When they said “April showers bring May flowers”…
I wasn’t looking forward to this!!!

After our bike ride to Fort Sheridan & back… the day was still beautiful and I “needed” to stay outside! So I stopped off at The North Park Village Nature Center on my way home. A little nature sanctuary right in the city. I’ve never stopped here before… a sweet little gem… thanks for the recommendation Lisa!

Apparently, people found two “alleged” explosive devices at Openlands… both of which “allegedly” might be left over from World War II – originally coming from Fort Sheridan which is right there.

The lakeshore preserve is shut down while they investigate… but still a “sight to see” as we pedaled through to catch a beautiful view of the lake a bit further north.

A few more beauties… a couple parting shots before we continued the ride north past the gardens. Beautiful ranunculus flowers in a range of colors!

While at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I was also impressed by the flowering espalier growing on the brick entrance walls. Years of pruning & “training” to make this beauty happen!

Today was picture perfect! Beautiful blue skies & surprisingly warm weather again. We hit the bike trail early this morning and rode up to the Chicago Botanic Garden… where the tulips & lupine were in full bloom!!! A wonderful blaze of color… and I’ve always loved the structural shapes of a good lupine!!!

I don’t mean to gloat… okay, maybe a little… but still, this white African Violet just doesn’t stop!!! Maybe it’s the flower pot? Maybe it’s the complete lack of over-pampering? Maybe it’s just an amazing plant that I got as a gift from Rick & Nancy… two wonderful customers who have been propagating from Mom’s vintage violet and spreading the joy… and it hasn’t stopped flowering for a year and a half now!

Okay, so I’ve done a little touching-up… no more drips running over the edge, and a clean-wiped line around the rims. Next up… wadding and perhaps a touch of colored glazes here & there for a fun pop of color?!!! Who knows? … so many mugs, so many options!

So I’ve finally started glazing these combo mugs! Since they’re going to be soda-fired, I pretty much need to just put a liner glaze inside, and then hope that the soda-kiln atmosphere makes all the “magic” happen! They were all dipped in colored flashing slips before bisque firing… so there should be some fun colors when they come back out of the kiln!

A beautiful day outside today… sure, you might get blown away with the strong gusty winds, but it sure was fun to spend the afternoon strolling along the lake. Kinda surprised these magnolia blossoms haven’t been blown off the tree today!!!