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Tag Archives: wheat
The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J Redford – Working
Posted by m lewis redford in announcements
1967, chimney, clouds, corn, cows, dusk, eggs, elm, farming, fence, fields, flood, food distribution, future, gale, gaze, green, grey, harvest, hay, hills, identity, leaf, letter, machines, meadow, meat production, Michael J Redford, milk, morning, oats, poetry, rain, sheep, silence, summer, sun, the Boats of Vallisneria, thought, time, tractors, trees, valley, weather, wheat, wind, windows, work, writing
A Letter of Two Parts
Dear Pat and John
I thought it high time I dropped another letter from the country into the post. Looking back over the past summer months seems more like looking back over a bleak and stormy winter. The weather has of course played havoc with the haymaking and harvesting. I hear that at one time, medium quality hay was fetching nearly £20 per ton, and taking into account the wide-spread flooding that has occurred, it seems there'll not be enough oat straw to feed in place of it. With this drastic shortage of hay and straw, the outlook is black indeed.
Even as I write, the rain is beating alarmingly against the window panes, borne upon a gale that roars like an express up the valley, each gust falling over the next in its haste to wreak havoc on the exposed hills. As I gaze through the window pane distorted with rivulets and splashes, I perceive a hazy image of grey hills shouldering leaden clouds, and every few minutes the wind rattles the frame and comes sighing down the chimney. The whole house shudders a little and a log in the hearth slips, sending up a shower of sparks to meet the confusion above. The fields are in a sorry state. Most of the corn has been lodged as if trampled by some strident giant, fences have been breached by falling trees and many sheep throughout the country have been drowned in the spreading waters.
There was a period two weeks ago when the tempest eased a little and allowed a little watery sun into our eyes, but this lasted for only seven days, after which the rain set in again and eased up only occasionally for an odd day here and there. We have managed to stack about half the oats, but the remainder will probably have to be written off. The wheat would have encountered a similar fate had it not been for the three hired combines.
Now here once again are the winds and the rains. A dead leaf, too sodden to absorb any more water is whipped across the window and trembles for a brief second on the sill before joining the hosts that cling to the chicken coop wire. Incidentally, I'd better put this letter to one side for a moment in order to collect the eggs before the half light fades completely.
Dear Pat and John,
I've had to restart this letter. Owing to this sudden bright spell we've been working like mad trying to catch up on the backlog of harvesting and general repairs. I started this letter well over two weeks ago but I'm afraid I've not had time to finish it until now. It is remarkable how the view has changed outside my window. The country scene these past few days has been one of violent human and mechanical activity.
Implements of all shapes, sizes and colours have erupted from their unusual passiveness and are droning, roaring and rattling over the soil. A combine harvester, like a metal monster from a Wells novel, trundles ponderously across the field, digesting the grain and vomiting the residue in its wake. Tractors career madly through the lanes, heave with throbbing effort towering loads of sheaves and haul balers which follow on, nodding idiotically like inane sheep. Men race fervently against time commanding machines, pitching sheaves, building stacks, their pitchforks leaping and flashing under the sun. Farmers and farm workers alike are conscious of the urgency of the hour, but no clock watching for them, they are eager to see the culmination of a years' hard work. To these men, their work is not merely a means of earning a living, it is something far more than this, something far more personal and important to them as individuals. These men work not so much for their employers but with them, and it is through this combined effort that the tempestuous vagaries of the past year have been overcome.
If a machine breaks down, there is a curse and several pairs of hands are immediately locating the trouble. They may not be expert mechanics but farm workers are masters of improvisation and no machine is standing idle for long. It is this knack of 'making do' that is the seed of many weird and wonderful machines that have appeared on the agricultural scene, and it would indeed be difficult to find any industry which has produced in such a short period of time a greater range of impossible machines to tackle such improbable tasks. No doubt to the layman it would appear that with all these modern innovations, the life of the farm worker today is almost as idyllic as the sentimentalised conception of the pseudo-bucolic poets of the seventeenth century:-
"O happy life, if that their good
The husbandman but understood.
Who all the day themselves do please …"
Whenever a new acquaintance asks the nature of my work they are, on being told, shocked into silent disbelief. Apparently I neither look like a farm labourer nor do I sound like one (how does such a person look and sound), and henceforth I am re-introduced either as a farmer or, by those who are more sensitive towards the truth, as being 'in farming', thereby implying that I own vast acres and hunt every Tuesday and Saturday. A wistful 'back to the land' look then enters the eye. "I've always wanted to work on a farm" they sigh. No doubt there have been insuperable obstacles in ambition's path for many people, but surely not all, and I have yet to meet the person who doesn't bemoan his lot in town and gaze longingly at the green hills. And just as a point of interest, I have yet to meet the person who doesn't have an uncle somewhere who owns a farm.
Their conception of farming today seems even more idyllic than that of their fathers'. Machines, they say, have taken the hard work out of farming, all we have to do is sit on a tractor all day and press buttons. Perhaps they would like to spend a day stacking bales of hay under a sizzling hot roof of a Dutch barn, or perhaps after a sixteen hour day during harvest, [perhaps] they would like to sit up all night with a cow who is having a difficult time calving and work another sixteen hours the following day, and the day after that. Unless a farmer specialises in a line for which a particular machine or implement has been designed, then it is not economical to purchase that machine. For example, a man with just one house cow would find it uneconomical to install a completely automatic milking unit, but even where this is justified, as in the case of larger herds, the farmer or herdsman still has to rise at five o'clock on a bitterly cold winter's morning seven days a week. The advent of the machine has not necessarily lessened the amount of hard work to be done, it has merely allowed us to do more work in a given amount of time. In fact, it is because of the machine that the herdsman's lot today is becoming an increasingly intolerable one.
An old friend of mine once milked twenty five cows night and morning with two machines. He know his cows and his cows knew him. Although he did not rush things, he was efficient. He would stand aside as the cows came into the shed and cast his eye over each one, and as he milked, he ran his hand over their coats and looked at their droppings. Old Charlie could tell immediately if one of the animals was off colour. Then his employer retired and a young, progressive farmer moved in. Fortunately he ask Charlie to stay on as cowman. Now, Charlie milks sixty cows night and morning with four machines in a well-parlour. On being asked how he liked the new system, the old cowman sighed.
"Well I dunno. We gets the milk, that's fer sure, but 'tis like working in a factory. There's pipes, tubes, valves, taps an' switches everywhere. The animals go through the parlour like a dose o' salts – you've 'ardly got time to wash their bags. All you can see of 'em is one side, their guts might be 'anging out the other fer all I know." His addendum, I think, summed up his real grievance.
"Trouble is – I 'ent got enough time to get to know me animals."
What could once be classified as a pleasurable occupation was now, through the advent of the machine, become a tiresome chore, and as mechanisation infiltrates more and more, so true herdsmanship is disappearing. The reticent paragon of tolerance, that slow, amiable patient being that was once the cowmen, is now being pushed aside to make way for the impatient, ulcer-ridden milker of high speed conveyer-type milk production of today, so much so in fact, that on some larger farms, milkers are already working a shift system to break the seven day a week monotony.
I can foresee in the not so distant future, a herd of a thousand or more cows, zero grazed, moving almost continuously through a system of yards and parlours twice every twenty four hours. In the parlours, shift work will be in progress with round the clock milking. The milk will be pumped through to the distribution. The organisation will manufacture its own concentrates, will employ its own veterinary surgeon, accountant and secretary and will have a resident Ministry Inspector equipped with his own laboratory. And of course the whole concern will be owned by the big industrialists of the day. This is not such an improbability as may at first appear for this has already happened to a great degree to some of our poultry farms. There are now vast empires where eggs are fed into one end of a building and emerge twelve weeks later at the other as pre-packed chickens with their giblets frozen into little polythene bags inside them. Then there is the abomination of the sweat box and battery systems of meat production. Agricultural evolution has reached a point where farming, as we know it, is slowly but surely plunging into self-annihilation and dragging down with it the responsibility of moral thought into a morass of turpitude. We are entering an age of hydroponic systems where an agricultural technocracy permits controlled environment and mass production of living creatures to an extent unparalleled in human history. It is as if we have forgotten that we are dealing with life itself and not inanimate lumps of putty waiting to be moulded into any shape by the current market. Yet if the farmers of today do not keep abreast of [the] latest scientific developments, they would find it almost impossible to feed themselves let alone provide food for others. Even so, despite the fact that agricultural efficiency and production have increased beyond the wildest dreams of great pioneers such as John Lawes and Sir Humphry Davy, people are still dying in their thousands for want of food. Despite the fact that there is enough food produced throughout the world in any one year to supply mankind with the essentials of life for the next twenty, the bloated belly of the beggar is still a common sight in the greater part of the world. It is not, therefore, research into agricultural production methods which is urgently needed, but research into the distribution of those products. It is in this sphere that the great fields of ignorance lay.
But let me rein back awhile for I have digressed too far. This letter to you was intended to be a portrait of the countryside as I have seen it during the last two months, so now let me gaze upon the pastoral scene beyond my window. The cows have finished grazing and are lying in the meadow cudding methodically. The sun falls upon their backs like a warm blanket and a faint breeze fans their faces.
It was nine o'clock last night that the last load was brought home. Engines were switched off one by one across the fields and, as the evening star faded, Pegasus shimmered the in the warmth of dusk and gazed upon the southern elms. As the last sheaf was laid upon the stack, the year ended, our year, that is. George stood, hands on hips. Harry leaned upon his pitchfork. Alf and Arthur sat upon the trailer and Jim stood with one foot upon the wheel hub. In silence they gazed at the stack, each man with his own thoughts, each man reaping his own spiritual harvest.
read the collected work as it is published: here
chimney wormhole: the missing chord // the now-silent seagull
clouds & identity & time & wind wormhole: travelling // arrival
green wormhole: green and / luminant / to behold
grey wormhole: for / the first time
hills & valley wormhole: volcanic rock
morning wormhole: forgotten anything
poetry wormhole: Pilot 125 … // … being excursion in the interludes
rain wormhole: when the rain has settled / the dust
silence wormhole: without any buffet at all
sun wormhole: is this it // all the time
thought & writing wormhole: Christmas 2015
trees wormhole: Plumstead – Woolwich – Plumstead 220211
windows wormhole: river
work wormhole: I am not yet ready
occa / s / i // o / n / a // l // l // y
'scape, 2014, 4*, blue, brown, charcoal, clouds, Darmstadt, echo, field, green, passing, rain, walking, wheat, white, woodland
brown-soft echo hawthorn-green & white
out to
wide wheat-field herringbone-parted fizz-greenie heads on forest-blue stalk all
charcoal-blue clouds spitting
occa s i
o n a
l y
blue wormhole: vastly
brown & clouds & echo & rain wormhole: Open – All – Ours
field wormhole: The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford – The Agricultural Show
green wormhole: the silent night of the Batman
passing & walking wormhole: Luton // couldn't make a poem out of it
white wormhole: 1967
The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J Redford – Safe Home
cars, celebration, city, community, commuting, countryside, evening, eyes, field, harvest, history, industry, life, Longfellow, Michael J Redford, morning, Nag's Head, pipe, pub, Ramsden Heath, smoke, speech, sun, table, talking, the Boats of Vallisneria, tv, village, walking, wheat, windows, work
"Drift from the land continues." Thus was I informed by the 'Farmer's Weekly' one Friday morning as it lay open on the breakfast table. This drift from the land affects not only agriculture but also the structure of the village community. Of those who leave the land, many also leave the village their forefathers had inhabited for generations and go to the towns to find employment in industry, and of those who stay, most become commuters and spend most of their lives working in and travelling to and from the city. It is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to find the Coopers or the Charmans, the Thatchers or the Reeves whose descendants had practised their crafts in the same village for centuries, and I am saddened at the thought of these links, these direct human links with the past slowly withering away. Of the hosts who patronise my own local pub, there are but five or six who are connected in some way with farming or country life. The normal topics of conversation (apart from the usual British subjects of cricket and the weather) are now the trials and tribulations of a day at the office, the trouble one has had with the car or the recently installed central heating system and a somewhat heated discussion on 'That' programme on telly last night.
The truly rural community is not only dwindling but is also being diluted by the absorption of the townsman in the form of new towns and from the expanding ring of the more prosperous classes as they move out further and further from their place of work as life in the city becomes more and more intolerable.
A small but interesting side effect of this movement of the population can be noted not only in the topic of conversation, but also in the mode of dress. At one time it was only the more prosperous members of the community who could afford smart suits of fine materials and were able to drive around in ostentatious cars while the remainder had to make do with serge or rough tweed or any hard wearing material which could weather many winters. Now, prosperity has increased to such a degree that, on a Saturday evening, the car park of the Nag's Head is full of shining cars none of which I swear is over five years old, while inside silk rubs shoulders with worsted. What is left of the local gentry now distinguishes itself by arriving at the pub in a battered Land Rover covered in muck and mud and dressing in rough tweeds and cords, and if it were not for his public school accent, he could quite easily be mistaken for a tramp. You will find him mostly in the public bar playing dominoes or cribbage and drinking pints of bitter while his city cousins monopolise the saloon discussing the affairs of the day over a scotch and dry. No matter how affluent the society or how adamant is one's denial of the existence of 'class', the differences will always be there to be seen.
One such a tramp visited me yesterday to confirm some arrangements with regard to the harvest festival. He was a man of my grandfather's generation who had lived in the village in pre-dilution days. The common bond of farming had drawn us together when I first visited the Nag's Head in Ramsden Heath, and ever since we have discussed, gesticulated and argued about farming, I, learning something from his methods and he (I am vain enough to assume) learning something from mine. So it was that two tramps (and I call myself a tramp simply because I had not yet changed from my working clothes, not because I make claim to being part of the local heritage) sat at an open window one late summer's eve discussing and reminiscing about the harvest. The heat of the day had left its mark upon the still air and golden rays slanted through the window picking out the curling smoke from my friend's pipe before it disappeared into the gloom above. His eyes ascended with the smoke and his thoughts went with them.
"`Course it's not the same now – never will be, harvest has lost most of its true meaning. Today it has become merely another chore that has to be dealt with."
I thought of the congregation that would attend the little grey church on Sunday. Ninety percent of them would be townsmen whose only connection with harvest is the bread roll eaten at their game of bridge. My friend was speaking again.
"Nowadays the only people conscious of harvest home are those who reap it and of those few involved, only a fraction are aware of the full solemnity of the occasion."
That's true. In the days of scythes and flails, even up to the time of the threshing machine, harvest time, that milestone of true country life, was steep in ceremony. First a 'Lord' and 'Lady' of the harvest would be elected to lead the reapers into the field. This was a solemn occasion for the sweat, toil and the blistering work was still ahead of them. The long days of drudgery passed slowly as acre by acre the long stems fell to the scythe and backs bent continually cutting, gathering, binding and stooking. Finally, upon the last day and in the center of the last acre stood the last sheaf. If one man was to reap this final sheaf alone, he would be courting disaster. The entire company therefore, would gather round and, at a signal form the 'Lord' or the 'Lady' (depending upon local custom), they would all hurl their hooks at the few remaining stems. The corn dolly would then be woven to appease the spirits, then the back slapping and the chasing and kissing of the girls would begin. More merriment would take place that evening when the whole company would assemble at the farmhouse for refreshment in the form of rough (very rough) cider and ale.
When the crop was fit for carrying and the last load had been carted in from the fields led by the 'Lady' of the harvest, then would come the harvest supper with its eating, drinking, toasting and singing, and soon after, the gleaning bell would ring out across the still fields.
There is always a stillness in the fields when harvest is over and yesterday was no exception. There was such a calm in fact, that as the old gentleman opposite me knocked out his pipe on the window sill, our Jersey heifer Molly, who lay half asleep on the other side of the hoppit, turned her brown face lazily in our direction. Nowadays there is no ceremony. Like most milestones, harvest has been enveloped in the growth of progress and forgotten. The old man spoke again.
"Of course harvest was of greater significance in those days, for if harvest was poor, hardship and deprivation would be the farmworker's constant companion throughout the year, that's why there was such joy and genuine thanksgiving when the crop was safe home."
I received a mental picture of a field heavy with ripened wheat, the hard fat grains shimmering in the heat of summer and gold sheathed stems, faint bowed by heavy heads, stood as if they themselves were in prayer. Then I saw beneath this deeply moving scene, the reality of sweat and toil, of aching backs, parched throats and calloused hands. And yet the workers could still infuse a gaiety into the drudgery; even at the end of the last long day, they still had energy to laugh and sing and chase the girls across the fields. Although there is still much hard work to be done at harvest time, the worker's nagging fear of a crop failure is gone; the direct contact between harvester and Mother Earth has been severed and much of the toil has disappeared – but then so has much of the gaiety.
My old friend stood up and stretched.
"Even if it was a bad harvest," he said glancing at his watch, (it was two hours past opening time), "there would always be a sheaf put to one side for the festival, partly as thanksgiving for that already received, no matter how little this might be, and partly as a prayer for the future."
I took down my leather-bound jacket from the back door and thought of Longfellow's words: 'Like flames upon the alter shine the sheaves,' flames that took a year to kindle, a year of energy which, if funnelled into a second, could move a mountain.
Strolling towards the Nag's Head in the cool, green evening, my face stinging from the noon day sun, I suddenly remembered something.
"By the way," I said, "what exactly was it you came to see me about?"
cars wormhole: Life on Mars? – poewieview #31
city wormhole: tired
evening wormhole: Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters] – moment
eyes & speech wormhole: coagulating
field & sun wormhole: The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J Redford – Simon Upon The Downs
history wormhole: 'hope for things to come'
life wormhole: chartless …
morning & walking wormhole: Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters] – gull circling out at sea
Ramsden Heath wormhole: The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford – Olly
smoke wormhole: being in love – poewieview #26
table wormhole: what life went on
talking wormhole: my seat // now
tv wormhole: "Darling" – poewieview #28
windows wormhole: the purple mist between
work wormhole: Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters] – mmpph'
Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters] – autumn
2016, Africa, air, autumn, book, colour, digging, earth, emerald, eyes, faces, field, garden, gold, grass, hill, horse, lawn, life, lunch, morning, peas, plough, poetry, reading, sky, skyline, sleep, sound, spiders, starlings, sun, sunlight, the Boats of Vallisneria, trees, uncle, wheat
young wheat and emerald, in sese vertitur annus,
reading an old poet in the garden, the sky is clear as face –
I had mown the lawn that morning just before lunch
and turned over the plot where the peas had been cleared –
on the steep hill opposite a horse pulled forward from a plough
moving slowly towards the skyline, jingle of the traces,
the book fell, the starlings flew, suddenly, I came awake
as the plough turned the field and spark of sunlight leapt,
shoulder to mine eye, while the earth lay opened and dark-folded;
(visitors had arrived, in quietude, invasion of linyphiids,
a thin gossamer between ridges – lapping under the sun –
bristles of random colour, a hundred yards long
and twenty inches wide and bare of future gold);
among the nemesia the book is retrieved, many lives
will be lost, just enough will be saved, restless; this is
thistle-down upon the air, here are crackle and pop
beneath the sky; the tree tops will be dipped in
old gold, and the swallows will be off for Africa
this is an appliquiary to : The Boats of Vallesneria by Michael J. Redford – Autumn Thoughts
air & autumn & eyes & field & garden & gold & morning & poetry & reading & sky & skyline & sleep & sunlight & trees wormhole: The Boats of Vallesneria by Michael J. Redford – Autumn Thoughts
faces wormhole: a theremin note – poewieview #21
life & uncle wormhole: Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters] – introdepthion
sound wormhole: Drug Store, 1927
sun wormhole: between thoughts
The Boats of Vallesneria by Michael J. Redford – Autumn Thoughts
1967, Africa, afternoon, air, Apollo, autumn, awakening, beans, bees, beginning, birth, blue, book, bracken, bronze, caterpillar, child, colour, cottage, crickets, dark, death, digging, earth, emerald, end, eyes, face, field, flowers, forest, garden, generation, gold, gorse, grass, hazel, hedgehog, hill, hive, honeysuckle, horse, house martin, ivy, January, journey, joy, lambs, land, lawn, leaves, life, March, memory, migration, mind, moorhen, moorland, morning, mother, nemesia, Norway, oak, plough, poetry, purple, reading, redwing, sadness, seasons, seeds, silence, sitting, sky, skyline, sleep, smell, sound, spiders, starlings, sunlight, the Boats of Vallisneria, thistles, thought, time, transition, trees, uncle, valley, web, wheat, winter, woodlark, work
I sat in the garden one autumn afternoon reading an old poet. The sky was unblemished, clear and pure as the face of a child and starlings were deep in conversation close by. I had mown the lawn that morning just before lunch and turned over the plot where the peas had been cleared. After this exertion and a good meal, I felt no pang of conscience as I turned my back upon the many other chores that cried for attention and took my book into the garden and relaxed in the warm soporific scent of honeysuckle and freshly cut grass. After an indeterminable period my thoughts were lifted from the page upon my knee and I drifted across the valley to the hill opposite. There the grade was steep, too steep for tractor or any other mechanical tool. A horse therefore was leaning from a plough, moving slowly, almost imperceptively towards the skyline. The cottage in which I then lived was very old and the hills opposite even older; no doubt at one time they were covered with forest, but many men must have witnessed that same scene before me, many men and many generations. To them it was a common sight, but to me it was a rare and beautiful sight that spanned the centuries. The scene was timeless.
I felt my head nod forward quite suddenly and I came awake. The book fell onto the grass and the starlings flew off more in indignation than fright. In the silence that followed, there filtered through the warmth of the valley the faint jingle of the traces, and as the plough turned upon the headland, a spark of sunlight leapt from the polished harness; it was an impish child of Apollo that danced upon the horse's back one moment, then without warning, leapt the great expanse of the valley and entered my eye within the same split second. I realised then that here was a beginning; here, before the old year was done, was another just starting. Here the earth was being opened up to let in winter's icy fingers so that she might the better prepare the seed bed for next year's crop. Then as the mind's awareness expanded, I felt that this was not the only beginning taking place, there were many more throughout the changing land.
Visitors were arriving, flowers were blooming, animals were being born. All about me, as I sat half asleep in the quietude, a great movement of life was in progress, and I thought of another great movement of life that had occurred the previous autumn. It was an invasion of our fields by the linyphiids or gossamer spiders. We were drilling wheat at the time and as I crouched low on the footboard of the drill to clear a coulter that had clogged up, I beheld a silken counterpane of gossamer stretched between the faint ridges of the harrowed earth. The effect, if the eye was held low enough, was that of a thin layer of water shimmering in the early morning sun sending off sparks of individual colour selected at random from all parts of the spectrum. So taken was I with this scene that all thoughts of clearing the coulters left me as we rattled and jogged across the field, and when harvesting the same field this year, there, as a reminder of that small moment, was a strip bare of swaying gold a hundred yards long and twenty inches wide.
I retrieved the book and placed it on the seat beside me. The starlings had returned and were even noisier than before and the bees were hurrying to and fro among the nemesia in the hope of collecting and storing that little extra for the months ahead. Soon they will end their toil; soon they would maim and expel the unfortunate drones and retire to the centre of the hive with the queen in their midst. The day was magnificent, more like mid-summer than autumn, small wonder indeed that the careless cricket continued to 'sing' unaware of the imminent peril of winter. Many small lives will be lost in the approaching days of darkness yet, through it all, just enough will be saved. Beneath the apparent calm of autumn is a restlessness; and urgency sweeps through the fields and woodlands as the wiser creatures prepare for flight or lay in stores for sustenance through the long twilight of winter yet to come.
Autumn is a season of transition, a season of intense activity; of flowers flowering and flowers dying, of drilling wheat and cutting beans. Autumn is a time of birth and death; a time of awakening and a time of going to sleep. It is a time for the young and a time for the old, a time of both joy and sadness.
This is the time of thistle-down upon the air and goose-grass burrs upon the stockings; when the gorse and broom crackle and pop beneath a March-blue sky and scatter their tiny seeds among the dry stems of the sapless grass. Now the moors are stained a deeper purple, bracken becomes bronzed and the tree tops dipped in old gold. In the derries the young caterpillar of the Purple Emperor wraps itself in dead oak leaves and sleeps until the great awakening. When gossamer fills the air and hazel nuts turn brown the young swallows start on that amazing flight to the shores of Africa, a journey undertaken by their parents a year before who, curiously enough, do not show their offspring the way, but follow on some days later. How many thousand autumns have witnessed this exodus? Yet to what blocks of logic and fact can we in all our wisdom attribute this common thing. The redwing and fieldfare arrive from Norway urging on the lingering house martin. The woodlark sings, the ivy flowers and the honeysuckle blooms again. And as the somnolent hedgehog rolls himself in his blanket of leaves, the last brood of moorhen is hatched. Something sleeps, something awakes; something dies, something is born.
There is no real beginning or end to the year. Even on the first of January the lambs are growing; leaves are forming within the bud and the young wheat carpets the bare fields with emerald. But for those whose minds cannot accept the existence of that which has no beginning and no end, then let the division between the years be drawn through autumn, for the onset of winter is really the beginning of the year, not the end. The young year is born into a cold and sometimes frightening world just as the infant child is released from the warm security of the mother's womb, and like the child, the infant year begins its life before it is born. It begins in the womb of autumn. It is here then (if anywhere) that one thing ends and another begins. It is here In Sese Vertiture Annus.
1967 & garden & life & mind & thought & uncle wormhole: The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford – Introduction
afternoon wormhole: "walking …"
air & sound & time wormhole: constant hummm
autumn & gold & sky & smell & trees & work wormhole: The Boats of Vallisneria by Michael J. Redford – Contents
blue & reading wormhole: between thoughts
child & sleep wormhole: 1968
death & eyes wormhole: too late:
field & skyline wormhole: impressionism
leaves wormhole: work
morning wormhole: the coming of 'The Boats of Vallisneria' by Michael J. Redford
mother wormhole: and that's where I are
oak wormhole: dog bark
poetry wormhole: after all?
purple wormhole: 1967
silence wormhole: the missing chord // the now-silent seagull
sitting wormhole: zero
winter wormhole: 1963


text:
Cape Tech Start-up Sector Establishes Immigration Policy Review Task Team
Kerry Petrie
On Tuesday 4th December the tech start-up sector in the Western Cape came together to establish a panel of volunteers to raise the sector's collective voice in the national policy dialogue regarding the immigration system. This took place at a Town Hall discussion organised by Silicon Cape, in partnership with LaunchLab and de Saude Attorneys, and hosted by Wesgro.
Representatives from the tech start-up sector ecosystem agreed that it was becoming increasingly critical for their voice to be heard at a national policy level, particularly with regard to challenges they face with the immigration framework. It was therefore agreed to establish a panel of volunteers to advocate on behalf of the tech start-up sector and entrepreneurial ecosystem in lieu of amendments expected to the Immigration Act and critical skills list early next year.
In particular the panel will advocate for a start-up visa, and for the inclusion in the Critical Skills List of skills that are scarce in South Africa but critical to building and strengthening local innovation and entrepreneurship. Brandon Paschal, Incubation Manager at LaunchLab, highlighted that in Europe many countries have a start-up visa, and that it plays an important role in the development of the sector.
It was also agreed that the difficulty of obtaining visas for entrepreneurs and founders from across Africa to attend conferences and mentoring sessions in South Africa is a major challenge to South Africa being the Continent's entrepreneurship and innovation capital.
This tech sector Town Hall follows a broader stakeholder engagement in October hosted by Wesgro about the intersection between the immigration system and foreign investment in South Africa. The immigration policy initiative launched in Cape Town yesterday is also in alignment with the formation of a multisectoral task team under the auspices of Business Leadership South Africa to take up challenges related to the immigration system.
Kerry Petrie, Interim Manager at Silicon Cape said: "Silicon Cape is stepping up into the space of policy advocacy for the tech sector in response to calls from our members and partners. Immigration will be the first issue being tackled that advocates on behalf of the collective of entrepreneurs and start-ups and other ecosystem stakeholders in the tech start-up space." She also stated that the current visa system was causing South Africa to miss out on huge opportunities for collaboration and learning across the continent.
"We are told that a draft immigration bill will be available at the end of March next year, and a new critical skills list will be implemented and commence on 1 April next year. All we are calling for is more engagement and more opportunity to comment. What we want to achieve through all of this is to get a regime that works for everyone," added Immigration lawyer, Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi, who is also working with the BLSA forum.
MEC of Economic Opportunities, Beverly Schäfer, said: "The Western Cape has set a goal of becoming a global tech hub and in order to do so, we will require visa regime needs to be reflective of a region that is open for business."
Executive Mayor, Dan Plato, commented: "We are very proud of the tech sector that has developed in Cape Town and the Western Cape however, there is still much to be done to unlock this sectors full potential to become one of the top tech destinations in the world. We applaud the efforts of this sector to come together to further drive development in local tech."
Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro, concluded: "Cape Town and the Western Cape is fast becoming the start-up capital of Africa, and has a tech sector that employs more than double that of Lagos and Nairobi combined. It is very important that South Africa's regulatory framework not only allows this thriving sector to achieve its potential, but also allows this ecosystem to support the development of entrepreneurship and innovation across the African Continent."
[image by https://www.freepik.com/kstudio]
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Family Law Services
Appeal Work
Other Family Law
Other Family Law Matters Handled By Our Lawyers in Toronto
There are other family law matters Davies Law Firm and our Toronto family law lawyers can handle beyond separation and divorce, child custody and access, child support, spousal support, and marriage contracts and cohabitation agreements. Our law firm has experience in all family law matters since we exclusively practice family law.
Our lawyers and law firm provide the legal advice and assistance you require for certain matters regardless of whether they are directly related to separation and divorce proceedings or unrelated. Some of the more common "other" family law matters we can help you with includes, but may not be limited to:
Adoption: There can be family law legal matters you will need to address during the adoption process. We can help you so your adoption proceeds as expected and is a wonderful experience.
Surrogacy Agreements: For people who want children of their own, but have to turn to a surrogate, there are several legal matters you need to address. It is vital to protect your rights as well as that of the surrogate. Our Toronto family law lawyer can help with legally binding and enforceable agreements that are in the best interests of both parties.
Child Protective Services Issues: It is in your best interest to consult with a qualified family law lawyer in Toronto if the CAS (Children's Aid Society) has contacted you or is investigating you. Your lawyer will explain your legal responsibilities and rights while helping to protect your interests.
Grandparents' Legal Rights Issues: Sometimes children become estranged or refuse their parents access to their grandchildren. When grandparents desire visitation but have other family issues, talking to a family law lawyer can help provide information about your legal rights and available options for access to your grandchildren.
Provincial/International Child Abduction Issues: Our family law lawyer can help if your ex-spouse has fled the province or country with your children or is refusing to return them to Toronto after a scheduled visitation.
Provincial/International Child Custody and Access Issues: There can be all sorts of issues that need to be addressed when one parent moves to another province or country. Often a modification to existing child custody and access agreements is required, along with establishing stipulations for which parent is responsible to cover travel expenses of the minor children.
For legal advice and assistance with any type of family law matter in Toronto and the GTA, please feel free to contact Davies Law Firm for a consultation today.
Preferred method of contactEmailPhone
The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm is not secure and does not establish a lawyer-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.
Sorry, We Do Not Undertake Legal Aid Work
Toronto Location
1 Yonge St #1810
Toronto, ON M5E 1W7
Ottawa Location
275 Slater Street Suite 900
Ottawa, ON K1P 5H9
Copyright © 2020 Davies Divorce Law - All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy
NOTICE OF CLOSURE / AVIS DE FERMETURE
PLEASE NOTE: The Davies Law Firm is now closed. If you are a former or current client and need assistance, please contact the Law Society of Ontario at (416) 947-3366. Thank you.
VEUILLEZ NOTER: Le cabinet d'avocats Davies est maintenant fermé. Si vous êtes un client ancien ou actuel et avez besoin d'aide, veuillez communiquer avec le Barreau de l'Ontario au (416) 947-3366. Merci.
Website: https://lso.ca/contact-us


It costs five times more to find a new customer than to keep an existing one happy. Research in Customer Satisfaction has consistently shown that about 30% of customers leave an organization without telling why they are dissatisfied. But, most of the time it is not because of the quality of product or service but because of the attitude of the employees of the company while interacting with them. At time like these, when retaining customers is as essential as creating new customers, every organization should put in place an organization-wide Customer Centric Process Model that would ensure that every customer feels happy every time. Satisfaction is an attitude; loyalty is a behavior. Loyal customers spend more, are willing to pay higher prices, refer new clients, and are less costly to do business with. This programme will provide inputs that can enable organization to go beyond Customer Satisfaction and Delight to Total Customer Loyalty.
This is an activity based programme. The participants will be taken through a series of activities, role plays, video clippings and case discussions which would help them to become aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and chart a personal plan of action for moving from Good to Great.
Session - 3: Understanding Your Customers - What Customers Want - Identifying What Customers Value - Understanding Customer Expectations -The Power of Customer Perception - The Kano Model - Delighters/Exciters, Satisfiers and Dissatisfiers - Moments of Truth and Cycles of Service - Customer Touch Points Session - 4: Complaints Handling and Service recovery - Pro-active Recovery and Retention Strategies - 10 ways to increase Customer Delight and Loyalty through Customer Focus - Service Partnerships -Internal Cooperation-Building /Strengthening Internal Partnerships - Your role in Continuous Improvement.


Last Thursday saw the launch party of the Oh My Honey! 2013 bridal collection at Brighton's funky seafront nightclub, The Funfair Club.
Brighton based Louise O'Mahony (the blue-haired brains, beauty and talent behind Oh My Honey!) wowed the crowd with her 2013 collection of wedding dresses (all handmade by Louise and her team in Brighton).
Like the previous Oh My Honey! bridal collections, the dresses remain 1950's inspired in their style (Louise loves how 1950's inspired dresses look amazing on any woman) but her new collection feels rather more decadent with glam and quirky new touches such as beading, new fabrics, dip dyed petticotes, feathers and new shapes and cuts.
Louise and her team did an amazing job with the party too. There was a cool Brighton vibe to the build up on the night, with a contortionist (Lula Loop), magician (Rooster Robertson) and burlesque dancer (Cherry Bella) entertaining the soon to be brides and creative wedding industry types while we awaited the climax of the night: Oh My Honey's dreamy new bridal collection.
There were also delish cupcakes galore by Crumbs Couture, a vintage hair and makeup booth (by Pretty Pout and The Beauty Artist), gorgeous flowers by Hove based WOOKIE flowers and wedding photographers and bloggers by the dozen (some of whom had travelled from all over the country to be there).
The collection lived up to the big Brighton style build up. The models looked amazing and the crowd was suitably wowed by Louise's gorgeous and glam new collection of handmade, 1950's inspired wedding dresses.
Oh my! Gorgeous aren't they! Love the fact that there's so much choice in this collection and that sleeves make an appearance in quite a few of the dresses (great for top of the arm shy gals like me)! As Louise hand-makes the dresses to order she can also make small changes to the designs (colours, fabrics, petticotes, straps etc.) to make your dress just how you want it.
The Funfair Club — inspired by the opulence and vintage mystique of Brighton Pier and rambling funfairs — provided the perfect setting to launch Louise's gorgeous new bridal range.
Lucky for us Brighton based Erika (from Photomadly) and Dade (from Krsyslis Photography) were on hand to capture the night and the new collection beautifully, big thanks to them for sending us over these fab photos and working so hard on the night.
Thanks to Louise too for a great night. The Oh My Honey! 2013 collection is now available to buy from her online store where you can find out more about getting your wedding dress handmade by Oh My Honey!
Wedding dress collection and party host: Oh My Honey!
Models: Effie Love, Rosa Saunders, Antonia McKenzie, Ellie Watson, Gemma Taylor, Laura Nenonen, Kelly Ann Saunders, Abby Munro, Coco De Ville.


The present elementary was constructed in 1971 and has several additions in the 1990s and in the 2000s to accommodate growth. Walton-Verona Middle School was constructed in 1954 as a high school with additions in 1962, 1973, 1989 and 1993. A new High School wing was constructed in 2007. The Bridge Program resides in the former Preschool Building. The Preschool is now located at Walton-Verona Elementary School. The Walton-Verona Athletic Complex is located in Verona.
The communities of Walton and Verona are proud of their independent schools. Walton-Verona Schools have always maintained high academic standards and have produced well-rounded, productive citizens. Land has been purchased by the Walton-Verona Board of Education in Verona for future use. Currently, we are wrestling with rapid student growth (current enrollment approximately 1600 students) Adding additional classroom/educational space is a priority.
The mission of the Walton-Verona Independent School District is to develop motivated, dedicated, decisive individuals who possess the skills and attitude necessary for productivity and social interaction and realize the need for continued learning by providing a dedicated staff, an appropriate curriculum, and the necessary facilities through an independent school system in partnership with the home and community.
A Tradition of Excellence: Student achievement generated through academics, extra-curricular, & community involvement.
Upon written request to the building principal, parents will be provided information regarding the professional qualifications of their child's classroom teacher(s).


Over the years, the 'journey within' has puzzled many and energized few. Then, masses of people on this planet began to awaken. When we did, we were awakened to our choices, and the consequences of those choices; we began to choose differently. In essence, we became a co-creator of a completely different path for ourselves alltogether.
A shift in perspective can happen in the blink of an eye. And when it does, your whole life and how you conducted it, can transform into a cleaner, freer, and more harmonized way of being. Nature responds to nature. We are part of nature, and when we recognize our connection to the greater whole, our mission then becomes to allow others to recognize it for themselves as well.
As one had once said, "To each their own path". May yours be enlightened as you wander among the pages here hopefully realizing that "We ARE who we have been waiting for all along".
"Do you exercise Grace toward yourself in order to offer Grace to others?"
Click here to discover upcoming classes!
Copyright © 2019 The Journey Within Us. All Rights Reserved. Any unauthorized use by whatever means is prohibited.


Q. Other than your haircut, what's changed since last week? You seemed a little bit different on the court in terms of body language and some other stuff.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: In what way?
Q. You kept your head up a little bit more.
Q. I mean, last week sometimes ‑‑I don't want to get‑‑ don't want to you to get creeped out about how closely I was watching last week, but sometimes you were keeping your head down. You had just different facial expression.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I don't feel too much difference. I mean, it's obviously different conditions that I'm playing on here in Miami from Indian Wells. It's more humid and it takes a little bit of time to get used to, you know, those conditions and center court.
The ball bounce, the balls themselves, everything is different. So that's why the first matches are always tricky. And especially when you have an opponent who goes for his shots as Jeremy did today.
But it's a straight‑set win, and when I was supposed to play my best and come up with some good serves and good shots, that's what I have done in both sets. What matters the most to me.
Q. Rafa has said today that he would like to play in a Masters 1000 tournament in Latin America. Do you agree with him? Would you like to play there?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: In South America?
Q. In South America, Latin America, Brazil.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Sure. I mean, that's one of the options for the future. Obviously we know that in our sport it's not as simple to change things around, especially with the Masters events because the contracts which are owned by the tournaments individually are usually for, you know, dozens and dozens of years. It takes a lot of time.
I guess the process itself is very complicated to switch from one place to another. But South America with tradition in tennis over the years and the amount of tournaments and passion for the tennis deserves to have a big event like this.
Q. How do you see your opponents right now? How do you see your main opponents, the shape they're in right now?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, my next opponent is Dodig or Mayer. That's the only opponent I'm thinking about. The other guys, all the best players in the world are playing here.
It's just start of the tournament.
Q. After your win on Sunday, you spoke about how important the Masters tournaments are. Obviously you get a thousand points as opposed to the 2,000 from the slams, but do you think you can have a good season like you had back in 2011 when you sort of dominated?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Every season is a different challenge, different season. I can't compare in a year because just a different person ‑‑tennis is not the only thing in my life.
I have family, I have private life, and there are things that are happening there. So you can't really kind of exclude what is happening in your private life from professional life.
It all affects the court and your results and your career in general. I'm happy with my career so far; 27 this year, and hopefully I have many more years to come.
I love this sport. I just love going out and I enjoy competing. I enjoy, you know, playing the tournaments over and over again, you know, trying to win as many titles as possible, trying to, you know, strive for some kind of perfection, if there is a perfection in this sport, you know, always to get better. We will see how far I can go.
Q. How far will you go in this tournament? How many wins?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I cannot predict anything. You know, what is tomorrow is unknown. The only thing I can try to live is today, in present moment.
Q. I wanted to ask you a little about footwork. It seems like one of those skills in tennis that people don't really pay attention to. There is so much attention on the shots and the serve.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Footwork is essential. You touched the right subject. If you want to hit the shot properly, you have to be in the right balance.
To be in the right balance, you need to have the right footwork and you need to try to adjust to the ball.
Obviously variety of surfaces require variety of footwork and adjustment in the same element.
I have been dedicating quite a lot of time on and off the court to that matter, and I have been fortunate with a team of people that I have.
I think they are experts in their fields, in their professions, and they are making sure I am, you know, developing that footwork, you know, regarding the place or the surface where I'm playing.
So I think it's very, very important, if not the most important thing.
Q. Did you see what happened and did you know what happened at 5‑3?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I haven't seen it on a replay on a screen, but I assume it was quite bad. He twisted his ankle. I talked with him after the match. He's still in physio room, so he says it's not as bad as he thought. But I wish him recovery.


Ranked among the nation's "Best New Courses" by Golf Digest, the Parkland-style Valley course debuted as Ben Wright's first design within the United States, which Wright called a marvel of "physical prowess". It is nature at its best. Lush fairways wind along the valley floor, bordered by thousands of acres of forests protected by The Nature Conservancy. A new Nature Center complements the more than two hundred acres of private parks and trails that Members at The Valley enjoy.
Known for its embrace of holistic health, The Valley is home to The Cliffs' most expansive wellness facility, where in-house experts develop groundbreaking personalized and residential health programming. From swimming to playing bridge, hiking the community's own Panther Mountain Reserve to shopping its gourmet fresh market.


Shop our selection of Jewelry Supplies beads, findings, and jewelry making at Unbeatablesale.com and get the biggest markdowns today! We currently stock 4 Jewelry Supplies beads, findings, and jewelry making and add more items every day.
Along with our large quantity of in-stock online retail products, we offer the best price for our quality, brand-name products, with a price match guarantee. Jewelry Supplies beads, findings, and jewelry making even start as low as $8.66. Most of all, we pride ourselves on our superior customer service and customer satisfaction - it's what keeps us in business! You can check the status of your order anytime on our order status page so you know exactly where your package is. Shop Unbeatablesale.com today for a great experience!


text:
Q: How to Avoid continuous triggering of HTML5 DeviceOrientationEvent I am trying to tilt an image based on HTML5 DeviceOrientation event. However, I am seeing that the event is getting continuously fired even when the device is stable i.e non rotating/non moving. In the following code snippet, the console log is printed continuously. What is the possible reason, how can I stop it.
I tried both capturing and bubbling,
  if (window.DeviceOrientationEvent) {
              window.addEventListener('deviceorientation', function(eventData) {
              var tiltLR = eventData.gamma;
              console.log("tiltLR..........",tiltLR);
              }, false);
            }

A: I havent needed to use this type of event listener before so I am not familiar with the output.
However, I believe you would need to compare the old tilt with the new tilt. If the new tilt is substantially greater or less then... execute code.
if (window.DeviceOrientationEvent) {

       var originalTilt = undefined,
           tolerance = 5;

       window.addEventListener('deviceorientation', function(eventData) {

          if (eventData.gamma > originalTilt + tolerance ||
              eventData.gamma < originalTilt - tolerance){
              var tiltLR = eventData.gamma;
              console.log("tiltLR..........",tiltLR);
              originalTilt = tiltLR;
          }

       }, false);
  }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Use pencils, crayons, markers or paint and decorate these pirate shapes with glitter, feathers, sequins, rhinestones, beads or stickers. Great for a craft project, decorating a classroom, scrapbooking, dioramas or puppets.
Ideal for craft activites at home, school or as a craft activity at your own pirate themed party!
Cut Outs are white. Comes as a pack of 20 pieces.
Five different cutouts within the pack. This pack contains cut outs in a pirate, sword, ship, skull and parrot shape.


text:
package io.sommers.packmode;

import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
import io.sommers.packmode.api.PackModeAPI;
import joptsimple.internal.Strings;
import net.minecraft.command.CommandBase;
import net.minecraft.command.CommandException;
import net.minecraft.command.ICommandSender;
import net.minecraft.server.MinecraftServer;
import net.minecraft.util.text.TextComponentString;

import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
import javax.annotation.ParametersAreNonnullByDefault;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class PackModeCommand extends CommandBase {
    @Override
    @Nonnull
    public String getName() {
        return "packmode";
    }

    @Override
    @Nonnull
    public String getUsage(@Nonnull ICommandSender sender) {
        return "/packmode <name> Sets the Packmode. Current valid packmodes are " +
                Strings.join(PackModeAPI.getInstance().getPackModes(), " , ");
    }

    @Override
    @ParametersAreNonnullByDefault
    public void execute(MinecraftServer server, ICommandSender sender, String[] args) throws CommandException {
        if (args.length == 1) {
            String newPackMode = args[0].trim();
            if (PackModeAPI.getInstance().isValidPackMode(newPackMode)) {
                PackModeAPI.getInstance().setNextRestartPackMode(newPackMode);
                sender.sendMessage(new TextComponentString("PackMode is now " + newPackMode + ". Please restart to " +
                        "enjoy the new PackMode."));
            } else {
                throw new CommandException("PackMode " + newPackMode + " is not in the list of valid PackModes.");
            }
        } else if (args.length == 0){
            sender.sendMessage(new TextComponentString("Current PackMode is " + PackModeAPI.getInstance().getCurrentPackMode() +
                ". PackMode next Restart will be " + PackModeAPI.getInstance().getNextRestartPackMode() + ". Valid " +
                " PackModes are " + Strings.join(PackModeAPI.getInstance().getPackModes(), " , ")));
        } else {
            throw new CommandException("Incorrect number of parameters requires 0 or 1, found " + args.length);
        }

    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Looking for a new Agile methodology to experiment with? In this article, we go over how Feature Driven Development compares to Scrum and XP programming .
We've talked about Test Driven Development and Behavior Driven Development, so I figured, why not cover Feature Driven Development? Actually, not many people talk about FDD and we may say that Extreme Programming, Scrum, and Test Driven Development are definitely the most popular Agile methods at the moment, but here at Apiumhub, we also value FDD quite a lot.
Starting off With the Obvious, What Is Feature Driven Development?
First, I would like to mention that FDD was created by Jeff Luca in the late '90s. He was actually trying to provide a software development solution for a bank.
FDD is a development process that, as all Agile methodologies, is iterative and incremental with the objective of delivering working software. FDD mixes best practices that are all driven by what is important to the client. This means that the developers focus on the features that the client values and the functions they expect.
Let's say that with FDD, features are as important as user stories are for Scrum. It's what will help developers when it comes to planning their work.
As I mentioned earlier, Jeff Luca was the creator of FDD. He proposed a solution which is a mix of 5 processes that would cover the development of the model, and its listing, design, planning, and, finally, the building of its features. So to get a better understanding, it obviously helps to have a look at those 5 basic processes of FDD.
Once we go over the whole processes, you will quite quickly realize that the Chief Programmer has a very important role in Feature Driven Development. Almost comparable to a lead developer, the Chief Programmer needs to have technical skills as well as leadership skills to be able to lead a cross-functional development team. Another very important role is the Domain Expert, as he/she has very similar responsibilities as the Product Owner in Scrum, although not totally the same.
In this first process, FDD pushes teams to build an object model of the domain problem. Differing from others, FDD modelling is a cross-functional, iterative, and collaborative activity. The team members (development, domain experts, and chief programmers) work together to compose a model for the domain area and are guided by a Chief Architect. The idea is to have different teams proposing different models, and, later on, after getting reviewed, choose an option, or mix them up. Finally, the domain area model will be merged into the overall model.
It's actually a great way to start the project as it enables the team to get a strong understanding of the project as well as lay the foundation for solid communication.
Here, you could compare the features list to the product backlog in scrum, and the feature would be some sort of user story. After having the overall model ready, based on the knowledge got during that phase, we will have to identify the features which are valuable to the client and which will basically guide the project. Features shouldn't take longer than two weeks to be completed, and if they do, then it should be put into more than one feature. They are usually expressed as an action, result & object.
In the third phase, as its name says it, its more or less about planning in which order the features will be implemented; it's about organizing. Feature sets are then assigned to programmers.
Obviously, while planning we take into consideration different aspects such as risks, complexity dependencies, team workload, etc.
As with all the processes, we use the knowledge we get from the first modeling process. The chief programmer takes responsibility to select a group of features that should be developed next. He will also have to determine the domain classes that will be involved. After the feature team is formed, they all start working together in order to get the job done, where the domain expert will be in charge of analyzing and designing a solution to each feature.
Once the domain expert is done and based on the work done in the design by feature process, the class owners will have to implement all the items that are necessary to be able to support the design. Therefore, we work on the code that has been developed, i.e. unit test it and inspect it, to ensure that it is all correct and approved by the chief programmer. They will then give the OK to start building.
What About Comparing FDD, XP Programming, and Scrum?
On my team, we use Scrum, we use XP programming, FDD and more. So I thought it would be interesting to do a brief comparison of these three prominent Agile methods. Feature Driven Design takes a bit from Xtreme Programming as well as from Scrum, but it adds to them by implementing Domain-Driven Design techniques. What is great is that it is very easy to work in large teams using FDD. It's actually extremely scalable.
In case you're interested, here's a comparison of Scrum, Kanban, and Scrumban.
We all know that Agile methodologies have a strong focus on communication between the team and other stakeholders.
In XP programming and Scrum, documentation is important, but it also doesn't place a huge emphasis on it. Rather, they techniques push team members more towards verbally communicating with the rest of the people involved in the project. With FDD it's a bit different because they actually believe that documentation should be worked on quite often.
Software is, or at least should be, designed and developed with a user-centered approach. With XP programming, for example, you need the user's participation during the development process to enable the short interactions of the development cycle that release customer-centric products.
In Feature Driven Development, the end-user is also involved in the process but in a different way; FDD draws on customer insights during the reporting phase. And in Scrum, the end user is not really involved, it's the product owner that is seen as the voice of the end-user.
This is not a general rule of thumb, but, as we mentioned, for FDD the shorter the better. Let's say that a Sprint would last somewhere between two to ten days. This differs to Scrum, as Scrum Sprints typically last two to four weeks, and XP programming Sprints can last up to 6 weeks!
As communication is important, obviously, meetings are important with Agile methodologies. With Scrum and XP programming, there are the daily meetings where all the team members are involved and where they talk about the project and decide together how the project should go on. Those meetings are, in general, quite informal and quick.
With FDD, it's quite different because the information is typically communicated via the documentation.
How Big Can the Project Get?
So What Is So Great About FDD?
FDD is amazing for big projects and is actually quite scalable.
FDD is very effective in helping with complex projects that are in a critical situation.
The 5 processes mentioned earlier help when it comes to getting new members to join the team, especially in short periods of time.
Feature Driven Development is built around best practices that are recognized by the industry and it considers the strengths and weaknesses of developers.
The fact that, with FDD, you do regular builds ensures that the system is always up to date and it can be shown to the client. You can easily identify errors in the source code of the features.
Throughout all the processes mentioned above, you have a high visibility of progress and results due to the fact that there are frequent progress reports that are made at all the levels of the project.
The first process, developing the overall model, give us a deep understanding of the scope and the context of the project.
By having a deeper understanding of the requirements and the expectations, developing in small iterations, and building small parts, one by one, we greatly reduce the risks involved in creating large-scale software projects. Less unwanted surprises are always good!


ISO 27467:2008 specifies areas that it is important to study when analyzing potential criticality accidents.
It is important that a criticality accident analysis be performed each time a criticality accident is considered credible, due either to criticality contingencies (double batching, procedural violations, etc.) or to the failure of safety provisions (effectiveness of neutron absorber reduced by fire, etc.).
It is important that the criticality safety specialist be mindful that the process of evaluation developed in ISO 27467:2008 does not cater to the unforeseen, since any actually occurring criticality accident will probably result from a scenario not envisioned or from failure to comply with prevailing regulations.
ISO 27467:2008 does not address detailed administrative measures, for which the responsibility lies with the public authorities, nor does it deal with criteria used to justify the accident criticality analysis of a nuclear facility.
ISO 27467:2008 does not apply to nuclear power plants.


Home to 140 vineyards and more than 30 cellar doors, many with national or international accolades, the Canberra District wine region has quickly joined the ranks of the world's best producers of wine. Whether you're a wine connoisseur or looking to try something new, this suggested weekend itinerary will be more than enough time to fall in love with our regional wines.
Love wine? You'll love this itinerary which features some of Canberra's best wine (and wine-friendly) experiences.
It's no secret that cheese and wine are a match made in heaven. You might know Silo Bakery in the southern suburb of Kingston as an iconic café-style foods option, but the cheese room is the real highlight. With a huge selection of Australian and European farmhouse cheeses available for purchase, Silo Bakery also offers a range of gourmet cold cuts and artisan breads and pastries perfect for breakfast.
There's no better accompaniment for fine wine than fine chocolates. Drop into Koko Black on your way out to explore the wine region. Koko Black handcrafts their chocolates using specialty techniques from Germany and Belgium. Find chocolate salted caramel sauce and hazelnut spread, and interesting chocolate flavour combinations like the Mango & Vanilla chocolate, the Aurelia Champagne Truffle, and the Orange & Cointreau Truffle.
Venture out of Canberra for lunch at Café Lerida, situated within the Lerida Estate vineyard and just opposite Lake George. Serving a wide range of dishes, such as the duck and green peppercorn terrine, the Thai beef salad with noodles and the Moroccan-spiced vegetable tagine, Café Lerida also has a matching wine for every menu option.
After lunch, head outside and explore the rest of the vineyard with a winery tour and tasting. With two tour packages to choose from, you'll have the opportunity to try a mix of the delicious wines on offer. If you prefer to explore on your own, the Lake George Range Walk is the perfect way to see the Estate and Lake George and to take in the beautiful surrounds.
Nearby, overlooking the shores of Lake George, the small boutique Lake George Winery is well known for its award winning wines such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Semillon, Merlot and Botrytis Semillon. Lake George Winery is one of the oldest vineyards in the region and maintains its original beauty.
Other must-see Murrumbateman vineyards with cellar doors to add to your tour include Helm Wines, Clonakilla Wines, Jeir Creek Wines, Gallagher Wines, Four Winds Vineyard and Eden Road Wines.
Offering one of Canberra's most awarded wine lists, and just a short drive from Kingston, Rubicon is an elegant dining experience right in the heart of Griffith. With candlelit tables, an extensive wine list and an a la carte menu featuring dishes like wild rabbit, Cone Bay barramundi and spiced rum panna cotta, this restaurant is a wine-lovers paradise.
End Saturday on a high note by taking a trip to Benchmark Wine Bar, a short drive from Rubicon into the Canberra city. With more than 100 wines available by the glass, and more than 400 by the bottle, from all over the world including France, Italy and Spain, Benchmark Wine Bar lives up to its name.
Ensconced within the leafy suburb of Manuka, this café masters the art of elegant dishes made with seasonal produce. With creations like Caprese omelette and truffled asparagus baguette, you'll be nothing short of options at Urban Pantry. Also find artisan-made organic sourdough by Sonoma in-store, delivered straight to the café daily.
Once you've had a satisfying breakfast, walk over to the Kingston Foreshore for the national award-winning Old Bus Depot Markets. With stalls upon stalls of art and photography, fine hand crafted homewares, clothing and jewellery, as well as the finest produce and gourmet foods, you'll be leaving Canberra with your bags heavier than when you arrived.
Spending the morning walking around the markets is sure to work up an appetite, so why not have lunch at the Parlour Wine Room in NewActon? Offering a selection of local and international boutique wines, this eatery serves innovative dishes like popcorn squid legs with wheat berries, aioli and green salad, and sweet treats like strawberry and mint Eton mess.
On your way out of Canberra make sure to stop by Mount Majura Vineyard, a leader in the Canberra District for Spanish varieties such as Tempranillo. Mount Majura Vineyard offers a variety of experiences such as gumboot tours around the vineyard and structured tastings.
With more than 30 cellar doors open to the public within a 40 minute drive of the city, Canberra is an ideal base to explore the Canberra District wine region. For the perfect spot to rest your head check out our great range of Canberra accommodation options.


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NYPD urging New Yorkers to update their iPhones
23 Sep, 2013 21:43
Craig Federighi, Senior VP of Software Engineering at Apple Inc talks about iOS7 during Apple Inc's media event in Cupertino, California September 10, 2013. (Reuters/Stephen Lam) © Reuters
Next time you encounter a line at the Apple Store that's just entirely too long, take it outside and let New York City's boys in blue tackle your technological troubles.
The New York Police Department isn't exactly dishing out free trouble-shooting advice when it comes to malfunctioning MacBooks and iPads, but they are encouraging Apple customers to update the operating system that powers their iPhones to the latest version.
NYC residents have spotted NYPD officers out in droves near Apple stores in recent days, handing out literature that lectures about the new iOS7 operating system and its security features.
"By downloading the new operating system, should your device be lost or stolen it cannot be reprogrammed without an Apple ID and password," the flyer reads.
Four uniformed NYPD officers were at my subway stop tonight asking me to upgrade to iOS 7. Not a joke! pic.twitter.com/CGdR2RqtKJ
— Michael Hoffman (@Hoffm) September 21, 2013
The pamphlet also urges iPhone owners to register their devices with the NYPD's Operation Identification Program and provides contact information for one cop specifically working towards combating mobile phone theft.
And while the NYPD aren't wrong to encourage New Yorkers to update their devices to include the latest crime fighting tool, the free advertising for Apple's operating system is raising eyebrows of residents weary of a growing partnership between law enforcement and private enterprise.
Apple and the NYPD are touting the new iOS because the latest version of the operating system makes it so anyone who's acquired a lost or stolen device can't reprogram it unless they posses the unique ID and password registered to its rightful owner.
According to Apple, the Activation Lock feature can "help you keep your device secure, even if it is in the wrong hands, and can improve your chances of recovering it. Even if you erase your device remotely, Activation Lock can continue to deter anyone from reactivating your device without your permission."
It's no surprise that the NYPD would want to take steps towards securing phones. iPhone theft is so serious in New York that the NYPD told WABC earlier this year that Apple product crime was up 40 percent compared with the previous year. Apple theft — or "apple picking" as it's quickly becoming known — accounted for 14.4 percent of major crimes in New York, AppleInsider reported, and over 11,000 incidents were recorded by the NYPD during just the first three quarters of last year.
"The theft of Apple phones and other hand-held devices drove the spike in robberies and larceny," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the ABC affiliate in February. "Operation ID will help those whose property is lost or stolen to get it back."
During a bust this past May, the NYPD located more than 400 stolen iPhones inside a single home.
At the same time, the hand-in-hand cooperation between law enforcement and the company that's essentially collecting the most private of personal information from millions of Americans is making others unsure if upgrading operating systems is the way to go.
United States Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) wrote Apple this week to voice his concerns about the TouchID system, a new security feature on the iPhone 5S that uses biometric fingerprint data to supposedly keep devices secure.
"If someone hacks your password, you can change it — as many times as you want. You can't change your fingerprints. You have only ten of them. And you leave them on everything you touch; they are definitely not a secret," he said.
"What's more, a password doesn't uniquely identify its owner — a fingerprint does. Let me put it this way: if hackers get a hold of your thumbprint, they could use it to identify and impersonate you for the rest of your life," added Franken.
Apple bans drone-awareness iPhone app
Apple received 5,000 data requests from US govt in 6 months
iPhone latest update may mark a shift to lower - end consumers
Apple loses $24 bn, as a mix of budget and "gold standard" iPhones fail to impress
Hackers vie for bounty in cracking fingerprint 'Touch ID' on new iPhone 5S


Find out where we think the best coffee in town is.
Walk around any market town looking for a cup of coffee and you will be spoilt for choice. Although many people buy from a national chain the best drinks, and more personal welcomes, are invariably from the independents.
One of the best coffees, in my opinion, comes from a local company called 918 Coffee Co from Semley near Shaftesbury who are famed for their responsible sourcing and eco-friendly ethos. You can grab yourself a cup at one of my favourite cafes in Sturminster Newton, 'Stur of the Moment' conveniently just a few steps away from the Symonds & Sampson office.
Not only does this café offer arguably the best coffee in town it brings back fond memories for me.
The first time I went into the café it was a step back in time as it was once the head office for my father's firm, Senior & Godwin, who amalgamated with Symonds & Sampson in 1990.
The room also contains a rather magnificent safe, I think we once jammed 16 people in there, but this was well used when the firm were running the livestock market in the town which was Britain's largest calf market. Cheques, cash and receipts were safely locked away after the Monday market. We eventually moved to The Old Police Station over the road because it has the best window in the town.
So if you visit Sturminster Newton and you fancy a decent cup of coffee, or prefer to linger over lunch please visit the Stur of the moment.


This article originally appeared on the Physicians for a National Health Program website.
One can only feel sorrow and dismay at the bullying and hate-mongering that is taking place at healthcare forums around the country.
Massive job losses, the devaluation and foreclosures of people's homes, and precipitous declines in lifetime savings produce widespread fears of further loss. In an era of insecurity, mainstream Democratic Party proposals for reforming the health system have played into such fears.
A healthcare "reform" that protects private insurers and massive profits for the pharmaceutical industry inevitably becomes an ugly game where ordinary people's interests are pitted against each other. Witness, for example, the proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare to fund an initiative that subsidizes the mandated purchase of private insurance with taxpayer dollars. Relatively little is offered to the already insured majority who are told of upcoming belt-tightening.
The near-total exclusion of single payer from the healthcare debate by our political leaders and the media has contributed to the present state of affairs. Single payer is an expanded and improved Medicare for All ("Medicare 2.0"). Many, perhaps most, Americans have come to believe in the false choice between universal coverage and quality healthcare.
Our nation needs a meaningful dialogue, including a fair hearing of the views of the 20 million constituents of the Leadership Conference on Guaranteed healthcare (of which Physicians for a National Health Program is a founding member), who advocate for single-payer national health insurance. Polls show that most of the public and their physicians favor such an approach.
There is simply no other viable solution to the problems facing us all, insured and uninsured. With Medicare 2.0, the already insured would benefit from radically reduced out-of-pocket costs for comprehensive insurance and expanded choice of doctors and hospitals. Medicare 2.0 stays with you for life, independent of your employment. The epidemic of medical bankruptcies would be just a bad memory.
It is unnecessary to pit the insured against the uninsured, or those with Medicare and Medicaid against those with private insurance.
Multi-payer, for-profit health insurance adds cost but not value to American healthcare. Savings of $400 billion a year can be obtained through the conversion to a single-payer system. With the money we are now spending (twice as much per capita as other developed nations), we can provide full service "what you need, when you need it" healthcare for everyone and control costs going forward.
With the "everybody in, nobody out" approach of a Medicare 2.0 system, we can all get more freedom, choice and security.
We support the right to lively and dramatic expression of all views about healthcare and other issues in American political life. We share a common sense of frustration expressed by many protesters that it often seems that Washington's ear is tuned to special interests over public interests. However, we strongly condemn the bullying and hateful speech that has precluded meaningful discussion at many town hall meetings.
The ugliest language suggests that the uninsured or undocumented should be allowed to "die in the streets" and asserts that areas with less racial and ethnic diversity are "the real America." President Obama's citizenship is questioned and he is likened to Hitler.
These actions have been facilitated and promoted by networks of well-funded, right-wing interest groups who have tapped into a vein of fear and discontent in a time of rapidly rising hardship and anxiety.
With this deteriorating public dialogue, we should affirm that we can get better healthcare by sticking together to support single payer. We support meaningful dialogue. We affirm the dignity of all persons and insist that healthcare is a universal human right.
Healthcare is instrumental to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." We continue, as ever, to insist that "everybody in, nobody out" is best for all of us and embodies the best of American values.


Hope for a sprinkling of Irish luck from a cheeky leprechaun in Slots O' Gold. Created by Blueprint Gaming, it's a simple 5 reel, 10 payline slot that comes with sticky wild re-spins. You'll also have a chance to land a progressive jackpot prize. Stakes range from between 20p and £500 per spin.
Slots O' Gold features all of the favourite Irish clichés favoured by slots developers – you'll see pipes and 4-leaf clovers, glasses of stout, big green hats, toadstools, horseshoes and harps spinning around the reels. The most rewarding symbol is, appropriately enough, the pot of gold coins. Payouts of 25, 75 or 500 coins are on offer if you land 3, 4 or 5 on a payline. There's also a Rainbow Gold symbol – when these hit, they transform into the same matching symbol and a new payout is made.
The smiling Lucky Leprechaun is the game's wild – when he lands anywhere on the middle 3 reels, he will expand and turn the whole of that reel wild. You'll also be awarded a respin with the stacked wild frozen in position. If other Leprechaun wilds land, the process is repeated. Get a full house and you could spin with 3 stacked wilds in place. This is known as the Rainbow Respin feature.
Slots O' Gold is part of the Jackpot King network – to have a chance of triggering this, you need to land 5 overlay crown symbols on the same spin. You then have to work your way up the jackpot ladder. Make it to the top, spin the wheel to win a bet multiplier or even the big jackpot.
This is a very light-hearted slot and that's evident in the design. There's a classic Irish jig playing in the background as you spin. There isn't a massive amount on offer as far as features go so if you like a variety of extras you won't find them here. This game is all about the stacked wild respins. Land a full complement of them on the middle 3 reels and you could find gold at the end of this lucky leprechaun's rainbow. I would also suggest you try IGT's Shamrockers Eire to Rock and Playson's Clover Tales which have a similar theme.


Originally Published: March 5, 2019 12:03 p.m.
The idea of teaching about the Bible in our secular public high schools is a non starter.
Aside from the Constitutional issues of the government favoring one religion over another, which teaching the Bible surely would do, there are countless other issues which make the mixing of religious indoctrination and public education problematic.
No religious books or writings have any place in the public, tax supported, schools.
What would be the curriculum of such a course? Which version(s) of the Bible would be used? Would the Bible be treated as the immutable word of God to be taken literally word for word? Would it be treated as a collection of parables and metaphors, probably fictional, but meant to guide human behavior? Is the Bible merely legend with historic overtones? Is it literature, open to analysis and interpretation?
Who will decide what interpretation is the right one? What parts of the Bible would be used? Who makes that choice?
The Bible, by its very nature, is not subject to being taught as a completely secular document, with the possible exception of a few university courses in comparative religions. It is evident by the countless sects, denominations, religions, synods etc. that there are profound differences as to what the Bible is and what it means.
These differences have caused persecution, wars, bloodshed, massive suffering, displacement, discrimination and other horrors. What chance is there that a Bible course could be designed to please everyone?
Even if it were possible, what about the people who use other religious documents? Should there be courses for them too? What about those who subscribe to no religion? Should their tax money be used for religious instruction?
If you are concerned that our young people know too little about the Bible, accept your responsibilities as parents or other interested parties, and teach them. Take them to church and Sunday school. See that they have interesting books about the Bible. Have family or neighborhood Bible study.
Study a few verses a day with your children. Send your children to private schools for the indoctrination of your choice.
Our young people are not ignorant in certain areas because they are stupid, but because their time, energy and attention are stretched in myriad ways.
Because they are young, they need time to grow and to learn how to think independently. Because they are unique separate beings, don't be surprised if they reject your priorities.
Give them the foundations of self respect, respect for diversity in others, reading skills, the process of making good choices, self discipline, the importance of lifetime learning, knowing right from wrong and how to assert the freedom to become themselves. If the Bible aids in this process, use it.
The greatest gift you can give your children is to help them believe in their potential. Praise them and encourage them.
For many, the teen years are a time of self-doubt. They often crave structure at the same time they reject it. It can also be a traumatic time for their parents and teachers.
You can do a lot to make it easier by letting your kids know you love and believe in them. Remind them that they are unique in the whole world.
There is only one of each of us. There never has been another one just like you, nor will there likely ever be.
The journey to becoming you may have its challenges. We all need guidance along the way. There are no guarantees. You have the power within you to make a positive difference.
What you do with the incredible gift of your uniqueness will be your destiny and your legacy. Make it count.
David W. Leibforth is a resident of Clarkdale. He was a high school teacher for 35 years and a former member of the Clarkdale Town Council, where he served as vice mayor.
Commentary: Why not consider a comparative religions course?
Well David, that would be your opinion.


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Q: Conditional Split not working when running SSIS package from SSMS I have a SSIS package that works fine from VS2015 but when I try to run it from SSMS it fails with the error:

To run a SSIS package outside of SQL Server you must install
  conditional split of integration services or higher.

I did a little research and also created a new package with only a source and destination which worked fine. Once I added the conditional split it failed again. It seems like this may be a version conflict between the data tools, SSIS and SQL Server. I have other packages with conditional splits and other tasks that are executed in SQL Server such as Execute SQL tasks. The only reason I can think that they work is because they were created in a previous version of SSIS then upgraded.
I am using Visual Studio 2015 Community with
SQL Server Data Tools 14.0.61021.0 (SQL Server 2016 version which is backward compatible)
SQL Server Integration Services Designer 13.0.1701.8
On the SQL Server it says the SSIS version is 12.0.2269
My version of management Studio is 12.0.2000.8
Any ideas on what might be causing this error?


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