One of the highlights of the Fourth of July in Chenoa, Illinois is the parade through town. It’s such a retro-flashback parade with people tossing candy to the kids, one marching band, one kid on a decorated bike (Ryann), clowns with water hoses, the Shriners in their little cars… and seemingly every old tractor, vintage car, or semi-truck that wanted to be part of the festivities. It’s a loud parade… but so much fun to see the parade with the little kids having fun along the route. Excited about the candy & festivities… not so much about the LOUD noises!

The weather had cleared up & held it’s own until the very end when a small cloud of drizzle passed over. Luckily, Mimi was there to hold “down the fort” while they shuttled the kids back to the house! I was more about the AMAZING hand-dipped & freshly fried corn dog that followed downtown… a little sprinkle of rain didn’t deter me!

Yesterday took me down to Chenoa, Illinois to spend the holiday with my “adopted family” of friends from college with all of their kids & grandkids! The plan was to start the day with a great bike ride along Route 66. But as I got further into Central Illinois, the clouds covered the sky and the rain slowly began. Not a ton… but enough to cancel my bike ride. So it turned out to be a leisurely start to the day playing games inside while waiting for the Fourth Festivities to begin! Chenoa is known for its great celebration… very old-school nostalgic… with fireworks, a parade, street fair, corn dogs, house decorating contests, street dances, road rallies, flea market, lemon shake-ups & so much more! An annual tradition.

And not only was Cory a great host for the pottery tour weekend… but I also came home with two of her plates that I bought to add to my Cory McCrory Collection!!! And, the artists all got a loaf of homemade sourdough bread as a lovely parting gift… and I “might” have come home with three… allegedly…

I’m getting ready to “spring” right into art fair mode… starting this weekend with a fun pop-up in Central Illinois. I’ll be spending the weekend with my very first art fair friends… yes, they were right across the aisle from me many years ago! They were the seasoned veterans, and I was the unknowing newbie. They took me under their wings & we’ve been friends ever since! But I digress… they will be selling many of their own homegrown plants, and I’ll have an assortment of pottery! If you live in Central Illinois, this is the closest show you’ll find me at… so I hope you can stop by!!!

If not, my next three weekends are also booked with art fairs… with Schaumburg, Hinsdale & Sandwich for the Northern Illinois Pottery Tour… chronologically in that order. Mark your calendars!

Experiencing the eclipse Monday with some friends… with a whole assortment of eye-protection! Also good for shooting photographs through! Here in Chicago, they say we had 94% totality… which was pretty darn cool.

So fun when good friends stop by to see you at your gallery show! We’re open again today until 4:00pm at Space 900 Gallery in Evanston. Thanks for coming Allison & Michael.

Looks like it’s Cookie Time at “4×4 : FOUR MAKERS.” Sweet treats to make us all very smiley! Thanks to our friend Nicole for bringing us some yummy goodies from Tag’s Bakery in Evanston.

You gotta love when a little Valentine’s treat “mysteriously” shows up on your shelf at the studio! It definitely made me smile when I saw it… and even more when I ate that BROWNIE!!! Thanks for making my day Katie!

Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY… with a nice post my friend & talented photographer who posted this on Instagram. Great photos, great eye, great guy. You should definitely check out his work on Instagram @ericcraigstudios

You can also check-out his work on his website… www.ericcraigstudioscom

Let me introduce you to Martin… spoiler alert… winner of the most recent “Great American Baking Show”… and potter in my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class! You may remember him from all of my posts about the snacky-games & finale party we played while he was in my class & his show was airing on TV.

Not only do his pottery skills continue to impress us… his baking does too! Like this yummy Lemon Lavender Cake he brought in for class snacks this past Monday! It sure was yummy… past tense… burp!… but it does also look GREAT on the stamped cake plate I made for him as his “trophy” for winning the show!!! They look great together!

You can always check-in on Martin’s baked goods… including the recipe for this cake… if you follow him on Instagram!!! – @martinsorge

And… oh, but wait there’s more… you can still csatch-up and watch “The Great American Baking Show” for FREE online. Sure, it might be on The ROKU Channel… but you don;t need ROKU to watch it on your computer!!! Just click here.