Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue

 

The scene on Saturday at one of my favorite florists

Roses Are Red (and pink and white and yellow), Violets Are Blue

I Love These Flowers and Most Others, Too.

This may be one of my favorite flower combinations, 

Roses, tulips and peonies

What are your flower favorites? My other favorites are lilacs. We had lilac bushes when I was growing up and the scent of lilacs for that sweet, short season in spring brings back memories of springtime with my parents so long ago.  

Blessedly the weather is above freezing and most of the time it's sunny. I know we will still have a month (or so) of winter, but I'm relatively sure that the worst is over. I've put my heavy boots back into the closet and fingers crossed that it's the last of them for 2026.

To make the most of the sunny and warmer weather, I took an excursion to Rockefeller Center yesterday to see the ice skaters, always one of my favorite activities. 

Today was a day at the gym and a lot of little errands. I'm not sure how the weeks have gotten so busy with things to do, though I think as the years have gone by I'm not able to get as much done in a day as I once did. Has anyone else noticed this? And  where do all these errands come from? They seem to grown like weeds. By the time it's night I find that I'm just tired. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. 

I Say a Little Prayer

 

The set for Going Bacharach, 

a great afternoon enjoying the music of Burt Bacharach  

As I've written many times, I say a little prayer for my friends in Blogland. But that phrase is also the title of one of my favorite songs, "I Say a Little Prayer," by one of my favorite songwriters, Burt Bacharach. I loved it when I first heard it during my senior year in high school, when it was released, and it's still a favorite. Even though the temperature was just about below zero with the wind chill on Saturday, I got myself out to see a great program of Burt Bacharach's music and I'm very glad I did. 

Meeting Adrian Galante, the Musical Director of Going Bacharach

Bacharach's music was part of the soundtrack of my high school years and while "I Say a Little Prayer" comes to mind immediately there are so many other songs that I enjoy and know every word, even after fifty plus years. I didn't sing along to the show, but there was lots of toe tapping. Any other Burt Bacharach fans in Buttercupland? If you are, please share your favorite song with us. 

As promised we have a winner for the Seventeenth Blogaversary giveaway. It's our blog buddy  Respice Prospice. I'll be sending a mystery from one of my favorite mystery series, Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency. The series takes place in Botswana and Precious Ramotswe is one of my favorite detectives ever. 

The deep freeze of last week has ended -- Hurray! -- and we're back to regular winter weather. I so appreciate that it doesn't take me ten minutes just to get ready to go outside and I don't need to wear boots. I had a fun  adventure uptown -- museum and lunch -- and I'll be sharing it in a post soon. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care.  

My Heart is in Cortina

Though I'm no athlete, winter or summer sports, I'm a huge fan of the Olympics. I start by watching a few chosen sports -- ski jumping and figure skating -- and before I know it I'm getting up early to watch luge and curling. I was especially interested in watching Lindsey Vonn this year. 

Lindsey Vonn is one of the greatest Alpine skiers of all time. She's won Olympic medals and many World Cup races. She's also been injured many times during her skiing career and has come back to race again and again. I admire her skiing prowess, but I especially admire her courage and grit in returning to the slopes from injury. Despite a torn ligament in her knee last week, she was out and skiing this morning. I wish I could write that she was a medalist, but sadly that's not this week's post. Thirteen seconds into her race this morning she crashed and had to be airlifted off the mountain. 

I've been following Lindsey Vonn's rehab journey as I went through my own physical therapy journey. Broken bones and spinal issues have sent me to physical therapy more times that I can count. I can't say that I liked it, but I knew I needed to be there. There were many minutes that I wanted to stop, but I thought of Lindsey Vonn more times than I can count and kept plugging along. I would think, "Lindsey Vonn doesn't quit."

This is my official thanks to Lindsey Vonn. It's been a joy watching you ski and an inspiration through the years. 

I'm happily surviving this cold snap with coffee, hot cocoa and an extra pair of tights. Tomorrow is supposed to be twenty degrees warmer and I can't wait for  the heat wave of thirty degrees. I'll be outside in a few minutes for a little fresh air and know I won't get far, but will enjoy the sunshine for a short walk. My projects for today have been blogging, cleaning out the space under the sink and watching the Olympics. What's been on your schedule for the day? 

I'll be back tomorrow with a winner for our Seventeenth Anniversary giveaway. See you then. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and keep cozy. 

  

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That Was the Month that Was

The theme of January: Snow and cold

Finally, after what seems like a year and half, the longest month in just about forever, has ended. A big cheer and I toast all of you with a cup of hot cocoa and as many marshmallows as you'd like for your cocoa. But blessedly, January 2026 is in the rear view window and the days are getting longer. Sadly, they're not getting warmer in New York City, but I don't have a lot scheduled for the weekend and I'm going to watch many hours of the winter Olympics coverage and yes, drink hot cocoa. 

I had three projects for last month and I've done okay with all three. The first was keeping my spirits up. It wasn't easy and there were hours/days when I did not do well, but somehow managed to make it through. I was helped by a special event I attended. It was a concert at Lincoln Center, with the fabulous actor/singer, Kelli O'Hara. I'd seen her in South Pacific, Pajama Game and Brigadoon and was so excited to see her in concert. I love concerts but don't go to very many these days. I'm overwhelmed by stadium venues and I'm overwhelmed by the price of tickets. But this concert was both relatively affordable and in a small theater venue. It did not disappoint. Kelli O'Hara was so engaging and so talented, and the memory of the evening warms me up just thinking about it. 

My second project was my walking. It was a tough month to get in steps and a push to get myself out and walking. But I set a goal of 75 miles and finished the month with 77+ miles, which I'm calling a win. There were a couple of days with barely a mile, and a few days with 4+ miles. One of them was my visit to the Travel and Adventure Show, which gave me some great travel ideas. Some are far away and some a lot closer and more possible. Nothing planned yet, but I'm enjoying thinking about possibilities. 

  Our new friend, Willie the Penguin

My third project was the annual No Spending January. I am proud to report that my only purchase was Willie the Penguin, who I rescued on the last day of the holiday decor sale at Paper Source. I had seen him in December and figured if he was still in the store in January, he was meant to come home with me. He wasn't at the store nearest to me, but the staff located him at another branch in the neighborhood. Willie is a little worse for wear, but with this cheery scarf and the company of the Buttercupland Crew he has settled in nicely. Willie cost $12.57, but in truth he is priceless. 

I'm thinking of doing a No Spending February. I have bought Valentines, which I consider a necessity, but no other "things." I found myself intrigued by cute pajamas in a store window this morning and had to restrain myself from going into the store. I take that as a sign that I could buy things I don't need very easily. I also had a recurrence of the dishwasher disaster and I'm contemplating replacing my dishwasher. But in the No Spending spirit, I am going to hold off and think about whether I truly need a new dishwasher and if I think that I do, I'm going to be on the lookout for a sale. Did anyone else do a No Spending month, and if so, did it work for you? 

My projects for February are watching the Olympics, No Spending February, 75+ miles of walking and a trip to South Carolina at the end of the month. I know it won't be beach weather, but it may be sixty degrees and I'll take it. That sounds like bliss to me. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and keep cozy, friends. 

Now We Are Seventeen

 Happy birthday to Buttercupland

On January 12, 2009 -- light years ago -- I started a blog. I'm not exactly sure what I expected, but I didn't expect that seventeen years and two million views later I would still be blogging.  

In those seventeen years I've visited all seven continents, had major surgery three times and  walked thousand of miles. I've written 2,818 posts and those of you who have stopped by have left 28,583 comments. 

But for me blogging has never been about the numbers. I've enjoyed having a forum to share what I'm thinking and I've especially enjoyed "meeting" people and making friends. Some of you I will only meet in Blogland, but I've had the good fortune to visit with blog buddies all over the world, including Australia and England. 

These days Substack seems to be the rage and I do subscribe to a number of them. But while there's still a Blogland, here I'll stay. I'll be writing posts with Blogger, posting pictures and commenting on friends' posts. Most of all I'll be keeping in touch with the friends that I've made over the last seventeen years.  

As I have for many years, I'm going to do a blogaversary giveaway, and this year it's a surprise. The rules are very simple. Please leave a comment with your favorite book genre. Let me know if it's fiction or non-fiction and, please feel free to be more specific. If you enjoy mystery novels or romance, for example. I'll post the winner next Monday, February 9. We all can use a book surprise this long, long winter. 

Besides the cold, all is well in my little corner of the universe. Alas, I wish I could say this for the rest of the universe. But I've got heat and light and a crockpot of beans cooking in the kitchen. I've been treating myself to hot cocoa most nights and it's been a wonderful way to keep my spirits up. What are your treats for this winter?

As ever, thanks for visiting for the last seventeen years and keep cozy. 

Let's Talk Storm Snacks

Definitely there are storm snack shoppers in this line outside of 

Trader Joe's in my neighborhood this morning

Storm snacks weren't a thing when I was growing up in Connecticut and we had a lot of winter storms. It started to snow around Thanksgiving and I'm not sure that we saw grass in the yard until around Easter. There were basically three seasons: shoveling snow, mowing grass and raking leaves. 

We may not have had snacks but we did have food. My mother always had milk and bread in the freezer, along with meat and cans of orange juice concentrate. We also had a pantry that was well stocked, so there was rarely a last minute rush to the grocery.  The only specific storm snack that I remember was a batch of chocolate chip cookies that my mother made as we waited out Hurricane Donna in 1960.

But for the storm that's approaching -- not sure if it has a name yet -- storm snacks are part of the storm experience. I've seen at least a dozen posts on social media about what friends are buying for storm snacks. I did my grocery shopping on Wednesday and didn't think to stock up on snacks knowing that the snacks  bought on Wednesday would probably not be there for the snow fall on Sunday. I did get a bag of popcorn kernels and some baking supplies. I definitely plan to bake on Sunday and look forward to the warm kitchen, a cup of coffee and the aroma of home baked cookies or sweet bread. Home made banana bread might be my storm snack. 

Is anyone else buying snacks specifically for the next few days? Are you planning to cook or bake as part of your storm activities?

I have a storm snack memory from Super Storm Sandy in 2012, though I didn't use the term storm snack at the time. I was part of a group of colleagues that sheltered at a hotel in our work neighborhood.  As it was extremely difficult/impossible to commute to work we stayed at the hotel and went to the nearby office during the day. I spent the afternoon before reporting to work buying snacks to have in the evenings. The hurricane was approaching and I was glad to buy whatever was available. I wasn't sure how many nights we would be staying at the hotel and wanted to have snacks to last for at least several days. On our first night I put out cookies and chips and in less than an hour one of my colleagues had eaten all of the cookies. Not a cookie was left. A valuable  lesson was learned that evening, don't put out all the storm snacks at once.  

Stay safe and stay warm, friends. A big thanks to all who work so the rest of us can be home and have electricity and storm snacks. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. 

In Memory Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Five years ago,  at my local subway stop

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

Wesleyan University

Baccalaureate Sermon, 1964