Writing 101, Day eleven: My home when I was 12

 

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Tell us about the home where you lived when you were twelve. Which town, city, or country? Was it a house or an apartment? A boarding schoolor foster home? An airstream or an RV? Who lived there with you?

Today’s twist: pay attention to your sentence lengths and use short, medium, and long sentences as you compose your response about the home you lived in when you were twelve.

 

June 19, 2014

 

My home, to me as a twelve year old girl, was a house in a rural area called Erasmia in South Africa. I lived there for 5 years with my parents and two sisters.

There were not many houses at that time. Today it is a town on its own and also a suburb of Pretoria(today called Tswane).

This house, in Peter Street, had three bedrooms, a kitchen- big enough to house a dining table, a lounge, bathroom and toilet.

I shared a bedroom with my younger sister . We each had a bed that was folded  up against the wall during the day. On top was a shelve from which hang a curtain to cover it up. When using the beds at night, we had to make sure that the two front legs were wide open.  It happened at times that, while turning around in my sleep, the legs would collapse. It was quite a shock when you suddenly fall out of bed! I can still remember it clearly!

The kitchen was the best place to be. Most of our daily activities took place there. We had a black Esse wood stove. My mother baked delicious dishes in it. Wintertime it was warm and cosy in the kitchen. My parents usually closed the inner door to keep it lovely and warm. We would sit around the table and listen to the radio. First the news at 7pm and the bible reading at quarter past(boeke vat) . The best was the evening story 7:30 pm – “Die geheim van Nantes” and/or “Die de Plooys van Soetmelksvlei.”

I can’t remember much more of the house. It had three round windows in the front. This was kind of unusual for those days. There was a small “stoep”(veranda) at the side. A double door let you through to the lounge.

The garden was quite big. It went up a hill or “koppie”. At the top were big boulders and some tall trees. We loved to play there. It felt like in the jungle. All covered between the branches. Nobody could see us when we were up there. We usually played Tarzan and the apes. We climbed these trees like real monkeys.

At the bottom of this hill there was a chicken run. We always had hens and fresh laid eggs. There were also turkeys – they were for Christmas time!

This is all I can Remember at the moment. 

The “Koppie” and front of the house with its round windows.

More photos of  my home at 12