ZZ Top, The Zombies, Led Zeppelin

And here we are at the end of the alphabet...

and here are three for Z! 

ZZ Top

The Zombies

Led Zeppelin

You might want to crank up the volume for these songs!!

ZZ Top

Gotta love the beards!! 

and the fuzzy guitars

"Sharp Dressed Man"

performed at a concert in Texas and on the CD, Live from Texas

Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man

I must admit it.... hubby and I sing this whenever we spot somebody (on TV mind you) that's dressed, um, less than appropriately....

The Zombies

Ah, the 60s

The bands were always so proper looking, even if they did have that long hair...

You know, the British invasion and all that

LOL!

"She's Not There"

Performance in 1965

"Time of the Season"

"Tell Her No"

Did you know that this sign was posted at every single one of their performances?

Too many fans had been throwing zombie food on the stage....

They had to be warned.

Crazy Led

"Whole Lotta Love"

Led Zeppelin

Oh yeah, Crazy Led

Hours spent laying on the floor between two speakers, listening to this,

the music going back and forth from one ear to the other....

like it's traveling through your head....

Oh c'mon, you know you did it too  : )

"Stairway to Heaven"

Beautiful song and the guitar solo is awesome!

Can you imagine playing that double neck bass?

"Rock and Roll"

Celebration Day concert 2007

Crazy Led is older but they've still got it!

From Wikipedia  (photo in public domain)

Did you see when they were honored at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors event? Very cool.

There ya go -- Crazy Led ends the alphabet...

linking over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter Z.

Miss Jenny says that we are starting the seventh round of Alphabe-Thursday next week!

I think I'm going to just wing it this time and not have a theme.  

I think...

But I'll probably stick in a band or two or three from time to time -- I've had so much fun with these!

♥♥

A Month of Flowers

The lovely Alicia has challenged herself  to write about a flower a day on her blog -- each day this month. Quite a challenge if you ask me! 

But a fun one, to be sure!

Well, today she featured my Growing Flowers!

I'm so pleased she has shared these flowers -- they were fun to make

and these days, I can offer them in my shop as a custom order.

Alicia has found some wonderful flowers to share --

real flowers, crochet flowers, painted flowers....

I really love these beautiful roses

(can you imagine a big bunch of them sitting in a pretty vase?)

and this garland! 

Oh my, my creative juices are flowing!

Alicia also has an Etsy shop where she has some of her own flowers....

like these sweet rose hair clips

and this adorable baby bib

So, thank you, Alicia, for showing us so many beautiful flowers

and especially for featuring mine!

Be sure to visit Alicia's blog, Arty and Crafty Little Things,

to see what other flowers she will find this month!

♥♥

Cat Stevens for Y?

Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens was one of my favorite singers in the early 70s. He still is today. I think I have three, maybe four of his vinyl albums, and of course, a greatest hits CD!

He converted to Islam at the end of 1977, and changed his name to Yusuf Islam the next year. Today he goes by the single name, Yusuf -- which means Joseph in the Arabic language.

In 1979 he left his music career behind and auctioned all his guitars for charity.  He then devoted himself to educational and humanitarian causes and has received several awards for his work in promoting world peace. In 2006 he returned to the recording world with the release of his first album in twenty-eight years, entitled An Other Cup.  I, of course, have the CD.

I found these two interviews with Yusuf about his musical journey and his life. They are beautifully done and have many of the songs on An Other Cup, as well as some well-know Cat Stevens songs, as the background music. 

Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCZTOmIGdsc

Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeJI8Y3SqvE

Because this is from the official Yusuf YouTube channel, I'm not able to upload the video. 

But I hope you'll click on the links and listen!

These are some of my favorite Cat Stevens songs

"Morning has Broken"

The lyrics in this song are from a hymn published in 1931 with words by poet Eleanor Farjeon

"Wild World"

from the album Tea for the Tillerman

"Peace Train"

this is probably his most famous -- he always used it as his closing number in concerts

recorded in 1971 on the album Teaser and the Firecat

I could go on and on.....

Oh wow! Only one more letter and this session will be over!

Who will be the band for Z? Stay tuned!

linking over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter Y.

♥♥

New Kitty on the Block

Apparently we are adding to our outside kitties family...

I really didn't want another one
but I think he is here to stay

Meet Blackie

He has started hanging around.... again
(he was here dating Patio earlier this spring....)

He's been snoozing on the patio
and eating the kitty food

I believe that he is Patio's husband
and, can you believe it, he didn't even ask for her paw in marriage!

because she had a jet black kitten
I know because I saw her giving birth!

I'm pretty sure that the jet black one and the orange and white one laying on him are Patio's. The grey and white one and the grey calico under the black one are definitely Cali Mae's (her husband is Earl Grey) and the other orange one at the bottom -- not sure, could be either mom's!  In these pics they are just a few days old -- they are now three weeks old but the mamas have moved them to the kitty nursery under the shed and I can't see them.... phooey!

If you'd like to read about all the kitty drama, go here, here, and here.

sharing at:

Friendship Friday at Create with Joy 

Happy Friday at Blog-She

Caterday at A Cat-Like Curiosity
Camera Critters

♥♥

The Exciters

I had to do a little musical research for the letter X -- 

and came up with The Exciters.

Do you remember them?

I had no idea who they were until I saw their list of songs

and knew that I had listened to them on the radio!

The Exciters were a 60s pop music group out of Queens, NY --

originally a girl group of three teen girls, but later added a guy 

(the husband of the lead singer).

Their first hit song was "Tell Him," recorded in 1962.

Don't ask me what bears and lions have to do with "Tell Him"

but here ya go -- a day at the zoo!

"A Little Bit of Soap"

recorded in 1966

"Do Wah Diddy Diddy"

Yeah, I know this is Manfred Mann and not The Exciters...

But here's the connection....

The Exciters originally recorded Do Wah Diddy in 1963 

and it was covered by Manfred Mann in 1964.

This is the version I remember, and it's definitely better 

and more fun than The Exciters version! (IMHO!)

Paul Jones (lead singer) could really play some mean maracas  : )

Say, do you think Sean Coombs, aka Puff Daddy, Diddy and P. Diddy,

just happened to listen to "Do Wah Diddy" and get a little name idea?

Just sayin'

linking over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter X.

♥♥

Renewal

The signs of spring are everywhere

The beauty of  blooming flowers....

Pink flowers by the side of the road

Sweet, sweet new life....

Kittens born in the backyard

Soccer season!

A little practice before the big game

Noli's team is the "Wild Angels"

Appropriate  : )

This month's challenge for the Blogging Business Artisans team is about renewal. Margaret (Splendid Little Stars) says "In Springtime, the earth renews itself. Life bursts forth from that which seemed dead. Our challenge this month is to create a project that honors a spirit of renewal."

I thought about what I could create in crochet that would show that spirit of renewal.

I thought about birds laying their eggs and baby birds being born;

I thought of the earth being washed clean and renewed after a spring shower;

then I thought of the way the butterfly lays its egg,

and the caterpillar is born right there on its own table of food.

How after the caterpillar has satisfied its hunger, 

it spins its special home

and is born again as a beautiful butterfly.

And then the process repeats, over and over again. 

Renewal. 

This Growing Butterfly play set is a fun way for a child to learn how the caterpillar changes into a butterfly.

It's in my shop!

To see what other team members have created for this challenge go to our blog or our team discussions 

I'm also sharing over at Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

♥♥

Andy Williams

OK, I admit it. I have loved Andy Williams since I was in Junior High. He's one of my two very favorite singers (along with the very wonderful Neil Diamond). Such a beautiful voice.... such beautiful love songs.

I had always wanted to see him perform in Branson, Missouri

but, alas, it was not to be

"Moon River" 

singing on his TV show -- 1961

I always watched his TV show though, and his Christmas specials.

He introduced the Osmond Brothers 

(and "little Donny Osmond" as he was referred to back then at age 5)

For fun, here's Donny's first appearance on Andy's show, 1963

You may -- or may not -- remember his beautiful French wife, Claudine Longet who would appear with him on his Christmas TV specials.

Andy, Claudine and family

It was a sad day when they divorced in 1975, but they had been separated since 1970 although she still appeared on the Christmas specials (I doubt if the public knew that they were separated. It was a kind of fairy tale marriage.)

In 1976 or maybe 1977, Claudine was charged for fatally shooting her boyfriend,  "Spider" Sabich who was an Olympic medalist and champion skier. Andy stood by her and believed that it was an accident -- she served 3 months in jail for criminally negligent homicide.

His Christmas specials were always fun to watch!

Along with Claudine, he'd have his brothers on and lots of special guests.

And, of course, the Osmonds were there too!

and yes, lots of "lovely" Christmas sweaters!

(do you think this one would qualify for the "ugly sweater" contest?)

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

a little cheesy but, hey, it was the 70s!

"It's the Holiday Season" with his brothers -- 1964

  They always sat on stools and wore look-alike sweaters!

Yep, cheesy  : ) 

"For You" with Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis is another one of my favorites singers!

He and Andy are performing on Andy's TV show --

 you'll have to listen to a bit of an intro but it's well worth the wait 

'cause the song and dance is priceless! 

They were quite the athletes.... 

(and remember, these shows were live broadcasts!)

I sure do miss Andy....

but I've got some CDs and a couple of vinyls!

linking over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter W.

♥♥

Kitty Drama in the Backyard

And so the saga continues....

The tree guys came back and took down the rest of the evil creeky tree

(if you haven't read about it, the beginning of this tale is here)

After they got all the branches cut, they cut the trunk, and it fell into our yard. I had thought it would have fallen into my neighbor's yard since it's on their side of the fence. But no.... and the tree guys were chain sawing that thing into manageable pieces 

right in front of the kitties' nest.

When they finally finished with the trunk, 

the mamas moved the babies..... to under the shed.

Mama Patio

Mama Cali Mae

And they moved them about an hour before Noli came over, 

so she didn't get to see them. 

I, of course, had plenty of pictures -- 

but I had wanted to surprise her with new kitties to see.

So, fast forward to yesterday

We got a call from our neighbor on the other side 

who said he thought a cat had had kittens next to the fence....

Oh no! Not again!

We rushed out....

and it turned out that the mamas had moved those kittens AGAIN!!

Under the cast iron plant that grows along our fence.

(Cali in a sun-puddle at an earlier, pre-kitten, time)

I have not cleared and thinned the area they were in and the leaves afforded them what they surely thought was a safe haven.

Enter Trail

who was trying her best to GET OVER THE FENCE.

After a bit, our neighbor subdued Trail.  

He filled an area with bricks where she had tried to dig under the fence.

We went back inside but I kept my eye on Trail.

She tried to jump over the fence again.....

she's a Lab for crying out loud

and she was practically perched on the top of our chain-link fence

about to go over.

I saw Cali Mae rush her....

much shaking of leaves and hissing

I ran out screaming at Trail...

which brought my hubby and our neighbor out.

(and Cali scooting back to the shed)

So hubby made the command decision to move the kittens yet again.

It was wet under those leaves

What were those mamas thinking?!

He put them in a towel-lined box that we had on the patio that the mamas had slept in from time to time

and put it against the back fence and near the shed.

As we thought, the mamas moved those kittens, pronto!

Zip,zip

back under the shed.

Which makes me sad because now I can't see them....

but they are safe from Trail the fence climber.

♥♥