Whew! I’m back! After two very busy weeks, my life has settled down again. Let’s see, the Art in the Vines was the 13th , Metis performed in the Battle of the Bands on the 14th, then I left for beautiful Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia to spend 8 days with 27 of my closest relatives! I loved every minute of all three events, but so glad to be without my calendar in hand every moment. I love staying busy but I like a little breathing room every now and then! The amazing thing is...I haven't cooked in 2 weeks! (other than nachos!)

Art in the Vines was a huge success.

Somerset Ridge Vineyard and Winery was the perfect spot for our art show. The artists displayed their work throughout the vines on a glorious day! It had threatened rain all morning, making the show questionable at best. Suddenly at 1:00pm, just as the show opened, so did the clouds!
The crowds were wonderful; they wandered through the vineyard with glasses of wine while seeking out their favorite paintings. They talked to the stained glass artist, they had lots of questions for the sculptor. They shopped, they partied, they had fun!
There were 15 artists present and there were 23 pieces sold! I feel our First Annual Art in the Vines was a wonderful success! Thank you to everyone who attended!

Next was the Battle of the Bands in Westport. My grandson, Alex, and the band, Metis, performed beautifully! Let me say this….it is difficult for a grandmother to watch young women fall all over her gorgeous grandson! The 4 members of the band performed for approximately 20 minutes for the enthusiastic crowd. There were 5 professional judges and when the votes were counted, the vote was 3 to 2, with Metis coming in second. It was an amazing job by a new band! And they are so cute!


Smith Mountain Lake Reunion The next morning I drove to the airport in a raging storm. I was completely wet by the time I checked in at the gate. By the time I landed in Washington D.C., I had dried off and the sun was shining. I had a quick little flight into Roanoke, then a 45 minute drive to Smith Mountain Lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was beautiful! We gathered to celebrate Mike Pote's graduation from high school! What a week of celebration!

The next 7 days were full of water sports, children, teenagers, Rock Band (complete with some terrible vocals provided by my two daughters!) wine, nachos, hot tubs, wave runners, fishing and a great card game called “31”. The house was spectacular. On Wednesday, Chef Toy, the chef who fed us so well when we were all at Topsail Island, North Carolina, 2 years ago, came one day and prepared a whole roast pig with all the fixings! Back to this week..............Wednesday evening, the winery had a special event at JP’s Wine Bar, a Sangria Party! Great fun and I loved the White Sangria, made with our Traminette wine and peach schnapps. Traminette is a rich, spicy dry white wine with a floral bouquet. Made from grapes grown in our hillside vineyard. Traminette is a close relative of the German/Alsastian grape Gewurtztraminer. Wonderful with cheese, fruit and Asian dishes. Now it turns out to be a perfect wine for Sangria!

So, there you have it, a play by play accounting of my time since I last blogged. I am starting some new projects, am in the middle of a painting class at ARTichokes with Ada Koch (the class is called Wine, Dine and Paint so you can imagine how much fun it is!) and I am puppy sitting with Rudy, my “nephew/dog!

I start painting at open studios this weekend at ARTichokes. I have my plan, I am anxious, I’m ready. Maybe I will paint something to take the place of my recently sold “Lago di Como”!