A Weekend in New Hampshire

Yesterday C and I spent almost the entire day trying to hop on a flight from Atlanta to Boston...we just needed two seats on a Delta jet, but there didn't seem to be even two available until shortly after 8:00 PM. Being a retired pilot, C has just a few perks left from the company for which he gave 30+ years of his life, and pass-riding is one of them. However, yesterday proved to be more flight challenging than most! I think we must have waited at the gate for a half dozen flights, before we finally got on one...and we weren't the only folks doing the same thing. There were about a dozen of us who kept gate-hopping around Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Int. Airport! I was scheduled to be in Nashua, NH at a weekend workshop of Japanese Rozome Fabric Batik Painting and Printing taught by Betsy Sterling Benjamin at 6:00 PM. On Thursday evening, the flights looked wide open for us to fly into Boston no later than 3:00 PM and still get me up to Nashua by 6:00. NOT!!!

Be that as it may, we arrived at about 10:45 PM, rented our car, and checked into our hotel in Nashua at about 12:45 AM. Pass-riding is not for the faint of heart these days!!! We fell into bed, but I was awake and rather bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7:15....after all, it was my day with Betsy Sterling Benjamin!! My friend Diane had driven up from Pennsylvania, and she met me and C for breakfast, and then she and I drove to Gallery One for our day of class.

I snapped this pic this afternoon as we were leaving, just so that you could see the great old mill building where we are having our seminar. It has all been refurbished with refinished heart pine floors and those wonderful huge windows to let in the glorious light.

(some of these photos will actually enlarge - you can see Jeff, one of our classmates, and Betsy in the doorway in this one!)

This is the building across the parking lot:

I suppose that is how Gallery One looked before the renovation. I am so glad that we are now putting these grand old dames to use once more!! Such character!!

Here is Betsy, placing a stencil that she had cut out (look at the detail here folks!!) on a silk scarf she had previously dyed.

Betsy, kneeling and painting on her soy wax resisted silk scarf:

Here is my buddy Diane painting around the lovely fish she had stenciled on her silk scarf:

This is another terrific scarf painted and soy wax resisted by Mary Ellen. Don't you love her colors!!

This is my scarf, partially painted:

Here is a closer view of my design:

Anyone recognize that design?? Speak up!!!

Tomorrow's class isn't until the afternoon, so I hope to sleep in a bit longer in the morning. We will be steaming our pieces and enjoying a lecture and slide presentation.

I'm having such a great time....the 10 hour wait in the airport was worth it!!!

PEACE!!!