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
What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. With newly designed graphics from Gapminder, Rosling shows us the magic that pops up when economic growth and electricity turn a boring wash day into an intellectual day of reading.
Sadly, Hans Rosling passed away on February 7, 2017...
This video reminded me of how Mom had to do laundry, by heating the water, in a large copper kettle and with a thick wooden stick, pushing the whites into the hot and soapy substance.
They got then rinsed inside the long tub, with cold water and wringing out by hand.
Sheets hanging over her shoulder and making her wet... cold/wet that is!
As I have helped her as a young girl; I've felt it myself.
While living and working in Indonesia, we had our new home built in Dublin, Georgia after moving all our belongings back from Italy and kept in storage.
In November of 1990 we moved in but had to leave again for Indonesia, for a couple more years.
When not there during construction, all sorts of things can go wrong...
So, finally in January of 1995, husband Pieter got to hang anew our solid oak indoor shutters.
Our contractor had put the mortise hinges in face-mounted and by doing so, they did of course no longer shut...
So they went on by mutilating them even further by sawing the excess on the center (closing) panel off!
The face-mounted hinges resulted in ugly gaps between all panels, causing furniture, rugs, to fade from sunshine and also losing full privacy.
Too bad that such fine craftsmanship by Historic Windows in Virginia got ruined by non-professionals!
When viewing the video on your PC you see at clickable minute 0:30 in text below video, how Pieter painstakingly added narrow strips of wood to the window casing for making the window smaller to fill up the space.
Gaining just a little and then putting the wooden corner strip back on at minute 0:50 and start hanging the shutters anew.
At minute 0:58 Pieter places mortised hinges on correctly instead of face-mounted. Painstakingly chiseling out the space for hinges, precision job... 24 mortise hinges for each window!
At 1:50 hinge is now mortised into the edge of the shutter, thus preventing shutters from 'gaping'.
At 1:59 Pieter is showing how much they actually had CUT off... because they had placed the hinges face-mounted.
At 2:16 showing how Pieter added about 1.5 cm to casing and on other side 0.75 cm to compensate for what they had cut off, then caulking, sanding and painting.
At 3:50 painting in living room with the Dutch World Radio on... flooding in The Netherlands.
Pieter speaks in Dutch as this was our 'spoken' letter for my Parents, back in The Netherlands...
But you still get a very clear idea!
Happy for having those home videos archived!
We selected the CHARLESTON as that is exactly what we got for all doors, except in living room; dining room; kitchen and veranda where we have French doors with 15 glass panels.
Both of us like indoor shutters far better than curtains.
Curtains can become very dusty, and may interfere with certain health issues.
Easy cleaning instead of curtains.
Eco friendly as they insulate very well; both for cooling in summer and heating in winter.
Their historic look is also a big plus.
Too bad that HISTORIC WINDOWS where we got ours for our previous home, after getting rid of all curtains and again for our present home that we moved into in November of 1990, no longer produces...
~
Similar solid wood interior shutters you can find at Colonial Shutters in Mattapoisett, MA
This also shows you, when professionally hung with mortised hinges, they CLOSE!
On July 12, 2000 the day before we had to travel all the way to Jakarta, Indonesia for our 3 weeks of consulting work, we were out of of power due to an enormous thunder storm + rain!
So doing my laundry got halted and while waiting on my machines and having something to do, I started typing the 17 letters to all our relatives and friends...
Got done by 2:30 AM and after reading them all, Pieter would put them back inside their envelope and put the stamp etc. on.
Good feeling always!
Yes, I sure am a PITBULL and will not easy let go of things till DONE!
Making the best out of such a power outage and getting it ALL done.
We only had come back home from two weddings in Europe, shortly before this work trip so things got kind of back–to–back but my Pieter and I always have been able to handle it.
Being 2 consecutive nights on the plane, we would collapse in our chairs!!!
Next day at the Atlanta Airport waiting for boarding on our 22nd trip to work in Indonesia...
Atlanta to Amsterdam and from there on another flight to Singapore and on to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Feeling good for having accomplished a lot before taking off!
So, this is how a PITBULL looks...
In Amsterdam, at Schiphol airport and of course using the coin booth for calling Mom & Dad
~
On August 6, we were home again.
That's how we accumulated our 1,500,000 miles in the air and more!
Trip # 50 to Amsterdam from Atlanta we made on June 23, for attending the wedding of Pieter's brother's adopted daughter... and also of our German 'son' on July 1st and back home on July 6.
So only 6 days in-between... That forced one for being VERY PRODUCTIVE!
By the way, on September 9, 1986 I still was a member of the POETRY CLUB...
The above 'whale' was my design for writer Uncle Bo Whaley
