After yesterday’s huge microburst storm, I am very relieved & thrilled that we didn’t really lose any pottery. The winds were SO gusty that there were things flying around everywhere. Pots sliding off shelves, sounds of things crashing around us, tents shaking & moving… yet we stayed safe. As I was holding down the tent, my parents were quickly putting pots on the ground and saving as many as they could. This large slab vase & flowers made it through unscathed… along with all of the others!

Lots of pots ready to go to a new home. Maybe yours?
Stop by the Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival. 11:00am-6:00pm today & tomorrow.
We’re in Booth #32 with a beautiful “backyard” view of the Lake!!!

It’s always such a pleasure to hang out in a beautiful garden with good friends. Even better to get away from the City for a quick weekend getaway with my cousin Kim. We’re both working too hard and have six million things to do. So it was extra special this weekend to put “everything on hold” and just go away for a road trip! My talented friends Gerry & Rosene live on Central Illinois near Peoria. They were my very first at fair friends several years ago. I was just starting out at MY VERY FIRST art fair… okay, holiday craft show... and they were across the aisle. The were the seasoned veterans. I was the newbie providing “naive entertainment’ for them. They have since “retired” from crafting… and now they spend all their time creating & caring for the most wonderful garden ever. Such a treasure. Not only are the layered terraces & plants pretty amazing. But the creative whimsy and rusty metal accents still harken back to their crafting days. And who doesn’t like some well-utilized rust?!!!

So there it is… a quick tour of their award-winning garden. So many things to find & discover. So many incredible colors & textures. So many plants to tend to. As I’ve always said…. so much fun to have Talented Friends!!! And even more fun that they are so generous that they can be credited with helping my own gardens look pretty special too. The majority of my garden plants have traveled home from Peoria to take up residence in Chicago. Thank you Rosene & Gerry!!!

Pretty little flowers in my backyard. Such wonderful medley of colors.
Love the gradation within each flower cluster. They smell great… very citrusy.
And look even better in a miniature stamped vase… if I do say so myself!

When I finally returned home from Dover, I was “greeted” by an amazing assortment of flowers blooming in my garden. Kind of a surprise since I hadn’t seen them growing for the past month… and now this seemingly “sudden” explosion of colors!!!

Some beautiful crape myrtle in bloom in Dover… flowers we don’t have much at home!
Love the colors, textures and contrasts.

One of the many benefits of riding your bike (instead of sitting inside a sealed car) is that you actually get to see, hear, feel and smell everything around you. Including the wonderful whiffs of perfumed morning air from these red “honeysuckle” trumpet flowers that are climbing all over the place.

Some beautiful “local” plants along the beach this morning. Like these really cool mimosa trees with cool “firework” flowers and the nubby buds waiting to explode!

While riding through the town of Leipsic this morning, I noticed some beautiful white clematis flowers in someone’s front yard. So of course I had to stop… and share!

“It’s nice to have you back where you belong.”
Classic musical reference anyone?!