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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

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

{Saint Nicholas | Sinterklaas}


For 3 years and 1 month, I have done free lance writing and features for our local newspaper The Courier Herald, Dublin Georgia. So why not share one of my articles with you here today, as it is the perfect time. 
In many countries, tomorrow is the 'big' day for children. By MARIET(TE) VEDDER (read below the story WHY I changed my name)...
The wooden shoe with the red heart is actually my personal shoe when I was 3 years old...
Below this post you find a link: {Our Living Room} where you can see those wooden shoes in front of the fire place.

In the Netherlands, families decorate their homes for Christmas and have Christmas trees just like in the United States. The big difference between the celebration of the two countries is in the gift–giving. In Holland it is not done on Christmas day, but on Dec. 5, Saint Nicholas Day. This is the name day of St. Nicholas who was the Bishop of Myra in Turkey. As legend goes, he bathed and fed and gave each of the 500 poor children of Myra a gift on his day. 
See video about the true history below post — The Origine of Santa Claus
Now Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated in many countries. In Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Germany and Belgium, as well as in the Netherlands, this is the day when gifts are exchanged among family members, and for the children in particular there are all sorts of other rituals connected with Saint Nicholas.

Every night from Dec. 1 on, Dutch children put in front of the fireplace a wooden shoe filled with hay and a carrot for the bishop's horse and cookies and candy for Saint Nicholas and his helper, Peter.  They also write a letter to Saint Nicholas wherein they mention their 'wishes' for the 5th of December. To make sure that it gets his attention, it goes in the wooden shoe, too.
Every morning the children find the wooden shoe empty, which means to them that Saint Nicholas, who rides on his white horse over the rooftops, sent his helper, Peter, down the chimney to pick up the goodies. Saint Nicholas always used a Moorish 'Peter' as a helper because he had to go down the chimney, for this is a 'black' job. 
Then on the evening of the 5th of December, Saint Nicholas personally visits the families and Peter hands out the gifts from a big burlap sack.
If the children behaved all year, they are praised. But if a child has misbehaved, Peter threatens to put him or her in the burlap sack and take them back to Spain. The children sing a song for the charitable duo, and Peter throws little cookies (pepernoten) at them -- not to hurt them but to reward them for their sweet serenade. 
And the nice thing about all this is, that when Christmas Day finally comes, there is another little present under the tree.
Could it be that the expression 'Double Dutch' comes from this?
For those that don't read English I have typed the entire text again, so they can translate it.
Funny is that in 1985, December 4, was also on a Wednesday...
My writing at that time got edited by the editor of the news paper.
So now you know the story of Saint Nicholas. It were the Dutch that brought Sinterklaas to the New World, to New Amsterdam. Present day New York in The New Netherlands. The Dutch word Sinterklaas morphed into Santa Claus... See link below about the origin of Santa Claus.
Lots of people seem to be searching for TRUE HISTORY! 

Related links:
LinkedIn Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder scroll down for reading: Free lance writer and features 
{Our Living Room} previous post where you can see my wooden shoes in front of the fire place
The Origin of Santa Claus Video about history, listen till the end to hear how Sinterklaas morphed into Santa Claus...
{# 148 and my blog is 1 year old today!} previous blog post where I explain WHY I changed to  Mariette

Monday, December 3, 2012

{First Week of Advent 2012}

We already have started in our First Week of Advent for 2012... On Sunday morning the 1st candle got lit at Church and this brings us into the Advent mood; leading towards Christmas.
Traditionally the mood of Advent is expressed in the liturgical color of violet but I used red...
In its earliest form, beginning in France, Advent was a period of preparation for the Feast of the Epiphany. 
Fresh rosemary twigs emit a lovely fragrance...
Candle is French from Point A La Ligne.
Red rose ribbon is also French.
Vase is French, by Baccarat
Pineapple doily is hand crocheted by my sister-in-law Elly.

Wishing you all a meaningful First Week of Advent for 2012.

Related link:

Sunday, December 2, 2012

{Our Rose Suite Kitchenette}

Let's go back to Our Rose Suite and continue the tour... This time I would love to show you Our Rose Suite Kitchenette that is built into our Rose Suite Living Room. If you missed any of the previous posts, all links you find beneath this post.
Previous post was about Our Rose Suite Living Room. You are facing the door to the Rose Suite bedroom here.
Before turning to our Rose Suite Kitchenette I want to show you this remarkable wood carved wreath with roses from the artisans of Tyrol in northern Italy. Paired with some romantic wall hangings.
In order to show all the details I used the flash but that reflects in the lady's hair...
the little oval is under glass and it is mounted on velvet in an ornamental frame.
This came from a Dutch estate.
Back to my favorite wooden wreath with roses. Can you imagine that such a piece has been hand carved out of a single piece? Its bows are all gilded and that is about the only touch needed here.
Those long snowy winters in the mountains of Tyrol, northern Italy, do have their people produce quite some unique wood carvings. All done by hand!
Here you see the gilding on the bow...
Are those roses and leaves not perfectly done?
We always bought such a unique piece after doing consulting work in Germany. 
Near my home town in The Netherlands, there is a Pilgrimage place, Kevelaer ←click link) and they have loads of wood carvings from Tyrol. Right now it would be a treat to go and see all the wooden Christmas villages they have.
Our foster daughter Anita, from Indonesia, did go with us to Kevelaer, in November of 2008 and she snapped so many photos of the Christmas villages...
Now let's turn to the Kitchenette... Between two pillars we could just place our toilet and the kitchenette is partly on top of the big pillar. They tapered down towards the top but the problem was, they were not straight-walled. Our cabinetmaker did however manage to make a cabinet against the tapering wall. Guess in all, we pretty well managed to build in everything that is necessary for a little Suite where guests can live on their own with complete privacy and even manage to have breakfast and coffee or tea independently; if needed.
A large fridge with freezer part is around the corner in the pantry. There is an Atag stainless steel sink with Danish Damixa faucet with hot and cold water. A water cooker and also a single hot plate is available and small microwave.
Plates, cups & saucers and glasses are in the cupboards.
Here you see the door to the corridor...
Paper towel holder and underneath are a mixer, cutlery box and also dish rack.
Table for two is nearby and it has a drawer under neath.
Glass shelves we built into the corners, using Danish Damixa chrome holders.
Towel holder is also a chrome Danish Damixa.
Round stainless steel Atag sink and the counter is Corian.
Coffee made can also be carried on the tray to the little bistro table and chairs, on the patio at the entrance...
Sure, tins with roses for coffee and cookies. Those I found in Kevelaer, Germany one time and they came home with us on the plane.
Goose egg with rose, on a stand.
Nice Rose Silver Napkin holder...
Okay, let's have a coffee or a tea and relax together!
Did you like our Rose Suite so far?
Dear husband Pieter literally went the extra mile for creating all this.
We have slept here the last couple of weeks while our bathroom got remodeled upstairs.
So it is convenient not only for guests but at times even for ourselves.
Have a lovely weekend!



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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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