In the category of “Never go grocery shopping while you’re hungry”… oops!

Okay, for the record… I don’t know that we can quite call it a “spread.”
Especially when you eat it right off the spoon!
And it was yummy… I’m just sayin’…

Tuesday night’s demos…
Fluted bowl. Lidded jars. Flower pot. Mini vase.
Stamped. Trimmed. Detailed. Done… Drying!

A new season of SURVIVOR starting now!!!
Hard to believe we’re starting up on Season 28!!!

How many seasons have you seen?…
Me?… Every single season, every single episode from the very beginning!!!

This time it’s three tribes – Beauty vs. Brains vs. Brawn. This should get interesting?!!!

This morning was a bit chilly. Only eight degrees when I started.
But knowing that another “polar vortex” is headed our way tonight…
I knew today might be my best chance to get out on my bike for a quick morning sunrise ride. Enough layers and I was ready to go.

I was afraid that the gray skies weren’t going to open up in time to reveal the sunrise… but I was wrong. The beautiful sunrise was well worth the morning chill.

Beautiful a little closer. Stunning from more of a distance.

With the sun shining, I decided to pile in a few layers and go for a much needed bike ride. Sure, the temp was below freezing, but it was a beautiful ride with the warmth of the sun on my back. Not much snow left. Just a lot of frozen puddles & floating icebergs. So beautiful. So much fun!!! Okay, sure there are still a few sections that are frozen over or covered with mushy snow… had to portage my bike over certain sections!

It was beautiful when I got down to Fullerton with an incredible view of the skyline… and more than a few icebergs floating in the water!

Certain sections of the lakefront had more icebergs than others. I love how they’re so geometrically shaped… and oddly so evenly spaced from each other?!

While standing there admiring the icebergs, I stumbled upon this “frozen fossil” that has been carved into the stone. I’ve on that some spot so many times, so many mornings, so many rides… and yet somehow I just noticed it for the first time today?!

And then I also found this really cool, all pun intended, ice cube sitting on the shoreline. It was a big block of ice. Just sitting there. I loved the layers and crystallization inside!

Back on the bike… and more frozen puddles. But when they get to be this large, is it safe to assume I we can call them “ponds”???

As the sun continued to shine, you could see that the layers of ice & snow slowly meting away. I love how the leaves melt the snow a bit faster and create a halo-effect around them. And yes, if you look really close, those are indeed blades of GREEN GRASS poking through!!! And in some spots, actually supporting the thin ice layer so it appears to be “floating.”

Back on the bike and headed home… past several more beautifully frozen “ponds”!!!

Sunny day. Sunny ride… long overdue!!!

Sun was shining this afternoon and hitting the orchids on my kitchen windowsill just right. The sun was encouraging. Sure, it’s still freezing outside… but at least it was sunny!!!

This morning I stamped & stamped & stamped… and stamped some more.
Round & round I went stamping the inner rings AND the outer rings!

Now they’re all stamped and laid out on a plastic grid to help them dry more evenly… and hopefully prevent them from warping. The idea is that they can dry from both sides at the same time – hence the lack of warping!

Tonight I loaded my first bisque of the New Year. I’m trying to get a couple pieces done quickly so I needed to bisque… yet my normal kilns were already being loaded & fired by someone else. So I had to go with a slightly smaller electric kiln than normal.

Kiln Layer #1 – mugs

Kiln Layer #2 – berry bowls, mugs & oil lamps.

Kiln Layer #3 – more mugs, more berry bowls, more tiles & some new stamps.

Kiln Layer #4 – a couple last mugs, berry bowls and a lot of plates to go with the berry bowls!

Well, the kiln may be smaller… so I really needed to pack it tight ALL THE WAY to the top!!! As long as the lid still closes, right???