Some flowers of Taranaki ....

Just a few more flowers ... for your enjoyment.

We had an amazing time and I would love to go again in the future

This is may be my favourite Rose it was a stunning  purple colour

Some more flowers and gardens

A bit of a mixture today  .... I am not sure in which gardens all the flowers were taken

 

What a glorious colour

 

This garden was  perfection but mostly all fairly newly planted

 

 

Just a lovely view of the mountain

 

 

Lights in the park they were actually very disappointing this picture was not mine I borrowed it as I wanted to show you  ... all you see is just about all there was.

 

 

This garden was so peaceful

 

 

The picture does not do this justice at all it was beautiful

 

 



Just one of the many Orchids we saw

 

 

This was another black and white house  with a white and green garden ... but had a splash of deep red in one or two of the boarders  along with a red table and chairs ... it was in fact stunning.

It is one of the Hen and Chicken,  house and cottages  actually in New Plymouth

in 1800 and what ever  some one built a house on a hill and down below  they built 4 cottages for their 4 sons ready for when they married.... they are now privately owned individually but they come under a trust and they can not be altered on  the outside in anyway.



More Gardens of Taranaki ....

This farm house was built in a paddock and the pictures do not show it at it's best  but it was such a lovely spot with gentle fields and trees around I found it so calming, the garden was not spectacular  but there was just something about it that appealed to me.
Also they did a lovely afternoon tea.

 

 The Apple  blossom on the trees was beautiful

 

 

 

Another lovely house that I really loved  

"The Yews"

 the home of Lee and Roland Brumley

 just outside of New Plymouth

 

the garden was amazing they only have green growth around the front of it  and it was stunning, with a few beds with a dash of white as you look from the house across the  expanse of lawn.

 

This lovely statue was tucked away in a neat corner 

We are back .. we stayed longer.....

 

 

Taranaki Garden Festival

Prue and I had the most glorious time ... the weather was just perfection and the country side was just beautiful ... I saw every side of Mt Taranaki and must have driven just about every lane there as well.

Of the 52 gardens we managed 34 yes !! 34 gardens  also we saw  the most beautiful houses old and new .. we actually stayed 2 days extra as we could not bear to miss so many.

The gardens ... well they were stunning I have lots of pictures but have to sort them a bit and will post some in batches ... But I have to show you Perfection Personified ....  This is Mary Dickson's garden in Hawera, I think she said she was 75 yrs young..
Just a normal house on a suburban street the house is just 7 yrs old and the garden was a building plot when she moved in ... believe it or not just a small  town house. Just look what you can do with just a few hundred feet of soil, a lot of hard work and a love of plants.

When we arrived at Mary's house she was actually washing a few stepping stones because the mower had left green marks when she mowed at 7am that morning ... now that is dedication ....

I promise to post more when I come back down to earth.

Getting ready to go ....

My friend Prue and I are off to Taranaki on Monday to the Taranaki Garden festival it was always the  Rhododendron Festival but they have changed it and made it bigger and it now encompasses gardens as well.

There are 52 gardens and parks to visit so we are going to stay as long as it takes to do all ...well almost all. So could be gone 3 days or even more ... this retired life is just the greatest..Wheeee.!!
Prue has a couple of friends to look up as she used to live in the area.

There is also a Fringe Festival of gardens ... so we may well have to check that out as well... who knows.

So hopefully the weather will be good to us

Oh Oh!! not good.....

Ring of Fire

NZ is on the end of large purple patch, bottom of  picture

just south east of Australia with the 2 large rings over it.

Oh!!oh!!  we had a rather large Earth Quake yesterday 5.5. ... it was freaky !! to say the least .

I have experienced quite a few since living in NZ but this one did the trick, gave me quite the jitters inside.... the building we were in did a double flip flop and continued to shudder for a good 2 or 3 minutes .... I was at Embroidery Guild with quite a few other ladies ... the look of shock on our faces must have been one of horror and disbelief.

The main  movement took place just far to close for comfort ... 10 kms north of Taupo  at a depth of 108 kms ... the scary bit is Taupo is just 1 hour south of Rotorua. But I guess we  except most of them ... living on the Ring of Fire with 2 fault lines through the centre of our Islands what more can one expect.

Arriving home later there were a few signs of movement pictures askew, and the cat seemed a bit skittish and would not settle ... I wonder if they are affected by them and do they sense danger like dogs do ?

All is quiet today except for the thundering rain and wind.... but the new plants are happily settling in and look perky.

Things are getting on well !!

I found this on a facebook page ... loved it .

So my leg and ankle ...
All is going well and I am now allowed to walk unaided with out sticks or crutches and for a small while each day to walk with no boot on, progressing to longer periods each day as the next 2 weeks go by .. The hairline fracture will heal on it's own fairly quickly ...  the ankle will take a bit longer but the main thing is to keep it moving so it  does not wither  around the muscles and get weak .... still have to keep leg elevated  when sitting where possible to get rid of swelling ..... they reckon 2 weeks and boot should be a thing of the past ... as long as I am careful...... Wheeeee!!!!!
Hospital suggested good strong shoes are going to be the order of the day for awhile ... good  trainers were the best  ...that's good as I have some !!
Thank you everyone for the good wishes and emails and cards etc.

Grandma has broken her leg ....

Good morning from here, the sun is trying to shine and I am trying to smile ... I am achieving it okay
But on Thursday it was a slightly different matter, I had a lovely morning tea with a group of ladies from Inner Wheel then went off to tutor the Arthritis Hot Water exercise class..... all was going "swimmingly " no pun intended ....  when I slipped down the last 2 steps  of a short flight of steps ... amazingly in slow motion.  I landed at the bottom with my left leg  a bit crumpled under me ... yes it was an OUCH !! moment.

Upshot of it all .....    a bit of a mangled ankle and a hairline fracture of the lower leg just above the ankle ... luckily was not the ankle it's self.
 So after a hospital visit I returned home with a  cast on ... but had to return  next day when I had to see a Consultant and a new cast to be put on when hopefully some of the swelling would have subsided.
Saw a nice Orthopod man and he said " Not a bad fracture  one of those ones they can not see on xrays very well"  ...Phew !! relief flooded over me ... so a cast for 7 days then more xrays was the order of the day.
So off to the Plaster room.      The Plaster Man  "Mike"  said he thought a full cast on my leg was just a bit over the top in his mind  .... so he went off to talk to the Consultant again ... Whee !!  he convinced him a Moon Boot with the metal sides would work just as well.
 First time I had ever met Mike but love him to bits already........  But then I guess he is an expert on casts and boots etc. Probably more than the Orthopedic Consultant who really only knows about the bones side of things.

So here I am with this elegant black boot up to the knee, but at least I can remove it to shower and  take it off at night in bed ....  so much more comfortable.
Photo ... This not actually a picture of my legs .... but gee I wish they were  mine  they are obviously about 30 yrs younger than mine ... it is  just a picture to show the very elegant type of boot I have on.

My Grandsons have been my gardian angels for the last couple of days will tell you all about that tomorrow.