Flowering Cherry Blossom

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From flower to fruit

A short photo essay of my neighbour’s apple tree, as seen from my garden.

Spring 2014 until yesterday……..almost eating time.

Pink

In an attempt to search out colour in our constant parade of grey,gusty, damp days here is Pink from my garden.

Tiny pinks with weeds!

Dianthus that first came from my mother’s garden.

“Boiled sweet pink” climbing geranium

Pink Rock Rose, one of a mass of flowers.

First pink climbing rose

Pink climbing rose buds

Frothy pink flowering cherry blossom, always an October bloomer.

A host of golden daffodils……..of various tonings

Spring is showing itself here more dramatically with each passing day. I went down to the reserve near our local school and kindergarten today where there are thousands of daffodils planted. They are planted in the grass beneath a stand of flowering cherry trees.

I blogged about the cherry trees here and mentioned that this reserve is in honour of Porirua’s sister city relationship with Nishio city in Japan.

The wind was gusty so the daffodils were dancing and nodding. The trees above them are budding but have to yet to flower.

A variety of daffodil bulbs have been planted giving a varied show.

Across from the reserve was a weeping willow tree just putting out its first soft, tender, pretty green leaves in a hazy display.

A flowering fruit tree was bursting with blossom.

And further down the walkway was a small flowering tree with these delicate white blossoms showing.

A walk to the cherry blossom trees

Yesterday I walked down to the stand of cherry blossom trees that was planted on city council reserve some years back in honour of our sister city Nishio, Japan. The display this year is breath-taking. Beneath these trees are millions of spring bulbs, which have almost finished flowering now but they were a picture a few weeks ago too.
Whoever thought of this initiative deserves to be acknowledged and thanked for the special pleasure this area brings.

Bud to blossom

“…and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
– Anais Nin

Monday catch up

So what has been going on in my ordinary world? The past two weeks have certainly offered some very extraordinary times as well as the ordinary and mundane.
 From the evening of Sunday 14th August until Tuesday 16th August we experienced 3 dramatic snowfalls. Snow fell in our garden overnight in 1995 but it is extreme weather that brings it this close to sea level. This event was at the high end of extreme and the snow lay in patches on the local hills a week later.
 Once the snow clouds had moved on, the rain clouds arrived on the back of freezing gale force winds and it rained almost incessantly for four days. We were very thankful for the heater that powered on through numerous power surges.

 In the midst of this our cat who has had indifferent health for over a year now needed to have a fleet of tests. The final ones required x-rays and ultrasound to be taken. The skilful vet was able to aspirate a fluid filled cyst on the side of the cat’s pancreas and we crossed our fingers that this would perk him up. This cat should be named “Trooper” because that is what he is. He has more than used up 9 lives and has pulled through many different ailments and injuries. It is a joy to see him looking so much better.
 For now the cat is looking chipper, feeling comfortable, eating well and reminding me constantly of how strong the life force can be. Here he is in healthier times enjoying the new carpet and a gentle breeze wafting up the hallway.

 We had booked a short holiday from 22nd August, returning 26th August. The weather shone upon us every day with intense blue skies, sunshine and warmth.
 We stayed for two nights in a cottage just out of Masterton and really enjoyed walking around Henley Lake and the next day visiting the stunning Pukaha, Mt Bruce Wildlife Centre.
 On Wednesday we traveled through the northern part of the Wairarapa and on to Hastings where we stayed in another cottage on a lifestyle block. This part of the trip saw us visit my elderly father-in-law and enjoy a meal out with him and other local family.
 We headed home on Friday, having to make a detour back to Pahiatua to get across the high hills to the western side of our island. The detour was caused by a massive slip in the Manawatu Gorge, shutting the road we would normally travel. The slip was a result of the snow and heavy rain that our island had experienced the previous week, coupled with very unstable rock and soil in that steep sided gorge.
 Unfortunately we have all returned home with a virus causing two of the three of us a reasonably high degree of misery. Our weekend was a very quiet one to help enable us to heal up.
 Evidence of spring was everywhere on our holiday. Most visible were the numbers of lambs in fields, daffodils in clusters and clumps and blossom on trees. The photo below is ornamental plum blossom in Havelock North, Hawkes Bay. By the time we returned spring was showing its face more strongly in our garden too.