REMEMBERING MY EARLY YEARS (Part 2)

Me when I attended Kenmore Private School.

As  I said previously we stayed with my grandparents in Florida Road for awhile til we could find a flat or house for ourselves. The house was built in the early 1900's and am told that there were stables for horses at the back.After my grandparents died, it was declared a National Monument after the family tried to sell it. It is now a resturaunt. The house had large grounds, with a front garden where my grandfather had made a swing, a see-saw and a roundabout for grandchildren to play on.Those days you could leave your front gates open without any fear of criminals entering the premises. On the one side of the house were tennis courts which they had converted into a large greenhouse for my grandmother's anthirium plants. She was known as the "anthiririum queen" and used to always win prizes at the annual horticultural flower show in the Durban City Hall. She used to grow the plants from seedlings and was known for her monthly sale of anthirium plants. Every weekend she used to cut blooms and pack them for rail transport, with the help of her 2 daughters and my mother. They were sent to florists around the country. When us kids had the silkworm craze, she used to help us collect mulberry leaves, take the "silk" off their cacoons. Our grandmother was interested in many things. I remember her nursing a baby bird that was abandoned by it's mother. Whilst staying at my grandparents I went to a few schools. In Class 1 and 2 (not sure what they call it now) I attended Maris Stella school in Musgrave Road. I remember my teacher was a Cynthia Wood who was an accomplished pianist and organist as well. In Standard 1 I attended Kenmore Private School which was actually right opposite my grandparents house in Florida Rd. Our parents finally got a flat in Rapson Road in morningside a few years later. After attending Kenmore, I went to DPHS in Gordon Road. I recall attending a few years there before we went to St Henry's (Marist Brothers).

295 Florida Road, Durban. It was declared a national monument
after my grandparents passed on.

Should I do a part 3? There are so many stories to tell from our days in Glenwood to when I started work. Hopefully I can get the time to recall my early years of life.