It wasn’t an easy decision to add a Golden Elm to our garden. We have an issue of space. Our garden is tiny and Golden Elms grow big!

I remember when my daughter spotted the tree at the garden centre and set her heart on it. In truth, I had, for a long time, wished that we had space to plant one but had conceded, sadly, that we didn’t.

But my heart was reignited by my daughters pleas.

Could we?

We walked around our garden trying to find a spot. Growing the tree in our imaginations to check if it could work.

There is a street in Wellington city that has huge alternating Golden Elms and Pohutukawa trees. The two canopies beautiful side by side, contrasting and complimenting. I love.

The spot we settled on was in our front garden near our Pohutukawa.

There may be a time when it gets too big and we might have to cut it back or remove it but that will be many years from now. In the meantime we will very much enjoy it’s company.

It makes me think about decisions and my thoughts tentatively tiptoe in the direction of some hard decisions I’ve made and wonder, what if, what if I’d chosen differently?

I believe life has a way of putting us where we’re supposed to be and the only way we find ourselves here is by taking the paths we chose.

And the here and now I love and am grateful for.

Not regret, it’s pride I feel for myself for making those tough decisions that have contributed to leading me here.

Wishing you a wonderful day!