HAPPY SUMMAH SUMMAH SOLSTICE
Click here-"DRUMS PLEASE!"
Sum-ahh is here. Ha-ha, lol, crack up. Really it came to us in April and I'm not talking deep south. I planted tomatoes in mid April and have recently eaten four bursting with fla-vah flav maters. Looks like we'll be eating one a day because they're coming in like gang busters.
I only plant heirlooms. What is an heirloom? Well, think of it as something you treasure and pass down, generation to generation. So how does that apply to plants and more importantly SEEDS? Heirloom seeds and plants will reproduce true to form. That means if I gather my cherokee purple tomato seeds from a ripe tomato, I can dry them on a paper napkin, store them in a dry place and then plant them next year or give them to you to plant. The end result will be another cherokee purple tomato plant.
No diggity, no doubt!
What happens to non-heirloom seeds and plants? Glad you asked! Well, they've been hybridized, another puzzling word. Basically, the genetics have been tampered with by scientists who have good and bad intentions. Good intent is to produce a firm tomato that can be picked hard and green, will survive bumpy transportation and handling in a truck coming from across the universe and then sit piled on top of one another on a stupidmarket shelf. It can take a drop kick, roll under the counter and still be rock hard when you retrieve it. That's the good part. (?) The bad intent is that these fruits will produce sterilized seeds. Ah, you can't reproduce these suckers. Why would you want to! But think of big track farmers that in the past century were able to swap and save grandpa's seeds and plant every year without going to Monsanto to buy their seeds. The plot does thicken, believe me.
Buyer beware! Buy heirloom veggies and fruit. Ask for them in the grocery store because you won't see them often enough. AND my best advice for the most delicious tomatoes that you won't find in the stupidmarket:
Grow your own or shop at your local Farmers' Markets! Click here for a local list of Charlotte area Farmers' Markets. Support the little guys and gals who care about keeping our food REAL and sustainable. Enough lecturing folks. Time for another song? Hell yeah! click here. These are some very hairy dudes!
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Speaking of dudes, these country guys rock it hard and are coming to Charlotta June 24.
Tickets are still available! Another summertime song, click here-
Brothers of the Sun Tour at the Bank of America Stadium
uptown Charlotte
Keeping with the idea of live music in a completely different vein: Symphony in the Park, South Park!
You all know Bolero by Ravel, right?
How 'bout hearing it performed live and outdoors on a hot summer's eve?
Bring a little vino, some tasty bites, low sand chairs and a blanket and kick back.
Featuring: VIVE LA FRANCE
SUNDAY JUNE 24 Tickets: $10.00
Gates open 5pm. No dogs allowed. Prelude begins at 7pm. Symphony: 8:15
Click here for details.
Sail away on the music.
DID YOU SAY SALE?
Mid-Century, you will hear that term over and over if you haven't already. Mad Men is shot in the 60's, mid century is 1960. Were you around then? I was. Yikes!
The TV show and their furnishings are HOT HOT HOT and Slate Interiors is jammed packed with mid century, vintage furniture, accessories and jewelry not to mention very cool original art! They're bursting at the seams. Don't be a jerk and miss their biggest and best sale starting
June 21- June 24.
I blogged about Slate Interiors last time and featured a video clip I shot in the store; I shopped afterwards! To subscribe to Slate's blog, Click here:
Another modern SALE!
I can never pass up checking out a museum's gift shop. You can find the most unusual stuff. Here's something I picked up at a museum in South Carolina recently! Hello Dali.
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, uptown Charlotte is having a storewide sale now until June 30th in their museum shop. All merchandise is discounted 10-50% off, excluding books. You can find watches, glassware,
t-shirts, jewelry, posters and very cool stuff. You don't need to pay admission price to shop the shop but if you are looking to advance your mind and see outstanding modern art, then browse the museum while you're at it. Don't give me that cr_p that modern stuff is not art. Get real. The Bechtlers have amassed an incredible amount of amazing mid century art and we Charlotteans are lucky to have them share it with us smack in the middle of uptown.
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Enjoy some mid century tunes and remember to
"boop boop boop boop"
when you want to! Click here to listen:
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Catch the NEW Carolina Appraisal & Auction Show, filmed at the Charlotte International Collectibles & Antiques Show. It premieres Sunday June 24 at 2:30 pm on WSOC TV and each month afterwards. Local folks are finding out what their treasures are worth! .Click here for details.
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WHERE IS THIS? Email me if you know... kbshoots55@gmail.com
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my FAVORITE new restaurant in my favorite old neighborhood-Plaza Midwood!
BISTRO La BON
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Enjoy your summer, tootle around, try a new dish, eat garlic and don't think twice. Enjoy your life while the living is easy...it's summertime! Click here for a perfect ending to a perfect summer solstice day.
Commercial message: I am now selling on Etsy.com. Have you visited Etsy? It is addicting and I have vintage items that I have collected as I tootled around. Please go to: Etsy.com and in the search box, type: friarshillroad (no caps) and you will find my page. Happy shopping folks!
10%off for anyone who mentions Yankee Tootles blog.
Commercial message: I am now selling on Etsy.com. Have you visited Etsy? It is addicting and I have vintage items that I have collected as I tootled around. Please go to: Etsy.com and in the search box, type: friarshillroad (no caps) and you will find my page. Happy shopping folks!
