A country day out, at Cross Hills.

It was a lovely warm day, not too hot, a beautiful setting - Cross Hills rhododendron garden at Kimbolton near Palmerston North, and I swear there must not have been a Nana left at home in the Wanganui, Manawatu or even Taranaki. They were all here!!!

Except for a few who had gammy hips I suppose.

There were great migratory herds of Nanas. Even some with walkers with wheels.

I spotted a few Grandads too, the type wearing short shorts, long socks and sandals mostly - and sun hats. They are so cute. But why do Nanas let them out looking like that?

Our Nana is a Granny, which has slightly different connotations. They prefer smaller family groups without an alpha male, and do not opt for the migratory wilder beast MO.

They are more your tall tree browsers, like giraffes.



They admire corrugated iron chooks at a leisurely pace.

And guard their personal space when traversing the trail.

These little dresses were lovely, but there were few things that measured up to the Magpie Chic standard for handmade with love and skill. I think Katie and Sweet Mary in the Hawkes Bay have a much higher standard of hand crafted lovelies available at their fetes and markets.

The garden was the real star of the show.

This was my favourite stall. Gorgy shabby chic aprons and shoulder bags.

There's always time for a rest and a sit beneath a rhododendron.