Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Marble Canyon On a recent visit to the Grand Canyon, we stopped to see how the California Condors were doing in Marble Canyon.     These birds can have a wing span of 9 ½ feet and weigh up to 26 pounds.   They are BIG and magnificent in flight.   I spotted two on a ledge and watched them take off down the canyon.   I t started to rain as I saw three fly under the bridge below me.   I hung (more than leaning!) over the sides to see if I could get a picture.   The birds hopped from strut to strut keeping dryer that me.   They mate for life, lays a single egg every other year, and can live 60 years.    A wildlife recovery program brought the California Condor back from the brink of extinction. The last time a wild California Condor was spotted in the wild in Arizona was 1925.   By 1982 the total in California and Arizona had dropped to 22 birds.   They were all captured and a captive breeding program was started.   You will notice the numbers on the

We’ve been driving by the exit sign for Montezuma Castle for two years.   We never took the time to stop and explore until this past weekend.   What an interesting place.   Montezuma Castle National Monument is about 50 miles south of Flagstaff, Arizona off I-17.   Big exit sign!   We parked and walked up to the visitor center to be greeted by a Desert Grassland Whiptail Lizard.   It seemed he was just waiting to be photographed!   The Greeter - Desert Grassland Whiptail The path from the Visitor Center was fairly short and the cliff we saw was very high.   The castle is a 5 story, 20 room dwelling built into the cliff recess 100 feet above the valley.   The Southern Sinagua farmers began building in the 1100’s Common Era.   It’s funny how places get named.   The early settlers assumed this place was Aztec in origin and named it Montezuma Castle.   We now know that Montezuma never came this far north from his home in Mexico.   Down the path a bit is another building complex

 Pin made from 'Bench Scraps'  Polymer clay, etched copper, cold and hot connections  For the past 10 years, my friend Judi and I have been going to Art Unraveled in Phoenix AZ.   It’s always in August and lately it’s been at the Embassy Suite in Scottsdale AZ.   Yes the weather is hot- 113 degrees a couple of days!   But it is in a nice cool hotel and we are so busy in our classes that we don’t notice the heat.   It's a great conference and I highly recommend it! Balance Beam Bracelet - etched copper, turquoise, warm connections This year Judi (from Tucson) and I (from Prescott) met at the hotel on Saturday afternoon.   There is always a Shopping Extravaganza Day with many vendors and raffle prizes.   It’s where we find out about new product and visit with old and new friends.   We planned to meet about 3 p.m. and spend an hour shopping.   The first order of business was to sign up for the raffle.   The grand prize was a $500 gift basket (in this case it was

Our last stops were the national monuments of Wupatki and Sunset Crater.   Besides just enjoying saying the name ‘Wupatki’ we really enjoyed seeing this pueblo and the exhibits.   Wupatki is north of Flagstaff, Arizona in the shadow of Sunset Crater.   Today occasional earthquake tremors still get residents attention.   The remains of the pueblos in this area are from the 1100’s when the people banded together to build a farming community.   Sunset Crater’s eruption left a thin coat of ash that enriched the soil by absorbing moisture and preventing evaporation.   By 1180 thousands of people were farming here.   By 1250 the buildings stood empty and the people had moved on.   Some resettled in areas close by and their descendants still live in the area.    Artist's concept of the original pueblo  Ruins Today I found the techniques of building with rock interesting.  There was a variety of natural color, shapes, textures and craftsmanship. The rock work combined

The Navajo National Monument was a magical place for me.   It was small as monuments and campgrounds go. We drove around to get our bearings and to see what we wanted to do the next morning.   We talked with the rangers and decided to take an early morning walk on Sandal Trail.   Both campgrounds had open spaces for camping and on this trip that was unusual and welcome.   We arrived early evening and were able to take a short walk.   There were beautiful blooming bushes, a few birds and sunset!   After making ‘camp’ in the back of the truck and setting out dinner, I even had time to sit and enjoy the sounds and smells of the forest. Sandal Trail is a paved trail from the visitor center that ends at Betatakin Overlook.   I stood looking out at a breathtaking cross-canyon vista and then looking down at what is left of an ancient village framed by a sandstone arch while time stood still.   I could almost see the children playing on the upper ledge; hear the women weaving

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located in Arizona and Utah and covers 91,696 acres.   It’s a place where you can almost feel time stand still and peace envelop you.   The large and varied rock formations were formed by erosion and range from 100 ft to 1500 ft tall.   Many of the formations have been given names – Elephant Butte, Camel Butte, The Three Sisters, Totem Pole and more.  Camel Butte (Can you see him?)  Tourism is big business here.   “The View” is a beautiful new hotel and every room has a view of the monuments.   We saw more rental RV’s than we could count.   And well over half the visitors were from other countries.   I was most interested in seeing the rock formations, the striations and faces of the rocks, the light and shadow as the sun moved across the sky.   The colors and textures made me want to get clay out and model while I observed the changes.    I have no doubt that this experience will have a major impact on my future

The first day of our trip led us through Flagstaff AZ with the beautiful juniper and pine forests, past Sunset Crater, Wupatki National Monument, and Navajo National Monument.   We stopped at those three places on the way home.   The Little Colorado River has a dramatic bridge alongside the road where we climbed around on rocks to look down into the river.   I started looking at the dry river bed with the idea of making texture plates for jewelry.   This one would be great to imbed in wet clay. Spaces were vast and sometimes the placement of the advertising made me smile! With lots of interesting cacti and wildflowers!  We wanted to get to Monument Valley and camp there for the night.   Never have I seen so many rental RV’s as I did on this trip.   All the campgrounds were full and this was early in the season!   We drove through the monument and took some side roads when all of a sudden we saw a very large arrow pointing into the ground with ‘Sleepin

Last night we returned from a week of camping and driving and exploring some of Utah's monuments and parks.  We celebrated my 65th birthday with this trip and it did take my mind off the number of years.  Something about that number that makes me ... nervous! Camping with Peter is so easy.  We took Peter's incredibly delicious chili and a salad for the first night's adventure.  He is very good about finding lovely secluded places to camp.  Most of the places we landed either had no campgrounds or they were full.  I like to think of it as being 'closer' to nature. Our supplies included lots of water, canned chicken, bread, various kinds of soup, cokes, cereal, milk, bananas and coffee!  We were sure we could find a store and reload supplies. Utah has vast areas where there are very few towns with few stores (at least the part we traveled).  We stopped at Moab and had a wonderful lunch, got gas and continued on.  We explored Monument Valley, Natural Bridges, Wat

Cutest Prarie Dog Saying Hello! Remember when you had to write an essay about “My Summer Vacation”?   That is what came to mind when I decided to share my recent visit to Tucson’s ‘Sonoran Desert Museum’ www.desertmuseum.org .   Peter and I spent about 4 hours enjoying the landscape and animals and could have spent more time.   This is one place I visited often when I lived in Tucson; one place I miss and one place you should know about! Hundreds of saguaro cacti line the mountains on the way to the museum.   Half the fun is driving on the winding mountain roads outside of Tucson, getting to the crest and looking over the desert floor.   It makes me feel small and full of wonder. This place is a world renowned zoo, a natur al history museum and a botanical garden.   Walking along the many paths, you see interpretive displays.   The plants and animals represent a large area of the southwest- Arizona, California and many states of Mexico.   There are more than 300 animal species and