Reminders and more

Scroll down a bit on The EYE and you'll get the reminder about "Shakespeare in the Grove - As You Like It"  Also, tonight, Buru Style in the Luis Lopez Herb Garden series, 6 p.m. on the corner of Main & Green Streets.   Bill Carbone and the gang hit it hard and the music is free and open to all.
The Joel Frahm Quartet plays it cool tonight at 8 p.m. in the CFA Theater.  Tickets are still available at 860-685-3355 or going to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Friday July 9:
The Buttonwood Tree presents the Nick Di Maria Quartet at 8 p.m.  Trumpeter Di Maria has assembled a strong band including Andrew Kosiba (Fender Rhodes Electric Piano), Dan Biancini (bass) and Michael Dick (drums) and they perform a repertoire steeped in the music of Miles Davis circa 1960-74. Should be fun and a pleasant way to beat the heat.

Pianist Noah Baerman, who brings his Trio (super-solid bassist Henry Lugo and drummer extraordinaire Vinnie Sperazza) to ARTFARM's "Shakespeare in the Grove" on Saturday at 6 p.m., warms up with a gig at Szechuan Tokyo, 1245 New Britain Avenue in West Hartford.  Joining the Trio is saxophonist/Hartt School graduate/Bloomfield native Jimmy Greene who's on break after his first year teaching at the University of Manitoba. For more information and directions, go to www.asianfusion.net.

Around Middletown in 80 Days: Day 25

Little Tibet
680 Main Street
860-343-1975

To find heirloom-quality furniture, rugs, art and jewelry, step into Little Tibet in Middletown’s North End. Feel free to browse through the museum-like store. You’ll come away wondering where you might find a spot in your home for a hand-painted chest, a folding screen, a statue of a serene Buddha, or a hand-woven rug. The earrings, necklaces, and bracelets are hard to resist.

Open Tues - Fri 10AM - 6PM Sat 11AM - 6PM Sun 11AM - 5PM

North End Nights This Week (July 23)

This week, the Luis Lopez Herb Garden, located on the corner of Main & Green Streets, plays host to a "Jewelry Making Workshop" directed by Cookie Quinones at 5:30 p.m.

A 6:45 p.m., the Hartford-based Shaded Soul Band returns to Middletown and the Herb Garden for an evening of rock, soul, swing, blues and more. Comprised of 6 musicians and 2 lead vocalists (Patricia Thompson and Bobby Davis), SSB is one of the more popular "party" bands in the area. The event is free and open to the public.

To find out more about the events and special North End Pass (business discounts), go to www.neatmiddletown.org.

Roses in the Rain

I know there's a lot of important business going on in town lately, but I didn't want that to distract us from one of the North End's shining moments: the annual blooming of the roses. Planting a rose near the door is part of this neighborhood's long tradition of front yard gardening, and this week (and last) are the peak of the season. The placement of most houses right up close to the street makes for a very pleasant sidewalk stroll.

I had a brief but intense baptism into the world of roses for a few weeks in the Spring of 1991, as I was trying to choose a climbing rose for the Luis Lopez Herb Garden on the corner of Green & Main. Ultimately, we went with an old-fashioned rose called Ballerina -- and due to the warm brick wall at her back, she is thriving (pictured at right). At my own home, I planted both New Dawn and a prolific raspberry-colored rose whose name I've forgotten, both of them climbing well up to the second story. But my own roses are in the backyard, and that just doesn't have the charm of a front-yard rose.

In spite of Friday morning's rain, I took several photos of North End roses, though some of my favorites have already wilted. If you'd like to see a particular photo a bit larger, just double click on it. Enjoy!


The corner of High & Liberty; on Park Place:











On Grand Street, I saw a rose grafted onto a sturdier trunk; a few houses to the West, a light purple rose that, according to the gardener, was acquired 3 years ago at the Christmas Tree Shops:













In the image at the top of this post, a Pearl Street gardener has trained a red rose to grow across Mary's breast. Here are two other gardens which put Saint Mary in the roses, one from Stowe Avenue, and the other at the corner of Bacon and Grand.










A Spring Street doorway:








A rosebush on Prospect Street, one of many North End yards that fly colorful flags:









One of the newer roses in the North End, at NEAT's community garden on the corner of Erin & High. A neighbor out walking her dog proudly told me that last year it hadn't done much, but look at it now:

Public + Garden

It's the first time I've ever seen an outdoor, upright piano in the park at the corner of Main & Green, but it felt (and sounded) just right as the The Goldies played their funky R&B on Thursday night in the first of the Summer in the Garden concert series at the Luis Lopez Herb Garden.

The music was smooth, and we stayed for nearly the whole concert, sometimes dancing, sometimes talking with friends. For the second time in as many weeks I met a new, friendly & simpatico family from the North End...except that in both cases it seems they've been here quite a while and I just haven't been paying attention! Or maybe these summer concerts are doing their job of getting all of us out of our houses and into each other's company.




Although this photo shows that some people in the neighborhood were able to stay home and still come to the show.









After that we took our brood and one of their friends to the Public, a new place that just opened next to Forbidden City. My teens oohed and ahhed over the downtown (and I mean that in the NYC sense of the word) look, and approved the sound track. Looks like this place (along with Eli's and Nikita's) might be a nice draw for all those young adults that we're hoping won't flee Central CT. We wanted to be supportive on the opening night of the kitchen, so we ordered a few appetizers. You can see how fast the French Fries went.









By 10 pm we were winding down, but the street scene was still lively, especially over at Javapalooza, where they have adopted a new advertising strategy.

Nice night on Main Street.

NOTE: There are three more summer concerts in the herb garden are on intermittent Thursdays, sponsored by the Community Health Center...details to follow.