Alan Skeoch

Category: Uncategorized

  • EPISODE 156 BETWEEN HARROWING AND PLANTING WINTER WHEAT IS A LOT OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS…EVEN TODAY

    EPISODE 156    BETWEEN HARROWING THE LAND AND THEN PLANTING WINTER WHEAT…LOTS OF WORK


    Alan skeoch
    oct. 2020




    THIS is the man that does  the job….getting winter wheat in the ground.





    HOW  DOES A FIELD  GET THIS NICE?


    “HAVE you ever wondered how tiny seeds of wheat are planted?”
    “Well, all those pieces  of equipment hauled by that immense tractor are
    designed  to put one little winter wheat seed in the ground at the proper spacing.
    A bunch of seeds got confused when the tractor made a sweeping turn and those little
    seeds just jumped out in a bunch but that was  rare.   Most seeds got out at their proper
    spacing and  got ready  to germinate for spring combining as future pastry flour.”


    “Perhaps you think that such huge machines would find the job of getting the fields ready for seeding was  EASY??
    NOT SO EASY AT TIMES…see below”



    “This is the rig for planting those tiny winter wheat seeds…the great tub at the back is filled and then manages somehow to select tiny seeds
    to be put in the ground at proper spacing.   …The huge harrow at the front digs a shallow hole for the seeds.  Notice the ground  cover of soybean waste
    left behind after the combine had done the harvesting a few weeks earlier.  Called  NO  TILL FARMING.   PLOWING IS NOT DONE from 
    year to year unless the fields are covered in sod.


    WHEN the  fields were covered in  sod….deep plowing was necessary.  After that…smooth sailing except where a hidden
    sink hole was found.


    Disc Harrow sliced up any sod that was  not turned over by the plow.


    How  would you like to find yourself and all that equipment sinking into they hidden swamp?   Believe it or not the machines  got out with ease.


    Why are the wheat seeds orange…reddish?   They have been treated with poison…I do not know which poison.  At one time Atrizine was
    used…perhaps still used.  Bad Stuff.   A poisoned  field is easy to find as  no weeds can grow…the  field appears a  sickly grey through
    the summer months if fallow.   Deadly stuff.



    Here  is the chopped  up soybean plants  left as a ground  cover … winter wheat seeds in a bit of cluster…an error when the
    machine  did a turn at the end of the field.


    A long time earlier a  stone picker was able to criss cross the fields in search of rocks.


    the stone picker can drive forwards  and backwards scooping out and  scooping up rocks  left by the glaciers.


    And that is all there  is to the job…as long as  you have a million dollars  or so to invest in the job.   This large scale farmer owns  and rents
    several thousand  acres  of  crop land  centred in Limehouse, Ontario … covering miles  and mlles.   

    …which includes the 90 acres owned  by  our sons and their partner.   

    One thing worth noting.  The fields are relatively small with lots of fencerows for birds and small creatures…even large creatures like
    deer and coyotes and wild  turkeys.   That is not always the case with modern farming…much more efficient to tear out the
    fencerows and  have clear fields from horizon to horizon.  A sterile landscape where “no birds sing”.   That will not happen here.

    alan  skeoch
    Oct. 2020


  • alan skeoch…Something wrong with my list

    I am now at Episode 156
    But some of you may have been dropped from list for some reason that I cannot fathom. Russ alerted me to this fact.
    If interested and you want back copies then consult wp_autopost@alanskeoch.ca
    Or let me know and I will try to send back issues.
    alan

  • Grand Match, Grenadier Pond, High Park Curling Club Jan 3o, 1993

    A group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generated



     
    EPISODE 155     THE  GRAND MATCH OF CURLING…ON THE ICE BENEATH WHICH THE GRENADIERS WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE DROWNED

    A group of people posing for the camera Description automatically generated
    THE Schneller Team entry in the High Park Curling  Club GRAND MATCH 1993 celebrating  80 years of fine curling.  Left to right:  Mike Dent, Alan Skeoch,
    Dave Snyder ,  Brad Schneller (skip).  


    alan skeoch
    Oct. 2020

    Dateline: Winter 1993
    Occasion: HIGH PARK CURLING CLUB GRAND  MATCH
    Location:  Grenadier Pond, Toronto
    Danger: Would the ice support 64 curling jteams
    with their stones?

    THE  GRAND  MATCH, HIGH PARK CRLING CLUB, 1993

    The telephone  rang  as the winter wind blew.

    “Hi, Alan, I have an adventure for you.”
    “Great Brad, spill it out.”

    Brad  Schneller was almost breathless…excited.

    “Let’s get a curling team together for the Grand Match”
    “What Grand  Match?”
    “The HighPark Curling  Club is 80 years old  this winter…planning a
    special competition on Grenadier Pond…let’s enter a team.”
    “Did you say the Grand Match would be on Grenadier Pond?”
    “Yes.”
    “How many teams?”
    “64 Curling Teams”
    “That’s a lot of people on ice that could be  thin.”
    “Lucky this is a bad winter…I figure there will be more
    than 300 people out on the ice when pipers and Fort York guards are included.”
    “Remember what happened  to the Grenadiers in 1812?”
    “I’m not sure that really happened, Alan…the drowning of the Grenadiers is a myth I think.”’
    “According to the story the soldiers were retreating from Fort York hauling their cannons
    with them…that’s a lot of weight.”
    “About as  much as 300 curlers?”
    “Right.”
    “Didn’t you do a dive last summer to see if there were cannons at the bottom of the pond?
    “We did…a CBC radio story…Kevin and Andy did the diving while Christopher Thomas  and
    I were in a rowboat.”
    “Well…the result?”
    “Andy reported  ‘Dad, I  shoved my arm deep  in the mud at the bottom…right up to my elbow…no cannons yet.”
    It was  a  stupid idea.  Dangerous.”
    “If we all break through the ice…there will be a lot of curling stones down there
    for future divers.”
    “Ice collapse  is Not likely this year…been dreadfully cold winter…ice  as thick and tough as old concrete.”
    “And now a snowstorm is coming.”
    “Nothing stops the bagpipes so we should not feel intimidated…let’s throw some rocks…find
    a team willing to play.  A lot of people trying to clean the ice with their brooms…
    sort of hopeless  for real curling.’
    “Suppose we  get Mike Dent to lie down and  use him and his coonskin  coat as a sweeping  machine.”
    “How?”
    “You grab his feet, I’ll grab his arms…now walk … see  we are clearing a sheet.  How do you feel Mike?”
    “Just keep my coonskin closed…otherwise  I will turn into a block of ice.  Pull…pull.”
    “Any help with the game?”
    “Not much…snow keeps  coming.”
    “Throw your rock, Brad.”’
    “Just throw, forget about the fine tuning…most rocks do not even get to the other end.”
    “Let’s refine the game…forget about accuracy…see how brute strength works…wind  up with
    a big back swing and then rifle the rock down the ice.”
    “See who can throw the rock the farthest…forget about real curling.”
    “When the rock  hits the ice, it echoes.”
    “Hits like a cannonball.”
    “Let go, Mike…let go!”
    “Holy Samoley, Mike did not let go and threw the rock with all his might…he flew with the
    rock…parallel  to the ice.”
    “Here come Ed  Werench…top curler of 1993…looks sceptical…not exactly optimum conditions…he wans
    to meet the so called ice maker.”
    “This is turning into a wonderful afternoon…a real  celebration for the High  Park Curling Club…
    an event that I wish we could duplicate each year.”
    “i think the insurance companies would put an end to that idea.”

    A couple of people that are standing in the snow Description automatically generated


    “Hey, Al,where did you get your curling clothes?”
    “Bearskin coat  I bought for $10 at a farm auction…”
    “And the hat?”
    “A Russian field hat from the Afghan war…sent from Slovakia by
    our son Kevin.”
    “And  your coat, Brad?”
    “Sandra’s historic  beaverskin coat…expensive.”
    “Makes us look like drifters from the Great Depression.”

    A group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generated

    And so the day wore on.  Cold, snowstorm, hopeless for real curling but so
    memorable … so memorable that even now, 27 years later I remember the 
    day clearly.  Who dreamt up the idea? Well, I think Al White from the HPC
    was one of the prime movers but there were so  many others.  

    alan skeoch
    Oct. 2020


     
    A group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people standing in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people standing in front of a crowd Description automatically generatedA group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people standing on top of a snow covered slope Description automatically generatedA group of people that are standing in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people standing in the snow Description automatically generatedA group of people posing for the camera Description automatically generatedA group of people walking in the snow Description automatically generated

    (PICTURES COURTESY OF BRAD  SCHNELLER)


    alan skeoch
    oct 2020


    HISTORY OF THE HIGH PARK CURLING CLUM

    Land for the club was purchased in 1910 by the club’s first president and chief financial backer, W.R. Prittie. The building, erected in 1911, was designed by architects Gemmell and W.R. Gregg and modeled after another Toronto club, the Queen City Curling Club. Today, the exterior looks very much as it did then. Facing east to west, the street façade is an unobtrusive red brick and on the west side a spectacular two-storey verandah overlooks the lawn tennis courts (formerly lawn bowling greens).

    The High Park Curling and Lawn Bowling Club’s Inaugural Ball was held on the rink floor on December 15, 1911. In the early years, the club offered curling, lawn bowling, skating, indoor baseball, billiards, and cards. The new Club’s first few seasons were quite successful but with the outbreak of WWI in 1914 and the mild winters in 1916 and 1917 limiting the natural ice for curling, the club’s membership sagged and the club went bankrupt in 1917. It re-opened in 1918 as the High Park Club Limited with a new board of directors and a new charter.

    HPC became the social centre for the whole community, with the vast majority of its members living within a 10-minute walk of the club. In the 1910’s and early ‘20’s, it was customary for members to visit the club in the evening and play cards. HPC was the centre for some of the best bridge played in Canada with numerous championship trophies to its credit.

    Until 1919, women could not be members but wives of members had some privileges. In 1986, Anne Craig became the first female President of the High Park Club. 

    From its start in 1912, lawn bowling was the principal sport at HPC, with bowlers frequently outnumbering the curlers. The Club’s sweeping verandah provided an ideal spot for watching lawn bowlers in action. Spectators watched players dressed in whites on 16 greens surrounded by climbing roses, lilacs, chestnuts, and gardens with multi-coloured flowers, shrubs and trees. As a result of the rise in popularity of golf and cottaging in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, membership in the section declined and the bowling greens were converted to lawn tennis courts.

    Started in 1984, the tennis section of HPC boasts a unique feature – the only club-owned grass courts in Ontario. Tennis professionals have been known to grace its courts in preparation for the Wimbledon Championship (the oldest tennis tournament in the world).

    Curling has been the other dominant sport at HPC and continues to be so today. At the club’s inception, it was a very different version of the game than what is played today. Along with their straw brooms, each player was responsible for their own rock and for $1 a year it could be stored in a wooden locker placed along the walls of the rink. In 1939, 41 pairs of stones, weighing 41.5 lbs each, and with black or white handles, were purchased for $36 per pair. The first sets of stones were lost when a German torpedo hit the Athenia, the ship carrying them. Their replacements arrived in time for the following season.

    Artificial curling ice was installed in 1926, thus ending both the indoor softball league and public skating. Today, the only skating that takes place is at the end of the curling season party held in May. In celebration of the club’s 80th Anniversary in 1993, the Grand Match took place on nearby High Park’s Grenadier Pond and drew 64 teams from across the GTA. High Park Club curlers have excelled at their sport and the trophy cabinet is full of cups and plates won over the past century.

    Until the mid-60’s, the club was managed by committees and the day-to-day needs were taken care of by the club’s steward or caretaker who lived in a private apartment with its own entrance on the north side of the club. 

    Today, there is a full-time manager, icemaker and a part-time ice, lawn and catering staff that ensure the club runs smoothly and efficiently. Volunteerism continues to be a core tenet of the club’s culture, with over 1 in 7 members contributing time and efforts to committees, events, maintenance, decorating, and governance

  • EPISODE 154 KILLING GROUND DISCOVERED

    EPISODE  154    KILLING GROUND DISCOVERED


    alan skeoch
    Oct. 2020



    What is this?  Below



    The back part of our farm is a forest…dense.  We rarely go back that far
    because the front ten  acres keeps us busy.  We also take comfort in
    the fact that the 15 acres of dense bush  and swamp are perfect places
    for wildlife to thrive.  So it came as quite a  shock in October 2010 when
    our boys said we better get back and take a look at what was  happening.

    We bashed our way through the bush.  There are only deer trails here 
    and there.  Someone or some group knew that.   What we found
    was a wood trough which turned  out to be a deer feeding station.
    But there was more.  

    The so called hunters had wired a ladder and platform to a tree
    about ten feet from the trough.  This was not a cheap thing.
    Very well built shooting platform made  of heavy aluminum with
    rubber treads.  

    About 30 or 40 feet distant we found a night vision camera
    strapped to a tree on what must have been  a deer trail.





    So that is what hunters do, I guess.   They climb up into
    the tree platform and sit there waiting for deer to come
    to feed on the corn or food pellets on the wood trough
    …and then they shoot them.  And  they call that hunting.
    No  guesswork involve since the night vision camera automatically
    tells them the time the deer will arrive…their numbers.  The 
    hunter can pick his kill at leisure  at home then pick a nice
    time to do the killing based on the camera information.

    And  all this was done on our land.   No one asked permission.  They would
    have been refused.  I have no respect for guns or for hunting.  But the
    nerve of these hunters to just assume they could set up their
    killing spot in our forest.   Trespassing.   We had not littered our
    land with NO Trespassing or No Hunting signs.  Why would we have
    to do that anyway?   

    What should we do? First, we tore  down the shooting platform and
    carried it to the road where  we keep  scrap metal.  Then we unstrapped
    the camera and  took it to our neighbour.  Told him the story.

    He seemed interested:

    “I figure they got to our bush from your back field.”
    “Yes,I do allow a couple of hunters from the city to hunt…but No,
    I  did not know about the platform or the trespassing.”
    “This must be their camera.  I want you to give it back
    to them. Do you see them often? “
    “No.”
    “Will you take the camera?”
    “Yes, they might drop by.”
    “Tell them we have contacted  the police and have
    put up NO TRESPASSING SIGNS…and  one other thing.
    Tell them I do  not want to see them.  We will never  meet.”
    “I will do that.”

    This conversation was  not what it seemed.   I knew that my neighbour 
    must have known these hunters really well.  They parked on his land.
    I even suspected that the hunters were not from the “city” but may
    well have been  very local…nearby in other words.  If I met them
    personally there would be deep repercussions.  Best  not tp alienate
    people with guns.  I had  raised enough hell  anyway.

    How  did the police react?   No help whatsoever.

    alan skeoch
    Oct. 2020

    P.S>  A few months  later a neighbour asked  if  I still had the ladder and
    shooting platform…started with friendly blather and eventually got to the 
    Point.   “Sorry, the shooting platform has  gone to the scrap yard” (where
    it belonged).

  • EPISODE 153 GRAN FARMERS MUST HAVE HATED DOCKING MACNINES

    EPISODE 153   GRAIN  FARMERS MUST HAVVE HATED DOCKING MACHINES


    alan skeoch
    Oc.t 2020



    “Take a seat, Alan…rain trying to sleet outside…good time to think…to remember”

    HEADING:  DOCKING MACHINES MUST HAVE  BEEN HATED

    Cold rain…almost sleet…falling today.  Good time  to try and sort through our collection of weird and wonderful machines
    in the main barn.   It has been years since I have  done so.  Seems like a treasure hunt … includes a chair for contemplation.

    Contemplation?  Yep, I sat down and stared at two machines that were uncovered once the flower pots and threshing machine
    moulds were set  aside.   Two antique DOCKING MACHINES.  Probably the only such machines left in North America.  How
    did  I know that?  I combed the internet under various titles like ANTIQUE  GRAN DOCKING MACHINES and  other word
    combinations.   No luck.  You might do better but let me get on with the story.

    The same year, perhaps 1980,  we visited those hidden ICBM  SILOS in North Dakota we also  stopped at a grain silo near the Canadian
    border.  A  huge wooden structure that, unlike the ICBM sites,  stood out against the flat horizon. 

    “Hi, hope we  are not intruding but could I take a couple of pictures of your grain silo?”
    “Do what you want.  We don’t get many  visitors…matter  of fact we  don’t get any except for
    the trucks loaded with grain.”
    (I noticed two dust covered mini fanning mills in a forgotten  corner)’
    “What are those machines?”
    “Old Docking machines…they go a long way back.”
    “Docking machines?”
    “Yep, we take  a sample of every load of  grain, dump it in the docker and then
    calculate how much to dock the farmers’ load.”
    “Weed seeds and rat dung as a percentage  of  total load.”
    “Not so much rat dung but weed seeds for sure and other waste”
    “Farmers must hate these machines.”
    “They do…cuts into profits.”
    “Still using those dockers?”
    “No…they’re obsolete.  New dockers are  better.”
    “What are  you going to do with the old ones?”
    “Nothing…we’ll get rid of them when we have time.”
    “Would you sell them to us?”
    “Sure…sell them cheap, how  about $20 each?”
    “I’ll give you $25 each.”
    “Sold.  Let’s get them in your truck…Not much room.”



    This is the older  of the two…perhaps once  it was hand cranked.   Both Docking machines run by electric motors so they are likely vintage 1920 or 1930 or 1940.




    CONCLUSION

    And so  we  loaded both docking machines…packed tight in our  van.  Two kids, two dogs, four sleeping bags, Coleman stove, coolers, dog food, human food, one giant tractor tube (our idea of a boat),
    then Marjorie and  me  and  now TWO DOCKING MACHINES.   And a case of Coors beer for our visit with Wick at Lake of the Woods.  Behind the van we hauled a pop up trailer.  We  must have looked  like
    a modern version of Steinbeck’s Grapes of  Wrath.   

    I sat in the barn today thinking about that trip.  Good memories.  One mistake somewhere along the way when the tractor tube broke loose and rolled like an immense do-nut into the ditch.  We should
    have deflated it rather than tie it to the truck roof.  But how would we re-inflate it at a lakeside camp ground?  I think we gave it away.

    I hadn’t seen those  Docking Machines for two decades.  I knew they were  safely tucked away in the barn though.   This was a good time to give them the 
    exposure they deserved.  So here they are…yours to admire.

    alan skeoch
    Oct. 2020

    P.S.  Just in case you wonder why I had trouble finding the Dockers, here’s a picture of things that blocked
    my view.  Each of these things is  another story.  The great wood  drive pulleys were rescued when the
    Massey Ferguson factory was demolished around  1990.