Not overly cloudy this morning. Not much sunrise drama.
Guess it was maybe those GUSTY WINDS that took care of them?!

As I was pedaling home, you could see the next wave of clouds blowing in. Too late to make it for sunrise fun!!! So instead of a beautiful sky show, I had crazy winds swirling all around & fun little “wind-waves” fluttering about on the lake.

Luckily, the less-than-stellar sunrise was “saved” by a really cool weeping willow silhouette!

Tonight I stamped a few flower pots. Gotta make the water dishes tomorrow.
Sure, you could get one of those plain, old terra cotta pots from Home Depot… but why?!
Your plants would love SO MUCH BETTER in a little bit fancier flower pot.
I can guarantee it.

Flower Pot #1 –

Flower Pot #2 –

Flower Pot #3 –

Flower Pot #4 –

Flower Pot #5 –

Flower Pot #6 –

Flower Pot #7 –

Flower Pot #8 –

Flower Pot #9 –

Another night. Another batch.
Stamped and waiting to be trimmed & “handled.”

And some of the stamps that did the “magic”…

My Talented Friend Barb Duro was one of my “connections” to the cute little town of Sandwich, Illinois. Besides my other Talented Friends whimsical paper-clay artist Cory McCrory, and the now-moved-to-Missouri potter Steven Hill. Barb used to run a wonderful store on Main Street called “Moon & Star.” It is there that I first learned about the beauty of beads and so many other things. I’ve now known Barb for several years, always a dear friend & caring soul. She has since moved to Arizona and has just launched her jewelry website. It’s full of beautiful, handcrafted beaded necklaces, earrings & bracelets. Each with their own personality & story.

Click here to go to her new website!
Even the names of her product lines are wonderful & thoughtful…
Spiritus In Materia : Soulful offerings for an inspired life.

Conscious Treasures :
Unique creations re-purposed & re-imagined from past items & artifacts.

Invitation to Intention : Personal prayer and meditation tools.

Here are some more of her handcrafted beauties.
Each made with a wonderful collection of materials, colors and textures.
Each one-of-a-kind… handmade with loving attention & top-quality materials.

One of her more touching product lines…
Essentia : Memorable, personal art respectfully holding loved one’s cremains.
Fused glass pendants that are lovingly handcrafted to honor & remember.

Click here to go to Barb’s new jewelry website.
Click here to go to Barb’s ETSY shop.

One quick story first…
which will tell you a LOT about Barb and her personality...

During one of my holiday visits to “Moon & Stone” as a featured guest artist, Barb had made me a Christmas Gift. A couple necklaces that hosted a small, hollow African glass bead that she inserted a piece of muslin into. The idea is you add some scented essential oil to the muslin before you wear it. And then the heat of your body warms it up and releases the scent. Great idea, right? Well, anyway, she told me I should choose my favorite scent from her huge assortment of oils she was selling in the store. So throughout the course of the day, I continued to sniff scents and narrow down my choices in between customers during her Holiday Open House. There were a lot of bottles to smell. And it get’s to be a little nasal overload after awhile. So I did it in small groups. Eventually narrowing it down to 10… then five… then three… and finally the one!!! Keep in mind that Barb was busy running her store & chatting with customers… unaware of my sniffing & choosing. But when I had that final one chosen, as I turned around to approach the counter, she told me what scent I had chosen. What?! Yes, without even seeing the bottle, smelling the scent, or in any other way cheating, Barb told me that I had chosen Bergamot. And she was right!!! Little freaky. Especially since I had never even heard of Bergamot?!!! She said she had guessed that I would choose that one even before I got there. And then she pulled out a “personality traits by scents” book and had me read the description of Bergamot… and it was ME!!! The personality description seemed to fit me perfectly. Even parts of me that I keep inside and don’t share much. Fears, dreams, desires. All there. On paper. In the book. Who knew that my scent would be Bergamot?… well, Barb Duro apparently!!!

And it’s with that kind of love, caring & compassion that she lives her life.
And each piece of jewelry she makes has a piece of her in it.

Okay, sure I haven’t even fired the first batch yet…
but I’m kind of an “all-in” kinda guy. So without any real results,
I’ve already expanded my latest “spoon obsession” to include three more sizes!

Who would’a guessed that five years ago today I first joined on Facebook?!
Since then, I’ve gathered a bunch of great Facebook Friends & Fans… and shared a lot of photos, stories & some pottery fun along the way. Thanks for “indulging” me and my biking sunrise addiction! And here’s to (at least) another five of Facebook Fun!!! Thanks for playing!

Click here to go to Fire When Ready Pottery on Facebook… and click LIKE.

And remember, the more you click LIKE or Comment on the postings, the more of my postings will show up in your News Feed. You don’t want to miss a good one along the way!
There’s always more going on than what the folks at Facebook
“allow” you to see from the business pages you’ve chosen to follow.

Here’s a quick five-year flashback….
and my very first biking sunrise posted on Facebook just five short years ago!
Some things never change…

The weekend started out nice and Spring was definitely in the air at the Chicago Botanic Garden yesterday. I bet these beautiful flowers are enjoying the rain today… a lot more than me!

And so nice to finally see Spring flowers blooming all over… Winter “might” finally be over?!!!

And I’m kinda obsessed with this crazy cool plant. No idea what it is… but, c’mon… look at those leaves, flowers, berries, twigs, colors and textures!!! It’s like a weird textural bouquet on top of the a plant – growing naturally like this!!!

The weather was so nice yesterday that I took a stroll around the grounds including the Japanese Garden Island.

And so nice to see the waterfalls flowing… and NOT frozen over!!!

Tonight is the Empty Bowls fundraiser at Lillstreet Art Center.
I dropped off my donation bowls this morning… including a couple fun class demos with marbled clay! Empty Bowls starts at 5:00pm. Get there early for the best choice… although there are HUNDREDS & HUNDREDS of bowls to choose from!!!

Okay, one last procrastination before I “really” focus on my taxes.
I had to do this blog post, right?… people want to see… right?!… right NOW, right?!

Another beautiful morning & another wonderful ride.
I would so much rather be out there this afternoon than inside “working” on my taxes?!!!

Oh, right-right-right… if I had done them sooner… like a month or two ago…

IT’S TAX DAY.
Eight more hours & counting. And still calculating…