A SHORT JOURNEY INTO DULLSTROOM MPUMALANGA

 Brunsvigia, Dullstroom, Mpumalanga 2021Brunsvigia, Dullstroom, Mpumalanga 2021Please have a look at my GALLERY page for a number of images of Dullstroom, Mpumalanga. That visit of me and my wife during February 2021 was rather eventful in that I still have living proof of our visit there: plants that I cultivated! Eucomis and brunsvigia. The eucomis was familiar to me because I have some in my garden - the story of those plants are below. BRUNSVIGIABrunsvigia?...

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THINKING BACK TO MY VERY EARLY CHILDHOOD WHILE I AM SITTING IN MY SPECIAL GARDEN

Lush green fern - as a child we never had ferns like these Gardens and steam trains. I grew up with steam trains. But not with gardens. I think we were too poor to have a garden - I mean a big, lush garden overflowing with beautiful scented flowers and exotic plants. We didn't even have friends with that type of garden. Do I regret it? No - absolutely not. I grew up with steam trains fired up with coal. You could see the smouldering coal inside...

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THE NEW YEAR 2022 AND WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING SINCE MY LAST POST?

 Wild olive  tree [olea africana] in my previous home in Morningside SandtonYou may ask me what have I been doing with myself? Well, a lot of things happened in the meantime. All of a sudden I realised that I am not the world's greatest blogger! I assure you that a lot of things happened. The photograph of this wild olive tree [olea africana] is standing in the garden of my previous home in Morningside, Sandton. My wife planted it...

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WHAT IS THAT CONTRAPTION OVER THERE? LOOK. THINK. ASK QUESTIONS.

That contraption?My first story: My wife and I walked into this embroidery shop and I saw it immediately. No, I must correct myself just in case you misunderstand me. I didn't see it. This contraption shouted at me! It shouted at me: "Hi Neels, please look at me! I am standing on this top shelf for years and years and years and nobody takes notice of me!" I felt so sorry for it. I called a shop assistant and pointed it out and asked: "What is that?" "What?" She...

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MY PLUMBER IS A MAN WHO LIVES A LIFE OF GRATITUDE

My plumber BernardWhen I received this photograph my first reaction was: Wow! You are looking so satisfied. And he is satisfied. Life treats him with kindness and mercy. He tells me that every night he has a roof over his head; hot water in the taps; food to eat and so the list can go on and on. The other day we had a problem with our one specific toilet and I phoned Bernard. Yes, he can come any time I am ready to receive him. And he came. He had...

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NOSTALGIA: STEAMTRAINS AND CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

 These are my photographs - I grew up with steam-trains.Taken at Germiston YardThese are my photographs - I grew up with steam-trains.Taken at Germiston Yard.Today I am in a very nostalgic mood! Please join me remembering my [or your] childhood days. I grew up [partially] in Vereeniging, old Transvaal Province [now Gauteng Province], South Africa. My first childhood memories are from a railway camp near the Vereeniging town, called Redan....

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HAVE'NT GOT TIME TO ...? COVID-19 LOCKDOWN IS ALSO A GIFT

This is my story for you - in images I saved from the internet.The gift of light; the gift of having time; the gift of having rehabilitating myself.Dare I say this to you not knowing your particular circumstances?I myself have an underlying health conditionMy very good friend is really suffering because covid-19 accentuated his prostate problem. He is still reading and is intellectually activeand he keeps praying. Surrounded by darkness? The...

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