LOVE This! (The New Knitty Is Up)

Dreaming of Ankhesenamun. I'd change the colors, but it's just gorgeous! (I can't wear those orangey tones)

Oh, and I'm 1/2 way there on his birthday socks (they were due to him mid-March, so I'm woefully late on this gift). He loves it:

please forgive the backdrop of that photo, we met last night at the mid-point between us so I could deliver this week's CSA share. I told him he had to try on the sock...and it ended up being in the car! Oh, yes, and the pattern is sJazz Strings from Knitspot, but I am knitting it toe-up.

Ten on Tuesday

Okay, this week's I might be able to do...let's see, okay? Ten Favorite Summer Beverages:

1. Ice water (yes - tops the list!)

2. Iced Tea - my version: 2 Earl Gray teabags and 1 Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger teabag - made hot and iced down plenty - without sugar. Who on earth ever thought of ruining tea with sugar? Oh, yeah, those in the Southern portion of the country. Hmm...I live in the southern part of the country and cannot abide "SWEETTEA."

3. McDonald's Frozen Strawberry Lemonade. It's not often I succumb, but I adore it. Had it the first time after the Duracho in 2012, and it literally saved my sanity as I went 6 days with no power in 100 degree heat.

So now, let's get serious about this, okay?

4. Abuelo's Sangria Swirl: I usually only get the normal size, not the grande, but there have been those days when only the largest will do - and someone else is the Designated Driver.

5. I also have had (at a wine festival) a most amazing Blackberry Peach Wine sangria. We have the bottles to make it, and will when the time is right.

6. ANY Sangria (as long as it's red wine)

7. Newcastle Brown Ale

8. Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (ale)

9. Molsun Golden Ale

10. And from my distant past, when I actually drank liquor? A Tangueray and Tonic, with a lime wedge. (I make very good ones, was once a bartender!)

What do you know? Two weeks in a row!

Gearing Up - Oh, Yes, And A SALE!

The race is on to create enough stock for the National Capital Cat Show. This year, I'll have the added restriction (self-imposed) of only working when my shoulder isn't stressed, which will definitely make a difference in the amount of product I can create - but we're going to do the best we can to have lots of kitty-related bags and accessories for Nana Sadie Rose's great Cat Show customers!

Upon completing an order this weekend, I managed to create these lovelies:

And then I was able to finally upload the e-reader stock to the Etsy Shop with the sale prices (50% OFF!) ready for your perusal. Please help support Nana Sadie Rose as she gears back up from a year off for shoulder replacement surgery and recovery?

And I do so hope to see you at the Dulles Expo Center in September!

Ten on Tuesday

Yup, this one I knew I could do and had the time to put it together (there are some weeks, where there simply isn't a lot of time to be on Blogger...)

This week's topic is 10 musicians you've seen in concert. Well, I can tell you that my list is longer. And yet, I stopped at just a couple extra, because I was having trouble with names! Google is great, but again, time is an issue. So here we go:

1. Neil Diamond - my FIRST live concert with a popular singer, I was about 13-14? I'll never forget when he had all the lights dim and asked everyone to take a flash photo at the count of 3 - wow is that amazing in the dark!

Now the rest of these are in no particular order date wise, but I've got them grouped by genre, beginning with Folk/Rock:

2. Judy Collins

3. Michael McDonald (with the RSO)

(Country)

4. Wynona Judd (with the RSO)

(Broadway)

5. Bernadette Peters (with the RSO)

(Jazz)

6. Keiko Matsui (at the Richmond Jazz Fest)

7. Dave Koz (at the Richmond Jazz Fest)

8. Poncho Sanchez (at the Richmond Jazz Fest)

9. George Benson (at the Richmond Jazz Fest)

10. Chris Botti (with the NSO)

(Classical)

11. Joshua Bell (with the NSO)

12. Midori Goto (with the NSO)

13. James Galway (with the RSO)

I am, and have been for years, a subscriber to the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra series (see RSO notes). I'm proud of our orchestra having been affiliated with it (vicariously) since childhood when my father, sister, and brother-in-law played with it, thru my "motherhood" years when my daughter was in the Youth Orchestra. It's become a full-fledged professional orchestra, and the quality has vastly improved after 60 years as they moved away from being a community orchestra.

NSO is for National Symphony Orchestra and my brother-in-law spent his entire career as a first violinist there. Whenever we went to DC to visit, we went to a concert. I've seen some of the best classical musicians there are in concert there. And then last year, My Sweetheart and I went to see Chris Botti in concert with them. That was a concert to remember for a lifetime, he is simply a brilliant jazz musician.

And of course, My Sweetheart loves jazz, as do I. One of our first "away from home" dates was to go to the Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont. They do an really stellar job of bringing in some of the best talent there is. We had a blast over the two days we attended, and I'm hoping the lineup for this summer's event will be good enough that we'll want to go back. What fun it is.

There is simply nothing better than live music, regardless of the genre. And this was a fun romp down memory lane for me, so I'm glad I had the time to do this Ten on Tuesday blog entry!