Magnficent Magnolia

There is a magnolia tree in our front garden. It's only wee by magnolia standards, but it's coming into bloom at the moment. Deep purple buds are forming, and they are taking me back to a very special time in my life. There are huge magnolia trees further up the hill, higher than the homes they belong to, cluttered with petals, leaving carpets of colour below them already, but our little tree belongs in our garden, at the bottom of the hill, shadowed and cold and moist, and the buds are only forming now.

There are a few friends of mine who know how meaningful the magnolia is to me. When we lived in our second home in Auckland, from 2006 to 2008, there was the most beautiful magnolia you could imagine in our rear garden, it was the hub of the home in many ways, it sheltered us, cheered us, the kids climbed it, swung from it, it was adorned with balloons at parties, pinatas hung from it,  it dropped it's leaves in winter to allow us to bathe in the sunlight through the living room window, then grew them again to shade us in summer. And in Spring, the most amazing blooms. It was the backdrop to almost every family photo for those two years, however unfortunately I've lost a lot of photos due to computer hard drive crashes, but wanted to share a few remaining ones with you, from our home in Benson Road, Remuera. It was the home where we lived when my firstborn started school, where we brought our baby boy home to when he was born, where we had parties and friendships and love and lots of laughter. I miss that house, and I really miss that tree. 

Just arrived, 2006

New Gumboots :)

Christmas Elf 2007

Blythe Backdrop

My view from the couch, morning sickness to the Max. 

Fathers Day 2008

New Spectacles for Lulu