Continued from Page 1 ...
Monday morning, Jenn and Anne went over to the cemetery so that Jenn could tend to the plants on the tombstone. The foggy air was very atmospheric. Unfortunately I only had my little point & shoot camera, but it gives a bit of the feeling.
As I rounded the corner and went towards Grandmama & Grandpapa's stone, the sunshine streamed through the trees and looked like the light of God shining on the stones.
On Tuesday, Paul, Anne, Mom and Gerry went to lunch at Gritty's
before checking out the Lewiston-Auburn Museum. Gerry had worked at the textile mills in his younger days, and much of the Museum focus is on the Bates Mill. They have some of the actual equipment used in the mills. A wall of old signs on the entrance to the main exhibit was informative in itself:
Notice that they had a worker credit union. The facilities were noisy and - eventually - ear protection was required. Of particular interest was the sign stating that the floor load was 145 pounds per square foot. For comparison, a typical residential load criteria is 40 pounds per square foot, more than 3 times less.
1970 looks to be the high-water mark for the population of Lewiston
An informative chart on the various steps in a bedspread creation:
One of Gerry's tasks when he worked at the mill was to keep the bobbins filled for the looms. Of course, these bobbins don't look like a home sewing machine bobbin. This machine winds the bobbins:
The shuttles that carry the thread back & forth on the looms have metal tips. Gerry told us that one time he stopped the loom to replace thread, but one of the shuttles was in the middle. When he restarted it, the other loom hit the 1st one ... and they went flying off! Think of one of these as a projectile. Luckily, he wasn't injured (he was the only person in the room at the time).
A bedspread template and the resulting bedspread pattern:
Tin Man's oil can was used by the maintenance department.
On Nichols street, back at the beginning of August we had taken a picture of the nearby vacant lot, with it's pond of water.
Jenn had talked to the City, who agreed that was not how it was supposed to look, and they promptly came out and worked to correct the situation. Here it is at the end of August, despite recent rains.
Paul & Anne spent Wednesday & Thursday at Sebago Lake.
Wednesday morning was a fun for us; the septic tank was pumped out. Now, I suppose most people wouldn't consider that a vacation highlight. But it was Anne's chance to pester the people from the septic company. Luckily, they didn't seem to mind.
A Heavenly Blue in Sebago
5 Heavenly Blues in Lewiston
The wild blueberry bushes were LOADED. Anne picked some, and Diane made us blueberry pancakes. Yum.
On Friday we met Mo & Gerry at Cyndi's Dockside in Poland. We took a walk out on the dock.
Gerry and Anne checking out a party boat.
Mom checking out the scene.
Saturday morning, before heading home.
Updated July 2020