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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 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 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Show all posts

Saturday, December 31, 2022

December 31 With Pieter J.C. Vedder Visiting Sitanala Leprosy Hospital in Indonesia

 Just wanting to take you back to Indonesia during the time we did still consulting, after having lived and worked there for about 3 years.
So you get to see how we spent New Year's Eve...
December 31, 1998
Grateful for Gil Gillis from TV 35 (at that time) for putting this together for us to show to the Rotarians and others.
En route to our work, on December 31, 1998, we visited Sitanala to deliver a donation from the Dublin, Georgia Rotary Club and Friends. 
Hand delivering the cash US Dollars to Father S. Binzler, a Jesuit, who worked with the leprosy patients on their designated compound.
On November 04, 1989 Princess Diana visited the very same Sitanala Leprosy Hospital.

On the following video you also will see shocking images of the damaged and burned buildings of the Chinese Christians, who ran the businesses for the majority.
In May and November of 1998, those 'rioters' damaged some 6,000 buildings and tortured, raped and killed some 1,200...
It was for me personally the closest I've ever come to a war zone.
Pieter starts out with his finger on the map showing our route of flight for reaching our 'work' destiny:
Atlanta, Georgia/USA on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to Amsterdam, then on to Singapore and finally reaching Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.


Happy New Year to ALL!

Saturday, August 27, 2022

On August 29 in 1983 we arrived as Immigrants in Georgia, USA


 Hard to believe that on August 29 of 1983, now 39 years ago, we flew with our Mauzie–girl on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines from Amsterdam to Atlanta...
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! đŸ‡ș🇾
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:

Monday, April 25, 2022

Our Amaryllis Bloomed Beautifully

 Amaryllis can be so REWARDING!
On April 3, I made this photo of our Amaryllis in the veranda.
It had three blooms on a rather thick stem!
You can see our Delftware houses on the ledge in the window.
A collection from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines over the years...
On April 16, this photo got taken.
 After we'd returned from Charleston, a second stem had come up with three more huge blooms!
Amaryllis are so rewarding and we got this already for years, see links below post.


Related links:

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

The Silver Bond Pin was awarded to Mrs. Vedder-Peer

Husband Pieter's Mom was the first secretary of the local association and she received a federal award.
This was on Thursday, November 20 in 1986.
Mr. Hermkens of the Federal Board, pinning on the federal silver award for Mrs. Vedder, the first secretary of the local association.
Mrs. Vedder's personal copy that she mailed to the USA...
April 1987... quite a while later!
Queen Juliana with Prince Bernhard on the cover of
LIFE'S
WINDOW
Department Horst 'Lambertus-Norbertus'
On Thursday November 20 of 1986, the 25th anniversary of this department got celebrated.
The festivity started with a eucharistic celebration, with the theme of supporting each other. 
During the party meeting, Mr. Hermkens did pin on the gold and silver awards.
On Saturday November 22, a reception took place that enjoyed a lot of interest from all groups and associations of the population of Horst. The mayor then opened the exhibition 'Elderly and their hobbies'.
Festive celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Catholic Association for the Elderly.
This was in the local newspaper and Pieter's Mom mailed it to us, inside her not yet dried up handwritten airmail letter... hence the ink marks.

Did you notice that my 91-year old Mother-in-law was wearing a hair net?
Popular at that time, especially during windy weather, instead of having to use hairspray.
Eco friendly but that is all gone now...
This was exactly three years + 1 day before her death on November 21, 1989 when we were living and working in Italy.
A timely honor...!
Saying our goodbye to Pieter's Mom...
Too bad, she closed her eyes and we had these developed back in the USA, no way of going back and doing it over!
Pieter having said farewell to his Mom on November 7, before departing back to Georgia/USA...
This was our 9th trip back to The Netherlands on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
We went to Regensburg before, for attending the German Mushroom Conference.
Me, after our goodbye. Standing in front of this newly built Elderly Home.
Wearing my favorite boots, also gifted one time by our Italian mushroom friends.
Pieter standing near the entrance/exit with a new gift, his 'The Bridge' fine Italian leather bag.
Our Italian mushroom friends gifted Pieter a nice blue Burberry shirt and this leather bag on November 3, for some advice during our barely three days being in Italy before flying back to DĂŒsseldorf, Germany.
~
We had also driven in our Fiat Uno rental car, all the way to Regensburg in Germany for the German Mushroom Conference and from there by car to Bordeaux in France, see links below.
There was very little time for being with family but we tried our best.
It is so sad that the entire building is GONE and new apartments have been built on this spot.
Government policies have changed and elderly have to stay at home, or being cared for by their children; called 'informal care'...
Unie Katholieke Bond van Ouderen - Catholic Union of the Elderly existed from 1958-2006
Sector: Charity and social work

Times have changed!

Related links:

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

My 2nd Trip to Jakarta and in Heeroom's Footsteps

Jakarta City Museum
On December 9, 1986 we arrived in Jakarta and stayed on my 2nd trip, at the Mandarin Oriental
Feeling like being home again!
All the way from Atlanta to Amsterdam and from there we flew to Kuwait, Singapore and on to Jakarta aboard another KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Too bad we stayed only for one night but would be back again on December 18 for two nights.
We had 1.5 hour free time from our boss and went shopping in Sabang and found a nice Pierre Balmain belt and Dior handkerchief for Dad...
Also went to the Jakarta Cathedral for following Heeroom's footsteps...
We ate the best Steak au Poivre ever, at the Mandarin's Club Room!
On December 20, we flew to Denpasar, Bali... and from there, to Central Java.
Back again here at the Jakarta Mandarin Oriental on December 27.
Again dinner at the Club Room with once more a delicious Steak au Poivre, as our late Christmas dinner.
So romantic with strongly scented Arabian jasmine buds strewn over the damask tablecloth, which created a perfect atmosphere by candlelight!
On December 28 we took a taxi and went to the Cathedral for the 10:30 Mass.
Arriving at the Cathedral in Jakarta where Heeroom has been...
We were lucky for being at a Javanese wedding Mass where a Frenchman married his Indonesian bride.
Very special...
In the afternoon by 14:30 we went with our driver to the airport and flew to Singapore for yet another mushroom related visit...
~
On Easter Sunday, April 15 of 1990, we again were attending Mass at this Cathedral.
A solemn Mass with the Bishop and two concelebrants.
They had a beautiful choir that sang a Mass of Perosi.

Friday, April 16, 2021

Mom got called MOVIE STAR for once she was the CENTER of ATTENTION!

 

Now 25 years ago but this is such a dear memory of my Mom!
She NEVER was the CENTER of ATTENTION before...
Always a hardworking Mom and without any complaining, she helped Dad in the fields and greenhouses and ran the entire household for nine!
Sure, I've helped her a lot but she never had time off, for visiting with a friend or seeing her own Mother. 
Mom never had a driver's license, so she was pretty much stuck in her kitchen and home.
Dad on the contrary, being a member of two choirs, had to perform regularly, and he sang solos and got lots of attention. 
Mom was proud of him! 
She was an ANGEL and one that never complained...
On March 20, 1996 Mom & Dad flew together with our friend Marianne, who'd visited her son in The Netherlands, from Amsterdam to Atlanta.
So I found it was time for giving her a special gift! On Friday of March 22nd, Pieter went with Dad to his Rotary Club meeting. Just Mom and me, we drove to the next city, about one hour away and we both had Glamour Shots made as it is called.
Mom had NO makeup on, only some powder for reducing shine and LIPSTICK!
Her hair got done with big rollers and then all the garments came out.
The photographer had asked me ahead of time, some Dutch words so he could give her his commands in HER language. 
Mom was so charmed by him and he even spoke Dutch she later in the car said!
Dad was quite impressed when we both got home, she still was radiating, so happy and relaxed and she felt pampered by so much attention.
When we went on Friday March 29, to pick up the photos that I'd selected off the computer screen, Mom & I went out for lunch and some shopping. Returning home, Dad could not believe with what she came home with. One selected photo and all the small ones; he got very 'quiet'...
~
When on that Friday evening, all friends complimented her, including Uncle Bo, as how young she looked compared to her very 1st visit in 1987, eight years earlier, Mom was in heaven and Dad was very, VERY quiet! 
Mom even reprimanded him one time, where she said he had to look nice...
She called it her BEST GIFT EVER so that made both our hearts sing.
A gift well chosen...
Next day she had a hard time saying goodbye at the airport, after I'd checked both of them in First Class on my Royal Wing card from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. They even let all four of us use the Lufthansa lounge which both airlines did share for their first class and business class passengers.
We'd purchased Mom & Dad a regular economy ticket but it was a gift, in return for being able to use their car at times when visiting in The Netherlands...

Related links:
{Mom Did Wear Many Hats} | Showing some of Mom's glamour shots
{Mom Lived 16 Days Short of Her 91st Birthday} | Mom's writing in our guest book after the 1996 visit
{Challenge Accepted + Easter Photos} | previous post writing about Mom's visit when we had photo shoot
{Happy 89th Birthday Dear Mom} | previous post summing up things my Mom taught me

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Happy Reunion with Swiss Kuhn Family & United States Consulate for our Permanent Visa

 

On Sunday, January 22 of 1984, Hans Jörg Kuhn, the son of Jörg Kuhn whom Pieter knew for decades, was our guest.
I'd cooked a delicious dinner, according to Pieter's writing in our diary...
We surely enjoyed our time together!
Hans Jörg Jr. was visiting Dublin to see the new Campbell farm, that Pieter designed, in operation. 
On April 20, 1984 on Good Friday, we both flew with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to Amsterdam, The Netherlands and friend Jan Thielen picked us up at the airport.
Both of us stayed with Pieter's eldest brother in Horst and walked to garage Timmermans for picking up our rental car.
It was Easter Weekend and on Tuesday, we did rise early for catching the 5:50 train to Rotterdam for going to the United States Consulate in their new building, across from the eye surgery hospital where Pieter was a few years earlier for his 1st implant lens...
We first went to the Dutch G.G.D. (Municipal Health Services) for having lung X-rays made. We had to wait for the results and got the images as documentation. 
By metro to another doctor for medical examination and blood tests. 
By 13:30 with these results back to the United States Consulate. By 16:30 we were done after lots of questions, finger prints and solemnly swearing that we had filled in the truth. 
Finally our long day got rewarded with a heavy, sealed parcel, for our Permanent Visa with a bill for 800 Dutch Guilders!
That was the start for both of us to become a United States Citizen but only after living here for five more years, and paying all our taxes and keeping a clean record as everything got checked.
This was during President Reagan's time, with still very strict rules for becoming a United States Citizen!
We never could vote all that time; now all rules are out of the window...
On April 25, 1984 we both flew from DĂŒsseldorf, Germany to ZĂŒrich, Switzerland after first driving one hour...
Jörg Kuhn's daughter Barbara with her husband Max, came to pick us up. 
We had lunch at an old restaurant, high in the mountains with beautiful view.
My FIRST introduction to Switzerland was breathtaking.
Wearing my hand knitted and hand embroidered sweater...
Arriving at the home of Barbara & Max in Waldstatt, Switzerland.
A perfect sunny day... 
Don't you love the lush green meadows, right behind their home?!
I've always said, that IF I have to reincarnate as an animal, I want to be a cow for grazing in the Appenzell area of Switzerland – it almost made me want to stand on 'all fours' for grazing...
With some borrowed shoes we all went hiking...
Resting on a bench...
We climbed up to where snow was still on the ground...
Barbara & Max had somebody pick us up at the road, so we did not have to walk the entire stretch back home!
Doing the hike, poor Pieter got attacked by a German shepherd that tried to bite him!
He managed to kick him off his trouser legs; scary as those were Pieter's ONLY trouser that he'd taken as he'd left his suits hanging on the armoire at his brother's home. 
We got up a bit too late and had to rush, rush...

My 1st day in Switzerland; stay tuned for next post.
Barbara's brother Hans Jörg did stay with us in Dublin, Georgia on September 18 till 21, 1984.
In May of 1985, Hans Jörg Kuhn with their manager August Enzler were our guests in Dublin, Georgia
So we certainly did stay in touch!

Related posts:
Pieter Co-Speaker at ISMS in Amsterdam-Wageningen 1965 | Mentioning Jörg Kuhn Visiting A.G.
{My Hand Knitted & Hand Embroidered Sweater} | About the Hand Embroidered Sweater that I wore
Husband Pieter Doing it ALL | manager August Enzler and Hans Jörg Kuhn on new patio in May 1985

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

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