Elijah, Rainbows and Peony Roses

 Our trip up north went all too fast. We were picked up on Wednesday and dropped off on Tuesday at the airport in Palmerston North. Coming in was so much more enjoyable than going out, back to the salt mines and our real lives. But we managed well enough and even took our son out to lunch at our favorite Chinese place upon arrival back to Christchurch and then did some light shopping, meaning picking up what we thought we needed at home and even a retail stop for clothing Jake needed. 

The day before we left was dramatically rainy, and my grandson and I got caught out in the pelting rain, so we ducked into the newly finished tunnel house for protection. But later on in the afternoon there were some even more amazing cloudbursts producing massive double rainbows that spanned the sky. I only managed to get the tail end of one but it was so large that I didn’t care, since it too was rather magnificent.

I could go on and on about their many distinct gardens and pathways that lead into wooded seclusion overlooking a dam, a pond and several rather hungry developing cattle that graze in those lower paddocks. I stayed entranced by every speck of flora and fauna for the entire trip. John too was quite taken with the house and surrounding greenery and he helped with some light construction chores with the very determined resident builder, who makes light work of the heaviest jobs. Mostly though, we enjoyed watching them do the heavy lifting and we took a step back and chatted with Elijah, who seemed delighted to have our attention. On that last afternoon Elijah climbed a tree near where we were sitting relaxing. 

While we rested he was just going into high gear. Stay tuned for more of the garden lovelies I photographed. I will try to hone it down to my absolute favorites although that might be hard since there was such beauty in every direction. In actual fact the only element missing in their whole estate, their homestead, would have to be unicorns. But I’d hardly have been surprised had I spotted one, since they had every other perfect creature, exquisite flowers and stunning vistas galore around every bend.