A bittersweet anniversary . . .

I saved one very important aspect of our New Zealand vacation to post today. You see, today marks one year since my dear friend, Kim Madsen, passed away and no matter where I've been this year, when I see beautiful gardens, I think to myself "Kim would have loved this". I took photos of flowers everywhere we went in N.Z. and each time I did, it was with Kim in mind. City gardens, bed and breakfast gardens, even random flowering bushes alongside the road . . . Kim was everywhere!
These purple flowering trees were everywhere in Sidney. I don't know what they are but they sure dressed up the city streets.

Gorgeous irises in the botanical gardens of Auckland, North Island, NZ.

I'd never seen coral colored dahlias before. I thought this one looked good enough to eat!

Some sort of a cinqfoil (five-leafed flower). Also at the Auckland botanical gardens.

Foxglove in the garden at our B & B near Hamilton on the north island, NZ. I also spent a lot of time in the garden there . . . there was one particular spot, that was surrounded by trees with a flagstone patio and chairs for repose. It was quiet (except for birdsong), private and utterly peaceful. Totally Kim.

A type of hydrangea (I think) that was in that same B & B garden.

More of those delicious looking foxgloves.

There were fields and fields of these lupines along the road to the Milford Sound, South Island, NZ. Mostly different shades of purple, some pink and some white.

The garden at the B & B we stayed at in Queenstown, South Island, N.Z. I spent alot of time wandering around in this garden and thinking how much I wished Kim was there with me. Maybe she was . . . and if she was, maybe she was thinking "It's a pretty garden, Sandra, but NOTHING like the one I'm tending where I am right now!"

I got the biggest kick out of Chrissy Madsen Telford's comment on my last post about the Australia/NZ trip. Chrissy (Kim's daughter) does amazing things with fabric and yarn . . . a very talented seamstress, knitter, crocheter and crafter in general. She said "So what does it say about me that I read this entire post without a single twinge of envy, until you started talking about Merino wool/possum blend yarns... Beautiful, historical, scenic islands, waterfalls, nature... nope I am drooling over the idea of that yarn. I may or may not have a problem... "
My guess is that Kim would have made a comment something like "Sandra, it looks like you had an amazing trip but did you only visit the one garden while you were there? Oh well, I guess one is better than none!"

And then there's me . . . the highlight of the trip for me seeing the Southern Cross constellation (actually not a constellation . . . it's an asterism) for the first time (see my post that I composed in an internet cafe in Wanaka). We all have things that just tug on our hearts and speak to our souls . . . and for Kim that was flowers and beautiful gardens. I never see beautiful flowers or gardens without thinking about her and remembering all the reasons I love her and miss her.

Dave, Chrissy & Brian, Josh & Elena, Kaite and Patrick . . . I'm thinking of you today and hoping that you feel Kim close to you today. Much love, Sandra