Trip to the Chiricahuas

We've been off on a 4 day camping trip to the Chiricahua mountains and had a great time exploring, hiking, birding and enjoying being out in the RV for the first time this year.  Chiricahau National Monument was severely burned over in the big "Horseshoe Fire" in the summer of 2011 but still has plenty of places to enjoy.  And the burn scars give it a new look.  Amazing in just one season how the signs of life are beginning to reappear.  However, it will take decades to restore as it is still Sonoran desert habitat and the fire impacted 93% of the monument.

Wayne and Judy Massey and Jim King made the drive out on Wednesday from Tucson to spend the day hiking around the park with us.  One last outing together before these snow bird friends return to the northland.

This Mexican Jay, along with his buddies was especially friendly at the campsite and had a taste for grapes!  Shouldn't feed wild animals but so fun especially when they eat out of your hand.

Will's 67th birthday

We helped Will celebrate his birthday with all kinds of good stuff this weekend.  Went to breakfast on Saturday at a local diner, then went out to Sweetwater for a couple of hours of successful spring birding. Later dinner at my personal favorite Malaysian restaurant and then on to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for their "Cirque de la Symphony."  Amazing show. Aerialists, Acrobatics, Juggling and a bit of Magic performing on stage--and above the stage, all set to stirring classical music. This flyer was especially entertaining.

Continued the party today with Dim Sum at Gee's Chinese Restaurant with Wayne and Judy before we all went over to the 4th Avenue Street Fair for a few hours of looking, shopping, eating and pushing our way through the throngs of people.  A few cards and emails from friends and family, plus phone calls from each of the kiddos made his birthday pretty nice.

Stained glass curio box

Will's been working on some glass projects again.  He took a tile that I made out of clay and incorporated it into the lid of a stained glass box.  Turned out really nice, quite the collaborative effort!

Back to winter

 

 

This is what winter is looking like around here in Arizona--well it was until this past weekend!

Its suppose to be the start of Spring this week but we've got snow on the mountain again and nasty cold rain.  Now the rain is welcome, but I'm grousing about the cold and wind that came with it.  Not to worry, the 80's are predicted for later in the week. We had pretty much moved outside already.

Three day market turns into two day sale!

Our three day sale turned into a two day sale.  Friday and Saturday were warm and sunny, lots of people out enjoying the artist market.  Feels really good when people stop to admire my work and actually had several nice sales.  Wind began to pick up on Saturday but nothing we couldn't live with.  However, weather forecast was strongly predicting a huge change in the weather and predicting wind and rain for Sunday.  So late in the day on Saturday the group decided we'd tear down at the end of the day.  No fun being out side in rain and cold and just know customers aren't going to come either. Two good days was just good enough.

    Turned out to be a wonderful decision as we woke up this morning to strong winds, and pouring rain!! We even had a short burst of hail at our house.  So glad we packed up when we did.  Enjoyed the rain, all snug and warm at home--very satisfied with the weekend endeavor.

Let the show begin!!

I'm all set up and ready to go.  Show starts Friday at 10am and continues all weekend.  This is my little space--a grid and little table.  I'm among about 15 other clay artists as part of the SACA booth (Southern Arizona Clay Artists).  Its the Tucson Museum of Arts Spring Arts Fair.  We're located right outside the front door.  Museum happens to be offering free entrance to museum space, plus tons more artisans showing in the museum courtyard and around the museum.  I'll be there Friday and Sunday afternoons--come and look me up!

Coming up this weekend

SPRING ARTISAN’S MARKET

at the Tucson Museum of Art

 

Dates: March 16 - 18

Time: 10 am to 6 pm

Location: Tucson Museum of Art lobby and courtyards

Cost: Free

Visit the SACA booth to see the work of NWAC Studio potter’s Jada Ahern, Betty Amendola, Brenda Arwood, Gayle Bair, Linda Baker, Brenda Beeley, Judy Cowlishaw, Judy Daniels, Linda DeBoer, Nancy Hamilton-Hughes, Kathy Kibby, Karen Vincent Kos, Chandra Lear, Glennda Neff, Terry Parker, Alan Potter, Shirley Rimer, Loraine Rissetto , Carolyn Saletta, Susan Stokes ,Clydean Troner, Jennifer Vigil & Craig Wunderlich

SACA Booth: Near the east entrance to the Museum

& Museum Gift Shop

More than 120 of southern Arizona’s finest artisans and crafts people will make finding that unique gift easy and fun. Each year new artists and some regular favorites offer works in painting, pottery, photography, metal, wood, jewelry and much more. Wonderful Lunches and Pastries will be available from Cafe a la Cart. The Museum Galleries are open and free to the public during the Art Show. Free parking for Saturday and Sunday is only two blocks away at the City/State Garage at Alameda and I-10. For more information visit: www.tucsonmuseumofart.org

Daddy's girl

 Too cute to miss.   Although it is filling in nicely, Lilliana still has a bit of a bald spot on the back of her head because she sleeps on her back.  Doug doesn't have that excuse!!

Tucson Festival of Books

Enjoyed walking the mall on U of Arizona campus this weekend along with a gazillion other people for the Tucson Festival of Books.  Went to author talks, author readings, book signings--checked out all the vendors and booths selling and promoting anything and everything even remotely connected to literary topics.  I went by myself yesterday so I could cover more ground.  Started the day with T.C. Boyle and listened to him read one of his short stories and ended the day with a conversation with Lisa See.

 This life sized "paper person" was made completely from discarded books by a Colorado artist. One of the fun discoveries as we meandered thru the fair.

Will went with me today.  He was most interested in a panel of three authors who had written books on the Great Depression in America. 

more thoughts on DC

Back to NJ for a few more hours with Tammy and Lia before we fly back to Tucson later today.

More notes on Washington DC.
We really enjoyed seeing a lesser known memorial. The one dedicated to Franklin D Roosevelt is over by the Tidal Basin and is really nice--also very big.
You see so many young families here; that\'s so great and I\'m sure it\'s more so in summer. Also just a lot of young people everywhere you go, very vibrant city.
Love the metro.
Great time of year to visit as crowds way down. Didn\'t have to wait for anything--however, it\'s a trade off as I got tired of needing my winter coat. We are such whips now. And I would have liked to see the cherry blossoms in bloom.
Lots of restoration going on. . .continually redoing something. Right now the Mall is in the middle of several year long project to upgrade and make it better. Reflecting pool also.
There is at least one red tailed hawk hanging around the Capitol building. We saw him soaring every day that we were here. I\'m ready to return, have a new list of things to see already started.

Bureau of Engraving, Renwick and White House

We actually saw a paper jam on the tour watching them printing $100 bills this morning.  Was an interesting tour.  As we peered down from the viewing gallery we read a sign on one of the worker's desk saying, "Think how I feel. . .I print more money in a few minutes than my lifetime salary!"

The Renwick Gallery was small but a very nice gallery showcasing American Arts and Crafts.  This piece was mind boggling.  It appears at first glance to be a piece covered with cloth but it is entirely carved of wood.  The artist has given the piece the illusion of softly draping cloth down to the tiniest folds but it is actually carved out of a single piece of mahogany and then the top part is bleached white while the base is stained dark.  We watched people come in and oohh and aahh at other less amazing pieces in the room and just glance at this one thinking it was something covered.  The artist was Wendell Castle and called "Ghost Clock"; the illusion was perfect.

We both enjoyed the Renwick.  It had a special exhibition about the furniture in the White House and since we did not bother with a tour of the White House, (we'd been told that the security is such that the tour isn't worth it anymore) this exhibition most likely gave us a better picture of it anyway.

Well. . .maybe Will got tired of the Renwick a bit before I did.  He was very gracious to wait for me.

We walked over to Pennsylvania Ave to the White House but you really can't get very close anymore.  Plus there was an Israeli delegation in town so even more security around.  And some sort of demonstration going on that we couldn't quite figure out. Lots of Vietnamese flags and signs but I didn't recognize names--have to Google it later.

Mt Vernon

Went for breakfast at a neighborhood restaurant called Ted's, that boasted home made pop-tarts.  We decided they weren't any better than the boxed poptarts and we probably wouldn't order them again.  However, rest of breakfast was  good and hearty.  Then off for a full day at Mt Vernon.  We got a tour of the restored house, walked the grounds and peeked into replicated buildings of slave quarters, green house, smoke house, kitchen, all the necessary things to run a 500 acre plantation in 1770's Virginia, visited his unique 16 sided barn, and then explored the state of the art museum and education center where one could learn everything about this farmer/general/president.  Thought it might be a nice drive out and we'd spend a couple hours but we were there all day.

George and Martha are both buried here.

Its still a working farm where they are trying to preserve and show the particular breeds of farm animals and farming techniques that Washington was so successful with.

It is a killer view of the Potomac River.  No wonder this place was so special to them.  Even the historic view is being preserved.

Saturday in Washington

Its too early for cherry blossoms but there are several tulip trees around town that are in bloom and fabulous.  We had a much drier and nicer day today so we walked a lot.

Spent the morning at my favorite building in Washington, the Jefferson building of the Library of Congress.  Recent renovations are completely finished now, bringing it back to its 1880 grace and it is a gem.  My neck hurt from walking around looking up at the ceilings.

Then we decided to divide and conquer.  I went to the National Gallery while Will went to American History Museum. 

 "Ginevra" is the only Leonardo daVinci painting in the Western Hemisphere and its right here at our National Gallery.

We've been leaving our rented car parked and taking public transportation but tonight we wanted to go out and see some monuments after dark.  They look really different with lights on them and it was such a nice night.

The Marine Monument was really cool to see lit up.  It is so huge--have seen pictures but to see it for real is very moving.

Touring DC

There is so much ground to cover to see everything in DC that we decided to do the "hop-on, hop-off" tour trolly option.  Took in a few more of the big memorials like the Lincoln, Korean War, Vietnam War and then rode out to spend the rest of the morning at Arlington Cemetery.  This is the view overlooking John Kennedy's eternal flame with the Arlington Bridge and DC in the background--see the Washington Monument.

The afternoon was spent touring through Georgetown and Embassy Row with a long stop at the National Cathedral. Very impressive structure, Second largest cathedral in the western hemisphere and meticulously appointed with stained glass, tapestries, wood and stone carvings, and religious iconic art of every size and shape.  It also sustained some damage in last August's earthquake so is undergoing some repair but we could visit most parts including an elevator ride up to the 7th level observation gallery for a panoramic view of Washington.  Unfortunately by this time it was beginning to cloud up and actually rained so couldn't see as far as one could on a clear day but still fun.  In fact, it began to rain hard while we were visiting the cathedral so we bypassed a chance to shop in Georgetown and made our way back to our apartment.  Dashed across the street for dinner at a local pizza place.

These starlings were especially friendly while we were having a snack--they know that tourists mean crumbs to snatch up.  Interestingly enough, we don't see that many starlings in Tucson and my birder mind couldn't help notice how really striking their markings are. They shine green and blue iridescent colors in the sunlight. . .still a pesky bird.

Washington DC

Will and I drove down to Washington DC for a few days of touring and seeing the sites.  It is such an interesting place to visit and as our nation's capitol, it is just full of nifty stuff to visit.  It rained the entire 4 hour drive down here from NJ but this morning the sun was out and unseasonably warm.  We were carrying our winter coats most of the day.  Started out with a tour of the Capitol building, ended with a sobering visit to the Holocaust Museum.

The Washington monument still closed from the cracks that appeared after the bazaar east coast earthquake a while ago, the reflective pool behind it continuing to Lincoln memorial is drained and undergoing major renovation.

The inside of rotunda of Capitol is spectacular. . .

New Martin Luther King memorial impressive. . .

Our rented apartment in Capitol Hill district, right across the street from Metro is cozy and convenient.  Its suppose to be a hundred year old row house.  Has everything we need plus an interesting shopping complex and historic marine base in the neighborhood.