Duke Gardens

Actually, the winter was pretty mild here in Cary, NC, but the blog needed a rest, and our routine provided a good opportunity for some downtime. 

Last week, with nearly everything in bud or blossom, daughter Rebecca took us to Duke Gardens, in nearby Durham. Though there's no lack of foliage where we live, it was very nice to see a large, mature botanical garden, with many specimens, very well presented. Memories of Keuckenhof last year and before and of so many great English gardens in previous years. Thank you, Rebecca!

Big place, right at the center of the old campus, next to the Duke
Chapel...memories also of SMU friends who came from Duke...
Andy Parker, Andy Bryant, and foremost Ken Pye, whom I was
privileged to work for before I became vice provost...

Moi, at the entrance

Sans moi

Ample water features and such

Interesting rock garden

Among the ponds

More rock features, waterfalls

Camellias going well

Many Japanese accents

Us, there

Excellent signage...seriously...hardly
a shrub, flower bed, nor tree was not
well identified

Now in what the Brits would call the "kitchen garden"

Worm farm...part of an educational exhibit

Ditto: the compost pile...note the tomato escaping over the fence

In the kitchen garden

More water features

Neo-Gothic cruciform arch?

Last seen at Keukenhof

Outside the gift shoppe

Also outside the gift shoppe, just as we were leaving,
I spotted a specimen of my favorite weird tree, a very young
Monkey Puzzle; my set was complete; well...except for
the rhodos...maybe later

In Hibernation

Fun Old-Fashioned Family Christmas, 2023; And Aftermath

Stockings stash

Now adorning our bistro set out on the porch

Miss Piggy artworks from the Kermitage

Scone condiments traveling set

Prof. Tolkien's intermittent fasting diet

Official Swiftie sweater

Christmas brunch

Vicki's traditional poteca

That evening we had a look at the downtown Christmas
decor and especially Cary's new downtown park, ice
rink, and so on; not pictured (!): the traditional chocolate
fondue (!)

Twelve days later, Epiphany, or Theophany (if you're of
the Eastern persuasion), at our apartment, we did the French
Galette des Rois thing, substituting cupcake for the galette;
P got the feve...

 

Fun Old-Fashioned Family Pre-Christmas Events, 2

 Continuing through Xmas eve...

The only surviving photographic evidence of our traditional cheese
fondue, which figured as lunch this day

Afternoon cookie decoration

The best ones are P's; she apparently inherited the artistic gene,
whatever its source

I won the Participation Prize for my Pierrot

In the afternoon things return to normal

But they picked up for the inaugural showing of the
Sherouse Family Christmas slide show, for which Vicki
and I had spent hours collecting, editing, ordering, etc.;
copies available (1 gig; provide flash drive or other);
inquire within

On a walk around the Riggsbee Farm neighborhood...Vicki and I

have watched the movie every year since 1989, and we still look forward

to watching it with P, who then will be able to comprehend our many

references and allusions...we watched it again in 2023, the two of us,

and figured, yeah, maybe another year or two

The traditional Christmas eve meat/seafood fondue; participants
adorned with traditional silly cracker hats

Among our traditions is that of everyone
opening one present on Xmas eve...here is P:
2023 will be remembered as our Taylor Swift
Christmas

And moi, with my Duolingo Duo stuffie, commemorating
my (now 740-day) streak of internet French lessons: I now
have the linguistic skills of a 10-month-old native speaker... 
(note traditional Dude sweater)

And the table is set (Royal Doulton Canton) for Xmas
brunch the next day...