Clear skies today. But very chilly. Too bad the wind can’t be seen in these photos?!

It seems like I threw these ornaments SO long ago. I’ve been a little busy…
Lucky I have a good spray bottle and thick plastic… otherwise these would have
been way too dry to finish. But they’re finally all trimmed, stamped & capped.
Next I’ll add some color slip and start them drying.

With a sliver of color on the horizon, you could see the potential in the sky this morning.
And as the sun continued to rise, I was not at all disappointed.

It was a huge relief getting up this morning knowing that ART DETOUR was over.
And that my car was already packed and ready to head home. But first… another sunrise!

It has been such a wonderful weekend staying at the cabin on Moccasin Lake. Spending time
with my parents, Sarah & Julie. But this morning, they were all already gone. I had the cabin
to myself. Very quiet. But I couldn’t relax too much, as I had breakfast plans with Wendy in
Land O’Lakes. We were going to go to a different restaurant, but Wendy suggested we switch
to the Sunrise Lodge. Which was oddly ironic, because Pam & Pat had just suggested that
restaurant for breakfast a few hours earlier!! And they were all correct. I started with a
chocolate chip waffle. Which disappeared all too quickly. As it’s an “all-you-can-eat” place,
I then had a cranberry pancake. Yum!!! I was ready to go for another, but luckily, their
breakfast hours had already ended. So  I was “cut-off” from becoming a breakfast glutton.
Probably a good thing… for both me AND the kitchen!!!

Now this was ALL Wendy’s idea… she’s hooked!!! And she suggested we go GeoCaching!!!
Luckily, there was another one just down the road at the headwaters of the Wisconsin River.
So we followed my phone for clues and narrowed it down… and Wendy found her first one!!!
Giggling, laughing, so excited… just like a giddy little school girl…

All too soon, our morning fun was over, and I had to head home. Many miles to go!
I was heading home from Land O’Lakes and not quite sure how to get home the fastest.
So I thought I knew… and thought I was doing okay… but I kind of got a little lost somewhere
around Rhinelander. Until I saw the landmark Hodag – and then I knew where I was!!!

This year, at ART DETOUR, we all decided it would be funny of we all did a challenge.
If we all made something with a theme. Something to push us to think outside the box.
So we all decided to “Put A Bird On It.” So each of decided to make a piece with a bird on it.
Pretty obvious, huh?! But why a bird?… click here to watch the video clip!

So I made three different pieces, each with a bird on it. I just wanted to make sure that
I would end up with at least one good one to take with for the challenge. And I took the
challenge quite literally. I made a piece as I normally would… then I put a bird on it!!!

This one “flew the coop” to one of Amy’s Northwoods friends…

This one came home with me… but will “migrate” to the Holiday Home Show!!!

This third one was part of the ART DETOUR Silent Auction. Each of the artists put their
challenge piece in a special tent for customers to bid on them. A portion of the proceeds
went to the Northwoods Wildlife Center. This piece “flew” all the way to Morton, Illinois
to the lucky high bidder!!!

Special thanks to my friend Pam & Pat who let us borrow their Northwoods cabin
while we were up north for ART DETOUR. It was an incredible getaway for me, my parents,
Sarah & Julie. After a long day of working (and standing out in the cold) at ART DETOUR
it sure felt good knowing that there’s this beautiful cabin waiting for us. Sure, it’s a bit of
a drive away from Lake Tomahawk… but it is truely a BEAUTIFUL drive!!!

We woke up this morning with a sign on the cabin’s patio door windows! Apparently,
after we had gone to bed, my parents decided to put the signs on the window! Too cute!

And the morning kept getting better… with yet another beautiful sunrise over Moccasin Lake.

Followed by a fun birthday breakfast for Julie in Lake Tomahawk. A great way to start our day
before heading over to Amy’s for the start of the final day of ART DETOUR.

So we finally made it to Pigeon Road… and set up our booths pretty quickly. Then, before
the customers began to arrive, Wendy, Julie and I decided to go out on a quick “field trip”
to see more of the Northwoods and do a little GeoCaching at the same time! Neither of
them had done it before – but both were eager to try! So I checked my iPhone app and saw
that there was a GeoCache hidden somewhere near the boat landing of Horsehead Lake.

We followed the hints & compass on my phone and it lead us towards this tree. Upon closer
examination, I found the GeoCache tucked neatly in the crook of the tree. So we opened it up,
signed to log scroll and left behind one of Amy’s new buttons! It may have been their first
GeoCache find… but now both Julie & Wendy are hooked!!!

We made it back to Pigeon Road Pottery before any of the customers got there for
ART DETOUR. You know how Sundays are always a slow start at the art fairs.
What with church, brunch, hangovers, whatever…

It was another long day playing outside with customers. Two of my new favorites actually
returned with a homemade peach cobbler to keep us warm! Thank you Jean & Tony!!!

The end of the day, and the end of ART DETOUR, was signaled by the Oktoberfest clapper!
And Wendy was all to excited to get her tent taken down, get all packed up and finished with
yet another art fair. A huge sigh of relief for all of us!

Welcome to the Wisconsin Northwoods!!!
Sure it’s only the first weekend of October… but we woke up to SNOW!!!

So quiet up in the Northwoods… and even quieter when there’s snow!!!
The perfect morning for Sarah to take a quick stroll before we head back to ART DETOUR.

Well, it’s official. My first art fair EVER in the snow!!! Luckily, the snow didn’t
stick for long. But it was still cold. And we were “treated” to even more snow showers,
snow flurries, and more snow throughout the day! There was a lot of huddling around
the campfire, making s’mores or “chilling out” in someone’s tent trying to stay warm.
In an odd way, it was kind of fun. I think we bonded and played together because we
were “stuck” outside freezing for the day.

Sure it was cold. Sure there was snow. Sure we were freezing our butts off.
At least Wendy’s sunflowers gave us a small glimmer of summer warmth!