Adventures Galore (& How to Dry Hydrangeas)

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Adventures galore

an imaginary world

our children’s sandbox

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Wendy/2015

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At our previous home, we had the coolest sandbox I’ve ever seen. My talented husband fashioned it out of huge pieces of driftwood. It even had a built-in bench on the side. Our three children were born during the time we lived at that old country home, and they spent oodles of time exploring an imaginary world within the sandbox their father had made. Often I’d take pictures of them creating sandcastles and miniature towns.

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Recently I  photographed my favorite hydrangea (the one pictured). It’s a special plant because I grew it from cuttings I’d taken from the hydrangea that grew near our children’s sandbox. They never touched the plant because I’d warned them it was poisonous.

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My boys and their lab-cross chased a black bear up a tree, but they never bothered my hydrangea. My daughter fed the neighbor’s horse ferns from our forest, but she never touched the hydrangea.

And so now, each time this plant blooms, I remember the adventures galore our children had within the sandbox of our previous home.

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Adventures Galore Blessings ~ Wendy

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Did your children have a sandbox? Do you have special memories of playing in an imaginary world? Have you got ‘memory plants’ in your garden?

Don’t forget to read the following instructions for drying hydrangea if you need them.

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The secret to drying hydrangea for an indoor display during winter is as follows:

1. In mid or late September cut a bouquet of hydrangea of equal stem length.
2. Remove all leaves from the stems, being careful not to break the flowers.
3. Arrange flowers in a large vase that has several inches of water.
4. Place arrangement in a spot that has good air circulation and no direct sunlight.
5. Be aware  that stowaway insects may appear within the bouquet.
6. Allow the water to evaporate over a week or so. By then the flowers will have dried, and you can move them to a clean empty vase.
7. Next year simply discard the old bouquet into your compost pile, and start over.

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September 20th I’m switching this blog to http://www.wendylmacdonald.com .

I hope to see you there.

If all goes well my posts should automatically transfer you over.

If not, sign up at the link. I’ll leave this old site up for as long as I think necessary.

You and WordPress have been so good to me.

Thank you. <3

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