Well, that was enough poetic suffering, oops I mean creativity, for this week. Now on to some photographs …
Thursday Doors
These are some doors photographs from my trip to Paris in April. These photographs are of the Pont des Arts, Institut de France is located at one entry point of the bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/10/bbq-dam-lock-tour/
The Flower Hour
More beautiful wisteria photographs from this past week. They are starting to go off now so this will be the last of them. The purple irises benefited from the rain early this week and are plentiful and vivid.
David is this week’s host and he has asked poets to write about life changes as follows:
Sometimes life changes enough that something familiar becomes new again.
“Think of something you have experienced in the past, are experiencing now, or imagine experiencing in the future: doing an ordinary thing you have done many times before, but under changed circumstances that make it feel like a first time.”
During our trip to the Kruger National Park last week we had the tremendous good luck to see an African fish eagle landing on its nest. It was making its iconic call known as the Sound of Africa.
I am introducing my poem with a video of the cry of the African fish eagle.
Loud, haunting
the yodel-like call
disrupted the music
inside the vehicle
Sound of Africa
ringing forth
evocative and stirring
We jumped. Looked
Encircled by leafy branches
African fish eagle landed
on its messy nest
head thrown backwards
projecting the sound
far across the veld
Picture caption: African fish eagle landing on its nest. I love the encircling tree.Picture caption: The typical calling posture of an African fish eagle with its head thrust forward.
Picture caption: This large safari vehicle has doors. The reason I took the photograph though was the little silhouette on top of the cab. What could it be?
The little creature on top of the cab in the vehicle photograph is a vervet monkey. This are adorable but also little terrorists who will steal very efficiently and effectively. This one had just pinched food out of the vehicle of a family of tourists. The family was quite shocked and horrified at having a bag of treats snatched out of the hands of a small child. Naughty it might be but it was so adorable with its look of complete innocence as it ate its treat.
And for Terri’s golden Sunday Stills a few pictures of Borke’s Luck Potholes. We were so lucky with our timing and the mellow winter sun turned the rocky facings to gold. Have I mentioned that yellow is my favourite colour (grin!)
When I was a girl of nine, I contracted chicken pox. Within a week, my three younger sisters also went down with the virus. There were no vaccinations for chicken pox back then and Laura, aged one year old, and I were both very sick. I remember the day before the spots broke out in support of my claim of feeling unwell. It was a Saturday so we were all at home. I lay on a bean bag in the family room in a patch of winter sunshine feeling to ill to even read. My mother brought me a chicken mayonnaise sandwich at lunchtime but I could not eat it. Not even a bite. She was annoyed when she saw the untouched sandwich and said I was naughty to not eat it. She didn’t believe me when I said I was nauseous. On reflection, its strange that she didn’t believe me as I was never fussy about food and a chicken mayonnaise sandwich was a treat. I’ve never forgotten that she didn’t believe me. A day or two later, I came out in the tell tale rash and Mom knew I had chicken pox. One by one, the other children got sick and came out in rashes. The rash was itchy and I had to lie in a bath with Epsom Salts a few times a day to help sooth my skin which has always been ultra sensitive. We were all warned not to scratch the rash as that would leave scars. The only good thing I remember about this period is that I missed all the end of term tests for my grade. I was given an exemption from writing the tests due to contagious illness. I still have a few white scars along my hairline as testimony to my having had chickenpox. I never liked chicken mayonnaise sandwiches after this and still don’t ever eat them.
An interesting thing about this episode of childhood illness is that Mom never got chickenpox. We all assumed she’d had this virus as a child. A few years ago, my mother contracted chicken pox at the age of eighty four. This illness was a real test of her resilience and she had to be hospitalised for a few days. Her skin was yellow and she looked like a dried pear. It’s amazing that she cared for four sick children and never picked up the illness. Her resistance must have been good at the time.
Dan has featured the Japanese Room for his Thursday Doors post so I am staying with the Japan theme and sharing two doors/gates I saw in Japan in December 2024. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/06/japanese-room/
Picture caption: The Akasaka Imperial Gardens front gate in Tokyo Picture caption: Heavy wooden gates of a Bhuddist temple in Tokyo
I wrote this poem today after sorting through my work week in my head. It was a good week. I got a lot done. My young colleague told me on Thursday afternoon just before I left for the week that she was exhausted. She also got a lot done because I give delivery dates for work that I then review. I think its a good thing the team has Friday’s to recover from my tyranny – haha! I am getting a 40 hour week’s worth of work done in 24 hours and that takes drive and determination.
Thursday Doors and The Flower Hour
Terri decided to suggest flowers in planters for The Flower Hour this week. Eeek! I don’t take many photographs of plants in planters. Then, I remembered the indoor conservatory in the delightful hotel TC and I stayed in in Paris. It is called Hotel Keppler and was very old fashioned and delightful. I also took photographs of some of the doors in the hotel so this is a double whammy for Dan’s Thursday Doors too.
Picture caption: Bonjour TC. I like the red seater he’s wearing. I chose it!
Please take a seat in the guest lounge while we complete your check in. (Well, I got to sit, he had to stand at the desk and fill in forms.)
Picture caption: Guest lounge with double glass doors onto a small courtyard
Picture caption: tables and chairs on the other side of the guest lounge where you could order alcoholic drinks or, if you are me and brazen, Earl Grey tea in a teapot. The same double glass doors are in the background.
Two slightly different photographs of the indoor conservatory in the dining room of the Hotel Keppler. It was very pretty with lots of greenery and lovely flowers. The food was very good too.
Today is Friday at last and I do have it off. My work hours are under severe threat and I’m going to have to increase them for three months as I have a big project on the go. There is no use in working the hours and not getting paid for them. Anyhow, onwards and upwards.
d’Verse, Tanka Tuesday and W3
I’ve used the d’Verse theme of night provided by the wonderful Dora for both my Tanka Tuesday and my W3 offerings this week.
I selected the tradition of using the Southern Cross constellation as a directional guide combined with working on a computer.
My Artificial Life
Dark night of my computer screen
loads itself into start mode.
Logon criteria flash,
artificial Southern Cross.
Guiding my entrance into
another working day.
The Flower Hour
Last week I mentioned that I’d attended a partner conference in my new job. These photographs are of the gorgeous pincushion protea flower arrangements that graced the lunch tables.
Flower arrangement featuring three pincushion proteas in red, orange, and yellow.
Close up of a single pincushion protea. The red tipped orange petals are narrow and curve inwards above its yellow centre hence its name – pincushion protea.
A slightly more distanced shot of the three pincushion proteas flower arrangement.
Thursday Doors
On Sunday past, my family attended the Rocky Horror Picture Show at Monte Casinos Pieter Torien theatre. It’s been more years than I’m going to tell you since TC and I last saw this show and I’d forgotten how graphic it is. I was a bit worried about Michael’s friend, Jenna, but she took it in her stride and enjoyed it.
It’s been a crazy week! Is there any other kind of week, I wonder. I attended New Partner Induction on Monday and Tuesday and a Partner Conference from Wednesday to Friday. So many new ideas and new people. My coping mechanism is to draw and paint and write poems so I have three poems to share with you today. I have also started a new art project – my biggest to date and perhaps my most ambitious. Michael thinks its ambitious but I just think its just bigger. All my art projects are very ambitious at the time of initiation. I push myself further with each new painting.
Tanka Tuesday
Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challege this week is to write a tanka Puente poem with the theme of light vs dark.
Picture caption: kori bustard posing for the camera
Thursday Doors
My blogging friend, Brian, featured a photograph of the gargoyles of Notre Dame pre the fire. You can read his post here: https://equinoxio21.wordpress.com/2026/07/07/random-travels-umpteen/. I am sharing a few pictures I took of Notre Dame and its gargoyles so Brian can rest assured they are thriving. My shots aren’t as good as his!
It doesn’t rain in Johannesburg during the winter. At least it never did until this year. This week, after the winter solstice, we got rain and a heavy mist. While in the traffic on my way into the office, I wrote this poem and took the accompanying photograph. Unusual for my home city.
Picture caption: I loved the doors of this building, 3 Place Denfert-Rochereau, Paris. The late evening sky turned the white of the building blue and the light glows a lovely yellow from the inside. I liked the arched shape of these large doors with the square inlay.
Click on the slideshow to view two giraffes that I saw at Welgevonden Game Reserve in the Waterkloof, South Africa. This is a series of three photographs of the heads and upper necks of two young giraffes against a bright, blue sky. In the first photograph, the two animals are close together but apart. In the second and third photograph, the two giraffes have crossed their necks at the top so that their heads are pointing in opposite directions. In the second photo, the animals are looking straight ahead while in the last photograph they are looking up with their heads angled upwards.
Picture caption: Dam at Pilanesberg Game Reserve with autumn foliage in the front and hills in the background. the predominant colour is misty bluePicture caption: small dam on the golf course at the Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead. The sky is very blue and so is the water.Picture caption: Trees in autumn red and yellow at the Johannesburg Country Club. The sky is a bright blue.
The Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France. It is located at the western end of the Champs-Élysées, at the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle—formerly known as the Place de l’Étoile—named for the star-shaped configuration formed by the convergence of twelve radiating avenues. The monument is situated at the intersection of three arrondissements: the 16th (to the south and west), the 17th (to the north), and the 8th (to the east). Commissioned to honor those who fought and died for France during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Arc bears the names of French victories and generals engraved on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I, marked by an eternal flame commemorating unidentified fallen soldiers.
After six weeks of sabbatical, I am starting a new job on Monday. I’m glad I was able to see Paris over Easter and nurse my mother and Michael through the new Flu B. It is a reduced hours job so I’ll see how that goes. Wish me luck.
d’Verse, TDWC26, Sunday Stills, and The Flower Hour
Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is pastels. My Primrose antique doll and the flowers in the background are pastels. The flowers are for Terri’s The Flower Hour challenge too.
Picture caption: Yellow, blue, and white house photograph contributed by Restless Jo
Primrose looked at her freshly painted home with satisfaction. Arthur had recently finished reading a first edition of Tom Sawyer. He’d been so inspired he’d volunteered to give her dolls house home a fresh look. It looked terrific. Its yellow, blue, and white walls sparkled under the bright display lights of the antique children’s books and toys room.
She glanced at the tapestry on the opposite wall. The dark yellow room was exquisitely sew with careful, even stitches. She liked the wall hanging and it helped to keep the room warm and snug. Museums were drafty. She was glad she had her delightful dolls house to live in and her home wasn’t merely a 2D dream.
rainbow dreams elude
bricks and mortar evidence
my reality
Picture caption: Art inspiration provided by Punam
Click on the bar to view Primrose, an antique doll form Faversham in England, with a background of roses I received for Mothers Day last Sunday. A little past their prime but they are still pretty … and pastel. You will also see Arthur, a vintage doll from Graaf Reinet in South Africa.
Thursday Doors
These are a few more random photographs form my short trip to Paris over Easter.
The two images above are of the moving walkway in the Paris Airport (Charles de Gaulle). It was very long and there wasn’t another soul in sight. For me, it was a little creepy as it was my first time in this airport. I was glad to see the door at the end of the walkway coming into sight.
