Die voetpad na die boom – Poem: The footpath to the tree

Die ‘Mayor Oak’ boom in Sherwood Forest

My poem about this forest. My annual contribution to the Afrikaans language. I have translated it for you too.

Die voetpad na die boom

Die voetpad na die boom is nog steeds bedek – half versteek.

Gure weer en aanhoudende reen oor die jare het die toegang onomkeerbaar versper.

Daar was eens ‘n voetpad wat deur die woud na die boom gelei het.

Voorheen was die area boomryk, lowerryk.

Koeltesoekers het passievol al die bome vereer –

snoesig soos ‘n lappieskombers het hul ingekruip

onder die wydverspreide skadu-kolle.

Selfs laventel-pers heide is met deernis aangeplant

wat net deur enkeling opgemerk word.

Baie molle het op hul reis onlangs kom vlerksleep –

waarvan al die molshope getuig.

Daar was eens ‘n voetpad deur die woud.

As jy die soomlose woud binnestap,

veral laat, in die laat somer –

wanneer die skarlaken-son laag sit

en die laat-middag woud-wind om jou fluit

en die eekhorinkie speels sy den binnegaan,

dan hoor jy die dowwe getrippel van perdehoewe in die verte

terwyl die mis ‘n dun wolk-laag begin vorm al om die

karbonkelrige boomstamme en welig-groeiende gras

en bedek stadig die eens voetpad wat deur die woud gekronkel het.

~~Nikita – 26-8-2020

English translation

The footpath to the tree

The footpath to the tree is still covered – half hidden.

Severe weather and persistent rain over the years have irreversibly blocked access.

There was once a footpath that led through the forest to the tree.

Previously, the area was tree-rich, leafy.

Cooling seekers passionately honored all the trees –

cuddly as a rag blanket crept in

among the widespread shadow spots.

Even lavender-purple heather was planted with compassion

which is noticed only by the individual.

Many moles have recently come to wing on their journey –

of which all the molehills testify.

There was once a footpath through the forest.

As you walk into the seamless forest,

especially late, in late summer –

when the scarlet sun sets low

and the late-afternoon forest wind around you whistle

and the squirrel playfully enters his den,

then you hear the faint tripping of horseshoes in the distance

while the mist begins to form a thin layer of clouds all around the

carbonaceous tree trunks and lush-growing grass

and slowly cover the once footpath that wound through the forest.

Nikita – 26-8-2020

Hierdie gedig het ek geskryf as my bydrae tot Afrikaans en om 14 Augustus, Afrikaans-dag te ‘vier’. Elke jaar probeer ek om my bydrae te maak rondom hierdie datum. Ons het so bietjie in Sherwood Forest gaan rondstap om veral die baie bekende boom waar Robin Hood en sy ‘manne’ vergader het. Die Major Oak – het ongelukkig gedurende die ‘lockdown’ bietjie deurgeloop deurdat vandaliste dele van die boom probeer vernietig het. Die boom is nou afgesper en word dit al vir baie jare gestut om die boom te beskerm – soos jy in die foto kan sien.Dit was eers in die jare ’50 toe mense besef het dat die boom bewaar moet word en is enige persoon verbied om in die boom te klim en klouter – soos dit gereeld die gewoonte was. As jy die kans kry en jy is in die omgewing van Nottingham, maak gerus ‘n draai by die woud. Dan is daar ook die Robin Hood Kasteel in Nottingham wat jy kan besoek en dit is baie beslis die moeite werd – maak net seker jy besoek die grotte ook. Sien die foto. You can go on a cave tour when visiting the Robin Hood Castle in Nottingham. English Readers: This is a poem I’ve written after my visit to Sherwood Forest. 14th August is also Afrikaans Language Day. This is my contribution to the Afrikaans Language, the most beautiful language in the world.

Read Full Post »

Al die veld is vrolik

For English readers… this is a short Afrikaans song about Spring and the second song/poem is about the little mini-beasts, birds, children and even the small plants are happy…they all want to dance and sing and play…

DIS HEERLIKE LENTE

Woorde: THEO W. JANDRELL en G.G. CILLIÉ
Musiek: Wysie uit die Alpe; verwerk: G.G. CILLIÉ

Dis heerlike lente, die winter’s verby;

weer nooi berg’ en klowe vir jou en vir my.

Hol-la-dri-o-ha, hol-la-dri-o. Hol-la-dri-o-ha, hol-la-dri-o!
Die bergklim is heerlik, dit hou mens gesond.

Die vroe-, vroeë môre het goud in die mond.

Hol-la-dri-o-ha, hol-la-dri-o. Hol-la-dri-o-ha, hol-la-dri-o!

AL DIE VELD IS VROLIK

Woorde: C. LOUIS LEIPOLDT
Musiek: J. WEBER; verwerk: PIETER DE VILLIERS

Al die veld is vrolik; al die voëltjies sing;
al die kriekies kriek daarbuit’; elke sprinkaan spring.
Al die koggelmannetjies kom om fees te vier;
hier galop ‘n goggatjie, daarso dans ‘n mier.

[KOOR]
Nou gaan die kinders draai, nou gaan hul speel!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!

Selfs die vissies spartel teen die kafferskuil;
in die groot ou eikeboom droom ‘n oupa-uil.
Oral in Karooland is ‘n ruik versprei:
boegoeblom en appelkoos–kan jy beter kry?

[KOOR]
Nou gaan die kinders draai, nou gaan hul speel!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!

Bind vir my tesame katjiepiering wit,
bobbejaantjies blou en bont, rose in gelid,
varings van die klippe, oral, ai só mooi,
rooi kalkoentjies uit die vlei–blomme uitgestrooi.

[KOOR]
Nou gaan die kinders draai, nou gaan hul speel!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!

Vrolik is die wêreld, vrolik rant en vlei!
Elke koggelmannetjie het sy maat gekry.
Elke gons’rig’ goggatjie is getroud of vry:
vrolik is die wêreld hier, vrolik veld en vlei!

[KOOR]
Nou gaan die kinders draai, nou gaan hul speel!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!
Kom Sus, gee handjie! Almal moet draai!
Boet gee ook handjie! Nou gaan ons swaai–
dis tog so prettig! Wie dans met my?
Al in die rondte, vrolik en bly!

Kry AL daardie liedjies wat jy nooit kan onthou nie, se woorde op hierdie link!

Die foto’s is geneem so 3min se stap van ons huis af. Moenie dat die weer jou flous nie, dit het gesous gedurende die oggend. Die foto’s is om en by 5:15 nm geneem.

Update 1/9/2013 : Ek was net bly om te sien dat die link met die musiek [blerkas] net geskuif het en nie verdwyn het – soos die oorspronklike link.

http://esl.ee.sun.ac.za/~lochner/blerkas/

 

Read Full Post »

Somewhere my love

Image:http://www.kwathabeng.co.za/limpopo-marulaneng-hoedspruit-gallery.html

Wat is a Tufa waterfall? and where can I find one in South Africa? and how can I get there…this post and this link here, give you all the answers! enjoy!
 https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/what-is-a-tufa-waterfall/ The Link will open in a new window.

I hope you enjoy this “movie” about South Africa. The images are from the Eastern part of the country… the Mpumalanga province, previously called the Easern Transvaal. It was August…end of winter…and not holiday for South Africans, so we were lucky…. places were not crowded…. You will see mostly images about the third largest/deepest canyon in the world…the Blyde River Canyon. As it was the end of winter, the area wasn’t as green as it used to be during summer! The Grand Canyon is the largest, then the Fish River Canyon in Namibia… This canyon is the greenest canyon in the world. You will also see the potholes at Bourkes Luck. Then, in this canyon, there is a waterfall, called a Tufa waterfall. On one of the images I tell you in short what a tufa waterfall is… where other waterfalls wear away the soil…this kind of waterfall does the opposite! This tufal waterfall is called the “weeping tufa”, as it looks like a face with an eye…and the water flows from the “eye”…A Tufa waterfall is a waterfall where the calcium rich water builds the rock face over which it is flowing as the calcium and mud hardens in beautiful forms, that’s why it’s a “growing” waterfall. This link HERE has got a brilliant picture of the Tufa waterfall – the one you can see in my post too – in this canyon and awesome pictures and many links to places/resorts in that area. Here you can see the “face” of this waterfall…brilliant! The link will open in a new window.

You will see a cave, which can only be seen on the boat trip. You will also see some images from the Sudwala caves. You can put “Swadini” in my search box to find those fantastic links and to see more pictures of that area. I focused on this movie mostly on nature images …do enjoy! On THIS LINK you can see more pictures and links to sites to book a holiday! and on THIS LINK you can see pictures of Pilgrims Rest area and maps/info if you want to tour that are…really beautiful to visit!
If you have enjoyed this movie…Links will open in a new window. Click HERE to see another movie about South Africa which I posted a few days ago.

 

 

Somewhere my love…by the
Ray Coniff singers.

Somewhere, my love,
There will be songs to sing
Although the snow
Covers the hope of spring.

Somewhere a hill
Blossoms in green and gold
And there are dreams
All that your heart can hold.

Someday we’ll meet again, my love.
Someday whenever the spring breaks through.

You’ll come to me
Out of the long ago,
Warm as the wind,
Soft as the kiss of snow.

Till then, my sweet,
Think of me now and then.
God, speed my love
‘Til you are mine again.

Read Full Post »

Wonderboom

This tree is really big! It’s the Wonderboom….it’s huge! We used to go to this nature reserve to have a picnic, sometimes with school children as well- as an outing. Read about this “wonder/miracle tree”…this is in Pretoria, on your way to the northern part of the city, depending which way  you go.

Wonderboom Nature Reserve

Situated in the northern part of the city, and straddling the Magaliesberg Mountains, is the Wonderboom Nature Reserve, a 200 hectare reserve famous for its magnificent specimen of the Wonderboom. The Wonder tree is a wild fig (Ficus salicifolia) that grows at the foot of the northern slope of the Magalies Mountain area.

The large Wonderboom fig tree at the Wonderboom Nature Reserve is more than 1 000 years old, and legend has it that it grew this big because the chief of an indigenous tribe lies buried beneath its roots. It is recorded that the tree was once big enough to shade 1 000 people at a time, or 22 ox-wagons with 20 oxen in front of each! Today, it is much smaller – probably because of the devastating fire in 1870 started by a hunting party or because of infestation by a parasite, which put it in quarantine for 20 years. Over the years the branches have grown longer, hanging lower and lower until they touched the ground, rooted and produced a circle of daughter trees. There are now three circles of daughter trees surrounding the original tree.

Wonderboom Nature Reserve has a large number of Dassies (Rock Hyrax) living in caves overlooking the Apies River. They provide a food source for a breeding pair of Black Eagles that nest on a rocky ledge nearby and that can often be seen circling above the reserve.

At the top of the Wonderboom Hill are the ruins of the Wonderboom Fort, one of four forts built by the former Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek at the end of the 19th century to defend the city against the British. It was never used. It was blown up, probably on the instructions of Prime Minister Jan Smuts himself, in the early days of World War 2, lest it be used by anti-government dissidents as a springboard for an attack on the state. At the foot of the hill near the Wonderboom is an important iron age site and nearby is one of the best stone age sites in the area.

 Source: Click the link and it will open in a new window.http://www.sa-venues.com/game-reserves/ga_wonderboom.htm

Image: cybertonature.co.za

Steenbokkie
The Steenbokkie is one of our smaller antelope in SA and on THIS LINK on my blog you can see the smallest antelope in South Africa…the dik-dik! If you go to this nature reserve, you will see the Steenbokkie in its natural environment.

Image: sa-venues.com

Read Full Post »

South Africa

Enjoy this movie about South Africa… I’ve compiled it from pictures which I’ve found on the internet…and it was also a practise with Photo Story 3, which is free to download from Microsoft!

Read Full Post »