Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY with this stamped & soda-fired mug… which now resides in Minneapolis with my good friend Sarah!!! She was enamored by the amount of soda flashing effects on this one… so the mug made its way up north to celebrate her birthday!

So remember that stray ornament that jumped off the shelf and into the firebox during my last soda firing?! Well, I had just taken it a set it on a table in my studio. Kinda forgot about it. But since then, the crusty residue has disintegrated and fallen off into a powder. And now we can see more of the ornament… and just how much of it was “eaten-away” by the excessive soda mixture & flames hitting it in the fire box. The walls are now super-thin… and actually see-through in a couple places!!!

Another beautiful floral display on the street corner… but for some reason these hollyhocks always remind me of my Grandma Kitty. I’m not sure that she even had them in her garden?… it’s just that I kinda think they’re somehow “vintage” flowers?! Kinda like “everyone’s” Grandma should have had them!!!

A handmade pie plate never looked quite so healthy… of course I’d prefer PIE!!! Who wouldn’t?! But these fresh veggies look pretty darn tasty too… of course I accredit that to the pottery, not that healthy stuff!

So the overnight forecast was rain all night into the morning hours… but as the eternal optimist, I decided to set my alarm just in case the rain passed through earlier. And it did!!! The roads were dry so I threw on my bike gear & headed out… still LOTS of clouds! But no rain as predicted.. and sadly NO SUNRISE!!!

Working in the studio this afternoon finishing up a few things, doing a bit of stamping, and making another batch of bowls… while soaking up as much FREE air conditioning as possible!!!

On my way home, I also saw this guy cooling off at Jackson Harbor. Always fun to see a Great Blue Heron hanging out in the water fishing. Keenly watching the water waiting for breakfast! I’m always amazed at how large they are, kinda prehistoric… and that we have them in the City?!

Luckily, when I made it down to the South Shore Cultural Center, there was a bit of welcoming shade amongst their colonnade. And then the grounds keepers just happened to turn on the sprinklers for the golf course as I was hanging out there… and the answer is YES!!!

When in Rome, right?!!!

I mean, I was already wet!

It was also perfect timing to find the Gold Star Families Memorial sculpture all lit up with sunrise reflections. Just south of the Museum Campus, between the harbor and Soldier Field… a fun moment as you pedal up the hill to be greeted by this sunrise surprise!