the arboretum in chapel hill

I've had about eight things in my head to blog about, but none of them have made it out of my head and into the blog lately. I've been wanting to post some pictures of one of my favorite places in Chapel Hill. The arboretum is right around the corner from my office and just about the perfect lunch spot.
They grow only native plants, and all the trees and most of the plants are labeled. The whole thing makes me want to become a horticulturalist.
This magnificent tree is Beautybush. Seems a very fitting name.
Close-up of the beautiful Beautybush.
My favorite tree is in the Arboretum is a Big-leaf Magnolia. I have never seen a magnolia tree like it. It has enormous, tropical-looking leaves. And when I say enormous I mean like 2-3 feet long. ENORMOUS.
And not only are the leaves big, the blooms are bigger than my head. And I have a big head. This picture doesn't do them justice. ENORMOUS.
In other exciting news I bought a butter dish on eBay. I have a thing for old Corelle and Pyrex patterns. I've been picking up old Corelle plates from thrift shops (they're all over the place) in the hopes of amassing a charmingly mismatched set of corelle dishware. So now I have a stack of Corelle plates that is about 10 inches tall. Not to mention the teacups and saucers.
Anyway. My butter dish is a nice addition to the collection.

I am heading to my grandmother's house for the long weekend to help my Dad and uncle begin cleaning out the house. Getting it ready to sell. My grandparents built the house in the early 60s and Grandma lived in it for nearly 50 years. I have so many wonderful memories of that house. Cleaning it out will be hard. It's just stuff, material things that may have little value, but it's the stuff that tells the story of their lives. Happy lives. I have a feeling we'll be packing up a lot of it to keep.

Wishing you a happy and peaceful holiday weekend!