When love is all no shadows fall – the sunshine stays.
— inscribed on the sundial below.
Click on the photo to enlarge.
The other side has this inscription …
Love gilds the hours unfolds the flowers of passing days.
Click on the photo to enlarge.
The sundial is in the main public garden in Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand. I found the stunning dahlia in a garden bed near the sundial. We visited Alexandra not long before lockdown started in NZ. Photos taken 22 March 2020
Alexandra is the main town in Central Otago. Hot in summer, cold in winter.
Click on the photo to enlarge
Alexandra is well known for the clock on the hill.. time apparently has great significance in this town – the clock is even lit up at night.
Just in case the sundial and the clock on the hill escape your notice, there’s another kind of time thyme everywhere in Central Otago. Taken 27 Oct 2018
Click on the photo to enlarge
Wild thyme – it runs rampant. They even hold a Thyme Festival in Alexandra.
Arrived courtesy of the gold miners a long thyme time ago 🙂
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2020)
Exploring Colour 
Love those dahlias – they’re a fantastic colour. I’m just wondering if the couple that I left in the ground have survived the winter…
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Hope so! These very bright ones against the dark foliage and buds looked dazzling!
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Your quotes made me feel a bit teary. My sweetheart and I are miles apart for the foreseeable future, like many others. Luckily we have Skype.
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Ouch, that’s really tough Susan. I really feel for you and hope that you each stay well till you can meet up again. Take care xx
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Do you know whose words those are on the sundial?
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No, and I didn’t see any kind of attribution.
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Here’s what I’ve been able to find:
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm7QCD_The_Glad_McArthur_Sundial_Alexandra_New_Zealand
“Glad McArthur was a devoted gardener who helped many people in Central Otago. When she passed away a portion of Pioneer Park was set aside as a memorial to her work and this sundial was incorporated.”
That still doesn’t say who wrote the words.
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There’s a little more in the last paragraph of this informative article:
https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/chapter-closes-committee
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And in J. H. (John Henry) Fowler’s 1922 book The life and letters of Edward Lee Hicks (bishop of Lincoln, 1910-1919) the words are said to be anonymous.
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These references are fabulous Steve, thanks for taking the time to find them! I also found the story of Bishop Hicks very interesting, reading much more of the text than merely the quote 🙂
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Thyme seems a good way to spell the elongated version of COVID t i m e we seem to be having. The weeks are ticking by but time itself seems very slow to me.
Clearly Otagoans are, or were at some point, fascinated with time. I do like that big clock on that stark hillside.
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I don’t know why Alexandra has this thing about time, NZers in general tend to be politely late or worse, a bit tardy shall we say!
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Ha, maybe some civic-minded citizen thought they could correct that tendency 🙂
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That’s a thought … entirely possible 😉
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Do you know the English folk song “Let no man steal your thyme?” In its lyrics the herb thyme is used as a symbol of a woman’s virginity, which the singer implores her to protect from men who would have their wicked way with her and then cast her aside. There are various versions around, but I like this one sung by Anne Briggs, who’s voice is very haunting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65gkSVfJyM
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I hadn’t heard of it before now!
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I’ve been to Otago many times, but the central part only once, and briefly. It’s nice to see more of it!
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Oh dear! You’ve missed a treat. ‘Central’ is dear to many of us for very good reason and especially so in autumn and spring with the beauty of vividly colourful foliage and hips in autumn and blossom in the spring. I hope you’ll be able to visit in person!
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