Living my Garden of Dreams

Twelve years ago Kees and Gay Klok [that's me] began to live our dream Twelve years later, we are still living and creating our dream world. And we have loved practically every moment of it. How did this happen, I hear you ask?

Thirteen years ago Kees and I visited many beautiful private gardens in New Zealand and one of these gardens was a magnificent water garden, one of the most wonderful in the World. Returning to Tasmania and our lovely small town garden, I felt a yearning to create a water Garden. Kees started to talk about retiring and though he was a man of advancing years, sixty in fact, he was still full of energy. I worried that an enforced slowing down in his life, may be unhealthy for him and me! Hesitatingly, I suggested we could look for a small country holding with enough land for me to create a water garden and sufficient space for him to grow his vegetables. A little oddly, [he is a very careful Dutchman], Kees immediately agreed. Thus the curtain went up and we began our last big adventure. Our elderly years [I was fifty when the dream started to become a reality] were filled with hard labour, great excitements, a little despondency and a full, happy life. The golden years turned into a veritable rainbow of colours

Today, we have created together an eight-acre ornamental garden of great beauty within 140 acres of old apple orchards, semi-rain forest bush and pastures enough to keep a few steers. And yes, after much frustration and joy, I have my ornamental lake! The dream is eternal. Every time I visit a Nursery I imagine another new garden. Kees will throw his arms to the sky and beseech me "Not another garden" and good fellow that he is, pay for the new plants. While living the dream we have experienced our 40th Wedding Anniversary and five grandchildren [ten years ago, I dreamt of one] who play in our dream garden and add to our happiness. Soon there will be another baby born to join us in our Dream World

The bones may get weary, the rheumatics take hold but the adrenalin still runs strongly in our veins. I have always enjoyed writing and have written the full story of the Creation of our Garden of Eden and placed it for all eternity on the Web

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