Powered by Blogger.

Trick or Treat...

There are some great decorations, but this is right up at the top of my list.

I also met two new friends, Teeny and Tiny, who were dressed up for Halloween.
Happy, happy Halloween wishes!

Early Voting: Spooky or Sweet?

It's time to vote in Buttercupland. I've got Halloween on my mind and the vote this year is for your Halloween choices.

Do you like spooky Halloweens?


 
 
Or do you prefer all things sweet for Halloween?

I'm not a spooky girl, but my neighbors on the next block definitely went for the spooky look.
I'm voting for sweet, though it's hard to pick my favorite Halloween candy.


I'm a Reese's fan, but I'd be happy with a dozen other kinds or just a nice pumpkin muffin. When I looked carefully at this picture I took in Rhode Island a few weeks ago I was surprised to see all the varieties of candy corn. Today, by the way, is Candy Corn Day, so we can celebrate the candy that's just for this time of year. Pepe hopes there's banana candy corn. I haven't seen it, but I will be on the lookout.  

In just a few minutes I'm off for the airport for my trip to Savannah. I will keep in touch and you know there will be pictures.

As always thanks for visiting and take good care! 

Rockefeller Center Wedding Wednesday

Welcome to autumn at Rockefeller Center
 
We know how beautiful Rockefeller Center is at Christmas, and you can be sure there will be at least one post with pictures. But autumn there is equally beautiful. I was in the neighborhood last Friday and made a detour to visit one of my favorite places in New York City. While I was there I saw a couple in bridal attire. I wasn't quick enough to take a picture as they approached me, but I did get one I could share for Wedding Wednesday. This is definitely one of the prettiest places for wedding pictures anywhere. 
 
 Bride, groom and photographer walking towards Fifth Avenue. Saks Fifth Avenue is directly in front.
 
It was a beautiful fall day and it was crowded at Rockefeller Center, almost as crowded as Christmas time. The skating rink was open and it was a great day to skate. It wasn't cold and there was no wind.
 
No need for hats, scarves and mittens.
 
 
This is a hint about a post to come in December.
 
I'm happy to report that I feel my more usual energetic self. Thanks for all the good wishes. We had a great workshop on prayer, with a focus on Psalm 51. I had high expectations about the group, and so far I am delighted with all that I took away from the evening. 
 
As ever thanks for visiting and take good care! 


Sunday (to) Sunday...

It's just a week, but the days go by so fast. I've often thought about what I was doing the week past, especially after a vacation. The thought struck me yesterday. I was walking on city sidewalks to meet friends for a Gospel concert...

   We heard the wonderful Community Gospel Choir from Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. For many, many years Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was pastor of the church.
 
 
...But just the Sunday before I was at an herb farm in the Massachusetts countryside. Yes, there's countryside in Massachusetts. I was enjoying the scent of wood smoke and leaves crackling underfoot. On a map I was only 150 miles from Manhattan, but in spirit I was a million miles away.
 

This sign greeted us at the gift shop
 
 

I was taken with this autumn display. It was so simple, yet so beautiful.
 
 
I spent a long time trying for just the right goat picture. I think here the goat was most cooperative. 
 
And of course, the herbs. I loved walking outdoors and knowing that the herbs that were growing would one day be available for all things herbal at the store. 

 
I hope you've enjoyed our city Sunday and our country Sunday, only one week apart. Next Sunday I will be in Savannah for a very different Sunday experience. Two things that run through all of these days. I'm sure I will have a good time, and no worry, there will be pictures!
 
I spent some time with my friend, Jackie, on Saturday, who has just been diagnosed with colon cancer. Her attitude is great and she has a terrific medical team, but it is still a difficult diagnosis. She has asked for prayer and know she would appreciate the prayers of all of Buttercupland. Thanks for being part of Team Jackie.
 
Tomorrow I've got laundry and I hope to make a few Halloween cards. But I will also make a trip to the gym and I'm looking forward to the first session in my synagogue class on prayer. 
 
I hope you had a great Monday and will have a great week. As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. 
 

Pink Halloween Pink Saturday

Sometime last month I was out shopping and saw this collection of pumpkins...

...And knew I had found the perfect picture for Pink Halloween Pink Saturday. I'd never seen pink pumpkins before, but I think they were made for Pink Saturday. 
 
This month at Costco I found this collection of costumes with pink in the mix of colors. 
 
 
 
Last week I found these cuties to add to my Pink Halloween collection, too.
 
 
Pepe isn't wearing any pink, but he was too cute to leave out of a Halloween post. 
 
Again, not Pink Halloween, but these pretty autumn bouquets brightened up the sidewalk in front of my neighborhood fruit market.
 
 
I know I wrote in my last post that I would be back with thoughts on tomato soup, but I am still putting them together. I hope to post about it next week. 
 
It was a beautiful autumn Saturday. Our cold and rainy weather has taken a break and today was all sunshine. Tomorrow looks pretty, too, and I'm looking forward to going to a concert with friends. I hope you are all enjoying autumn sunshine, too.
 
As always, thanks for visiting and take good care!  


Afternoon in Vienna

When I first wrote about Vienna it was still far, far away in my dreams. But I'm happy to report I had the next best thing to being in Vienna at the celebration for the 150th anniversary of the Ringstrasse. The Great Hall at Grand Central Station was set up as a Viennese Coffee House. Despite the fact that tens of thousands of people rush through Grand Central every day it was a relaxing and delightful place to have a cup of coffee.


This was the scene on the opposite wall -- Vienna, then and now. 

I was especially taken by the coffee. I drink a lot of coffee and some of the time it's pretty average. This coffee was not average. It was memorable. The company, Julius Meinl, is Viennese and was founded in 1862. It is the stuff that great afternoons of coffee drinking are made of.  I was delighted to find that I could order it, and equally pleased to find a place in New York to drink it. The latter is a lovely museum and deserves a post on its own. 

 So glad I was able to celebrate Ringstrasse150. Happy birthday to one of the world's most beautiful streets. 

Thank you all for the get well wishes. I'm feeling much better and hope to be out and about -- taking it easy -- tomorrow. I slept a lot of yesterday, but had more energy and appetite today. The weather has been wet and dreary for the last few days, which made it a lot easier to stay indoors. 

Please stop by tomorrow for Foodie Friday and some thoughts on tomato soup. 

As always, thanks for visiting and take good care.  

It's the Real Thing

Whether it's just the view from my cousins' front yard...
 
Or this view of the water in town...
 
Or this view...
 
 
Rhode Island and the beautiful towns of Barrington and Warren didn't disappoint me in my search for autumn beauty. New York City hasn't had much in the way of foliage, but the entire train trip to Rhode Island -- through Westchester County and then along the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island was beautiful.  It reminded me of the autumns growing up in Connecticut and going to school in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 
 
On Monday morning I made a list of things I needed to do this week and at the top of the list was "get a flu shot." I get one every year and besides a little soreness I've never had a problem. But this time I decided I would get a shot for pneumonia at the same time. I think the second shot was too much and -- thanks to my study of Dr. Google -- I think I have a mild case of the flu. I'm achy, have the chills and I am so tired. I hope it passes very quickly. It's my first case and now I understand the concerns about getting the flu. I don't have much of an appetite, but I do have a craving for tomato soup, just what I would have eaten when I was a little girl and was sick.
 
Tomorrow I'll be back with pictures of my "trip to Vienna" via Grand Central Station.
 
As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care.

It Is My Sad Duty...

to report the demise of my dear friend, Courtesy. He died after a long and debilitating illness.


This was the scene at the time of Courtesy's demise.
 
Courtesy passed away at approximately 5:50 P.M. Eastern daylight time, somewhere just outside of Providence, R.I. He breathed his last when a tall young man, standing next to a much shorter, much older woman, watched her struggle getting her luggage into the overhead compartment on an Amtrak train. The young man appeared peeved that the woman wanted one of the few available seats in the car and he was forced to stand so that she could get into her seat. The young man -- old enough to know better -- sat in the aisle seat hoping that he would have two seats and had draped his computer equipment and endless extension cords on the "spare" seat. 
 
The pain of the incident struck at Courtesy's heart and he breathed his last. I was there with him and I was grateful that I could be there for him, though his condition was beyond any resuscitation. Our beloved Courtesy was gone.
 
He is survived by his father, The Social Contract and his mother, The Golden Rule. He also leaves a sister, Kindness and a brother, Thoughtfulness. His half-brother, Chivalry, passed away a number of years ago. Courtesy is mourned by millions.
 
Courtesy, you were quiet and most self-effacing, but you made the world a better place. We will miss you every day.  
 
In tribute to Courtesy, regular programming is suspended. The world is a sadder place.
 


Pumpkin Time

It's been a great weekend -- time with family, friends, fabulous foliage and beautiful scenery. There will be at least one other post this week with more pictures. This post is all about pumpkins, especially when they're sold in one of the prettiest settings I know, Barrington, Rhode Island. This is the annual pumpkin patch at St. John's Episcopal Church in Barrington.

Overnight the weather has gone from late summer to real Autumn in New England, which means more great foliage ahead. We are meeting family for breakfast in a little while and I'll be on the lookout for more Autumn leaves.

As ever, thanks for visiting and have a great Sunday.

Happy 100th, Mom

I think I've always enjoyed all things historical, even before the first time I heard the word history. I'm not sure when that was, but I probably wasn't even in school yet. My parents liked visiting historic sites and we started with Sunday afternoon car trips in Connecticut. So it's no wonder that I like to write about historic commemorations, whether it's the 350th anniversary of New York last month or the 150th anniversary of the Ringstrasse in my last post.

But this commemoration is intensely personal. My mother's 100th birthday would have been last week on October 11th. My mother will have been gone twenty five years next February, but October 11 is still very special to me. There are things my mother made me do -- go to Hebrew School, wear my braces and get flu shots every year -- and things she encouraged me to do -- say prayers ever night, read for fun and try things even when I was scared to do them. I am grateful for all of these things and a thousand more. Thanks, Mom, and happy birthday. You were the best!

Buttercup and Mom, winter of 1951

I've got some other great pictures of my mother and I hope to start scanning them in as soon as I get my new printer up and going. It arrived yesterday and I unpacked it, but today was too busy to spend the time I needed to get it set up. I've found that doing anything setting up the computer doesn't take twice as long as I thought it would, but three or four times as long. Slowly I seem to be getting where I need to be with my new equipment and I hope to have everything done that I need to do by the end of October. 

I had a terrific time at the 150th anniversary of the Ringstrasse and I will post the photos next week. I leave for Providence tomorrow morning, but I hope to do a few posts with my phone over the weekend. I'm so hoping for some great New England foliage. The leaves here are starting to fall of the trees, but there's not much bright color to be seen. Rhode Island, please don't let me down. 

Busy day today. I had my two-week followup with my coach at the gym, had my hair cut and my nails done and a dozen other little errands. Now I've got to get packing. I leave for the train at 7:30 and my retiree schedule isn't used to early rising. 

As always, thanks for visiting and take good care.

Vienna in My Dreams

In what seems like a not quite parallel universe, in seventh grade my favorite subject was social studies. It was a little bit of elementary school and almost high school history. There was some history, some geography, and "current events." We weren't typing essays yet and I got to indulge one of my favorite parts of school, making a scrapbook of pictures. I had no idea that fifty years later we would do this with a computer and call it "blogging."

My big social studies project in 1962 was a study of Austria, with a focus on Vienna. My memory of these projects is somewhat hazy, but I was a great collector of travel brochures and I'm sure there were several visits to one of the big travel agencies in downtown Hartford for brochures. A flurry of construction paper and glue must have followed, as well as sitting at the kitchen table for hours composing the text that would go with the pictures. The project has long vanished and I don't remember the grade I received, but the memory of Vienna has stayed with me.

Vienna of my Dreams, (c) WienTourismus, Christian Stemper

When I looked at this beautiful picture I realized why the memory of Vienna and the desire to visit has stayed with me over fifty years. I haven't made the trip YET, but it's definitely on my "to-see" list. Though it won't take the place of actually seeing and being in Vienna I am delighted to join the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Ringstrasse taking place at Grand Central Station today and tomorrow. The Ringstrasse is the boulevard winding through Vienna lined with palaces, parks, stately buildings and gardens. I'm looking forward to more great photographs, a webcam with the fabulous Cafe Central in Vienna, some Viennese treats and the chance to win a trip to Vienna. I will be back with more pictures to share from my Grand Central Station fun. 

I'm also delighted to let Ida, at Wishes, Dreams and Other Things, know that she is the winner of "Lucky Harbor." Ida, I'll be in touch to get your address and send your book to you. 

I'm off in a little while for my Grand Central Station Vienna adventure and tonight there's a new member dinner at our synagogue. I may try and make it to the gym, too, but that may have to wait until tomorrow. I've got a list of errands before I leave for Providence on Friday morning and a few of them are calling. 

As always, thanks for visiting and enjoy this sweet autumn weather. 

Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Saturday

It's time for this week's Pink Saturday post. While the look is still Pretty-in-Pink, the focus is on a serious topic, Breast Cancer Awareness. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I like to think of this as breast cancer awareness and prayers for a cure month.



During a visit to Macy's last week I found the ultimate Pretty-in-Pink sneakers, complete with pink ribbons. They are part of a collection that benefits Christina Applegate's Right Action for Women. This group helps provide screening assistance to women who are at increased risk for breast cancer.

I loved the look of these running shoes, as well as the knowledge that a donation will be made to a great cause. Alas, they didn't fit my complicated feet. 

Though they are not part of the breast cancer awareness program I liked the look of these sneakers, too. 

Pretty in pink and orange, too.

The high point of this weekend has been seeing Love Letters with Carol Burnett and Brian Dennehy. It was sweet, touching and sad and I enjoyed it a lot. Each month the cast changes and next month Alan Alda and Candice Bergen are featured. I'd love to see how they interpret the parts and will be on the lookout for discount tickets. Yes, I liked it that much. 

   Next month, Alan Alda and Candice Bergen 

Wishing my Canadian friends a very happy Thanksgiving and wishes, too, for everyone in America enjoying a long weekend. 

As always thanks for visiting and take good care.   

Pumpkin Spice Latte Foodie Friday Meets Random Five Friday

As much as I've been enjoying writing about something foodie on Fridays, I've been missing Random 5 Friday. I really enjoyed the roundup of items on Fridays and especially miss my blogger buddy, Nancy, who hosted it. This week I'm going to do a mix-up of both and start with one of the most talked about autumn foodie items, the pumpkin spice latte.
 

1) I was walking home last night after seven. It was already dark and it was cold. Actually it was sixty degrees out, but it felt cold, and I was going to pass one of America's most famous coffee shops. I don't think a name is needed. It felt like pumpkin spice latte weather and I had my first one -- maybe last one -- of the season. I know people wait for them and start drinking pumpkin lattes in August, but I'm not ready until a night like last night. My drink was good and the first sip was especially delicious, but at almost five dollars for a small cup (!) my next specialty drink might be a peppermint mocha in December.

1A) I'm actually thinking of saving $5.00 every week I don't have a pumpkin latte/peppermint mocha and buying something special in December. We'll call it the Treat Fund. I've been thinking about a new camera or coffee maker. I'll keep you posted.

2) I've got Bible Study group this afternoon and tonight I have theater tickets to see Carol Burnett and Brian Dennehy. The reviews have been great and I'm so looking forward to it.

3) The next few weeks are busy with long awaited events. Next weekend I will be in Providence for a long scheduled family weekend and just ten days later I'll be joining friends for our annual autumn trip. Last year we were in New Orleans -- what a fabulous time! -- and this year we are visiting Savannah. I've been to Savannah a number of times, but I am always happy for another visit. If anyone is in the Savannah area, please let me know. I would love to try and get together.

4) I'm enjoying my new computer and I'm still amazed that I set it up. Yesterday I bought a printer, which will be delivered next week and an external hard drive. I am going to make every effort to do regular back ups. I did a quick tutorial at the store and I am optimistic that I will be able to do the backup myself.

5) On a different note, one of the groups I work with requires Google Analytics. I installed it, but it's not working right. I've been looking at YouTube videos and reading websites and I still can't get it to work correctly. I'd appreciate any suggestions that might help.

Another autumn in New York picture, Central Park at West 59th Street
 
As always, thanks for visiting and take good care!

I Get by With a Little Help from my (Geek Squad) Friends


I had three goals for the summer. The first was to start physical therapy. Check. The second was to join a gym and get into a good exercise habit. Check. The third was to buy a computer. This last issue put me into a complete tailspin.

Should I buy a PC? Should I buy a Mac? Could I set up the Mac? Could I learn to use it? I went back and forth a thousand times. I visited the Apple store and Best Buy a dozen times. I read articles and talked with friends. Everyone had a different opinion. The more I researched the more confused I became. At the same time my desktop computer was freezing more and more. I knew I had to do something before it crashed completely and I was in a difficult situation of my own making.

Last Friday I walked into Best Buy for the nth time "just to look," and I walked out with a new computer. It's an all-in-one, sort of a combination tablet and pc. It has the capability to be a desktop and it has the capability to be a touch screen. There's still a lot I have to learn, but I am happy to say I am typing this post on my new computer.

I am also working at my dining room table. My new computer just needs WiFi and to be plugged in to an outlet, and with one exception I was able to do the set up. I initially wasn't able to get the keyboard and the mouse working, but after 43 minutes with customer service I was told to go back to the store and make sure there were no problems with the keyboard, mouse or batteries. There was a problem. I had put the batteries into the mouse batteries incorrectly.  But the Geek Squad staff person couldn't have been nicer and the diagram for the battery installation was teeny-tiny. I'm now very happily typing and mousing.

My next goal is to get a new printer and an external hard drive to store my photographs. I plan to do both next week and then I will devote my former computer space to a craft area. It will be great to have a place to make cards that isn't my dining room table. This has been a goal for the last year and I am thrilled to be so close.

I had a lot of plans for today and top of the list was setting up my computer. It took most of the day, but I will move ahead on everything else tomorrow.

As always thanks for visiting and take good care. 

Autumn (with Friends) in New York

Autumn actually arrived in New York City yesterday morning. Though the official arrival was almost two weeks ago it was still really summer. But yesterday was different. My apartment felt very unfamiliar in the morning and I realized that odd feeling was a chill. It was 47 degrees outside. Autumn had come to town and made its presence known.

It was the perfect day to spend with my friends Sheilagh and Ralph who were visiting from England. We started with brunch at Willow Road in Chelsea and had a lovely, leisurely meal. The building is a converted Nabisco factory and the decor is a mix of nostalgia and hipness. I especially liked this mural.



We also liked the cinnamon rolls a lot, too. We had a great brunch of eggs, biscuits and pimento cheese, and a fabulous apple cobbler for dessert.

I may have to return for another brunch of cinnamon rolls and the great coffee at Willow Road. 

Though I rarely take pictures of myself I couldn't resist this photo. This is probably the only good selfie I've ever taken. No saggy chin, the bane of selfies for those of us past our twenties. 



We had a wonderful sunny autumn walk through Manhattan -- Chelsea, the Meatpacking District and the West Village. I especially enjoyed our stop at The Ink Pad, a store devoted to stamping and paper crafts. I've gotten away from crafting and card making in the last few months and this got me back in the spirit. My goal is to make my Christmas cards this year and I bought the stamp and dark green ink. 

The Ink Pad had an extraordinary treasure trove of stamps. I was tempted at every turn and will definitely need to make a return visit.  

It was a perfect day, with brunch, craft shop, Whole Foods, book store browsing and walking through Manhattan. With all of our activity the best part was simply spending time with friends, talking and laughing. Sheilagh and I met through our blogs and have kept up through the last five years.  Thanks, friends, for a wonderful day and here's to many more good times. 

Today has been much less exciting. After Yom Kippur and my wonderful day as a tourist yesterday it was time for a return to whatever passes for normal. Today's highlights were Clean the Kitchen Monday and grocery shopping, some bill paying and a little decluttering. 

As always thanks for visiting and have a beautiful autumn Monday! 

Pumpkin Treat Foodie Friday

One of the benefits of going to the gym, besides the obvious fitness ones, is its proximity to Whole Foods. Some things are pricey, but I like their own brands and enjoy finding new and interesting items. I don't always, or even often, buy my discoveries, but I do like the samples.

Yesterday they outdid themselves with great samples. The one that sticks with me the most and one I will go back and buy is Pumpkin Pie Soda. It's made by a company called Maine Root, which makes handcrafted beverages. I've been cutting down on my soda drinking, but I am going to splurge with a four pack of this flavor. The sample was served with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and it made the best float I have ever had. It tasted like pumpkin pie in a glass topped with ice cream. So far, it's the best of pumpkin treats I've tried this year.

A not-too-be missed pumpkin treat

I also enjoyed this maple pumpkin butter. It was served as a garnish to a tiny pancake and it was delicious. The pancake mix was a little fancier than I usually use, but I think it would make the plainest pancakes special. I'll be going back for this, too. 

 A treat any time of year

There's something in this display for everyone

 I'm not an ale drinker, but I liked the look of this display

I hope you've enjoyed our pumpkin menu this Foodie Friday. I know I enjoyed the sampling. Buttercupland pumpkin fans, what's your pumpkin favorite?

As always, thanks for visiting and take good care!

We Can All Use a Little (More) Romance Giveaway

Somehow my reading lately has been comprised of mostly very somber mysteries and I decided I needed something a lot more fun and upbeat, perhaps a romance, for my reading life. I found myself escaping dark mysteries and the daily headlines with a visit to Lucky Harbor, a lovely small town in Washington. What a great getaway. There were no plane delays and no missed connections, just romance and fun. There are enjoyable characters, a beautiful setting and a little heat as well. Lucky Harbor is the "place where love happens."


I'd like to share a little romance with a giveaway for Jill Shalvis' "Lucky Harbor. This is a collection of three of the Lucky Harbor books -- actually four, five and six -- and is great getaway reading. Just be a friend on Google Friend, Google+ or BlogLovin' and leave a comment about your idea of romance. Entries close at midnight next Sunday, October 12 and I'll post the winner on Monday, October 13.

My idea of romance...honestly, I don't think about it much anymore. I'm wary of meeting someone online. Although I've met terrific women friends via social media I am much more cautious about meeting a potential romance this way. But I am taking two classes this fall at my synagogue and that is a good way to meet people. I've also noticed the gym program I joined has lots of men. Actually it seems one of the few places where there are as many men as women, and people seem very friendly. Could there be romance one day between the elliptical machine and the treadmill?  

My focus today was the gym. I've enrolled in a twelve week program and am learning to use the different weight machines. It's computerized and my progress is tracked with each visit. There is also a website so I can look at my progress at home. I've wanted to do strength training for quite awhile and I can actually see the potential for making progress. After my gym visit I walked over to Whole Foods, which is a quick four blocks away. Today seemed to be sample day and there are a few pumpkin treats I tried -- and loved -- that I'll be sharing in Foodie Friday tomorrow.

As always, thanks for visiting and have a beautiful autumn Friday!

One is Silver and the Other is Gold

I had the good fortune to have a fun lunch on Monday with three women I went to college with. One was my college roommate, who I've kept in touch with for the more than four decades since we graduated, despite living in different cities, states and sometimes, even countries. Happily now we live only a mile apart and just a quick bus ride away. The other two women I didn't know in college, despite all of us being part of a class of not quite four hundred. We connected at our class mini-reunion in April and now I am having the pleasure of making new friends. We have the bonds of shared college years, a love of reading and an enjoyment of art museums as our connections as well as a desire for friendship.

Our lunch made me think about how we form friendships, especially in this changing season of our lives. Through the years many of my friendships were made at work. Most drifted away when we no longer worked together but some grew stronger through the years. I was fortunate to join a book club almost twenty years ago, but that invitation came via work friends. I have also made friends from participation in synagogue activities and that has grown and flourished through the years, too.

A decade ago I made my first foray into social media by signing into a thread on the Weight Watchers site. I didn't expect much -- actually just diet support -- and made a great group of friends all over the country. I was initially hesitant -- what if the women I chatted with weren't who they said they were -- but I took a chance and met one of them who has visiting New York. Julie was exactly who she said she was. Blogging opened up a still wider world and I began to meet my blog buddies who lived all over the world. This week I will spend time with my English blog buddy, Sheilagh, on her third trip to New York. She no longer blogs and I realize it's time to drop the phrase blog buddy. She is simply my friend, no matter how we met.

In another time I was a Brownie and then a Girl Scout. One of my favorite songs was "Make New Friends." We sang it in a round and I never tired of it. The words were simple:

"Make New Friends, But Keep the Old,
One is Silver and the Other is Gold."

I'm pretty sure I will never grow tired of the thoughts in this song. When I was a scout I couldn't imagine all that the song would come to mean and that the treasure my golden friends would be. I also couldn't imagine the beauty of my new beautiful silver friends. You are all treasures. How have you made new friends in the fifty and sixty plus years? Have your thoughts on friendship changed?

I also mentioned date cake on Monday and here is the dessert we shared at our lunch. An almost lava-like cake, but using dates instead of chocolate and a wonderful coconut ice cream to go with it. One thing that has changed is the ability for the four of us to share one very sweet dessert and be quite content. 

  The coconut ice cream is resting on a macaroon-like cookie, which we enjoyed a lot, too. 


To celebrate the first of October I'd like to share this photo. I took it in the area around the restaurant. It's the wholesale flower district and I loved this bright and colorful display.  Welcome October!

I want to apologize for skipping a post yesterday. I saw Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," last night. It was a good production, but the story is bleak and sad and I wasn't up to posting when I got home. 

Please stop by tomorrow. It's time for a book giveaway.

As ever thanks for visiting and enjoy the autumn. Take good care.