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!!!

So the new postcards are here… the dates are set… and now I gotta get my act together to make a bunch of new pieces for this special gallery show! Including another “collaboration” project with the other artists… each of the four of us making four pieces each to come together at the show!!!

4×4… make sense now?

So apparently there was a little pottery “mishap”
on Christmas Day… I’ll let Allison tell the story…

“Tragic end to Mamma Molloy’s mug before she even opened it. We hosted at our home for Christmas and my brother Ryan and his wife Sarah and Reed came over for a meal and presents with our Mamma who lives down around the corner from us. We were all enjoying Reed, our nephew, being a 14 month old after our meal, stomping around and being curious when he grabbed the bag Mamma’s mug was in (padded mind you), Ryan lifted him up, and then he dropped the bag and I heard CLUNK. And was like, “Oh no. What was that? Was that the bag?” And sure enough, she opened the bag first and it was IT WAS HALF A MUG.

Sarah felt so bad and was apologetic and I felt bad but then thought what would Gary say, “It’s just clay.” She said at least she didn’t have time to get attached. I did investigate it after they left and your centering is VERY good sir. Perfect walls. Quite thin, so it’s light, and apparently very breakable.

Sad for the Christmas chaos this year!! As Sarah says, it’s a very “interactive and fun” time with him but the hands grab EVERYTHING.”

A couple happy pottery peeps… celebrating yesterday with some new pottery! Excited about their red “ornaments” holiday mug… but I think even more excited about the stamped aubergine vase that they got as a gift from Dad! Thanks for sharing your holiday Allison & Michael.

One of my friends stopped by my SECOND HOLIDAY HOME SHOW this past weekend & purchased a little cactus in one of my little pots. He sent me a picture of its new home… it’s kind of the “Where’s Waldo?” of houseplants! Thanks Eric!!!

And just in case you’re wondering… this is what “Waldo” looks like.