For M’s birthday, this morning we filled the bathroom with balloons so when M opened his bedroom door, all the balloons spilled into his room:

Throwing the balloons around:

Our first stop today was the Wile Carding Mill:

The docent described the history of the mill, where from 1860 to 1968 farmers would bring shorn wool to be picked, carded, and rolled by machine:

The picking machine:

After talking about how the machine works, we carded wool by hand:

Once we had carded and rolled the wool, we learned how to spin it into thread:

The machine on the right was for making wool batting, and the machine on the left was for carding.

Once the wool was rolled by machine, the rolls were put back into burlap sacks, held shut using Hawthorn thorns:

Pulling thorns off a Hawthorn branch:

We went below to look at the seven-horsepower waterwheel that powered the mill:

According to the docents, this fellow has been stealing wool for his nest for some time:

The river that turns the waterwheel:

We drove east to arrive at the town of Mahone Bay to visit Amos Pewter:

A couple of the Amos Pewter artisans work in the shop.  Here we’re being shown molten pewter poured and then picked up:

The pewter molds:

These vases are pressed into shape from a flat disk of pewter using a lathe:

We looked around the shop:

Next door we visited a yarn store:

These slippers are knit and then felted with soap and hot water, shrinking in the process:

Continuing east and south, we stopped at Bay Hammocks to learn how hammocks are made:

The largest hammock in Canada:

The machines on the left make string out of 7 strands, and the machine on the right takes seven of those strings and makes rope, for a total of 49 strands:

Continuing south, we visited Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse:

The lighthouse rises from the granite shore:

I couldn’t pick a favorite:

The town of Peggy’s Cove:

We continued north and east to overnight at the Walmart of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where we stayed this past Shabbos.  See the trip map for today’s route and our current location.