Sengdroma Farm Estate

Common Sense

sengdroma — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:52:29 +0000

Here in the County we are currently going through a huge battle with the council who wish to put 300 plus Industrial Wind Turbines at 400ft tall each all over the place and thats not including all the off shore sites.

They see it as being green most of us see it as being greedy - ironically some of the council members have options on their land with the various wind turbine companies and 25 % of the council did not bother to turn up to vote on the subject. The mayor has informed the public that there will be open houses by the wind turbine companies but NO DEBATE.

The council are made up of the old farming boys and have openly said that they are tired of all the TO people coming here and setting up vineyards and artist studios…… and that as there is no money in farming then having wind turbines is the way to help out the small farmer.

Which would be fine if the small farmer had been approached by the wind turbine people, however it was the 500 acre plus farmers who also own trucking companies etc etc that have been given options and so its not the small poor family farmers who are benefiting…..

I could go on, even David Suzuki Foundation has expressed concern over placing the turbines here with all the EPW, migratory birds, airfields and a booming $100,000 a year tourist industry. But it sounds like I am anti turbines but I am not. What I am against is the inappropriate placement of Industrial Turbines and doing it for the wrong reasons. There are newer modern airship turbines that float in the sky and generate more power and so you need less of them, there are newer silent turbines etc but the worry is that the wind companies are not returning e mails or phone calls and even threatened the council - if you do vote to pass a by law that would mean a years consultaion with the public and evidence gathering then we will walk to another council that wants our money.

Hello warning flags raised……. the council should have walked but they caved in. Personally I would have been happier with them doing reaserch for a year and putting planning guidelines in place. Of which we have none.

Any way in appreciation of the thought process behind the council’s logic I am posting the Obituray of Common Sense, a great piece that I discovered on the internet. I do not know who wrote it but its worth the read.

Obituary for Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved friend: Common Sense. He lived a long life but died from a broken heart (technically: cardiac arrest). No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He selflessly devoted his life to service in homes, schools, businesses — and yes, even in the government — helping folks have rewarding lives, and getting jobs done while minimizing fanfare and foolishness.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valued lessons as to know when to come in from the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, that life isn’t always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple and sound financial policies: Don’t spend more than you earn, Waste not want not, A penny saved is a penny earned, and so forth.

Mr. Sense was a tireless advocate for what used to be (in the old days) sage advice, like: Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, Two wrongs don’t make a right, andActions speak louder than words.

He was also big on promoting effective parenting strategies like: the adults are in charge (not the kids), and the three R’s (Responsibility, Respect, and Resourcefulness) are the most important lessons to be taught children.

In his day Little League actually had tryouts, and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Some students weren’t as smart as others, so they received poor grades. Horrors! And the idea of a parent bailing him out if he broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Common Sense survived such cultural and educational trends as body piercing, new math and instant messaging. For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held little impact on him. But his health started to decline when he became infected with the wide-spread Do anything, just for the sake of doing something virus. And in later years his subsequently compromised immune system proved no match for the ravages of rampant irrational regulations.

For instance, his health rapidly deteriorated when schools implemented and then mindlessly administered numerous zero tolerance policies: a six year old boy was charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teenager was suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.

It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a female student, but could not inform a parent when the same student was pregnant or wanted an abortion. And to make sure that they were part of the problem, parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

Common Sense started losing the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than their victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports.

Common Sense took a beating when he couldn’t defend himself from a burglar in his own home, as the burglar could have sued him for assault.

Then there was a woman who couldn’t grasp the concept that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, and was awarded a huge settlement for her own careless small spill on her lap. And smokers who indulged in three packs a day for 40 years, surprisingly got lung cancer, and then sued the tobacco company. Hearing these and similar other sad stories caused Common Sense severe distress.

As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of consciousness, but was inadvisably kept informed of new irrational energy related regulations, like Renewable Portfolio Standards. When he was subsequently informed that “environmental” organizations like the Sierra Club were behind this profound pillaging of the environment Common Sense died of sudden cardiac arrest.

Mr. Sense was preceded in death by his parents: Truth and Trust, his wife: Discretion, his daughter: Responsibility; and his two sons: Diligence and Reason.

He is survived by three stepbrothers: Whatsinit Forme, Iknow Myrights, and Ima Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he had departed. It wasn’t covered by the media, no doubt due to their guilt about their complacency in bringing about his demise.

If you still remember Common Sense, please pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing. (Maybe, like Mark Twain, we’ll be lucky enough to find that the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.)

The need to tow

sengdroma — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:31:33 +0000

For the past few months we have been discussing the ever growing need of a truck. We have a AWD car but are limited on its towing capabilities. Well today we finally got down to the business of test driving and buying the perfect truck for our family, present and future requirements.

We ended up with a Toyota Tundra Crewmax Ltd edition. This provides the farm with an great truck for hauling 6 Yak plus trailer, the family with a large comfy car so we can travel good distances to show the livestock without the children moaning and Steven an office on wheels for his commercial photographic clients.

Crewmax Tundra

Delivery will be in one week’s time.

The Epic Task of Canning

sengdroma — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:09:42 +0000

Well it has began. This is part of the life that many farmer’s wives lead, yet is never really talked about and is taken for granted. The whole day spent blanching, chopping and making up pickling vinagars…. I started at 9.30 am and finished at 17:00. I manged to get through beetroot, carrots, beans, pesto, herbs and various ways of slicing and freezing Zucchini.

While I was canning Steven went to a landscaping auction and came back with a Wacker Tamper.

Egg Hunt

sengdroma — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:42:36 +0000

Ok so for the past few days we have been under the assumption that only two of our young girls are laying… How wrong were we. Of course why would you lay eggs in a nest box when you can lay them on stones in the Garage under the oil tank!!

So for all those chicken people out there your poulets are laying - just check in the garage….

A Day In The Life

sengdroma — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:23:26 +0000

Bush hogging is going well despite the rain making the ground water logged in places. Local farmer’s are already commenting on the huge improvement on the pasture.

The Yak mixture is in and 14 25kg bags later it has been unloaded into the garage and now there is nowhere to park the car!!!!

Harrow and renovator are ordered and we have been asked to be a showcase farm for the equipment which is a huge honour.

Yesterday was the Hastings and County Show near Stirling and was well attended. The world record for a tractor parade was broken by double the previous amount. Final tally was over 600 tractors which started the parade in Stirling town and finished at the show ground.

It was our first Canadian Agricultural Show and was rivialing the size of the Royal Show in the UK. Steven took part in the Media Tractor Ploughing Match which was fun to watch. The draught horses were spectacular and so were the vintage tractors. Many of our street were there which was a nice suprise.

On the way back we stopped at Picton Farm Supply and collected our 7 brown chickens which 24 hours later are strutting around the farm as if they own the place. The car has become a favourite shade spot and we have already had 1 egg. The cats are petrified after being stalked by 5 of the chickens……

Today has been spent talking with the NFU regarding joining up with them as they promote small family farms as opposed to the OFA which are large farms in the main. The organic society are also assessing our application to become registered.

Whoever said farming was easy

sengdroma — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:12:52 +0000

Well since being back from the UK it has rained non stop. If it is not raining then we have thunder and lightning….

Many farmers are cursing the loss of a potential third cut of hay, others that crops are going moldy.

Whereas for us at Sengdroma we are still awaiting our land to be bush hogged. We had contacted a large farming supplier near us in Picton who for $25 per acre (of which we have 30 workable), would come with their 16ft bush hog and weed the land. All that would have been left for us would be to haul rocks into our trailer so the fields would be ready for renovating and harrowing prior to seeding the Yak mix.

It would now seem that we will have to bush hog it ourselves - not overly an issue but our bush hog is much smaller and will take longer. In future years not an issue as the weeds will not be given the chance to flourish like they have done.

The Yak Mix has been ordered and should be with us within a week.

Today I contacted Chris at Wingfield to discuss purchasing the harrow and renovator.

One way or the other this land will be done and down to seed before the end of August ready for Yak in the Spring of 2009.

Miniature Pony Centre part 2…

sengdroma — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:03:45 +0000

The petting section delighted Orson and has given us inspiration to desgin something very similar here at Sengdroma Farm Estate. The ease at which animals and children moved around each other was beautiful to see. If an animal wanted attention they would come up and nudge the legs and if they wanted peace they would retreat to their houses.

Orson fell in love with this little white duck - think its a Calling Duck.

Can I go for a swim too?

Easier then using a towel

Around the corner we discovered the lakes and willow walks. The lake reminded us of the EP Wetlands on our property. We have 8 acres of wetland and were looking at ways to enhance flora, fauna and personal enjoyment. Although not taking all aspects we will def combine many of the elements, including the willow walk, honeysuckle hedge row and the information billboards.

view of the lake

back of the lake

Willow board

Tree board

We look forward to when we can bring information boards such as these to Sengdroma Farm.

Trip To England part 4 … Miniature Pony Centre (Part1)

sengdroma — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:40:40 +0000

An interesting and one of the best days out was to the Dartmoor Miniature Pony Centre. A farm where they specialize in the selective breeding of miniature ponys, they allow you to walk in the fields and pens with the ponies.

Orson and Nanny stroking a pony

Are you sure it's breathing

As well as the ponies there are events all day for the children, the most popular in our household was the drive a tractor. We had tears with Orson trying to get him down….

Orson takes it seriously

Callum puts out the trash

Petting animal section. This was a small zone but well laid out with thought for the safety and well being of the petting creatures as well as the children. All gates were feeder gates that led into the main petting zones, and where there were traditional farm animals there were signs explaining about the breed.

Kune Pig

Kune Pig Info

Trip To England Part 3… The House of Marbles

sengdroma — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:01:00 +0000

While in Devon we took the chance to visit the children’s favourite place The House of Marbles. Here you can watch the marbles being made from glass, see antique marbles dating back to the Egyptians and watch the marble run. It is free to get in and many hours are easily wasted there.

Picture shows the Huge Marble Run

Marble Run

When not spending all day watching the run the boys enjoyed playing with the marble shoot and skittles.

Trip to England Part 2….

sengdroma — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:01:14 +0000

And so began the long (nearly 6 hour) drive from Essex to Devon - Basically across the bottom of England - South East to South West.

For anyone to used to Britain’s roads they maybe short when compared to North America but the population count living in close proximity to them is huge. Therefore rush hour is every hour and the M25 has a reputation around the World as the “World’s largest Car Park”. This phrase is due to the many times where you sit there with the engine switched off. In the picture below note that the speedo is at 6mph this was for 1hour at 11am.

Normal Day on the M25

Driving on the M25 ……