Rhodos and Reunions ( migrated from Zoho writer)

Holidays are great! It started off with tension as the taxi never arrived to take me to the ferry, to catch the bus to get to the airport... But a neighbour on her way to the ferry solved my problems and from then, it was joy all the way!

My brother met me and we joined my sister, brother in law, their daughter and her baby for lunch, then drove through flourishing farmland to Feilding. We had an invitation to the Karl Maughan retrospective exhibition that evening and delighted in his meticulous massive paintings, particularly of rhododendrons. One called Cross Hills reminded me of the gardens at Kimbolton I had intended to visit and we agreed to see if we could fit in a tour. (I've just been playing around with Zoho and Google and courtesy of Gow Langsford website and their Gallery have inserted one of Karl Maughan's paintings here by using the zoho).

The next day I was picked up by two schoolmates and we drove to Wanganui for the reunion. Many hadn't met since leaving boarding school so it was fascinating to catch up. The laughter and exchanges of info re families and friends sparkled. I'm so pleased I attended. The reunion should be a whole subject itself-so well organised , from the emails, arrangements, accommodation and the day itself with the get together, the luncheon, the special service and the planting of "our snowball tree"and then a fun dinner. Fantastic!

Back to Feilding and with beautiful weather we saw the pool had heated up so in for a swim! The first of the season but thanks to the solar it was nearly 30 degrees! Another family meal at my sister's (great cook) and we decided that we'd all visit Cross Hills the next day.

What a sight! More than 2000 rhododendrons and azaleas in full colour. We were fortunate in timing our visit just ahead of a couple of bus tours, so were able to take advantage of the Mini cart which drove us over so much of the several hectares.

Made a note of sensational scent in Mi Amore (white rhodo) and the rich red of Beefeater and the unusual apricot/yellow of Buttermint.

The following day it was back to the airport, the bus, the ferry and a taxi and home!