Another beautiful bike ride along the lakefront. With a few waves rolling in, and a few cool cloud formations wafting through. We had several good “moments” along the way… a couple great photo moments!!!

When I got home from the studio at sunset… it turned out to be a perfect evening for a neighborhood stroll with a friend. Even better when that stroll takes you to Lickety Split for a little chocolate-yummy sumthin’-sumthin’… which we’ll just call DINNER!!!

Tempted by the vintage candy…
but resisted, and then made my ice cream a LARGE!!!

Okay, so I know I said that those flower pots would be the last thing before my soda-firing deadline… but I’m pretty sure I can squeeze in a quick batch of mugs too!!! You know they’re my favorite thing to make!!! So what’s another dozen…

Looks like Kristy has been in the kitchen making a healthy & tasty treat of peaches & strawberries topped with basil & balsamic vinegar. Looking good in two of my stamped bowls… but I of course would want some vanilla ice cream to go under all of that healthy stuff!!!

Thanks for the photo Kristy!!!

They may last for just a day… but each of these daylily blooms lends a nice spark of color as they dance on the long stems shooting up from the leaves. Luckily, there are several blooms per stem… so “collectively” the last longer than a day!!!

So excited to see my purple hyacinth bean vines climbing up on my back porch! They’re off to a good start. I love how they quickly wrap & grow up things like my rusted metal “curtain” of gears! I love how the leaves appear to float by themselves – and then the flowers will come later in the Summer, followed by wonderful purple bean pods in the Fall! Which of course I’ll save so I can re-plant the seeds and start again next year!

A lot of people have asked what kind of camera I use for my morning sunrise photos! It’s just a little point & shoot… nothing fancy… that fits in the rear pocket on my biking jersey! Oh yeah, always in a ziplock bag so it doesn’t get all sweaty wet!!!

This one is brand new as today was its first voyage out for sunrises! My previous one was the same brand & style… it was just not working well. Some times the image in the viewfinder window would just wiggle… and then it would automatically shut down after two or three shots… and the last straw was when it totally gave up and stopped turning on… kinda like it couldn’t open its own aperture?!

Sure, maybe it could have broken from all the use… I’ve taken a LOT of sunrises with my old camera. Or all of the jostling while I’m bike riding… or times I got caught in the rain… or the times I dropped it…. or the times I would take it out to take photos on a roller coaster… or any of the other countless times I mishandled the camera!!! HA!!!

So yes, my sunrises are shot with this little baby…
but I do use my iPhone for panorama shots & videos!!!

A dramatic morning sunrise to celebrate the last day of June! Crazy cool clouds, colors & reflections… and that one big cloud right there in the wrong place at the right time to block the sun!!!

Hard to believe we’re already going into July and a holiday weekend, right?! Seems like it was just March the last time I checked.

And of course… flower pots need small plates to catch the water that seeps through the drainage holes. So here are the plates accented with some of the same flashing slips as the flower pots!

Thanking Mother Nature for another beautiful surprise on TEXTURE TUESDAY. Who knew that cactus like these could grow naturally in Chicago? I didn’t think they would survive our harsh winters… but I found these growing around Montrose Harbor!