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

[~gd]

TOR Gday! After you got me POed by the 7on/7off comment you asked if all my time was spent in US ports. The short answer is No. Let me tell it one step at a time. I was on that first ship to kill time while the Government did a background check on me for a Top Secret+ clearance. The field I had selected was the repair and operation of Code machines. If I had finished that school I would have been assigned to only capital ships and US embassies around the world. The secret school was a place called Treasure Island (no jokes about pirates please) it was located at the mouth of San Francisco Bay. School had just got started when I received the orders I was hoping for. I had taken an officer training test in high school and if I had qualified would have received full scholarship for college in return for agreeing to accept a commission as an officer when I finished. Physical showed I had a Hernia so I did not qualify. I got it repaired ASAP and learned I could take another go at it as an enlisted man. I did enlist and took the exam as an enlisted man. I had the highest score of the whole fleet! So they were transferring me to the Naval Academy Prep School. I busted out and almost got court martialed. That is another book and while it is funny remembering it, I dont want to publish it on the Internet. They transferred me to an Oiler, USS Marias (AO-57) see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AO-57#Return_to_Stateside_for_upkeep
For pictures and a short history and when I was looking I found this http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/06/06508.htm for my first ship USS Targeteer (YV-3).
The Marias was in the process of changing home port from Barcelona Spain to Norfolk VA so while I was waiting for my ship to come in I mess cooked. Finally got aboard and was sent to mess cook for another 90 days but the Radar man slot became open and I was promoted to NCO and they do not mess cook! After 6 months of refueling ships along the Atlantic coast we were deployed to the Mediterranean area where we hit all the major and a few minor ports. Our main purpose of hitting port was to take on oil for transfer to other ships. If we came in empty it would take 3 days to refill our tanks so everyone got a day ashore in each port.~gd

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'dag Gang,hope you are all well and your ready for the next episode,time got away on me a bit this week so you will get 3 days in one post.

Tuesday: So the paddocks are to wet to spray,so I set about cutting up some of the windfall timber,managed a 7x5 trailer load before lunch and went and got a load of "road base"to fill in a bit more of our driveway.

Wednesday:We awoke to a lovely morning,cold ,but sunny with no wind.So I cut 2 loads of wood and got one load of "road base".Checked the sheep and filled their "mix containers".Saw that "new" lamb as I went about,but I still cannot get close to them.It seems like she was the only"sex manic",as I haven't seen any more so far.The drop of rain has already had an effect as the "Native grasses" are starting to "shoot",next time I am out I will report on the improved species and the clovers.The weather looks as though we will get some fine days with the temp getting up to18C next week.

Thursday: OMG it was freezing this morning,it was -6C when we left just after sunrise for the weekly shopping trip.

Q & A: DL. I noticed that I missed out answering a couple of things for you.The trial with the ram lambs was for a couple of groups from the Middle East/North Africa areas,but they were not keen to "pay" for the extra trouble of me running a separate group of lambs so it only happened once..........Everybody does there best to get rid of the pigs,as they will attack ewe's lambing and kill young lambs as well.We can get traps and poisoner wheat,but they are pretty cunning and you rarely manage to trap them.

~GD:You sure had an interesting Naval career and Marias certainly saw plenty of action.QUOTE"So they were transferring me to the Naval Academy Prep School. I busted out and almost got court martialed. " and a "bad boy" to boot!(LOL).It was a shame about the medical condition.....So what have you been doing with yourself since you left the farm?

Tonight they are saying a little drop of rain Sat/Sun,so I'll get another load of wood and gravel tomorrow,well its after midnight and I had better hit the "hay",so till next time we chat our best wishes to you all .....T.O.R..............................

 

[~gd]

TOR I was not a bad boy! When I first enlisted the doc. that signed off on me asked how I had gotten flat feet (auto accident caused by a US Army Truck at the end of WWII when I was all of 3 years old I was thrown out of the vehicle and landed on my feet breaking both arches) during the interview I miss pronounced the word glass so it was entered in my medical records that I had a minor speech impediment. Well no one cares about an enlisted man but it is important for an officer to speak clearly. When they were going through my medical records they found the notation and passed the buck to a senior medical officer in the Navys best hospital and I was ordered to report to him. Transport broke down on the way and I was searching frantically for his office in this huge hospital. Evident this upset some people since I was stopped and asked what was going on with me, I was detained (who knew that it was the psychiatrists that investigates speech problems?) meanwhile the doc snuck out for a round of golf. He called his office after nine holes and had me speak to him on the phone and he said I was fine. Someone called back to the base and reported that I had missed my appointment. Arrested at base and charged with failure to follow orders. By the time they got this mess cleared up I was 3 weeks behind my class so they busted me out of the program. The dream was dead and I was one bitter sailor from then on. Do you know what SNAFU stands for in the military?
I was still employed when my house and half of my hobby farm was taken from me, I was just out there last night to see if they had removed THEIR house off MY land yet (Nope). After I was made redundant I was still tied up with a do not compete clause that froze me out of any similar job, Mostly I have kept busy trying to invest my pension funds and other funds that I had saved over the years to provide for the rest of my life, I am also active on the internet about local politics, here because I am one of the few left that grew up on a Self Sufficient Farm (no power no phone etc) plus I know Chemistry, Biology, and food processing. Other sites on waterfowl.
How about you? I assume there will be land taxes to pay on your much smaller home farm and here if you should show a profit on what is left it would be taxable? ~gd

 

[dragonlaurel]

Looks like you got a healthy little one.

Not wanting to pay extra for an all Ram flock would put a crimp in things. Special orders cost extra in most businesses.

Trapping pigs is unusual here too. The one I remember about was built a hog pen in stages, in an area pigs frequented. He kept adding sections then letting them get used to it's presence- till it just needed the gate closed. They kept enough food in the area to keep them busy then closed the gate.

Gd- Snafu describes that pretty well. :/

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'dag Gang,Well time got away on me again,so its a 2 day post tonight......I never realized that a journal came with "such" responsibility's I keep a bit of a check on the "hits" and it appears that I get up to 100 a day,which comes as quite a "shock"to me,as when I started I did not think it would be of interest to many people on the forum......Well enough "musing",better get on with it before you fall "asleep" at the keyboard.

Friday:We awoke to another freezing morning ,but it warmed up to a "glorious" day,sunny with "no "wind,so first thing "sharpen " the saws and cut a load of wood,then out to the front and get a load of gravel,still early so got another load of wood(that should keep Jenny out of "mischief" for a while).Took a short walk,to check on the "new" lamb and what do you think we now have "two".Walked a bit further to make sure it was not just the first one and sure enough the other one was there to(I have nick-named its mother "Wild-Eyes",because she is so "flighty").Now the mother of the second one is a ewe that was "fly-struck"in Jan and had been bare shorn then,but still managed to "season" and get joined early,I think this is a reflection of the "genetic "strength of the flock.

Sat:Another "huge frost" this morning(-7C),but by mid morning it was sunny and bright.So here I am sharpening the saws,when the Kookaburra's announced there return,you cannot mistake there territory call and I guess they are here early to "claim" there nesting hollows,it made my day
http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Dacelo-novaeguineae
So off to work ,cut a nice load of wood before lunch.Took the camera to see if I could get a pic of this new lamb and here it is

I thought I had better get a couple of the wood heap which has taken up so much time

The shed behind the heap,Jenny built ,it holds about 1&1/2 winters wood when full.

Q & A:I have not heard of this "term",so one of you had better send me a PM ,to keep me in the loop.....Also I made a mistake in the last post about the pigs,they DO NOT use poison for the pigs,but use Pindone treated carrots for the rabbits(sorry,"old timer's decease" has struck again)....The guys who wanted the rams are "dealers" and just resell them,you have to "haggle hard" with them.

~GD:The new smaller farm will only attract the normal Shire and animal health taxes,but is not valuable enough to attract State Gov Land taxes.I quizzed our accountant about any earnings,and he said we would be OK as long as we claimed it as sales from a "hobby",and as many will be "Cash Sales" from the farm,we will be OK I think.We have been lucky with our cash funds ,as we missed the "big crash" in the GFC and so we are ahead of the "game " at this point.As for the Internet this is the main site that I frequent,apart from this I just research info on farming and stuff.We E-mail back and forth with two family's in the US who are both "sheep people"............Down here at the moment there are only to subjects in the news..Boat People and the new "Carbon Tax",and I for one is sick of both of them.

Well it's getting to that time again,we hope you have enjoyed your visit with us again and we will see you again in the future,so next tine ,don't be "shy",leave a comment or "something" before you go,regards,.......................T.O.R..............................

 

[~gd]

Gday TOR it is 11 AM Saturday as I start this and it is 32C outside, it was 22C when I dragged my old bones out of bed and it was very foggy since the dew point was also 22C. I consider the dew point to be important since it controls the comfort level and the chance of rain. We have a nice 9km/h breeze and a sunny day (sounds good after the 40C days we have had for the last 3 days. 37C is what they are forecasting as the extended peak.
Quick question is Jenny splitting that firewood or only stacking it? 2nd quickie do the Kookaburras migrate? I thought they were strictly territorial. I have a 1A$ Kookaburra silver coin in my collection but paid much more for it even though it was a 1995 striking and the least rare of these coins Australian coins with your unique animals are very popular with collectors and usually bring a hefty premium on the market.
Check your PMs I told you what SNAFU stands for. Your taxes and in fact your system of government continue to confuse me. Our smallest taxing unit is the fire district (rural only) the money goes to buy firefighting equipment only so the rates are low and based on value of land and improvements.
Next in size are school districts, you are taxed the same if you use them or not and they are based on property same as fire districts except at much higher rates.
If you live within the limits of an incorporated settlement, or village they have property taxes and the rates depend on the services they offer.
The next in size are townships that offer local courts and road repair and clearing (where it snows) they also collect taxes of their own and collect for all the smaller units above. This is where I get confused, where do Shire and council fit in this picture? To the best of my knowledge we dont have animal health fees isolated if collected it is at the County level
The next higher level is County the subdivision of the State. Here such things as Sheriffs, jails, and formal court systems are required (though they are an option at lower levels) and the last level to depend on taxes on property for revenues (though the state may allow a tax on the sale value of all goods.
The last level of government below the Federal is the State and they usually tax income and profits as well as sales for their revenue. This is why I asked about taxes, here they are a constant drain if you have income or not, property taxes are part of the rent even if you do not own property.
If you have a Carbon Tax do you pay on your firewood and perhaps get a credit on the solar features of your home? I did NOT miss the big crash and I am expecting a small one Monday if the government reaches the debt limit and is forced to quit spending. Maybe China will foreclose since they are the major holder of our overseas debt.
Gday it is now about 2 PM and the temp has peaked at 36C a good time for a nap! ~gd

 

[Neko-chan]

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[The Old Ram-Australia]

G.day Gang,Not much to report for today ,it was a bit of a rest day for us.Had a bit of a wander around to check the lambs and watched a bit of TV.(Sunday is the day they show Landline ,its the only truly rural show on TV.)The predicted rain did not arrive so tomorrow its back to spraying the weeds.

Q & A: NC,yes! I'm sorry I did not get back to you on that,but is it supposed to be "pretty solid"?It came in a plastic bottle ,do you just stand it in hot water to melt it?

~GD:Yes!Jenny splits and stacks the wood heap ,when I bring it in its in blocks as shown in the foreground.(I got into trouble for the pic of the shed,I thought I had a better one ,but cant find it ,so I will have to take another tomorrow)......

This was the heap at the end of Summer!..........Our Kookaburras seem to disappear in the late Autumn,I think its because "food" gets scarce.We have a few family's of Magpie's in the same territory and I don't think there's enough to feed them all over Winter.........On the coin thing have you tried the Aus. Mint,you may be able to get "stuff" direct?
http://www.ramint.gov.au/ ....................Our gov Tax system is as follows(as I understand it , that's why we use an accountant)Fed Govt:Income tax and GST(goods and services tax)GST is levied on everything except food,....State Govt tax anything to do with motor vech, tax's on the sale of property,they also handle public transport......Local Gov.(Shire or Council)..rates on land and the provision of water,garbage,roads, sewerage and etc.You pay for Fire Services in your insurance premiums........The pest and animal levy's are another little group(I refer to them as a Police Force we employ to prosecute us)...Everything else has been sold to private industry,Power ,Phones,Postal Services.NB.Neco Chan have I forgotten anything?...I'm one of the greater "Carbon Confused",as I understand it they(the Gov) will tax the "polluters"and they will charge us extra for service's they supply,the Gov say they will then compensate us(Yea right).At the moment Agriculture is exempt,but in the future we may have to pay tax on every "burp and fart" from our sheep......We have two streams of input costs "Fixed and Variable"(we have to allow for private usage,like power ,phone,transport,etc) and we claim these against our income streams in our farming business.....When we were setting up our retirement we decided against relying on the share market option and instead purchased farmland to increase our holding which could be sold later(its been quite good for us as we have achieved a 10% capital gain year on year and have been able to write off our costs against the farming operation).The balance of our liquid funds are in the "short term" money market with our bank.(currently its returning about 6.1%),not huge but the Capital's absolutely "safe".We looked at a "solar setup" ,but the payback was to long for it to be economic for us.

Well, I think that concludes another chapter in our adventure's so far,so until next time we chat ,stay safe and we look forward to your next visit with us................................T.O.R..................................

 

[~gd]

Old Ram, Gday! Virgin coconut oil melts at 24C Hydrogenated at 36-40C depending on how far it has been hydrogenated.
I just assumed that it was hauled in as chunks thats how we used to do it when Dad was running the fruit farm except, us boys were to split and stack everything that we could handle. We heated with a central furnace that could burn coal or wood and blocks small enough to fit through the furnace door would keep it burning all night. Fruit wood is a very good fireplace or woodstove fuel because of the odor when it burns
Do magpies really attack people that approach their nests? I never considered direct contact with the mint. I tried it with the Canada mint and they didnt want to be bothered with international mail. Ill hit the website to see what happens.
Taxes. Our state and county sales taxes are really sales and use taxes in that they have the merchants do the collection on sales and you are supposed to report anything you buy outside the jurisdiction but use within it. (Fat chance) so they are fighting with internet merchants because they dont want to keep all the records for 50 different states and heaven knows how many different tax rates. To get more revenue they are trying to switch to GST but the service providers (lawyers) have fought them to a standstill for at least 10 years now. The direct tax on property sales are pretty minor called a filing fee to record the sale but there is Capital gains on any increase in value which is often a tax on inflation. Here you pay much more for insurance if you are more than 5 miles from a firehouse but the company keeps it and does nothing to improve fire protection.
Investments I wish I had been wise enough to invest in land rather than shares, but shares were doing well and you really needed a professional to advise on the present and likely future value of land. There were some big losses in the value of houses but raw land did OK. Short rates fell from about the 6.1% rate you mentioned to about 0.6% today and many banks failed or were bought out by stronger banks, yes the funds were safe but didnt keep up with inflation here. My advisor got me into tax free bonds issued by school districts, county governments, and public health care organizations with a 3.5-5.0% percent return which was free of state and federal income taxes and they preserved and increased my capital that I had invested in them. Sorry but I thought your home was of the type called passive solar here. If that was not the case why were you installing those pavers? I thought they were to absorb heat during the day and release it at night. Active solar here includes such things as panels to turn light into power or to heat water for domestic use. Passive solar is just a house designed for the climate, active depends on expensive gadgets. ~gd

 

[Neko-chan]

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