She said it best, perhaps, on the Facebook event for this afternoon’s 3-5:30 special edition of the Lazy Cat Cafe open stage: “I’ve been hosting and organizing the Lazy Cat open stage for three years now; time for a feature,” she writes.

The monthly last-Sunday open stage that takes place in the Community Centre of the Bain Co-op in Riverdale normally takes a break for July and August, as well as for December. But no one will be complaining that (as they did, actually, also last year) they’re throwing in an added summer show —in fact, I’d bet it’ll be one of the best attended ever.

Lavender is a gracious, elegant and personable lady who also has a band, Often Running, that has performed at Lazy Cat events and other gigs over the past few years. So I wouldn’t be surprised, especially since she’s a self-acknowledged “fan of ensemble playing and spontaneous musical collaboration” if she ends up with some accompanists helping her to share her “folkgrass” music as she plays mandolin, ukulele and guitar.

There’s no cover for the event and you can easily find the community centre in the 100 Bain St. co-op if you enter off Sparkhall Ave. and look for the complex’s huge smokestack.