Bonni Brodnick Blog

Lady Sybil Branson "My dear, when tragedies strike, we try to find someone to blame. And in the absence of a suitable candidate we usually blame ourselves. You are not to blame, no one is to blame … All we can do now is cherish her memory, and her child." Click here  to reminisce about happier days at Highclerc Castle. (Turn up the sound.)

‎      "We had a brook on the property and dug a pond that froze over in the wintertime. Kids from all over town would come and clear the snow off the ice, go skating and play ice hockey. They'd go over to the neighbor's property and sleigh through a pathway that went down by my house and halfway down the road." ~Excerpt from POUND RIDGE PAST , 1950s: "Jackie Rodney, Barnegat's Good Neighbor." To read more about winters long ago in a town often referred to as "God's Country," contact poundridgepast@gmail.com or on Facebook send PM. Signed copies of POUND RIDGE PAST are $30 + $4 for shipping/handling. ~~ Please also visit us on Facebook :-)  ~~

       Many thanks, readers, for all of the feedback on the squirrel story. Who would have ever thought these scurrilous rodents could be so embracing? Here's the link to madness: "Squirrel Appreciation Day: Don't Miss Celebrating!"

     I'm thankful for many things and my list runneth over, but I've never thought squirrels could be counted among them. Until now.      * Here's the link to my new Huffington Post,   "Squirrel Appreciation Day: Don't Miss Celebrating!"

I am as obsessed with "Downton Abbey" as I am with "Mad Men." So much so that this morning I awoke from a dream that I LIVED at Downton Abbey and was wearing Lady Mary Crawley's wedding gown. And, amidst the splendor of this sizzling British drama that was now my life too, I saw my reflection in a gilded mirror as I floated down the main staircase. Large paintings with fruit, flowers, foxes and doughy ancestors lined the walls. As Robert Crawley, the 6th Earl of Grantham and Lord of the castle phrased it, "I was so happy, so very happy, I felt my chest would explode." A silver lace wedding train trailed my dainty steps, which are usually cloddish.   (I love that anything is possible in the Land of Nod.) Adding to the zip of the moment was the antique diamond tiara that sat upon my finger-wave hairdo. Between my nimble footwork and the rocked-out tiara, I was far from hobblety-hoy. At the bottom of the staircase, Lord Grantham's l...

POUND RIDGE PAST now at LIONHEART GALLERY I'm delighted to let you know that signed copies of POUND RIDGE PAST: Remembrances of Our Townsfolk  are now available in the small works gallery at  Lionheart Gallery , which specializes in Modern and Contemporary emerging and established artists from Europe and United States. They have a broad inventory of fine art photography, paintings, works on paper, mixed media and sculpture. The current exposition, “Helluva Town: New York City in the 1940s and 50s,” by 92-year old documentary and street photographer Vivian Cherry, is a gem. Gallery hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm; Sunday, noon-4pm, and by appointment. (Its advised to call before going as they close on occasion for private viewings with collectors.) Lionheart Gallery | 27 Westchester Ave. Pound Ridge, NY 10576 | tel. 914.764.8689 ________ - If you can't make it to Lionheart, contact poundridgepast@gmail.com or leave a PM on the POUND RIDGE PAST ...

          Do you think drones are dronish?

In recognition of the new 1920s finger wave hairstyle on "Downton Abbey,"  let us all  wave today (but don't get too hobblety-hoy about it).

Was one of your New Year resolutions to lose weight and cut down on drinking wine? The imperfect solution is to get a bad cold and go on amoxycillin. Not only will you lose your appetite, but you are forbidden to have alcohol while on this potent antibiotic. By the end of the bottle (of amoxycillin), voilà ... did someone call me a slim and trim teetotaler?  (They meant that in the good way, right?)