July 16, 2014

Lately

I love blue hydrangeas. 

Every year, I tell Steve (my husband) I will turn our pink hydrangea bushes into beautiful shades of blue, but that hasn't happened yet. They are pink again this year. 



I guess pink isn't that bad, after all. I'm growing to like them more.
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I baked Ina Garten's brownies, and these are hands down the best brownies ever! I'm making another batch for a family picnic today. Mmmm.


* * *
I made this DIY art and turned it into a gallery wall. 


I will show you how I made them when I come back later this week.


What have you been up to lately?


15 comments:

  1. Right about now? Sitting outside in the shade with a magazine. Scooping up a little bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Listening to the birds argue back and forth at the feeder. And loving those hydrangeas you've gathered, Yuko ...

    Hope you're having a light and easy week, my friend!

    ;-}

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  2. Having mint chocolate chip ice cream (my favorite!) while listening to the birds and reading a magazine sounds wonderful. I'm just finishing up baking the brownies. Have a lovely afternoon, Linda! xx

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  3. Flowers, Ina Garten's brownies and art ... I am all in.

    Fondly,
    Glenda

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    1. :-) Thank you for stopping by, Glenda! xx

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    2. Thanks for your sweet comment you left on my blog. Many blessings as you parent your sweet boys.

      Fondly,
      Glenda

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  4. what am i up to? well, i've been playing cruise director for our exuberant yellow lab: early morning walks, tennis ball fetching, trips to the nearby lake boat ramp for retrieving in the water (her fav), and tossing toys while sitting on the couch trying to read!

    i like my brownies sans nuts, but those still look great. one day, i want to have oak leaf hydrangeas.

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    1. Sounds like you're having a lot of fun with your lab! I'm not usually a big fan of nuts in general, but nuts in this brownie don't bother me. This is the second time I heard about oak leaf hydrangeas. I wonder if they grow in upstate NY?

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  5. Your gallery wall looks fantastic, as do your brownies. Do you recall what type of chocolate you used in the brownies? I tried making some recently and they unfortunately turned out terribly :-( I think I'll try again using the recipe you used.

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    1. Thank you! The recipe calls for semisweet chocolate chips (a lot of them) and some bittersweet chocolate (I used unsweetened chocolate squares for baking). You can get the recipe here: http://www.barefootcontessa.com/recipes.aspx?RecipeID=572&S=0 This makes 20 large squares of brownies, which is quite a bit. You can halve the amount of each ingredient and bake in a smaller pan. xx

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  6. Flowers, brownies and art make for a serene trio.

    Looks like it'll be a beautiful day and I have nothing on the agenda except for lazing around and reading.

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  7. Hi Yuko! Hydrangeas have been my nemesis this year! I have a thriving plant, it's several feet tall...but it's all stems and leaves. I don't know why. (Maybe you do?)
    Today, I am concentrating on some writing, and have plans for tonight. It will be a good day if I stay on track and don't get distracted gazing at the bird feeder :)
    Blessings,
    Ceil

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    1. We transplanted the cuttings from my mother-in-law's garden shortly after my husband and I moved into this house. So our bushes are still small and manageable. But the blue blossoms turned into pink once transplanted in our alkaline soil. Hope you had a good writing day. It's nice to get distracted by chirping birds once in a while ;) xx

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  8. Ahhh hydrangeas are my specialty. I love them. Keep amending the soil with acid and they will eventually respond. I do it three times a year. It takes a lot more than you'd think.

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    1. I haven't even started putting acid to the soil (lazy), yet. What about Limelight hydrangeas? I'd love to fill our yard with blue and white hydrangeas. Do white hydrangeas react to alkaline soils and turn into a different color? Just wondering.

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