And it looks like I wasn’t the only one out enjoying the sunshine today. Seems like I was making a new friend while I was out on my bike in Northerly Island… at a safe distance… thank you zoom-lens!!!

Today was crazy-BEAUTIFUL!!! It started with early morning rain… but once that passed through, we got sunny skies, gusty winds & temperatures of nearly 80-degrees!!! Perfect for a wonderful bike ride along the lakefront… except for maybe the gusty winds??? Regardless, the skyline looked great, the sky was bright blue & the lake was STUNNING!!!

Handles attached… another batch of mugs made! I’m planning on soda-firing these in the future, so I think they might still need some colored flashing slips before I call them done & let them start drying.

Just pulled a bunch of handles… all lined up & almost ready to go. I’ve got to let them set-up a bit before I start attaching them to the mug cylinders. I want them to hold their shape, yet still be malleable… but not sticky or squishy!

Loving Kelly’s stamped & soda-fired wall pocket vase… perfect for remnants of a floral arrangement when the “fussy flowers” died off and left this textural assortment. Just another fun Floral Friday!

A single rose in a stamped & soda-fired ikebana vase to brighten your Friday…
it doesn’t take a lot to share a smile!

You gotta love when that perfect “spiral collection” happens in the center while trimming a platter. So thin, so even, so smooth… so useless?! I’ve always thought there should be “something” you can do with these when they happen…. but they’re just so fragile that they always end up back in my reclaim bucket!

Looks like Kristy is showing off her collection of sweet little soda-fired bowls! Stamps look good… but those SPIRALS!!! You know how I love a good spiral!!!

And when one falls off while replanting… mini cutie-patootie vase to the rescue!

Here’s one of the orchids that came home with me from Hausermann’s yesterday. A very cool “trailing” orchid that lives on a small plank of wood… not in a flower pot. In nature, most orchids live as “parasites” growing on the sides of trees in the jungles & rainforests… using their aerial roots to get moisture from the environment. I’ve had good luck with common phaleanopsis orchids at home… we’ll see how this one does?!