Alan Skeoch

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  • 61st STEAM ERA SHOW, HUME FARM, SEPT. 1 TO 4, 2023

    EPISODE 877     STEAM ERA 2023  61 ST YEAR, HUME FARM, MILTON, SEPT 1 TO 4, 2023


    alan skeoch
    sept.. 4, 2023




    I ws 23 years  old  when my Uncle Frank freeman asked if I wanted to go
    to the first Steam Era gathering on a local farm.  Summer Of 1962.  I do not think the show even had  a name back then.
    Uncle Frank knew I was fascinated by the people and  machines of the 19th and early 20th century. FANNING MIILLS
    in particular .

    “Alan, a bunch of local farmers are having farm sow nearby, would you lie to join me
    ands what the show is all about.  Not really sure myself.”
    “OK:,”, I Answered without  much enthusiasm..   

    And so began my lifelong association with Steam era,,  By 1980 I even wrote a  300 page manuscript on the
    sjubject as an M.A. thesis titled “technology and Change in 19th Ontario agriculture” copies of which 
    are held in Cooperstown , New Yorik, Black Ceek Museum (Toronto).  .

    In short I became an enthusiast.  Lasted most of my lifetime.  All because of a seed planted in my brain by Uncle Frank Freeman.,
    my mother’s brother, who spent his life trying to make a living on stoney farm in Erin Township ,  Wellington c/ounty.

    These pictures were taken on /sept, 2m 2923, at Steam Era on the Hume Farm on 4th line of Halton County, Ontario
    (My not episode will feature Robert downy and his corn asking machine…)


    PICTURES TAKEN AT STEM ERA 2023 (HUME FARM)

  • Live From The Field

    EPISODE  878    steam era show at milton labou day week end


    alan skeoch
    august 3, 2023



    Next episode will feature Robert Downey of Caledonia and his helper …  and a wondrous machine he rescued from
    the scrap pile of te past.   Hold your breath, the story is coming.  Meanwhile pack up and head for Steam Era…4th line
    just a bit North West of Milton.  



    THERE IS STILL TIME, BROTHER …TODAY AUGUST 3 AND TOMORROW AUGUST 4….STEAM ERA ON  4TH LINE,.
    NORTH OF  STEELES AVENUE, NORTH SIDE OF HWY 401,  NEAR MILTON


    This iis a short episode aimed at my readers who often use my stories as a guide to explore  Ontario 

    SEAM ERA is a chance for you and family to spend a few hours in the past…..seeing machines that no longer
    exist… like those below.

    Later episodes will tell the stories of Steam Era.  Incuding the thrill I felt when I met Robert Downey of Caledonia.
     This episode will be pictures I took yesterday as
    “Iwandered lonely as a cloud’ 






  • EPISODE 875 CATTLE IN A NEW FIELD..”GRASS IS AS HIGH AS AN ELEPHANTS’ EYE” (not quite but close)

    EPISODE 875     CATTLE IN A NEW FIELD..”GRASS IS AS HIGH AS AN ELEPHANTS’ EYE” (not quite but close)


    alan skeoch
    sept 1,2023

    I have readers and I have lookers.  Some of you  read the stories.   Glad you do because the stories take a 
    lot of time to write.  Others of you just look at the pictures.   Busy lives.   Wish you would read some of
    the stories but time is fleeting.  Some stories take the better part of  day to construct and find relevant pictures.
    And some just press delete and wish I would desist. I just clutter up email.  Three groups.

    Today is a picture essay fo both readers an lookers to enjoy.

    Think of the music of ‘Oklahoma’.


  • EPISODE 855 DID A FERAL TOM CAT COME FOR A VISIT WITH CHELSEA BUN (father of our kitten)

    EPISODE 855      DID A FERAL TOM CAT COME FOR A VISIT WITH CHELSEA BUN (father of our kitten)


    alan skeoch
    august 31,2023


    IMAGES OF OUR KITTEN (ABOVE)

    IMAGES OF FERAL TOMCATS (BELOW)

    ALAN, I NEED HELP

    “Alan, stop the tractor, I need help!”
    “What’s the problem?”
    “The cat got out…I saw her heading for the swamp,”
    “How did she escape?”
    “I have no idea…doors were closed.”

    Our new family addition  is CHELSEA BUN  so named because she
    looks like  a Chelsea bun…dark with patches of cream coloured fur here and there…one definite whitish paw and a
     cream coloured dollop between her eyes.  She is not likely to win a prize at a cat show.    Here tail is broken.   But she is the
    smartest cat we have ever owned.  Smart enough to dart out a crack in the door without us noticing.

    You go around the swamp from one side, I will go the other way shaking the food bag.
    Maybe we can get her before a coyote does.”
    “Not much danger of coyotes here at the farm.”
    “City coyotes are far more numerous.”

    “A few years ago neighbourhood cats roamed quite freely   today we have not seen
    a cat for years.   Cats make a good coyote dinner except for the fur which is obviously excreted in coyote dung.
    Few coyotes at the farm.   But they are present if unseen.  So we  were a bit anxious.


    We were given Chelsea Bun by a farm neighbour, Elizabeth Porter.  She had a surprise batch of kittens in March
    …the result of a feral Tom Cat who briefly visited and left his calling card.   Tom cats are rare.  Most are
    ,fixed, (i.e. castrated) .   Tom cats are generally unwelcome…like stallions, bulls, boars and other males.
    We did know one thing about the father of our kitten.  He was tortoise shell …. like the Chelsea bun.
    But that is all tha was known.  No one saw him do the ‘job’ on the neighbour farm cat.   It was likely a night time
    romance.

    “Our kitten must look like the father”  said Elizabeth. So different from their mother.

    I searched one side of the swamp and could hear Marjorie shaking  the cat food box.   We found  nothing.

    “Where did you see her?”
    “Down by he Shaver barn…..she darted across to the swamp.   Lean and swift…no intention  of 
    being tricked by food.”
    “Let’s give up and hope she comes back on her own.”

    So we went back to the farm house and guess what we found?

    “Alan, the kitten is back in the house.”
    “Impossible.”
    Chelsea Bun was snuggling up against Marjorie as if nothing had happened.
    And nothing had happened,  No escape at all.  Then sho in hell were we searching for in
    the swamp?

    “I think that was Chelsea Bun’s father.   Looked exactly like Chelsea Bun….tortoise shell colours.
    “A wild cat…feral”
    “But our farm is several kilometres from the Porter/Kilner farn   Seems a long distance.”
    “Maybe not.”
    “Do you think the Tom cat came to see his daughter…to see Chelsea Bun?”
    “I think that is pushing things.   Cats are not people.”
    “Maybe he is living in one of our barns but cautious  and never seen.”
    “Like  the coyotes.

    EVIDENCE SEEMS TO SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT THIS FERAL TOM CAT WAS REALLY THE FATHER
    OF CHELSEA BUN,   DID HE REALLY COME TO CHECK UP ON HIS DAUGHTER?.  NOW THAT IS PURE CONJECTURE.

    TOM CAT TERRITORY

    1,351 acres (2.1 square miles)

    • EXCERPT:   The scientists found that the feral cats had home ranges that stretched across large areas; one male kitty’s range covered 1,351 acres (2.1 square miles). They roamed over a wide variety of habitats, most often in urban areas and grasslands, including a restored prairie. 

    In winter, they preferred urban spots, forests and farmland, all places that would provide greater shelter from bad weather and help them keep warm. Cats that had owners, meanwhile, tended to stick close to home, with their range sizes averaging a mere 4.9 acres.

    Feral kitties were also more active than cats that had homes. Unowned cats spent 14 percent of their time in what the scientists classified as “high activity” (running or hunting, for example), compared with only 3 percent for kitties with owners. “The unowned cats have to find food to survive, and their activity is significantly greater than the owned cats throughout the day and through the year, especially in winter,” saysstudy co-author Jeff Horn of the University of Illinois.

    In addition, the feral cats’ daily activity patterns—sleeping during the day and being active at night, which likely reflects the behavior of their prey, small mammals, as well as lets them better avoid humans—was very different from kitties with homes. Those animals were most active in the morning and evening, when their owners were likely home and awake.

    Only one owned kitty died during the study, compared with six feral cats. Two of the feral cats were killed by coyotes, and the researchers believe that at least some of the others were killed by other cats, as the owned kitty was. Cats that live outdoors, even just part of the time, are at risk of death from other cats as well as diseases


    POST SCRIPT

    ONE winter evening about 30 or 40 years ago we watched the milking time at the Townsend dairy farm.  (near Bellwood)  There were 23 feral cats
    watching along with us.   I counted them. Occasionally cousin Eleanor would grab a teat and direct a shot of milk at one of the cats.  Not a drop
    was lost.   These cats had all arrived on their own.  They were feral.  Warm home for the winter.

    alan skeoch

  • EPISODE 874 honey bees at the royal york hotel august 28, 2023

    EPISODE  874     honey bees at the royal york hotel  august 28, 2023


    alan and marjorie skeoch



    Marjorie Skeoch along with five retired teachers managed to find a bee yard  high among the sky scrapers of Toronto waterfront.
    The bee yard is quite famous but few have ever had the tour of the roof garden of the Royal York Hotel.  The roof garden and huge bee yard 
    are smack dab in the centre of Toronto where steel and glass high rise offices and asphalt roadways and cement walkways make green ways 
    seemingly non existent.  So the Toronto bee yard a top the Royal York has achieved international fame. 

    Here is your chance to get there courtesy of Marjorie and her friends.

    (Marjorie Skeoch (photos)
    august 28, 2023

    ‘



    HONEY HARVEST


    Every September, Fairmont Royal York’s Apiary Team, led by Executive Sous Chef Andrew Wilson, harvest honey from our very own rooftop bee hives. Previous harvests have bestowed upon us award-wining honey and this year’s golden bounty could prove to be just as exceptional.

    2,100 frames of honeycomb were extracted from seven hives, which produced approximately 400 lbs of sweet, liquid honey which will be featured in our menus throughout the hotel. From our Chef’s Table, to our Banquet Buffets, to unique in-room amenities – add a little sweetness to your next visit with us.

    ABOUT OUR BEES
    In 2008, Fairmont Royal York became the first hotel in the world to introduce a rooftop apiary. During our peak season, the apiary’s seven hives are home to half a million honey bees and seven queens. Toronto Beekeepers Collective and Urban Beekeeper Melanie Coates tend to the bees, that produce an average of 400 lbs of honey each year. Fairmont Royal York’s honey has won awards at the Royal Winter Fair for over five years and is a popular ingredient used by our Culinary Team.

    Our Rooftop honey is a symbol of our commitment to PLANET 21, a comprehensive global program that brings together employees, guests and partners to drive sustainable growth.