Always exciting to find a monarch caterpillar out in the wild… even if they are eating away the milkweeds – HA! These orange milkweeds must be a “specialty” flavor for them?!

Pedaling through prairies & wildflowers this afternoon… amazed at the colors & textures already blooming out there. The wildflowers were amazing… but let’s just say, that red-winged blackbird was NOT so happy to see me there! Protecting his area… screeching & dive-bombing at me… telling me to move on away from his territory!

A beautiful afternoon of biking away from the lakefront for a scenic change of pace. Enjoyed the tranquility pedaling through some of the lakes & ponds out in the forest preserves!

Quiet colors. Pastoral pastels. Shrouded sunrise. Not really sure if it’s clouds or smoke from the Canadian wildfires still? But either way, it made for another dramatic start to my day. I’ll take it.

Looks like my cousin Kim is enjoying her bountiful harvest of homegrown strawberries this morning! They look scrumptious on those pancakes… and those pottery side pieces look pretty yummy too!

A fun ending to a beautiful Saturday night in Chicago… FIREWORKS at Navy Pier!!! It’s been awhile since I’ve enjoyed the fireworks downtown. I had kinda forgotten about how close they are to the Pier & how beautiful the reflections are! Stunning!!!

The weather was perfect today for a great bike ride along the lakefront. With a fun opportunity to see the SAIL GP boats pretty close-up as they were being craned back into the water for Day Two of the SAIL GRAND PRIX races at Navy Pier! Amazing racing boats… picture sailboats racing at Nascar speeds on Lake Michigan at the very end of Navy Pier inside the breakwater!

Finished painting some accents of colored flashing slips on this latest batch of mugs. These color-painted areas will “flash” with colors & soda effects after firing in the soda kiln. But first… they need to dry & be bisque fired.

Pure determination & fortitude… locking in and making the best out of a tight squeeze.

No sun. No sunrise. Another monochromatic morning along the lakefront. It had some good potential, but the clouds never lit up!