This morning we boarded buses for the Teviz Mill about an hour from Porto. I sat at the back of the bus so I didn’t have to experience the narrow, winding streets up close and personal again. Sadly, I didn’t see anything - as my parents and husband can attest, I suffer from a “motion induced sleep” – in other words – I have missed many a beautiful country side during my life because I fall asleep as soon as the ignition is turned. Being exhausted doesn’t help matters. So, obviously, I saw no scenery today – only the backs of my eyelids.
The mill was amazing. Here are a few shots with some narration…
The first stop at the factory was the first step in the process – the freshly ginned cotton. This mill works with both organic and conventional. In order to run organic the machines have to be cleansed in a particular way – so typically if mills run organic regularly they have machines designated as only organic. If they don’t do it very often they will set aside a specified many days to run all of the organic at once so cleaning is also done only once. According to organic standards, the factories are supposed to have dividers between the conventional and organic at all times although very few follow those standards to our knowledge.
This machine is pulling off very light, top layers.
The cotton then is sent through the pipe line to get twined together.
A man cleaning the machines...
And eventually, very tightly together – this goes through several machines.
The dying and weaving was done in a different building. Along the walk I snapped these great photos.
Yes, I know we have roses in Texas, but this was a pretty shot.
The road to the other building...
This waterfall was off to the right of the road above.
My coworkers - Doraliz (Latin America co-ordinator) and Prahba (India co-ordinator). Both lovely ladies.
Then the dying process begins – with organic cotton this is done with dyes that do not contain harmful chemicals. From this....
To this....
This is our tour guide...
The spools then go through this drying machine.
The thread is being separated and spooled onto the larger spool to get ready for weaving. This goes through about 4 machines and at least that many people to make sure it is lined up correctly for the patterns that are going to be obtained.
Other co-workers - Doraliz again and Brendan (Communications manager).
This is the weaving machine. I took a short video so you could hear the machine. I wish I could have captured the feeling of the floor jumping up and down and underneath my feet. I am quite sure that in the US, tourists would not be allowed anywhere near these machines as that would be a HUGE liability.
Okay - update to this.... I am unable to load the video - I think it is due to my internet connection. Perhaps I can upload it after I get home. Because my IP address is in Portugal the text within my blog appears in portuguese - therefore, I can't make sense of the error message. Funny story - I was quite brilliant prior to leaving home - I downloaded a translator onto my phone... I needed it for the first time a couple of days ago only to discover that it is one of those applications that only works with your phone service. It no worky.
There was a sheet like this that was rolling through the end of every machine. I assume it is like a pattern to tell the machine which design to use.
In this fabric you can see where the string ends and the weaved fabric begins.
Because of the fluff in the air - all throughout the factory are these roaming vacuums that roll along a rail system vacuuming at all times and from all angles.
These slips of paper are on the machines that are designated for organic.
After the fabric has been woven together – they go through this measuring and cleaning process.
This is the backside of our new Executive Director - wouldn't he be proud?
Then the fabric are ran through the inspection – these people look at every inch of the fabric to ensure quality (about three different people for each fabric). It made my eyes tired to just watch them.
Then there is the cutting area which is just after I lost my group – so sorry no pictures of that. My group was walking down this road – I stopped to take a picture so you could see the narrow, winding roads that I was telling you about - when I walked down and went around the turn – alas they were gone! Oh well – I got to eat lunch sooner than they did! After touring the factory - it is no longer a mystery to me why fabric is as expensive as it is. In fact, I wonder why it is as cheap as it is.
This sign was at a "T" in the road. You could only turn left or right if you were facing the sign... so do European cars sprout wings?
Once back at the buses - I asked the driver if I could drive, he said "Si" and immediately jumped out. I was afraid he was serious at first so I opted to sit and use it as a photo opportunity. He did come back thankfully.
Following the mill tour – four of us found our way to the Atlantic. It was beautiful! The beach was a bit rocky – but hey, it’s certainly not a sight I get to see every day. On the way there, we happened upon this old church - there are many old cathedrals here. Between the cemetaries and the churches, I could be happy for hours. I did find another cemetary as well, but will spare you from more pictures.
Here are a few pictures of the beach.
When I took this next one - I had been watching the water roll in so I would know when to take the photo. So, I squatted down to get a more balanced photo and all the sudden the water came in much further than it had during any of the times I had been watching it and soaked about 10 inches of my leg. Thankfully, I had changed out of my dress shoes into flip-flops. The water was quite cold.
Well, ta-ta for now. Or "chow" as they say around here. I still have photos from today to post but I think I will save them and post them tomorrow as I have wrap up meetings starting early in the morning.
A man cleaning the machines...
And eventually, very tightly together – this goes through several machines.
The dying and weaving was done in a different building. Along the walk I snapped these great photos.
Yes, I know we have roses in Texas, but this was a pretty shot.
The road to the other building...
This waterfall was off to the right of the road above.
My coworkers - Doraliz (Latin America co-ordinator) and Prahba (India co-ordinator). Both lovely ladies.
Then the dying process begins – with organic cotton this is done with dyes that do not contain harmful chemicals. From this....
To this....
This is our tour guide...
The spools then go through this drying machine.
The thread is being separated and spooled onto the larger spool to get ready for weaving. This goes through about 4 machines and at least that many people to make sure it is lined up correctly for the patterns that are going to be obtained.
Other co-workers - Doraliz again and Brendan (Communications manager).
This is the weaving machine. I took a short video so you could hear the machine. I wish I could have captured the feeling of the floor jumping up and down and underneath my feet. I am quite sure that in the US, tourists would not be allowed anywhere near these machines as that would be a HUGE liability.
Okay - update to this.... I am unable to load the video - I think it is due to my internet connection. Perhaps I can upload it after I get home. Because my IP address is in Portugal the text within my blog appears in portuguese - therefore, I can't make sense of the error message. Funny story - I was quite brilliant prior to leaving home - I downloaded a translator onto my phone... I needed it for the first time a couple of days ago only to discover that it is one of those applications that only works with your phone service. It no worky.
There was a sheet like this that was rolling through the end of every machine. I assume it is like a pattern to tell the machine which design to use.
In this fabric you can see where the string ends and the weaved fabric begins.
Because of the fluff in the air - all throughout the factory are these roaming vacuums that roll along a rail system vacuuming at all times and from all angles.
These slips of paper are on the machines that are designated for organic.
After the fabric has been woven together – they go through this measuring and cleaning process.
This is the backside of our new Executive Director - wouldn't he be proud?
Then the fabric are ran through the inspection – these people look at every inch of the fabric to ensure quality (about three different people for each fabric). It made my eyes tired to just watch them.
Then there is the cutting area which is just after I lost my group – so sorry no pictures of that. My group was walking down this road – I stopped to take a picture so you could see the narrow, winding roads that I was telling you about - when I walked down and went around the turn – alas they were gone! Oh well – I got to eat lunch sooner than they did! After touring the factory - it is no longer a mystery to me why fabric is as expensive as it is. In fact, I wonder why it is as cheap as it is.
This sign was at a "T" in the road. You could only turn left or right if you were facing the sign... so do European cars sprout wings?
Once back at the buses - I asked the driver if I could drive, he said "Si" and immediately jumped out. I was afraid he was serious at first so I opted to sit and use it as a photo opportunity. He did come back thankfully.
Following the mill tour – four of us found our way to the Atlantic. It was beautiful! The beach was a bit rocky – but hey, it’s certainly not a sight I get to see every day. On the way there, we happened upon this old church - there are many old cathedrals here. Between the cemetaries and the churches, I could be happy for hours. I did find another cemetary as well, but will spare you from more pictures.
Here are a few pictures of the beach.
When I took this next one - I had been watching the water roll in so I would know when to take the photo. So, I squatted down to get a more balanced photo and all the sudden the water came in much further than it had during any of the times I had been watching it and soaked about 10 inches of my leg. Thankfully, I had changed out of my dress shoes into flip-flops. The water was quite cold.
Well, ta-ta for now. Or "chow" as they say around here. I still have photos from today to post but I think I will save them and post them tomorrow as I have wrap up meetings starting early in the morning.My love to all!
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