Bonni Brodnick Blog

Tuesday @ 10 a.m.  - Air temperature: 46 -degrees. Really. Wednesday @ 4 p.m.  -  The temperature is now 41 -degrees. Blecch.

Betty, Betty, Betty. Smoking on the school bus as she accompanied her son on a class trip to his teacher's father's farm. And trading his mother's lunch for a bag of gum drops? Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. "Am I a good mother?" Betty asked her husband Francis later that night at their large Victorian home in Rye, N.Y. "Only time will tell," she said.

Rainbow over DeKalb Avenue Sunset on Hart Street Ye Olde Tire Repair Shoppe Building Art in Brooklyn Tiny Plot of Grass I Think When the Forsythia Bloom It is Safe to Take Down the Christmas Balls Corinthian Meets Victorian #  #  #

Guard/protect/cherish/nurture/honor your friendships. Here is a shot of me with our good friend Alix, who is visiting from Marseille (left) and my amazing sister, Pamela. (Princeton is beautiful this time of year!) Our friendship with Alix goes back more than three decades, when my sister and I were in art school in Aix-en-Provence. That is a verrrry long time to establish a rich friendship. This treasured history is intertwined with great adventure, laughter and shared sadness. (And there is something uniquely wonderful about having a friend who remembers my father.) Experiencing the joy and weathering the vicissitudes that life throws at us is what enriches relationships. I treasure my friendships supremely/utterly.

When you step into Antiques & Tools of Business & Kitchen , at 65 Westchester Avenue in Scotts Corners, Pound Ridge, N.Y., you'll be wooed by the Baroque music on WNYC Radio, or the American classics of Jonathan Schwartz on a Sunday afternoon. Take a look around and you'll find stuff you may have long gotten rid of but wished you had saved like campaign buttons for Ike, JFK, Bill and Hillary, sheet music from the '20s, bartending trinkets and shelves of other vintage antiquity from the work place to the kitchen.  Welcome to the world of Joan Silbersher, proprietor, who has a keen eye for the kitsch. On Sunday, April 27, from noon to 3 p.m. , she will celebrate her 24th anniversary in Scotts Corners with a barbecue lunch to benefit the Pound Ridge Library , along with a free raffle and five gift certificates for $30. "I'd go crazy without this shop," said Joan from her desk that has a perfect vantage point of the four corners on Westchester Avenu...

On tonight's "Mad Men," it was hard not to be distracted by Sally's eyebrows. They appear to be going in the direction of ... Shoshanna in "Girls" Caroline (Adam's sister) in "Girls" Frida Kahlo

                        When you walk into  Isabelle et Vincent , an authentic boulangerie/pâtisserie/confiserie/chocolaterie/Viennoiserie in Fairfield, Conn., you will feel transported to France. My mother and I went for an afternoon outing and enjoyed Croissant d'Amande and cappucinos in a niche off the bakery that truly felt like we were in our good friend's dining room in Argentan, a small town in Normandy. On this Good Friday before Easter, Vincent Koenig, a seventh-generation pastry chef and chocolatier from Alsace, and his wife Isabelle were busy baking their buttery and exquisite signature specialties. Said Vincent as he created a g âteau with fresh  fraises , "I love what I do and am proud of my work. I also love when someone goes out of my bakery with a smile."

There are 24-hours in a day. If the days are getting longer, are the nights getting shorter?  Which leads us to ... how will the lime shortage impact cocktail hour come June, July and August? Will revelers celebrating the end of another summer day go mad?                                                           It's a topsy-turvy world ... especially without limes In other breaking news, the after-effects of the polar vortex continue to haunt us. Read about it in these two riveting articles in the Arkansas Times :   "Velveeta Cheese: Polar Vortex a Factor?"  and the New York Times: "Gefilte Fish Is Scarce This Passover. Taste Buds Are Ambivalent."

                                                                               Frozen Charlotte Dolls       Don’t dress by the calendar. Dress by the weather.  (Ever heard the cautionary tale about Frozen Charlotte , the woman who froze to death while riding to a New Year’s Eve ball in 1840?)        Bad wardrobe choices may haunt you forever. In this case, centuries.

This is the very first day that we are opening a window to the beautiful outdoors. Springtime in Wilton!  (Even though the daffodils aren't up yet and the trees are still dormant.) Glorious springtime!! And bud? You can come out now. All is safe. Polar Vortex is 86. Same window two months ago, after a blizzard

Whoa ... what a boa!  There's nuthin' stuffy about this doll.

Since we live near a busy road, where motorists floor it through the countryside, we decided we'd rather have our rescue-cat than a flat feline pancake. So we have opted for a Cat Leash. Day #1: A casual promenade on the patio.  (Spring peepers in the background. Wait ... I think I heard something rustle in the preserve.  Bobcats have been back there lately.) I know, I know ... the whole essence of Truman's lioness has now been de-mystified. But at least we've reined in the situation. In a boss red / cranberry bungee leash. Sharrrrp.

(Per inquiry, no!!  This isn't me! Love it.) Say WHAT????!?!?   "When a Couple Goes (Selectively) Hard of Hearing"  is about couples, marriage, listening ... or not. For full story,  click here . Thanks so much for leaving comments at the end of the blog. Yep, all you have to do is sign up for a HuffPost account.  What?? I SAID ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SIGN UP FOR A HUFFPOST ACCOUNT and you can leave comments. Oh. __________________________________________ Update 4/9/14:  My HuffPost Blog has been picked up by news services in Britain and Bangladesh. Obviously, couples experiencing (selective) hard of hearing is a universal situation .

Nap-dent. Do you suffer from this? My darling son is home for the weekend. I thought I'd take a little siesta while he was in the den catching up with his father. Thirty-minutes later, I woke up and rejoined them in the den. "Mom, what's wrong with your face?" Nap-dent.

Springtime brings out the best in figuring out what to do with those long-awaited added hours of light. Like playing Chinese Jump Rope until the sun goes down. Slinging a Slinkee down the front steps. Chewing on Silly Putty. Making hilarious sounds of flatulation with a Whoopee Cushion on unsuspecting sitters. I have to admit ... I LOVE this stuff. (And I'm an absolute fiend for Cat's Cradle. I dare you to beat me.) Thought you'd enjoy this past post.  Click here   for more on the joy of Flubber, Whee-Los, B'Loonies and hula hoops. It's that wonderful time of year to pull out all the tricks. P.S.:  And remember the handheld game of rolling mercury around in the palm of your hand? It was like dancing in clouds of DNT when the "Mosquito Man" came. Click   here for sheer mercury madness. (Would you everrr  do this now that we know that playing with mercury is detrimental to your health?  You might as well eat sushi 8-days a week to spread out the...

Three Chicks & a Quill, a writing group in Wilton ... launched! Many thanks to fellow writers Carey Field and Lynn Stack.

In what appears to be a stunning reversal of the Polar Vortex, we awoke this morning to an 82-degree day that immediatley impacted the growth rate of flora in the northeast region. Particularly amazed after a long winter that brought 21-degree nights just last week, one Wilton resident said, "It's absolutely nuclear what is happening. Not only is the pussy willow tree in bloom, but joining it are the peony bushes ... and those usually bloom in early-June." Said another resident, "I started my tomato plants from seed in egg crates on the kitchen counter. Overnight, they have burst into full-grown tomatoes.  I'm even making sauce later today!" And still another resident boasted about her over-night basil explosion. "I usually harvest my basil plants at the end of August. It's completely bizarre that they are ripe for picking as we speak. Guess who's making pesto later?" she jested. While we all enjoy this unusual and sudden change i...