A Day off in Hastings, Ontario

We thought John and Susan were going to leave in the morning, for the push to Peterborough, but after yesterday, they decided to take the day off also. We both stayed parked on the Town Wall, just east of  Lock #18.

We rose and had a good breakfast, not wanting to be tempted to eat foods we wouldn't normally, in the village, and went for the first of three walks, during the day.
 This was an exercise walk, and maybe we would find coffee on the way?? No such luck. At least, not the kind of coffee we were looking for...something NON-DRIP!

We didn't get far before finding a lovely gift store and a very obliging owner who helped us choose a gift for my Sister's birthday...cant spoil it for her so I wont tell you what I chose:)

We also found some postcards for our senior family members, who we know like to receive those:)

This really is a lovely little town and very friendly. The locals were eager to help us and obviously enjoy talking to the Loopers who pass through here.
We noticed that some of our other Looper crowd  were parked on the wall above the lock #18. We went by there after dinner last night, to say hello.They were all gone this morning.

We walked to the Post Office to post our cards and the parcel to my sister in Oregon.We almost got sprinkled on, but the clouds quickly went by us.

 We walked a rather circuitous route around the small town and happened upon the old Fowlds Mill, a former Grist Mill and later a Tannery.

 On the Mill Pond. The present owner has at least re-roofed the whole building.

 The story to go with the photo above, if you cant read the cartoon.

 An illustration of what the property looked like way back then...

We found it by mistake. We saw a fellow driving a noisy car down the road followed by a large black dog that looked like a black version of our Possum (Bouvier de Flandres), that we had to leave behind in NZ. The dog might have looked like her, but the fur was different and we discovered he was a Black Russian Terrier. A real breed, to be sure...I checked!
We also met his owner (the car driver) and discovered the dogs name was Willy.:)

Reg has been the owner of the Mill since the early 80's. We stood in the driveway talking dogs for a while and then he invited us in...we have a habit of doing these things, don't we??

Well, you would not believe what we found and saw. Truly, we both thought we could spend a week here discovering everything in the place.

We got a chuckle from this sign on one of the sheds, out back...

This is Willy. His fur is more like that of a Newfoundland, than a Bouvier, but he is a rescue dog, so he could be a mixture. He sure had the characteristics of Bouvier, though and we loved playing with him. He was reluctant to give us the ball, even though he knew we would throw it for him:) Got to have our puppy time!!! Had to mess with the photo so you could see the black dog is a dark space...sorry for poor quality!

Moving right along....

This place (the Mill) was FULL of curiosities, machinery that hadn't run since 2006 and should be kept running, if only to preserve it!. We felt that the whole building should be a Museum, but there is no money for such things in this depressed area. The owner and his wife exist in a small room which appears to serve as a kitchen/dining/living room. The heating would be prohibitive in such a building. Though he has converted the upstairs area to living space We didn't go up there.

As you walk to the front door... The out -buildings have been added in the last century.

This is another rescue dog of indeterminate breed, though Old English Sheepdog is obvious the face is wiry, and is probably another European breed. She is a large girl of 15. She is quite content to sit by the front door and watch all the comings and goings.

 An old mill stone graces the front door stoop.

 As I said...all KINDS of 'stuff'!

 Directly inside the ront door....two ancient machones...one of them a steel press (left)

 and a scale on the right. Don't remember what the middle one is.

The original floorboards. Very wide planks, so the trees must have been huge.

 and then....WOW! The mill machinery!

 Note the broken teeth on the gear?

 They are made of wood!!! The mill would have been much quieter, I imagine, with wooden cogs. The owner is making new ones to replace and repair these.

 The original drawings for the machinery...How cool is that!!

 Stuff hanging upside down from the ceiling, everywhere.

 Another weighing machine...there were several.

and then we went outside again. The three acres of land is littered with 'stuff' too. Amazing what we found, and don't ask me to name them all..if you recognize a piece of something, more power to you:)

 It is just a shed, but very decorative. Peonies on the left corner. Unfortunately they were spent.

 At the Mill Pond, there was MORE machinery.

 Little clay birds resting on the window sill:)

 There was so much to do in this place, I can well imagine the owner gets overwhelmed, most of the time. It appeared that he had started lots of things, but never finished them, so great is the workload.

This is an old Stencil Machine ....Fascinating!

 I loved the collections on the tables underneath the windows...how artful they are!

 A real oil lamp with oil in it!

 An old cauldron from the tannery days, we were told.

 So much lay where it had been either last used, or just thrown. So sad!

 Isn't this just perfect?

 and the arches where the water goes in one side and out the other.

 Layers and layers of stone and cement.

This raft is where the dogs like to lie and look at the fish in the Mill Pond, apparently.

 The class of '48, is written on the side of this old Chevy. She was also just left where they turned off the ignition.

 It was once a barrel...and a fan.

 The garden was a delight waiting to happen. Hollyhocks and row upon row of Peonies. I was in heaven! Again, three acres that this man cannot possibly keep. It was so littered with things and stuff as to be overwhelming.

 He told us that we should go to the end of the road and turn right. He has an old wooden tug boat...one of only two surviving...if you can call this surviving?? in these parts. We kind of stumbled across it, at the very end of the property on the water's edge...Mill Pond, edge, that is.

This is the town end of the Mill Pond. Reg told us that the Council had been on his case to sell them the Mill so they could tear it down. We didn't believe him...it is an Historical artefact, so we couldn't see a Council advocating for that. We think there is MUCH more to that story than we will ever know or be bothered with.
He is well known in town, so people were not surprised that we had found our way to the Mill:)

After the Mill visit we walked back along the road to the Fish and Chip shop/café. This is famous, apparently. The fish fillet was HUGE and came in a thin, beautifully cooked beer batter, which I ate, for once...and home made chips! (Fries), which were also delicious. WE were joined half way through our meal by John, who was waiting for Susan to finish the laundry and get her hair cut.
We left him eating his Halibut and chips (we had Haddock), and finished our walk  back across the Lock and bridge over the dam to see what was over THAT side of the waterway.

We are HERE! Haven't seen any snoozing bears yet...yet!

 Sorry this is so big, but you can only see all the parts when I make it original size! This is the Trent/Severn Waterway.

 

 Peterborough is where I am writing this from...we have WIFI!

From the garden at the Lock Information Center in Hastings....Lilies abound everywhere and we are so enjoying their happy faces,. These ones had just been watered by the young men who man the Lock and keep the grounds...Parks Service!

 and of course, Shasta Daisies are also everywhere.

We watched the swing bridge opening to let the boats on the top side into the lock.

 The track the bridge goes around to open and close, right across the middle of the road.

 Two of the gates are open in the Dam and they create quite a torrent, as you can see.

These neon fish signs are on most of the poles going across the bridge.

 There we are at the bottom of the Lock wall. The current was very strong going onto the wall, and I  was glad of the two hands there to take the lines are I threw them, otherwise I might not have made the cleats/bollards, and Waz didn't have much room to maneuver.

 In the Canadian Subway stores, you can get LOBSTER on your sandwich. We didn't have one.

Not far up the road on the other side of the bridge (from the town) was a pretty church...again, lots of red brick in these parts....

 A Victorian that needed some work....

 and a Victorian right next door of a similar design that had been restored,...beautifully, I might add.

On a side street, which we happened down, was this rather pathetic scene....couldn't resist photographing it though>

  and right next door was this lovely old red barn...well, it had once been lovely.

We finished our walk in time to stop in at the corner gift shop (it was 3pm-ish by now...a long walk that kind of never ended) for an ice-cream. I tried the orange/licorice...lovely!! but didn't get that. Im still only eating kiddie sized ice-creams in pots, coz I find I cannot eat a whole one, otherwise.

We came back the boat and fiddled around somewhat...Waz had a nap, and I took care of some photo challenges...my camera was recording them one day behind!, and made sure all of the right photos were on the right day, as it were.

The late afternoon sun was lovely and soft, which contrasted nicely with the turbulent water, rushing past us on the other side of the wall.

We ate on the boat, tonight...not needing much food after a large lunch and then dessert at 3pm.

A quiet night and moving on tomorrow.