ADVENTURE'S DOWNUNDER OR FARMING IN PARADISE:An Old Rams view.

[~gd]

I was one of those daughters. Grew up near NTC-Orlando. With two teenage daughters, Mom was always a bit nervous. I worked on the base for a summer job, and a Xmas job when I was younger too. The Navy boys I hung out with were mostly nuke school though and they had way too much to lose- so they mostly behaved.

The Navy wanted me to be a nuke school student too but I told them that it was a deal breaker. They wanted me to enlist for 6 years right off to cover the time spent in school. In my day the only nuke ships were submarines and they could and did spend 6 months at sea, most of it underwater to avoid detection, maybe they would surface to receive supplies and mail. They used the two crew method there would be a blue crew and a gold crew. They would hit port, change crews, and the new crew took off with the ship while the old crew would spend some time with a therapist to see if they were stable enough for another cruise. They still had mess cooks, just smarter than the fleet average. My mess cooking was a piece of cake in comparison.~gd

 

[~gd]

Notice I said night off, you were expected to work a full day (8 AM to 4 PM weekdays, half (8-Noon) Saturday, Sunday usually just attend 8 AM muster. Some of the lifers would talk about the good old days before the Japs caught us with our pants down at Pearl Harbor. The rules changed and I think to this day every ship afloat has 2/3rds of the crew aboard at all times.
But I havent told you the best part yet. Those nights when I was stuck on the ship, I was hitting the books and hanging out at the Radar shack. There isnt much to do in Radar when the ship was in port, they could study, teach me, or try to cook seagulls with the Radar beam. (Remember the first microwave ovens were called Radar Ranges for a good reason. Radar men hate seagulls because they would perch on the antenna and poop, guess who has to clean that poop off of the antenna) I passed the exam to be promoted to Radar man 3rd class =E5=Lance Corporal in Army rank. The catch is that you dont get promoted until a slot opens up; all the test does is to save your place in line to be promoted. So when I finished my 90 days as a mess cook I was sent to a different division on the ship and guess who was junior in that division. After a whole week of being regular crew I was sent to mess cook again. When I was released the second time it was 3 weeks before I got my orders to go to my top secret school. I spent just short of 7 months in the Pacific Paradise Port of San Diego and all I can remember seeing was their famous zoo and the home of the Cook We got really tight during that 2nd tour (why not I was doing half his work for him by that time) he would check me out overnight about once a month, take me home for some of his wifes home cooking, give me beer (I was underage in that State) and some of the wild rides on the freeways back to the ship to beat the check in time Ill never forget.

I still havent told the tale of the magic coffee pot. ~gd

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'Gang,Well its raining again today(you beauty),we have had 53mm(over 2ins)and its starting to "run-off".yesterday it was pretty"brisk"it went from5C to 7C,lucky we were away "shopping" although it was not much better over there,it got to 10C during the day....The rain looks as though it may "hang around" for another day before it clears for a day or two(so glad I did some spraying while I had the chance).

Because there is not much "news",I thought a "warning" to visitors to the journal might be in order.....Now us Aussies are a funny lot ,apart from the "con-men and scammer's",which every culture has there fair share of,we tend to be pretty "straight out",we open our mouths and "stuff" just "falls out",we never intend to offend, insult or upset anybody and questions are asked and answered in an "innocent manner",mostly out of "curiosity"or to gain a better understanding of a subject or person/culture.....I have been "politely"cautioned ,when I have asked about things that do not seem "appropriate" by members of the forum..................Now whats this all about you might ask,well further down the "track",when you know me better I will most likely open up a few of my "hobby horse subjects" for discussion,so bear the above in mind when you react to something /subject that you may "disagree on" and remember that our opinions are based on having to "earn a living off of the land"....In the main Aussie farmers achieve success/change by interacting and observing other farmers,if you have a farming neighbor who undertakes something "different"to SOP,you keep a "very" close eye on him "just in case",he is on to something...I don't know if I have told you the story of our lambs one year ,so here goes..................

In one of our paddocks I was running a "mob" of about 50 ram lambs(as a special marketing exercise) and one day I noticed a neighbor parked near the fence observing this group(he was there for about 15 mins or so and then drove off)....A couple of weeks later we were at a local cattle sale and him and his wife stopped to say "hello" (we don't really "get on",but are always "civil"in social situations),anyway he says to me"How come you are running all those rams in that "mob"?".."Well I answered ,our customers eat them "BALLS" and all".....His wife almost "fainted" and they left in a hurry......See what I mean ,you open your month and "stuff "falls out.

You might recall we had applied for some funding recently ,well we are hoping to get a reply in the next day or so,we were contacted the other day and told that nothing had been finalized yet and we were still "in the game".So enough "rambling " hope you enjoyed your visit and you will join us again in the future,we hope it "cools down " a little for you all soon ,regards ...............T.O.R.......................

 

[dragonlaurel]

Sorry about the long delay here. I thought I'd already posted in response and realized it's not there. Oops. I didn't sleep good for a couple nights and my brain took a vacation.

Gd- Nuke school is a funny thing. The guys were nice and very intelligent, but the young ones seemed more shy than the other Navy guys I met. It's like it's own city and some people weren't meant to be packed together with a bunch of strangers for months. Some of them tried to propose to the 1st girl that was nice to them after they hit land. They were pretty lonely by the end of the cruise.

Magic coffee pot???

TOR- The look on that ladies face must have been priceless. I'm sure he hesitated to ask you questions with his wife around, after that.
Were you raising them to sell to a certain culture that prefers them as rams? Most people here band the males unless they are charging for fancy breeder prices, but it does seem like extra work if they wont get old enough to reproduce anyway.

Good luck with the application process. Hope it goes smoothly.

 

[~gd]

I am not surprised that you found the young nuke students shy, a lot of us brains were shy in high school because we couldnt attract girls and going into the Navy didnt help with day to day contact with other guys only. When we left the ship or station we were stereotyped as the wild and crazy sailors that your mother warned you about and since we were not, the bold sailors got the first crack at the girls that were interested in the wild and crazy type (like Tom Cruise in Top Gun rather to the more stable Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentlemen). After being picked up and dropped by the good time girls once or twice because they discovered what you are, you tend to quit trying. Besides I think the Navy does some psych screening and prefers rational introverts over extroverts for their nuke fleet. BTW lonely is not the tern I would have selected. LOL
Ever since the Navy went dry in the middle of our Civil War coffee was to be available at any time night or day aboard Navy ships. The crews take this seriously and a mess cook was charged with the duty of ALWAYS having brewed coffee available. The magic was that coffee would be available. The traditional punishment for failing to do so was to throw the mess cook overboard! There is a time and place for everything, so the ships Captain gets to pick the time and place of the rite (often kept secret to catch the offender unaware) man overboard drills are frequent and a guilty mess cook sometimes took the place of the dummy. In the warm waters off San Diego we usually waited until we were out of sight of the city. Gday ~gd

 

[dragonlaurel]

The brainy guys were probably too busy studying to learn as much about picking up girls. But sooner or later- you gotta be able to talk to the person- not just look at their more decorative features. I didn't watch An Officer and a Gentlemen but Richard Gere is pretty cool. I liked guys a bit younger than me when I was single, but he is good looking and knows how to think. Nice combo.
Tom Cruise would not work for me. Cute dimples, . . . but weird guy. He was good in Top Gun but that all that attitude would really annoy me in real life.

I guess you had to keep that coffee coming. Or swim well. :/ I didn't learn some of this stuff, cause NTC- Orlando was a recruit training center and had some of the schools. Some of the guys had never been out on the water yet.

 

[~gd]

I cant speak for the rest of them, but I spent less time studying than most. How do we compete against the jocks? Never was a pep rally for straight A students . Then there were the guys that were 18 junior year who could drive after dark and buy beer. Dont get me wrong I had many friends that were female, I was known as a safe date but I didnt have a girl friend. And there is a world of difference between girl friend and female friend. I would rather be told not to call again then for her to ask if we can be friends but you must know this you were a teen once. BTW I was taught that it was OK to admire decorative features, if they werent to be admired why were they on display? Just like looking at an expensive auto you could admire it even though you knew you could never afford to buy it.
Things may have changed but when I went through Boot Camp at Great Lakes you were asked the first week if you knew how to swim when we were told that in order to graduate you had to jump in fully clothed and stay afloat for 30 minutes. Swim/drown proofing classes were available during your free time before the evening meal. If you had a fear of water that you couldnt overcome you would be washed out of the Navy If you jumped in but started to sink you were recycled into a new class to repeat until you could. ~gd

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Gang,its great to see you back visiting with us again,we hope you have all enjoyed DL/~Gd chatting about the "OLD" days(LOL).For us its what makes the "journal" interesting,as we get an insight into "other peoples" lives,past and present.(don't forget that "you can join in at any time,we would love to hear from you).............................This morning is pretty "ordinary",it was light rain and "damm" cold when we got up.........So what has happened since our last post?

Friday:Time to have a look around and access the wind damage,before I move the stock around.We had noticed when we were going out yesterday that they had had a visit from some "feral pigs",so myself and the dogs started in that paddock and sure enough they had visited us as well.They are a "damm pain" as when they turn over the "sods" it also kills the grass underneath and the whole area takes ages to recover.So I followed their trail up the hill to where they had left our place.It usually takes them a couple of weeks before they return and in the meantime someone may get a "shot" at them(we hope).....Out by our "road paddock"there was a large branch that had come down over the fence-line(where else would it fall),to heavy to lift so a job for tomorrow,while I was out there I noticed a whole heap of grass against the fence-line,better fix it while I'm out there tomorrow as well.

Saturday:Got a early start(well early for me in the middle of winter),hooked up the trailer loaded the gear and the dogs and off we went...first job ,fix the fence ,cut up the big branch for firewood and clean the fence-line.While I was out there I thought better get some fill for a "big" pothole in the driveway (before the truck disappears into it )..LUNCH..Took the dogs and put the lambs into there new paddock,got Ruby to pick-up the un-shorn one's and move them closer to the shed,so the first fine day I can get them shorn.......opened the gate so the breeder ewe's cold get into one of our "bush project"paddocks for its scheduled grazing period.....Enough for today!.

Sunday:Took the dogs for a "wander" to make sure everybody had "settled in "OK....Topped up all there"mix" containers,the cold and the feed quality makes them visit a lot more and I'm sure it makes a lot of difference to the health of the stock.

Q & A:..DL. You asked about "retirement" a couple of posts ago and I forgot to answer.When I turned 55 we set up a plan so when the time came it would not be a problem for us.
1.Sell 40% of the farm,its a separate block of 200 acs.
2.In the future sell another 80acs off of the main farm.
When we were in the drought the Govt had a program running that meant that if you put off applying for there Old Age Pension for a period of time they wold pay you a "bonus " when you did apply,that sounded like a good "deal " for us so we did.Next year I will be 70 and Jenny will be able to get hers 6 months later.So in this finickiness year we will "disperse" a lot of the flock,hold onto the "best" and have them as a "hobby"(and so cash to boot)....When everything is sold the Home Farm will be still 220 acs,so we still will not have a "neighbor "in sight.

Well I guess I had end now and go and do something "productive",so till next time,stay safe ,and we look forward to your next visit.......................T.O.R...............................

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'dag Gang,well what NEWS? we found our first new lamb today,it's one of our maidens ,but its 5 weeks at least early,so she must have went to one of our 6month old ram lambs(I dun'o Girls and Hormone's)no wonder us boys get into trouble?..anyway it's a strong little "devil",cause it trotted about 1/2 a km with its mum to catch up with the rest of the group,who had moved into the next paddock.

The pic' is a bit "ordinary"she would not let me any closer ,max zoom (hope for a better one in a few days when she "settles "down),but she is really "flighty",and even so ,she traveled slow enough for it to keep up.

Even though we only had 2 ins of rain the "swales " had start to catch,so you can imagine how well they work when its really raining,I don't think the slope is that obvious,but I think its about 1 in 6.

Well enough for now ,chat later..........................T.O.R.....................................

 

[dragonlaurel]

Glad you didn't blow away with that wind. You've been keeping busy!
Hope you didn't mind the side trip down memory lane.

Are there any restrictions about you getting rid of those pigs- permanently? They are a problem here but people are allowed (and encouraged) to shoot them year round. Once in a while somebody will trap one instead. Those are probably sausage soon afterwards.

About retiring- People get paid a bit extra here too, if they wait longer to retire. I'd asked cause it sounds like keeping busy is too strong a habit, for you to completely stop working. So keeping a good sized piece of land and your "best" sheep makes sense. I didn't realize you're almost 70. I hope I age as well.

Congrats on the new lamb! The lamb seems strong enough, so it's not a premie. Guess she did like younger men. She did a good job protecting her baby too.

The swales definitely work. It's greening up nicely.