Roberta Writes – Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge and Flower Hour #photography #poetry

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I missed last week’s challenge, so I have used the prompt words for last week (club) and this week (shade) in this short piece. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/10/08/writing-prompts-86/

The Club House

When my sister, Hayley, was a newborn baby, we lived in a house in a new area called Jukskei Park in Johannesburg. Our house was the second to be built on our street and was surrounded by vacant plots of land waiting to be sold. One of these plots had been used as a dumping ground for the builders and there was a huge mountain of sand, rubble, and other rubbish in the middle. By the time we moved into this house, the rubble mountain was already sprouting little bushes and even some wildflowers. It looked quite pretty, and it was an attractive place for two little girls to play while their mother was fully absorbed by a difficult colicky baby.

I decided that we should have a clubhouse on the top of the mound where we could shelter during the hottest part of the day. My idea was that it would be a shady little room for us to sit in and play dolls. The clubhouse was constructed from broken bricks which I laid one on top of the other in the manner of a real builder. Dad had shown me how to make a strong structure with bricks by laying the second row over the joins in the first row. Of course, we didn’t have any cement, but the structure did hold together. I found a sheet of corrugated iron for the roof. It didn’t turn out to be the shady sanctuary of my imagination as it was extremely hot and stuffy inside, but we still do go into it during the mornings and late afternoons when the temperatures had dropped a bit. The house brought us a lot of pleasure and we had broken pieces of cups and plates and other bits and pieces of crockery we’d scavenged from the mound.

One day, I had the bright idea that we should slide down the mound on pieces of cardboard. This was fabulous fun until I cut my leg badly on an exposed piece of glass. I had to have the wound cleaned and dressed and Mom found out about the clubhouse on the rubbish mound. Naturally, we were banned from any further games involving climbing the rubbish mount which stopped this game in its tracks. It was a lovely few months while we had access to it.

Mom busy with baby

older children seek out fun

climbing rubbish mound

paradise of broken junk

repurposed for home decor

Flower Hour

Terri’s new Flower Hour challenge is up for this week. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/10/14/the-flower-hour-maple-leaves/

The day lilies are out:

Picture caption: magenta day lily
Picture caption: Orange day lily
Picture caption: Pink rose in full bloom

The azaleas are also in flower:

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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69 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge and Flower Hour #photography #poetry”

  13. Every winter I’d hear about some child being injured or worse when the snow fort they had dug out from a huge drift, had collapsed in on them.

    Children get into all sorts of troubles naturally.

    Nice flower shots Robbie.

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  15. Your childhood memory reminded me of some of mine, with my sister and friends.. always finding the strangest or loveliest places and ways to play or make house, oh my… 🙂 I have never seen magenta lilies, so elegant! Very interesting too, how a color or hue even can change the way a well-known flower looks and feels, its petals, texture, even shape… I find that extraordinary! Thank you, Robbie, for such a lovely post to enjoy! 😊

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  16. That was a fun childhood memory / story that combined club and shade nicely. Too bad it lasted only a few months, but maybe it was for the best, for the safest. I am sorry you got hurt. The flowers are beautiful.

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  20. I’m enjoying your childhood memories, Robbie. I don’t ever remember playing atop a rubbish pile, but we did love to squish barefoot in mud and sometimes flooded our backyard with the hose. My sister and I were saying we’d be so grossed-out now. 😂

    Beautiful flower photos! We have lots of daylillies.

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  23. As the leaves fall, pretty though their colours may be, the dark is quickly setting in. Grey abounds, and it is such a joy to see your splendid flowers, Robbie.

    OMG! Love the story and poem. A rubbish heap with a fort on top is like a dream come true for a kid. I would have loved it. Thank you so much for that wonderful tale!

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