About Me

My photo
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

Thursday, August 15, 2013

{HOME SWEET HOME}

Not only for both of us and our felines we got a roof above our head, but also for our many garden birds.
Have a look at this very cute HOME SWEET HOME Bird House that we received as a gift from our German 'Son' and his family. We hung it on our Holly tree so we can see it from the kitchen bay window and from the veranda. It has been a favorite with birds!
Indeed: HOME SWEET HOME
Here you see the gazebo in view, still with the old roof on...
Just to put it into perspective, here you can see the HOME SWEET HOME Bird House against the stem of the holly tree. Nice at eye level for us to watch the Carolina wrens fly in and out while we enjoy breakfast or have our tea in the veranda.
Also the hummingbird feeder (one of several) is next to the bay window and in view.
Do you have any bird houses within view at your home? Or hummingbird feeders?

Related link:
{New Power Wiring to Our Gazebo} | previous post by me showing the HOME SWEET HOME bird house
{Our Home with Aluminum Interlock Roofing and Benjamin Moore Golden Mist Exterior} | previous post by me

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

{Our Home with Aluminum Interlock Roofing and Benjamin Moore Golden Mist Exterior}

Now, here comes the final REVEAL! Our completed home with the Aluminum Interlock Metal Roofing and the Benjamin Moore Golden Mist Exterior... We have waited long enough, for having better weather to take photos, but that never happened. Only now our balcony has been completed as well. As I write this, not yet painted by the very same professional painters that did our entire exterior of the home and the gazebo. When that is done, you will get more photos from the back of our home with the balcony as well.
Photo has been taken on June 24, you see how gray the sky looks; pregnant with rain...
LOTS of rain we have had.
We got so lucky for having the roof installed in 4 days with perfect weather and also for the painters we had 3 weeks of perfect weather.
Needless to say that our lawn is GREEN... but soggy!
The Benjamin Moore Golden Mist color works perfect with the Aluminum Slate Roofing in Aged Copper color. We did our very best to lower our Carbon Footprint and it pays off!
The shutters are in a Chrome Green and the windows and all the Vintage Woodworks gingerbread wood trim, balusters and posts are in white.
What do you say?
The indoor shutters are not fully open... 
The white hibiscus are blooming in front of our home.
Now let's walk around the corner towards the bay window area.
This photo I made on August 6, the same gray sky and very pregnant with rain.
Our Speckie girl followed me, as they all usually do – like a doggy.
This is back to June 24, with the white petunias just having been planted inside our Fiberglass Window Boxes.
There was so much to do after the painters did pressure wash the house.
Next they caulk it and painted it with two layers of Benjamin Moore paint in Golden Mist.
We had to take all the Window Boxes off the walls, as it had to be bare.
Than putting them back on, filling them with potting soil and finding plants in summer time...
A little bit closer for the picture.
Our prostrate gardenias are blooming too.
Now you can see the gazebo coming in view as well and that too has a new  aluminum 'aged copper' roof.
All our trees are so lush this summer with that much rain.
More view of he gazebo.
Below the large dogwood tree, no grass is growing in the shade...
Now it is pure mud!
One last view of the Benjamin Moore Golden Mist with Chrome Green for the shutters.
You can see here that the balusters are still not on the balcony. 
I will show that later with the complete back side and in another post also you get to see our gazebo.

All those planter boxes had to come off the walls, and back on...

Our youngest cat-man 'Smokey' walks here on the driveway.
I found him up in the magnolia tree next to the driveway to the left (not visible here).
Somebody must have put him out there. A poor kitten; literally skin over bone.
He was trying to steal some morsels from our cats but there was not much left...
Smokey is part Persian and we got him back to good health. He was so sick at first.
Cowards that put him out like that and they had even tried to kill him as he was so tender on his back and also his tail. He barely could 'talk' and his throat was very sensitive to touching.
God knows what this poor soul went through before I did hear him, thinking there was a hawk rustling those magnolia leaves...

That was so far the update on our home and on Smokey!


Related links:
{Our Interlock Aluminum Slate Roofing Being Installed} | previous post by me
Never Re-Roof Again | link with full info, scroll down for reading more
Interlock Roofing | Manufacturer of Lifetime Roofing Systems. Never re-roof again
{Energy Efficient GREEN Roofing Arrived} | previous post by me
{Our Home on March 24 of 2013} | previous post by me showing the BEFORE
{Fighting the Water + Scanning Slides} | previous post by me showing the result of gutters running over...
Flower Framers of Cincinnati | Source for Fiberglass Window Boxes


Sunday, August 11, 2013

{Our Wooden Balusters Repurposed}

When renovating the home there comes a point where you look at certain things that become trash and others that we still can REPURPOSE. Such was the case with our Vintage Woodworks Balusters. Several were rotting away, while others were still in perfect condition. 
Let's have a look...
Husband Pieter created this very romantic bridge across our creek, using what was left from the Vintage Woodworks Balusters on our Balcony.
This photo is from August 1, after he had painted the balusters and treated the bridge with a wood preservative.
This was on May 11, the Interlock Aluminum Roof by Interlock Metal Roofing had already been installed.
Next project was to strip the balcony before the painters would start pressure washing the entire house.
Off came the partly rotten balusters with their top and bottom rails attached.
From a different angle... Those rails with balusters measure 12 ft each!
Husband Pieter on the ladder, taking that corner post down...
Our gas tank will also be moved, in winter time, when it is no longer that hot for working outside.
A new concrete platform in front of the chimney, will hold it and there its color also blends in better.
Our Jasmine pots will go onto the old concrete platform. We learned a lot about mud splashing up on all our flower pots. Having concrete for placing them on, will avoid most of the soiling with mud.
One baluster with rails attached is down...
Taking it apart for REPURPOSING...
On the rain side, it is really rot...
How many times Pieter did repair it with epoxy over the years, but we had to give up.
New polyurethane balusters and rails with posts got ordered in Texas from Vintage Woodworks, so we never again will face any rotten wood.
Now, let me walk you across the lawn towards the creek, into our wood garden...
Look what Pieter built from the remaining good balusters and posts!
That looks quite romantic doesn't it?
Vintage Woodworks balusters and all three corner posts repurposed!
Our creek looks messy still from all the drift wood that came floating with the many floodings of last month.
For weeks, Pieter could not finish this bridge, as it was with the lower parts sitting IN the water...
Below post you find a short 1:29 minute video, taken with my iPhone on July 13.
These photos are from August 1.
Don't be fooled by its size; the center section measures 3.66 m or 12 ft + the two slanted sections...
It really looks beautiful to me.
What do you say?
Aha, we crossed the bridge and looking now towards our newly painted home. Your very first view of it on the driveway side. More to follow soon!
How many leaves got knocked down by all those thunderstorms accompanied by heavy rains...
We got very murky water, due to a damaged water pipe, two streets down.
On Saturday we were without water for quite some time!
Looking down from the bridge.
An entire beach from white sand has been build up from all the flooding.
Pieter had this fine sand for free for redoing our washed concrete path towards the gazebo.
Just hauling it on the wheel barrow.
In the back you see the huge pipe that goes underneath the road.
Since that pipe for drinking water got damaged and all the mud run into the creek, we have not had enough rain to wash it out again.
A beach with sand, still wet and muddy...
Lots of weeds growing but we cannot even mow the lawn near the creek as it is way too soggy!
Hope you enjoyed our bridge from our wooden balusters being REPURPOSED.
Next post you will get to see our finished home...

Related link:
Rainy July Day in Georgia II - iPhone upload | short Youtube video showing you the bridge in high water
{Our New 3rd Bridge} | previous post by me


Friday, August 9, 2013

{World Cat-Day 2013}

According to Cute Calender, August 8 is World Cat Day. Let's hope that more and more people, world wide will take full responsibility of their felines. That includes neuter and spay them in order to limit the problems that already do exist because of irresponsible pet owners. May there also be more respect for animals in general, not only felines. There is still way too much animal cruelty in this world! May more felines end up living like our 5 siblings...
Here they are, only five months old at that time. All five of them lounging in our bedroom on the cotton mat.
We lost Sacha-girl, the one with the white underbelly...
Here they are again, eating breakfast; almost two years old now. Sacha-girl is at the very end. The one in front of her is Barty who is three years older.
Nice family and so well behaved!
To us it is such a joy.
We recall the UPS man one winter day coming into our garage and all pet beds were occupied by our felines... He laughed at the sight.
To us they are a treasure!
Do you have cats?
Or Friend Cats that lounge around the house...?
Peekaboo... look under that left chair. Friend Cat is lounging against the gazebo step.
And... you just caught a glimpse of our newly painted exterior!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

{Our Interlock Aluminum Aged Copper Slate Roofing}

As promised in my previous post about Our Interlock Aluminum Slate Roofing Being Installed, here is Part II. This post will show you also very clear the Aluminum Aged Copper Slate so you finally will understand what it really looks like. 
This is at the end of day two, the front of our home is finished.
We had a crew of three men working very hard. Each late afternoon they gathered meticulously all scrap material and cleaned up. To the left you see one crew member at work.
By the time they left, the place looked tidy and neat.
Now you know... This is Aluminum Slate in Aged Copper. The color looks like terra cotta in a way, depending on the shine of course. It makes a difference if it is a sunny day or not.
If you want to read more about this Energy Efficient GREEN Roofing; you find the Energy Star Roof Product list in a link below this post with full information, also on Reflectance.
The gutter guards are new ones, from Home Depot. The old ones got removed.
Above our veranda and now the bay window area and above the dining room as last part.
Notice the sample spots where husband Pieter did try out our Benjamin Moore paint in Golden Mist?
Here they are, above the dining room and front porch, the final part...
You can see how dirty those gutters and the house are.
Pressure wash was the next thing we had done before having it painted in two coats.
Cloudy, but no rain...
We got so lucky for all those four days that they worked on our roof.
Yep, making progress in lowering our Carbon Footprint for the rest of our life!
Nearing the end...
do you like these Aged Copper Aluminum Slates?
One more detail. They really do look like natural Slates and the Aged Copper is a good color too.
Now the problem we had in February, was that those gutters got all clogged up with the sand that washed down by the rain from the asphalt shingles. The rain water ran over those gutters and than it entered the foundation...
It's done! Hard to capture with such overcast but you get the picture I guess.
Stepping back further...
Very hard to capture this Aluminum roof in Aged copper slate, with its reflection...
How many holly leaves that are on the ground...
Well, I must admit that before the roofers started out, husband Pieter had given all trees around the house a hair cut. Big branches got cut off, especially from the live oak tree.
Also the tree in front of our home lost quite some lower branches.
Lots of HARD WORK!
Tidying up the place...
These two photos are actually from the end of day two but I want to end with this view...
This is May 11, the day after they had come in the morning for gathering all their tools and leave the finished job.
The sky looks so pregnant with rain...
Tiny Tiggy-Tiger girl is dreaming...
By cutting off the lower branches of this tree, the house now is visible once again!
Here you can see that husband Pieter has taken down the wooden balustrade from the balcony...
The painters would start the next week with pressure washing.
Than the caulking and painting of two coats in Benjamin Moore Golden Mist and the shutters also in a darker Chrome Green.
You will get to see the end results soon!
And YES, our gazebo got also a new Interlock Metal Roofing in Aged Copper Slates!
Funny to see that sample spot in Benjamin Moore Golden Mist...
That's how it will be entirely.
New fan for the gazebo as well.
Hope you enjoyed this post and that you learned something about Saving Energy by putting on a Lifetime Aluminum Roof.
This material is available to all of Canada and the USA.
We both are very pleased with it and especially with the lower utility bills we got since!

Related links:
{Our Interlock Aluminum Slate Roofing Being Installed} | previous post by me
Never Re-Roof Again | link with full info, scroll down for reading more
Interlock Roofing | Manufacturer of Lifetime Roofing Systems. Never re-roof again
{Energy Efficient GREEN Roofing Arrived} | previous post by me
{Our Home on March 24 of 2013} | previous post by me showing the BEFORE
{Fighting the Water + Scanning Slides} | previous post by me showing the result of gutters running over...


Monday, August 5, 2013

{Our Double Orange Daylily or Hemerocallis}

On July 28, a dear blogger friend, Suzi from The Smart Cat, did post about Good and Bad... When scrolling down, past her hippo, you will find her double orange dailily. As a reply to the comment that I left her she stated that she would love to see Our Double Orange Dailily or Hemerocallis. In keeping that promise, here it is:
These beauties are a gift as they just showed up on our property.
Birds? Who knows...
They show large raindrops in this photo, taken on June 17 by husband Pieter after he just had buried our Sacha-girl...
Maybe those were tears from heaven?
Lots of raindrops and lots of weeds too.
No chance this year for tidying our garden.
The hose on the ground has not been used at all this summer.
Just the other day when Pieter went to work on the bridge, near the road, he noticed some sloppy mess near our electric pump. Something orange sticking out... When he went to check it out he noticed that his heavy duty 100 ft extension cord had been cut off and stolen! Since there was absolutely no use for running the pump to water the plants with all our torrential rains, he had not noticed it before.
Nice people that trespass one's property for stealing things!
They might cash in on all the copper that is inside for getting cash in order to buy some more dope...

Related links:
{Daylily Stella D'Oro} | previous post by me
{Daylily White Tuxedo} | previous post by me

Copyright:

MARIETTE'S BACK TO BASICS © 2009. All rights reserved - Text and images may not be copied for distribution or sale.

213 Countries visited with 277 flags since:

free counters

Total Pageviews

Blog Archive

Google Analytics

Labels

4th of July (8) Accordion (8) Advent (24) ALL SAINTS DAY | ALL SOULS DAY (2) Aluminum Roofing (11) Amaretti cookies (15) American Airlines (4) American Mushroom Institute (2) Angels (123) Angels We Know By Name (12) Archiving (32) Arizona (19) Australia (25) Auto Immune Disease (12) Ava Grace's closet (10) Baccarat Crystal (65) Backyard Wildlife HABITAT Certificate (8) Barlow Tyrie Capri Lounger (2) Bathing Suits (10) BB and L (4) Belgium (2) Benjamin Moore (14) Biking (34) Birthdays (39) Blissful Relationship (129) Blog Award (20) Blog Pageviews (15) Blogger I Admire (33) Blogger Tips (27) Bobèches (6) Bok Tower (3) Bridal Gowns (6) Britex Fabrics (12) Britex Notions (10) Bulgaria (3) Burberry (33) Burberry Tuxedo (6) Bypass Surgery (8) Cable Car (5) Camille Tharaud (9) Campbell Soup (42) Canada (31) Canada Rail Vacations (4) Candles (40) Carbon Footprint (10) Carillon (2) Cat Nurse (1) Cathedral/Basilica/Church (96) Ceramic Chandelier (6) Certified Podologist (2) Chanel (20) Chaperon (5) Cherubs (20) Childhood (19) Chile (7) China (15) Chocolate (33) Christie's (30) Christmas (63) Christofle (28) Christofle (Memoire) David Rosenberg (11) Chronic Kidney Disease (15) Citizen Journalism (10) CitizenM (2) Coffee Cup (5) Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass (8) Communism (15) Conference (35) Congress (29) Consulting (152) Costco (2) Countries visited (38) Courtesy (1) Croatia (1) Curaçao (14) D.S. Mullis (Author) (1) Dad (119) Damixa (7) Danish (6) Daughter (68) De Gaerde (1) Declaration of Independence (6) Delft Polychrome (1) Delftware houses (11) Delta Airlines (11) Denmark (2) Dessert (10) Diabetes (13) Diabetes type 2 (22) Diabetes type 2 Recipe (10) Dialysis (13) Dieng Plateau (2) Dining with Royalty (1) DMC (28) DNA (6) Doensen Sfeerhaarden (2) Domain Name (1) Door Décor (1) Doris Plaster (1) Down Duvets (6) Dupuytren's Contracture (3) Dutch American Heritage Day (5) Dutch King's Day (5) Dutch Queen's Day (4) Dweilen (3) Easter (27) Eco Friendly (31) Eco Storage (4) Edible flowers (11) Education (81) Edward Bok (6) Energy Star (10) England (17) Escada (143) Etiquette Training (5) Fairmont Hotels (16) Family (165) Family Memories (122) Filet Lace (12) Filet Lace Embroidered (4) First Lady Melania Trump (3) Fleur de Lys (11) France (6) FREEDOM (12) French (71) French Country Style (55) French Lavender Sachets (5) Friendship (278) From Pilgrim to President (2) Genocide (2) Georgia (36) Georgia State Flag (4) Germany (12) Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet (17) Gevaphone (4) Gift from Blogger Friend (36) Gillis Video (7) Giovanni Raspini Charms and Co (42) Giovanni Raspini Silver Desk Items (11) Giovanni Raspini Silver Frames (11) Giovanni Raspini Silver Gifts (17) GIVEAWAY (23) Going Green (36) Graham H. Boonzaaier (5) Grand Canyon (4) Graze Picking (1) Hand Crocheted (106) Hand Embroidered (28) Hand Knitted (29) Hand made Lace (23) Happy New Year (10) Hawaii (5) Healthy Heart (21) Healthy heart recipe (27) Healthy Living (74) Heart Attack (19) Heeroom (13) Helicopter (2) Hermès (2) High Tea (8) Highlights of the Mississippi Cruise (8) Holocaust (1) Hong Kong (7) House Blessing (2) Hungary (16) Hurricane (4) Hyatt (121) I Will Follow Him (1) India (44) Indonesia (23) Interlock Metal Roofing (15) International Workshop & Seminar (2) Irok gallery (13) ISMS (34) Italy (58) Japan (7) Kashmir (9) Kichler Xenon Under Counter Lights (2) KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (57) Kruisherenhotel (1) Lace (6) Lacquered Brass Window Decorations (14) Lampe Berger (11) Lampes Berger A Century of History by Gérald Vilcocq (10) Language (71) Last Call by Neiman Marcus (24) Lavender Sachet (4) Le Chameau (2) Le Jacquard Français (37) Leather Coat (4) Leather Garments Factory (12) Leather Shorts (2) Leather Skirt (3) Leather Vest (5) Leprosy Infection (5) Leprosy Project (10) Leprosy STIGMA (8) Limburg (51) Limoges (18) Limoges Table Lamp (7) Log Cabin (6) Logee's (12) Maharaja Amarinder Singh of Patiala (1) Mainstream Media (1) Margraten (6) Marl Caves (12) Mason's Patent Ironstone Mandalay (18) Maximum Baggage Weight (10) Meeting Blogger Friend (9) Mega Task (46) Memorial Day (8) Mexico (25) Miele (18) Millinery (13) Mom (135) Montblanc pens (1) Moral Compass (19) Mushroom Cultivation (72) Mushroom Editorial Review (24) Mushroom Quality Criteria (23) Mushroom Technology Transfer Seminar (10) Mushrooms Canada (4) Mushrooms in our Garden (21) My Boots (26) My French Connection (2) My Hats (18) My Publications (7) My Sewing Creation (55) Nativity Scene (6) New Netherland (3) New Orleans (11) New Orleans School of Cooking (2) New York City (28) Organ (15) Original Content (32) Ormolu (6) Our Balcony (17) Our Bathroom (8) Our Bird Feeders (10) Our Bird Houses (16) Our Bridges and Wood Trail (60) Our Canine (31) Our Dutch Clock (3) Our Felines (169) Our Fiberglass Window Boxes (34) Our Flower Bulbs (69) Our Flowering Shrubs (135) Our Flowering Trees (31) Our Flowering Vines (37) Our Flowers (63) Our Fragrant Flowers (175) Our Garden (60) Our Garden Critters (81) Our Gazebo (57) Our Greenhouse (22) Our Home (163) Our Life in Indonesia (76) Our Life in Italy (36) Our Magnolias (56) Our Palm Trees (20) Our Pet Squirrel (1) Our Pond (28) Our Pot Plants (52) Our Rose Arbor (5) Our Rose Suite (17) Our Roses (61) Our Shrubs (7) Our Trees (54) P.J.C. Vedder's Memoirs (274) P.J.C. Vedder's Publications (87) Patio (35) Pearls (28) People to People Citizen Ambassador Program (28) Plagiarism (6) Poem (1) Poinsettia (7) Poland (1) Pond's India (23) Pre-Diabetes (9) Prednisone (9) Princess Diana (10) Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold (32) Quotes (63) Religious Paper Lace (2) Relive (54) Replacements Ltd. (19) REPOUSSE Silver (10) Resilientista (31) Ristorante da Maria (35) Romania (5) Romantic Boxes with Pansies (2) Romantic Rose Boxes (7) Rose Jewelry (10) Rose silverware (65) Rose Stepping Stones (5) Roses (6) Rösle (7) Rotary International (6) Royal Mail (1) Saint Nicholas (13) Saint Valentine's Day (14) Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th (12) Santa Barbara Plantation (3) Santa Claus (12) Saving Energy (18) Scraped Content (9) Serbia (2) Servitude (1) Silver Knife Rests (19) Sinden Award (13) Singapore Airlines (1) Singing (38) Sinterklaas (10) Skiing (5) Socialism (8) South Africa (20) Spain (1) SPAWN MATE SYMPOSIUM (2) Spectrenoir (94) Storage and Organizing (6) Super Power Readers (4) Sweden (2) Switzerland (13) Table Setting (32) Taiwan (3) Tanner Krolle (4) Tavel (1) Tea (25) Tea Cup (15) Thailand (2) Thanksgiving (11) The Bridge (13) The Netherlands (22) Theodore Haviland France (2) Toile de Jouy (5) Tornado (3) Toyota RAV4 (14) Transparent Acrylic Bolts and Nuts (3) Travel (436) Travel by Rail (25) Tropical Thunderstorms (4) Uncle Bo Whaley (18) UNESCO World Heritage Site (22) United States Citizenship (11) United States Flag (14) Vases (101) Viking River Cruise (10) Vintage Lampe Berger (13) Vintage Woodworks (34) Vinyl Picket Fence (22) Water Control (20) Wedding (13) Wedding Anniversary (22) WeFie (14) WGXA.TV (3) Wolford (22) Wool Fedora Hat (8) World Bank (2) World Leprosy Day (4) World Polio Day (3) Writing (100) Yves Delorme (8) Yves Saint Laurent (3) Zegna (13)