Here's some fun from this week in ceramics. A mini, green, daisy teapot would be fun for one cup of tea.
I love this olive swirl dish. I can just imagine all those little olives lined up in a row, making a swirly circle.
More fun eggs. This time on a crazy serving dish with a toothpick holder on the side.
I just love how this bowl came out. I won't put it outside for fear that a little birdie might come along and try to hatch these eggs.
I think my favourite meal to eat out is breakfast at a diner. I particularly love pancakes and rarely make them at home.
Richard ordered a plate of French toast and crisp bacon.
And the decor? Most diners opt for warm reds and browns. This diner in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec was decked out in cool blues and greens. Very ra-shasha!
Richard and I stopped by a huge garden centre and on display were various whirlygigs that spin solely on wind power. I particularly loved this John Deere tractor with its spinning wheels.
In this photo from 1993, you might recognize the guy holding the cake. Yup, that's actor Bruce Greenwood who plays Captain Christopher Pike in the latest Star Trek movie. Nice guy. And he liked my cake. (The other person in the pic is me!)
When I stayed overnight at Carol's place in Dorval, the night before our art show, she served me funky, checkerboard ice cream for dessert.
Isn't this this coolest?
And the day after that, Richard and I drove up to Wakefield, QC to see his mum for Mother's Day. On our way home, we stopped in Plaisance at a cheese shop and found barbecue cheese curds. (Note to John: Imagine them on poutine?)
My job was to feed the driver.
Carol and I had our art show last Saturday at Carol's place. I was showing my painted ceramics, a few drawings, cards and books. Carol had some of her thrown pottery and colourful jewelry.
Carol's house has all sorts of nooks and crannies which were perfect to show off my painted ceramics...
...and Carol's lovely necklaces.
We put up a few long tables in the living room and den, covered with black, batik fabric and interspersed our artwork all over them.
The deep windowsill was a perfect spot to tuck even more ceramics. Thanks to all our friends who made it out! It was really a fun day with cake, coffee and some visiting too.
My favourite fast food joint is Tim Horton's, a donut shop that's ubiquitous in Canada and parts of the northern USA. They're absolutely everywhere and frankly, it's hard to avoid stopping in for a quick coffee and maybe even a donut.
I dropped by my local Timmy's and here's what I saw parked close to the front door. And all this time I thought I was their biggest fan!
I just love cats and love to photograph them too. Here's a friend's cat, Gracie, posing with some ceramic lookalikes.
Another friend rescued this cat, Mira. It took a year of hard work but now this cat is friendly and happy!
Joey is a working cat who sits on laps while folks get their toenails painted and feet massaged.
My own Cinnamon is semi-retired and not much of a mouser anymore. He prefers to sit and be admired.
And here's my 19-year old cat, Domino. She and I have tea together every afternoon. If I don't remember to pour her a cup, she'll poke her nose into mine.
I have three rose breasted grosbeaks at my feeder. They are just gorgeous! I photographed this one a few days ago and now notice how many more leaves are out today. Pretty soon the leaves will be so full I won't be able to see the birds quite so easily.
I planted my pansies last weekend. They are such happy looking flowers and always make me smile.
I noticed this very fluffy daffodil planted amongst my grape hyacinths.
Aren't these daffodils fabulous?
Just crazy! This will likely be the last week for them as the days are getting warmer...
...and the trilliums are blooming like mad. The forest floor is just gorgeous, covered in white trilliums. This little bunch comes back every year in my garden.
So does this small clump of purple primroses. I started with three plants and this one is the only one that returns every year.
And now the fiddleheads are up. Richard and I picked them behind the house and chowed down on this handful, stir fried with some lima beans and green peas.
When I had the gals over for our artist trading card session the other day, I served my mom's gingerbread. It was yummy and easy to make.
A bunch of us get together every once and a while for an artist trading card "Make and Take" session. On Sunday we met here to make ATCs with the theme "May Day."
We're all very busy, drinking tea and/or wine and creating. In fact, we're so intent on making our cards that sometimes it's so quiet you can hear a pin drop.
Here are Fran's cards as she finishes them off and gets ready to trade.
I did a bunch of rubber stamped cards from some funky stamps I bought at Collage in Portland, Oregon a few years back. I added a few touches of light watercolour too.
Saturday began the season of yard sales! Our first was one in Hawkesbury where the proceeds were going to the Feral Cat Society of Hawkesbury, a wonderful group that neuters, vaccinates and then returns the cats back to their wild homes. That way the numbers are kept level and they still get to live healthy lives.
Here's Richard in deep discussion with the Mayor of Hawkesbury, Jeanne Charlebois.
And here are some of the wares available for purchase. There were a bunch of great CDs for sale. I got a Rufus Wainright, Jack Johnson and Chicago. Also available were a ton of classical CDs, Diana Krall, more jazz and other stuff. The yard sale season is the best season of the year!
One of my volunteer projects this year is to work on the gift shop at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum, just down the road from me. We have all sorts of books on local history and books by local authors as well.
This year we have local maple syrup products and are also featuring artwork by local artists. Here's work by watercolourist Fran Bailey from Vankleek Hill.
And here are a few other shelves in the tiny shop. The bottom shows work by blacksmith Ron Giroux of Cornwall. And the top shelf has my Thistleware ceramics, exclusive to the Museum.
I was delighted to see the return of my little friends this past week. Chippy East and Chippy West are both back and ready for peanuts. 
They have a water dispenser for when the weather gets hotter and drier. 
I was about to get rid of this strawberry pot because I can never successfully grow anything in it. But then I thought it'd be perfect for peanuts.
And sure enough it is! I call it my "Chippy Dive-In."
