Chairman
P.S. Enclosed find our check covering travel expenses.

Charles J. Ciarrocchi was a long time mushroom friend, who was the President of Modern Mushroom Farms, Inc. which was founded in 1970. Now it is under Giorgio.
We have been to their farm at Toughkenamon in Pennsylvania.

Pieter was always in his element at such Conferences.
Here he is seen during a coffee break, cup in hand.
To his left is an unknown person, maybe someone could fill that in...
Pieter, Aron Kinrus a longtime Polish-American agronomist, Alex Overstijns who was one of the very first teachers at the practical Training College for Mushroom Growing in Horst, The Netherlands and to the right Paul Rutten a former student of Pieter, who immigrated to North America.

Aron Kinrus, Alex Overstijns, Shyfra Kinrus and Pieter with an unknown person standing behind them.

Husband Pieter to the left, Shyfra Kinrus, unknown person and Alex Overstijns.

Husband Pieter, unknown person, Alex Overstijns, Nick Pora who came from Romania in 1972, with only $ 5.00 in his pocket and build quite a mushroom emporium in Canada, that we managed to visit in person. Aron Kinrus.

Fond memories of happy times spent with mushroom related friends!

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

French Lit-Clos/Dutch Bedstee/Box-bed or Closet-Bed all late medieval Western European Furniture

From my previous post about our visits to Netherlands Open Air Museum with Mom & Dad and American Colleague's Wife, I got an interesting comment

For that reason, I like to come back on the Dutch Bedstee again.

This is the photo that shows the Parlor from Hindeloopen in Friesland.

Notice the steps to the 'Bedstee' (cabinet bed)?

Also called Box-Bed or Closet Bed and in French Lit-Clos

Katie Isabella wrote: A cupboard bed. That is unusual I think outside of your Country?

No it actually was quite common all over Western Europe as late medieval furniture, also in Scandinavia, England, Austria, France and of course The Netherlands as pictured here above.

Rembrandthuis - Main Living and Bedroom with Fireplace and Curtained Box Bed (Photo P. Hunt 2012). This is the actual desk and bedroom from Rembrandt as captured at the Rembrandthuis Museum in Amsterdam!

When Pieter and I did visit the Netherlands Open Air Museum on our own, we were told some rather shocking facts.

Those Box-beds are rather short. One could argue that people some 600 years ago were shorter. True but the main reason was that people in those days slept almost 'seated' because of kidney problems mainly!

They all used wooden barrels for keeping their meat or bacon through the winter period, in layers of salt. So the sodium intake on average was extremely high during that time.

No wonder that seldom a high age was reached...

As a child I too remember Mom keeping the bacon in the cellar salted inside a wooden barrel.

So even post WWII that was still going on. Till in the 60s and 70s we had access to freezers, locally, where you could rent a compartment for storing the fresh meat and such and from the 70s every household had meanwhile a fridge and a freezer. 

But back in late medieval times, there was nothing else to keep meats fresh or to store other things.

Still remember as a girl that also ceramic pots, inside and outside glazed, used for making Sauerkraut.  The salted Sauerkraut got weighted and pressed down inside those crocks. 

Here you also see dried meats hanging from the ceiling, just to let them cure.

We also kept a Curing Cabinet for hams and other meats. 

That's how we used to survive... and of course eating eggs as they were available year long!

Please click for some interesting photos from: French Lit-Clos/Dutch Bedstee/Box-bed or Closet-Bed late medieval Western European Furniture on my Pinterest board.

It is quite interesting to go back in time for getting an idea of how our ancestors survived!

Thanks for your vist and comment.

Netherlands Open Air Museum with Mom & Dad and American Colleague's Wife | previous post by me