Last weekend after the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour, I made a quick visit to the Weisman Art Museum with my friends Sarah & Jules. A very cool building designed by architect Frank Gehry… along with one of his glass fish sculptures inside! Also good to see a large ceramic piece by Jun Kaneko up-close. A fun museum stop before heading home… even if it was tough to get a photo of the building from the bridge! HA!!!

Last Sunday during the pottery tour, I also got this beautiful mug from my friend Delores Fortuna. Always fun to chat with her while admiring her work. If you need a mug too… Delores will also be part of the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR… just a month away!!! Mark your calendars… I’ll be part of the Tour as well.

June 7th & 8th from 10:00am-5:00pm.
More information at www.northernilpotterytour.com

Yesterday I had a great visit with a pottery hobbyist from Lawrence, Kansas who follows me on Facebook… and my blog! Marsi and her partner David were in Chicago for the first time… and I was towards the top of their “must see” list. We had a great visit & tour of Lillsteet. We shared stories, anecdotes & pottery encouragement… and then she shared these sweet little pots with me! Inspired by my stamping techniques she has seen online. Always fun to meet some of your social media “friends” in person! Thanks for making the trip Marsi… hope you had fun too!

With the recent passing of The Pope, there has been a lot of news about the pomp & circumstance of what follows. On a pre-scheduled flight to Rome, my friend Trish had an opportunity to travel to The Vatican for the official viewing ceremonies. Surprisingly enough, Trish & her fellow flight attendant friend got caught-up with the News Crew to share their thoughts & impressions of it all!!!

FYI… Trish is on the left!

And while many of us… ME… are still working on our taxes…
it looks like Pam has been busy in the kitchen! And then sharing her “Salted Caramel Chocolate Oreo Pie.” It sure sounds good… I like every word in the title!!! And it looks pretty darn tasty in a handmade & stamped pie plate too!

You gotta love when a surprise “care package” arrives in the mail… this time from my friend Tracy! Who may have seen “somewhere” that I have a thing for OREO’s?! So when she recently went to France, she brought back a box of French OREOs for me. I can’t quite read the ingredients list or the nutritional information… but I’m just assuming that I don’t “want” to see that anyway!

It is good to see there is some protein in OREO’s though!!!

So I gifted my friend Sarah a ceramic birdhouse recently. She loved it & can’t wait to hang it in her yard. But our friend Pam with the groovy glasses seemed a bit perplexed. She looked at, analyzed it… and still seemed a bit confused. And then she asked “how you re-fill it with bird seed… and clean the old seed out??? A quick explanation… it was that moment she “learned” the difference between birdFEEDER & birdHOUSE!!!

I think the original intention of “playing hooky” yesterday was that Mimi wanted to see some orchids at The Orchid Show up at the Chicago Botanic Garden… but the show closed last weekend. So Garfield Park Conservatory was a good substitute. But I REALLY wanted Mimi to see beautiful orchids. So after the Conservatory, we zoomed out to “Orchids by Hausermann” to the greenhouses where they grow thousands of orchids!!! And let’s just say… “a couple” of them may have come home with me to add to my own collection! Allegedly…

From up in the frozen tundra of Stevens Point, Wisconsin… looks like Matthew braved the elements to get some yummy treats. Turns out he found Chinese OREOs… surprisingly thin, but I’m sure tasty nonetheless! Thanks for sharing your OREO adventure… looks yummy with a glass of milk!!!

Snow Day fun making SNOW DUCKS!!! My friend Tiffany brought her “snow duck maker” to work today… so we had to get outside to play for awhile. Making ducks obviously!!!