Last night we continued BIRTHDAY WEEK with a yummy dinner at Macello on the Near West Side of Chicago. So much fun celebrating & eating with my friend Nancy… who has the same birthday as me!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!!!

Special THANKS… burp… to Jeni’s Ice Creams for offering free ice cream for your birthday celebration!!! You get a free TRIO of flavors!!! So Wednesday night I did… burp… a couple times! As no one ever said you’re limited to stopping at just ONE Jeni’s location!!!… burp!

So the past couple days have been great… and we’re not done yet! It’s officially BIRTHDAY WEEK!!! Thanks so much to everyone for their great birthday wishes. You sure know how to make a guy smile!!! Love you all. Thanks again… and let’s keep the party going!!!

It’s a spooky Friday the 13th night… and it looks like there are more ghouls coming out to play! Yep, another line-up of my Halloween characters hanging out on a bookshelf! Not quite the “full” Ghouls Collection… but quite a few nonetheless! They’re all made as a Limited Edition. And when the new “yearly” character is gone, they’re gone for good. But… there “might just be” a little bit of a “Ghouls & Pumpkins Sale” only on my pottery Facebook page next week of those characters still in my inventory!!! More details coming… Pirates & Devils & Scarecrows, oh my.

With the rain & cooler weather, one of my dahlia plants is going crazy!!! Suddenly tons of blooms… all different colors on the same bush! Although many of the flowers are too big for the stems to support them with the rain & wind. Just trying to enjoy them as much as I can… as we all know the cold overnight-frosts can’t be too far away!!!!

A bit more carving with my favorite DiamondCore Tools … creating a fun texture covering the entire exterior of the bowl. For a hot-minute I considered carving the interior the same way… but didn’t… thought it might be too much to clean later?! But now I’m cautiously reconsidering…

Words to live by… every day… especially when a van pulls up next to you and THIS is staring back at you through your car window!!!

A slightly hazy start & mostly clear skies make for a beautiful sunrise day!

So this little bowl got a little too hard to fast… and I missed the “window of opportunity” for stamping it. Instead, I did a bit of fun carving with one of my favorite DiamondCore Tools.

In a pile of textures & colors, it’s always great to see one of my mugs “out in the wild” playing well with others! Thanks Ellen for surrounding my mug with such love & creativity!