My name is Makkie de Beer, a 76 year old widow with a love of poetry rhyme and a passion for writing stories. My home is the southern foothills of the mysterious Zoutpansberg in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. I grew up at Kareepoort near Brits, my father was a farmer, Carel van Wyk and my mother Lettie hails from the diamond fields. I married my farmer / writer husband Bertus de Beer in 1953 and went on to assist him on the farm De Kroon, downstream of the Hartebeespoort Dam. On this farm along the Crocodile River, we farmed, dreamed and brought up four busy sons. They are Jaco, Karel, Bertie and Buks. (I live with my youngest son Buks and his wife Adri in Louis Trichardt). In our retirement we first stayed at Kosmos along the Western side of the Dam and later moved to Hoedspruit where my husband passed away. From there my life made a few other twists before I ended up here in Louis Trichardt. I love poetry and writing and this, my first "farm novel", is now available with the name "Gees van die Labrador”, meaning Spirit of the Labrador". The story concerns the fortunes of a few families in the "Riem Land" or Thong Country. This is a gripping story of the farming community around Rietfontein in the Eastern Free State. Unusual events that affected the lives of ordinary people, drastically changing their world and their lives. Join these families and enjoy their healthy innocent lifestyle, the lifestyles of our ancestors.
