Coyote doing the catwalk

Art Field Trip

Yesterday I went up to Phoenix with my two friends from Canada, Daria and Peter.  We visited about seven ceramic artists' studios and watched a few pottery demonstrations.  Seeing how good these full time artists were made me feel woefully inadequate in my efforts at pottery.

But first we had to wait for a dozen cows crossing the road as we took the "short cut" to Phoenix.

This potter demonstrated making a hollow egg on the wheel.  Then coloring it.

We got to go to an industrial factory that makes huge ceramic pipes for sewers.  I had never seen clay being used for such large pieces.  There were several GIANT kilns to accommodate all these pipes.  We even saw a lot of these tall pipes that artists were using as "canvas" for their ideas.  One of the artists was James Franco.  We did not see him.

This is Peter from Canada.  We went to this factory to meet up with Peter's friend, Robert Harrison, who is a famous artist who makes very large outdoor sculptures.  Even though he is from Canada and lives in Montana, his daughter just graduated from the Univ. of Oregon!

This factory was incredibly old, dusty and worn out.  Even these switches didn't look functional, but apparently were.

Biking in Oro Valley

We are so lucky to live so close to a wonderful resource.  The Canyon De Oro  (or CDO) wash trail.  This is a paved pathway that starts in Oro Valley and goes for at least 20 miles into south Tucson and loops around and back again.

This looks like a regular road and it is.  Except, no motorized vehicles.  Just pedestrians and bikes.  And golf courses, mountains,  and desert scenery.

Going into Tucson in on a slight decline, so that's a breeze.  Coming back is more work.  It was extra work for me because my new (used) bike had a tire explosion when on the drive back.  We had gone about nine miles south, turned around and about four miles into the return trip I hear a huge pop! So I had to walk my bike back for quite a while.

Here is the flattened blow out.

This is my bike resting against a Palo Verde tree while my companions went ahead and got the car to retrieve me.  Made for a disappointing event.  However, the trail is fantastic and it's a pleasure to ride without once worrying about autos.  The trail crosses major streets by going under them.  I hope to get a new bike, one that's not so heavy and with fresh tires, and begin again.  This is the second bad experience I have had buying a used bike in Tucson.  Never again!

Hike to Maiden Pools in Ventana Canyon

This hike is about a 45 minute drive from our house.  The weather has been great the last few days. We started hiking around 9am and took us about two hours to get to the Maiden Pools area.  There we could sit on some flat sunny boulders and eat our lunch.

This is Jeff.  He is one of our fellow hikers.  I liked this candid shot of him because the sun really illuminated his beard and the Saguaro cactus in the background.  

Our view looking out into the city of Tucson.  We were up pretty high.  Lots of climbing and rocks was pretty exhausting.  Going back down was a breeze, relatively speaking.

Volunteering

As if we don't have enough activities around here, I signed up to volunteer at the local thrift store called The Golden Goose, or The Goose, as those in the know refer to it.  Today I had an orientation with about a dozen other volunteers.  I want to work in the book section, since that's kind of my expertise.  Apparently there are over 400 volunteers.  This shop is always packed as everyone is looking for anything and everything, used.  A huge amount of the merchandise comes from SaddleBrooke homes.  We sent about half of our home furnishings there when we moved into our house.

This is the general manager showing us how to sign in for our shifts.

This is just a fun photo, using the selfie stick, when my sister was visiting a few weeks ago.  We had breakfast as a local spot and my aunt and uncle joined us there.

Shopping for Cactus

It's amazing how many varieties of cactus that are available.  There is a fantastic nursery called Bach's Cactus and it's just fun to go there are see the inventory.  Everyone is really helpful and you always get a free tiny cactus to take home.

These cacti look a bit like brains.  The plant on lower picture is just beginning to get tiny pink flowers.

This one is referred to as the Old Man Cactus.  One of my favorites.

These cacti were in the greenhouse.  I love how each one has white on the edging.  It almost looks like some kind of stitching.  We ended up buying a $40 pink barrel cactus.  They are pretty expensive and of course, the larger the plant the more the price goes up.

Fox in the Backyard!!!

This shot was captured with our motion activated night camera and it's a great one.  This was that little fox visiting at 3am last night!