Ice bar and Eisbar

The sun showed its fickle face yesterday.  It was a gift to the Wine & Food Society's extra July event, a special wine tasting and dinner hosted by one of the members.  The premise was simple:  each person brings one bottle of his or her best. 

The most impressive bottle?  Here:

1983 Chateau d'Yquem, in a bottle size called Imperial.  This is well-named, as it is the size of eight normal bottles, and holds six liters.  This was the dessert wine, and it served 55+ people.

The reception, held on the terrace, showed suburban Boston at its best.  There were two views of note.  The first picture was the view to my left, and the second was to the right.

We are now returning to our regularly scheduled blogging.  And reality.

It is time for a contest.  This is a simple one.  All you need to do is push my comment count to 500.  The rules: 
1.  One comment per day only.
2.  On the day that the total goes to 500, the random number generator will be trotted out, and a random commenter will be chosen to receive this knitterly bounty:

The yarn is 3 skeins of Classic Elite, Miracle, 50% alpaca and 50% tencel.  Eisbar (the guy in white by the skeins) is possessively guarding the yarn, and will not be included.  He was quite offended at the idea that anyone would consider him "bounty".   The color is close to true, perhaps a touch more periwinkle in person.

I have no idea how bored the blogosphere is, or even if anyone is home and reading.  I'm assuming the comment-a-thon will end sometime this week.   In the meantime, I'm half-heartedly working on Marla, a new project, and spinning beige Romney.  Have I neglected to start Andean plying?  Does a bear sh** in the snowbank woods?  It's that kind of summer. 

Comments

[Colleen]

Well, it was a good day for sipping wine on a terrace. Me? I was sipping diet Pepsi on a patio...

[sandy]

I'm a bit partial to the view on the right! haha! :) YUM.
And Eisbar is the cutest!!
I wish you many many comments!

[Maryann]

At first I thought Eisbar was a little (live) dog! Where did you find him? I want one!

[claudia]

You will give that blue yarn to someone else, right?

;-)

Etherknitter is now revealed as a true foodie.

[Norma]

What a coincidence! My garden looks *JUST* that one! Complete with shrimp boat -- REALLY! That's mirth. It's the only way I get by.

[Judy]

every post we learn something new..

[Juno]

There's something decadent about that shrimp boat....and even more so about that rock fauxmation.

[Marcia]

The yarn is yummy, as is that guy wielding the giant oyster. Although, he looks like the type who drools when intoxicated.

Tell Mr. Eisbar that it was a choice between Bounty and Booty. He'll shut the fur trap, real quick.

[Lee Ann]

Oh boy, periwinkle yarn....

Gaaaaahhhh. I'm in love.

I will try not to comment voraciously...but it will not be easy.

Know any sources for periwinkle roving so I can indulge myself sooner? :-}

[Andrea]

I'm a sucker for contests, and that's such a nice prize!. ;)

[Kristen]

I am somewhat relieved that (yet again, thanks to the world of blogging) it's obvious I am not the only person who has stuffed things sitting around. Now that I'm in full-force-pack-it-now mode I'm finding it nearly impossible to give up the elephant who stands on his own, the rabbit hand puppet that has a tendency to keep little ones entertained, of course, Pooh. I humor myself with the notion that they are smooshable, and thus don't take up any room at all. (or they are used for padding breakable things, and are needed!)

was the shrimp dude single? did you happen to pick up his number for me....?

[Cordelia]

Oo! Oo! Contest! I'll come out of lurkdom for a comment contest!

And thanks for the link to all the bottle names; I love "jeroboam" and "rheoboam." Was the wine any good?

[Janice in GA]

That's a big honking bottle of wine. Was it yummy stuff?

[Annie]

Yes, I'm curious as well about the wine. What was the best wine at the event?

[Laura J]

Etherknitter, you are our hero. You live where it is hot and you stay cool with your ice bear. I have almost no brain, it is humid here, but I have cast on Birch for the 40th time and maybe this time it will make it....

[Andrea]

Now that looks like a fine way to spend an afternoon! I am especially loving the nametags.

I was thinking about you this weekend, and wondering how your PT and return to work was going. Well, I hope, and it certainly must be improved by wine, tasty fruits of the sea served by cute-ish waiters, and fibery goodness. :)

[katherine]

The beautiful yarn alone deserves comment...and hey, now it's a contest. But, I too am curious...we've seen the biggest (and we all know size is impressive) wine, but what was the best (given that size is relatively unimportant...)?

[andrea]

where does the name eisbar come from? he's a cutie - are you sure you couldn't substitute him as the prize?

;)

[margene]

I love that bowl of shrimp!!

[Susanne]

Wow, sounds like the afternoon tasted wonderful!!

Nice prize,..I am up for a contest!

[Lorette]

I like the view to the right. Very cute guy, and the shellfish looks nice too.
Do tell, what were your favorite wines?

[KarenK]

Delurking for the incentive of beautiful periwinkle yarn! Disappointed that Eisbar won't be included, but understanding...

[Janine]

OK, count me in as a random commentator!

[Kris]

Okay...I'll stop lurking and post a comment. That yarn is gorgeous!

[Liz]

WHAT were you doing in my backyard and WHO turned one of my ducks to stone?!

Beautiful yarn...I'm a sucker for blue.

[Risa]

Nice yarn, nice view, nice yarn guard :)

[mamacate]

Wow that's quite the spread. Gimme one of those oysters, even if this month doesn't have an "R" in it!

So, I think you're a real spinner now if you're procrastinating plying tasks. Yes, I believe that makes it official. Get Marcy on your case--I have a whole different attitude about plying now. :)

[rams]

Yes, if dessert wine means sweet, it could serve an even larger number if I were there -- yet who could resist trying.

And that boat is SHRIMP?!! Forget the phone number, I'm going face-down into the bowl..

[Susan]

I am one of the hoard that reads your blog but probably does a really crappy job of letting you know.

Cute bear!

[Cassie]

I like the bear.

[stephanie]

That's it.
I'm trading in my life for yours. An attended shrip boat?

[Lynne S of Oz]

Funny - I love plying cos that is when I have the Finished Product (tm). I'm hopeless at finishing things but gee I like me a skein of yarn!
What a wine party! What a bottle!

[Marcia]

I need to know what Andean plying is...forget the shrimp and the bear! (And did you see MY wine? MY wine has a sheep on the label!)

[SpindleRose]

Dessert wine. Blech. Most are much too sweet for me.

And start plying already. Let me know if you need a refresher lesson this weekend.

[Marcia]

Is it one comment per day? And per blog post? And if so, did I just mess it up? And if so, should I apologize?