It was an unbelievably beautiful visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden for the annual Orchid Show. Stunning orchids everywhere!!! With a theme of “INDIA BLOOMS” there were a few displays designed to show traditional Indian culture & rituals. Every corner, every nook, every cranny… incredible orchids everywhere you looked!!! It may have been cold & snowy outside… but inside Spring was in full bloom!!!

A LOT of photos of a LOT of orchids… so take your time & enjoy!!!

Tonight was another night in the theater… but this time, for my first live magic show. I’m not sure what I was expecting… let me just say I’m glad we won the cheap “theater lottery” tickets again. At least the kids seemed to really enjoy it!!!

Another night of Bingo Fun at IKEA!!! Always fun to play with friends… free games with IKEA prizes!!! Sure, I haven’t won anything yet, but you can’t win if you don’t keep playing, right???

And there “may” have been a little shopping afterwards too! Allegedly…

Well, it’s officially the “First Day of Spring” … and we woke up to SNOW!!!
More than an inch overnight. Welcome to Spring in Chicago!!!

This week was our final Intermediate Wheelthrowing class… so we celebrated with a “trading-stealing-white-elephant” kinda game. Category being two dinner plates! We had a lot of fun trading plates… some came in as matching sets & others in singles. Including one matching set that came with an added BONUS… two matching mini’s!!!

Can’t believe my collection of MKM Pottery Tools handrollers has just DOUBLED!!! Great patterns & textures made with perfectly crafted wooden handrollers. Can’t wait to start playing with them… time to get them dirty!!! Just in time for another Texture Tuesday!!!

Two days ago it was literally snowing in Chicago. Today it’s warm & sunny… like 70-degrees… and I have “green things” coming through in my garden! Spring officially begins in two days… and we have a forecast for more snow & rain! Welcome to Springtime in Chicago!!!

A beautiful morning glow as clouds layered across the sky. Soon enough the clouds took over for most of the day… only breaking briefly for some late afternoon sunshine!

So I was painting some pots with a colored flashing slip… and it matched the clay body color too much. It was tough to see where I had painted already. So I added some basic food coloring to the slip to make it more orange! Problem solved… and the food color will burn out & not affect the final results. Plus, as an added bonus… you get this groovy tie-dyed effect as the food coloring “spreads” on the surface before you stir it up!