Just had a wonderful evening & dinner with Sarah Chapman & Julie Wight at Rose Angeli’s. Dinner was yummy – the salad, the pizza, our entrees. But then… DESSERT!!! Our fantastic server Catherine “decided” it might be one of our birthdays, or maybe all three, so she threw a candle in everything. The tiramisu, the pear lasagna with pumpkin ice cream, and the bread pudding with the BEST hot caramel sauce ever. And the bowl of “extra” caramel sauce wasn’t too shabby either!!!

Needless to say, it was none of our birthdays!
And we pretty much finished off all of them… just short of me licking the caramel bowl.

From this photo she just shared on Facebook, you can tell that my cousin Kim has a bumper crop of cherries growing on the tree in her backyard. Today was apparently cherry-picking day. Luckily, she found a nice oval casserole to put them in.

Now I hope she decides to make a pie or two to share!... or jelly… or jam!!!

One more day of freedom…
as my Summer Camp “Tour of Duty” begins tomorrow morning
with a room full of 5-8 year olds and a camp called “All Things Messy.”
Yikes… wish me luck!!!!

Did my own pseudo-triathlon today.
Rode my bike 35 miles.
Then ran another 5 miles.
Followed by an evening marathon of glazing in the studio!!!

Okay, so I’m not sure that last one counts…
as I also finished off 1/2 a bag of Oreo’s!!!

As much as I hate glazing, you’ve got to start somewhere. So I’m getting ready to pull out the buckets, stir ’em up and start the dipping! Let the glazing begin…

So there’s been a lot of “stray” bisque piling up in my studio. Lots of leftover pieces that didn’t fit into my last firing. So I’ve decided to share a cone 10 glaze kiln this coming week. Now I’ve got a lot of glazing to do… and most people know how much I hate glazing!!!

A wonderful Fourth of July out in the suburbs with all three of my cousins & their kids. Too much fun playing with them all while they’re in town for the holiday! Some from Minnesota, some from Ohio and some from the ‘burbs. Could they be any cuter??? Really?

Here’s the “matriarch” of the family… my Aunt Marilyn and her grandchildren. All excited & waiting for the fireworks to begin. But first, lots of frisbee, wrestling, giggling, sugar, photos, stories, gymnastics & smiles!

Here’s my cousin Kim with her niece & nephews! It’s a “shame” they don’t get along. Ha!

And then Kim found the bag of Twizzlers! A holiday picnic is never complete without Twizzlers!

And then the sugar kicked in… and the shenanigans began!!!

As we were waiting for the fireworks to start, the sunset was pretty sweet… as we were treated to a wonderful sky show BEFORE the actually sky show we were there to see!

One last burst of sugar for Kim… which prompted her sunset cartwheels!

After the fireworks, it was smiles all around. And Christopher was excited about
his new glow ring! It’s a shame he hates taking photos!!! Ha!

Hope everyone has a great day playing with family, friends & fireworks.
Have fun. Be safe.

After the “normal” sunrise this morning, we were also treated to a wonderful sky show when the sun made it through a chunk of wispy clouds. Good thing I kept pedaling… or I would have missed this!

This morning, the humidity was high. The grass was wet. And there was a wonderful coating of morning dew all around. Just waiting for the sun to come up and burn it all away.