Your Christmas tree is beautiful. And your sunrise is fantastic (are those dark curtains? They give the effect of the sun seen rising at night). And did you know the azaleas bloomed in January down here? They were not supposed to bloom until sometime between late February and now (which I say, because, did your magnolias bloom unusually early this year? Around here those usually don't bud out 'til between March and May. The dogwoods and wisteria have already bloomed here, too).
They are thin white shears, not dark curtains. The curtains are pushed to the side.
Wow, azaleas in January already! They're just starting to bloom around here, or at least I saw one bush starting to bloom. It happens to be by the warm exhaust vent of the HVAC unit, so I'm not sure if that made it bloom earlier than the rest.
The pink magnolia is always one of the first things to bloom in my yard, so I can't really say if it's earlier than usual this year. The jessamine is blooming now too. The wisteria hasn't yet.
Well, I noticed today (just this afternoon) that the town I just moved to? The azaleas are in full bloom, which is exactly on time for what I'm used to seeing in FL but only quite a bit south of here. Weirdly enough, the town I just moved from (about 40 miles south of where I am now, but many miles north of where I'm used to azaleas blooming more about now) the azaleas actually began blooming in late December, and continued through January. I don't know if that town happens to have a particular microclimate or what (it does lie a lot closer to the water than my current town does, more directly sea level, so there's that).
It happens to be by the warm exhaust vent of the HVAC unit, so I'm not sure if that made it bloom earlier than the rest.
*nods* In a house mom and I had up until about eight years ago, the closer the azaleas were to heat escaping from the house, the earlier they would bloom, so I'm aware of that effect. The azaleas were all under the front-facing bedroom. The ones directly under the window always bloomed first though they were tiny; the older, bigger bushes, which flanked each of the front corners, bloomed up to a week later, and seemed to bloom more slowly, overall.
And yeah, pink magnolias...in FL we have (or I've only ever seen) white. So it's possible ours have a different bloom schedule altogether.
The jessamine sounds like it bloomed early! I can't remember it blooming 'til later in the year, normally. I wonder if the gardenias will be early this year, too. :)
That cupcake recipe looks good, but I've found repeatedly that buttercream made with Earth Balance tastes deeply horrid to me. Fortunately, using I really like coconut oil based buttercream.
Do you not like the Earth Balance in general, or just not in buttercream? I don't make frosting very often, and the ones I've made have had a much lower margarine to sugar ratio than the recipe listed at that link. Good to know that coconut oil works too.
I quite like the taste of Earth Balance in almost all cooking, it's great in cookies and cakes, but not in buttercream. However, I'll try using more sugar and less margarine, that trick might also work a bit better with coconut oil - thanks/
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chiming
no subject
Date: 2016-03-10 04:06 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2016-03-11 04:08 am (UTC)From:Wow, azaleas in January already! They're just starting to bloom around here, or at least I saw one bush starting to bloom. It happens to be by the warm exhaust vent of the HVAC unit, so I'm not sure if that made it bloom earlier than the rest.
The pink magnolia is always one of the first things to bloom in my yard, so I can't really say if it's earlier than usual this year. The jessamine is blooming now too. The wisteria hasn't yet.
Oh climate change, how I don't adore thee
Date: 2016-03-13 04:22 am (UTC)From:It happens to be by the warm exhaust vent of the HVAC unit, so I'm not sure if that made it bloom earlier than the rest.
*nods* In a house mom and I had up until about eight years ago, the closer the azaleas were to heat escaping from the house, the earlier they would bloom, so I'm aware of that effect. The azaleas were all under the front-facing bedroom. The ones directly under the window always bloomed first though they were tiny; the older, bigger bushes, which flanked each of the front corners, bloomed up to a week later, and seemed to bloom more slowly, overall.
And yeah, pink magnolias...in FL we have (or I've only ever seen) white. So it's possible ours have a different bloom schedule altogether.
The jessamine sounds like it bloomed early! I can't remember it blooming 'til later in the year, normally. I wonder if the gardenias will be early this year, too. :)
no subject
Date: 2016-03-07 08:06 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2016-03-07 02:14 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2016-03-08 01:17 am (UTC)From: