Hit the ground …

… running as soon as I got to NZ. Mark L showed me around downtown Christchurch which is still feeling the effects of the earthquake from several years ago. It really destroyed a lot of the area and much of it is still being cleared and rebuilt. Hard decisions about what historical pieces to keep or take down. Still a long way to go for full recovery. Reminds me of New Orleans …

Mark is a patient teacher and is schooling me in his methods of papermaking. Everything from cutting up cotton towels and sheets for their color and making flowers from the resulting pulp, to harvesting NZ flax properly including the prayer to the plant first, to breaking/cutting the flax leaves, to cooking flax in bathtubs, to hydropulping, rinsing and spinning pulp. We will be puling sheets soon, weather permitting.

The weather started out beautifully sunny (very chilly nights) and has morphed into cloudy and damp with rain predicted for the next week. More bothersome is the wind that typically comes with the rains as they will pick up any drying papers and toss them around.

Starting to put up some pics on my Flickr site, so you can see a bit of what we have been doing.

6 Replies to “Hit the ground …”

  1. SO glad you’ve met Mark. That’s been one of my wishes ever since I talked with him on the phone. I totally fell in love with his accent. Tell him hello for me, please.

    1. Wish you could be here, Gin. You would totally love what Mark is doing! And he says hello back to you!

      >

  2. I know we are not supposed to envy – but come on now… I ENVY you this experience of getting to be with old Markie!! I have wanted to do this for years myself. I am so glad you are posting this as I thought I had lost him – the last time I tried the number that had been good for some time, I kept getting a message that service was unavailable – and I tried several times before giving up. Please tell Mark that he will now hear from me again knowing I can get a call through as my old number/vitals are all changed now. Enjoy you special and memorable time there, Judy girl! Mimi ♥

Leave a Reply to velma bolyard Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *