Sometimes bad things happen to good mugs…

According to Angela… “Gary, I’m so sad!!! Broke my favorite mug!! I was leaving to work and put it on top of the car, came to stop sign and I hear the sound of it sliding and hitting windshield, then breaking into pieces. Not the best way to start my day!”

OMG!!!
What a wonderful surprise when you come into your studio and there is a very SWEET surprise sitting there waiting for you!! I can’t believe it… it’s a JAR FULL OF CARAMEL SAUCE!!! And the very BEST caramel ever! For those Chicago peeps that ever went to Rose Angeli’s restaurant, you might remember. It was my very favorite restaurant for many years before they decided to close down… great food, great service & even “great-ER” caramel sauce!!!

So this past Saturday morning, I taught a wheelthrowing class and the former owner & chef Larry was in the class. I tried to “play it cool” and not fan-out all over him. It wasn’t until the end of class that the topic came up… and I eventually professed how much I loved his restaurant & his food. “Somehow” the topic of caramel sauce came up…. and that the bread pudding dessert was just “the vehicle” to get that caramel sauce into my mouth! And then yesterday… I found this jar of caramel in my studio!!!

THANK YOU LARRY!!!
I will cherish it… and ration it very slowly!!!
Like liquid gold!

Another beautiful morning with a dusting of overnight snow
& plenty of sunshine on some mossy tree bark!

Some times you’re just driving down a sidestreet… minding your own business…. you run across an EXPLOSION OF CREATIVITY! I just love this collection of handmade & handpainted birdhouses all over this tree! Just a normal house… with some AMAZING little houses hanging in their tree!!! So cool… so creative! What a great collection & fun for the whole neighborhood!

Looks like one of my green Shamrock Mugs has landed & found a good home… and found a nice little saucer too! Thanks again Patty… and is that an Irish Coffee I see there?!

Not much of a sunrise this morning… just dark clouds and a brisk wind coming in from the north off the lake. CHILLY!!!!

Well, lookey here… yet another one of my ceramic fortune cookies has been found at Illinois Beach State Park. So much fun finding out that they are still being found by random people while out there enjoying the park. Even more impressive that Adam “found me” here on Facebook and shared his story & photos with me!

This from Adam…
“Hi Gary, thank you for the good fortune! My kids and I found a cookie this past Saturday and my mother did the research and found you. Hoping you can view the post about it on my page and the pictures associated with the outing to Illinois Beach State Park. I recently discovered it during the lockdown as well (Sept. 2021), and I’m now there almost every time the weather is favorable. Kids love it too! A lot of joy has come from your kindness. From the thrill of finding the cookie nestled in the root structure of the tree to the people’s reaction from posting about it and finally the excitement in locating the maker! We hope there may be more to find still and will be back again soon. Thank you!!!”

It’s never good when a ceramic orange slips off its stilts in the kiln… and rolls over to join with two green mugs! Whoops… so sorry that your amazing faux orange now has two permanent friends Tracy!!!

This morning I subbed for an intermediate wheelthrowing class. We talked & laughed… and then I did a couple demos. We started with throwing a large platter. And then, with a little “Julia Child kitchen switch-out magic” I switched to a platter that I had thrown a couple days ago and did a fun stamping demo for them. I think I may have won them over?…

Me likin’ the lichen… and the mosses… and the groovy bark textures! Makes it kinda perfect for another natural Texture Tuesday!

#texturetuesday