Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

One nice thing about being retired is the ability to say, “Let’s take a road trip!”   This one was a short two day trip to Lake Havasu AZ.   There was a Nutting’s Flycatcher, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black Scoter, White-winged Scoters and a Surf Scoters lurking around the area.   Yes, they are all birds and we like to track them!   We left early one sunny morning and drove the back roads for about 4 hours looking for birds as we talked about life.   We were looking for Planet Ranch Road is a primitive bumpy dirt road that had survived two big storms.   Don’t take campers on it!   My 4-runner was a good choice for finding the elusive Nutting’s Flycatcher.   We think we saw it….but to a birder that statement means little.   Birders have to really get a good look at the shape, the color, the field marks and they are delighted if they get a picture.   Well we think (maybe) we saw the bird! There were scenic hills with caves that made me wonder who or what lived in them;

Black and white makes such a striking statement and I am ready for a statement!   E xperimenting with combining black and white polymer clay, I stacked alternating layers into stripes and swirled them.   Then I cut the swirls into little pieces and compressed the pieces into a one-inch ball in my hands.   Sometimes I cut those balls into 4 pieces and reassembled them into another one-inch ball.   I combined my finished beads with volcanic stone beads about the same size.   It became obvious that I created two basic designs and they would not go together.   Some of the black and white balls reminded me of zebra stripes and some were much more abstract.   I had to make a decision! Two statements - one now and one for the future!    I used smaller black matt beads for the back of the necklace with a silver toggle. And this is the happy result!

  Holiday’s always remind me of the big family celebrations that my mother gave.   Christmas was the big one.    Mom loved family celebrations!    The Austrian embroidered tablecloth and napkins came out along with the red and white dishes.   The crystal with the gold rims and the silverware were just the start.   I always helped set the table correctly.   At a very young age, I knew the knife and spoon were on the right of the plate and the two different sized forks were on the left.   There was always a flower arrangement or centerpiece and candles . Austrian tablecloth, red and white dishes, centerpiece and a grandson! Everyone’s favorite foods were made and there would not have been a celebration without ‘Mom’s Denver Biscuits’.   I can still smell the hot potato based yeast rolls.   Several of us make them now or at least know how.   Somehow they are not quite as good as hers were but they bring her back to us with memories.   They also take a lot of work.   I