Monday, January 30, 2006

Today and yesterday

Yesterday the Hendersons came and we went to the peninsula in the state land where we had gone before. We (Adam Henderson, Evan Henderson, Andrew my brother, David my brother, and I) got there first, and Dad, Mr. Henderson, and Jonathan were way behind. While we were there we tried lighting a fire with a rifle but it didn't work very well so we finally after trying using Jonathan's magnesium fire starter (the magnesium burned too fast and we were not able to get the sticks in the flame) we had to use a lighter and just for the experiment we lit gunpowder and that worked really well :-) Last night we had Steve and Paulette over for spaghetti. That was the best part of the day!

Today we recorded Blackberry Blossom, and it is on a web page because we couldn't find a way to let everybody see it. The web page is www.musicaccord.net/Peterbartlett. This afternoon Mom got my face mask fixed. The velcro would grab the lining and it started to tear. This afternoon we kind of played hide and go seek, David and I tried to find Andrew and Dad. Goodbye

Peter

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Saturday

Nothing to do to day, at least nothing we have to do (amazing). This morning Jonathan and I played music. Jonathans banjo is out of order so he playes guitar too. I have got pretty good at Blackberry Blossom and it is fun to play it. Maybe we can record the song and also others. I won't say it for sure but we might be able to record tomorrow.

This afternoon we got our grey snowmobile going for a little while, but we got tired of doing it so much that it isn't much fun any more. I have been carying my bayonet around outside just for fun. Talk to you later.

Peter

Friday, January 27, 2006

Pictures of My Knifes

Here is some pictures of my latest present and my latest buy:


This is my AK-47 bayonet

This is how it works for a wire cutter

This is 5 of my 6 knives

This is my favorite of them all

This is half way folded out

This is folded out. LOOK OUT!

My Birthday

I'm 12 (or almost 12, I will be 12 tonight at 11:00).

This morning I opened up my presents and I got: socks, long underwear, some money, (my favorite) an AK-47 bayonet, a nice guitar strap, a set of top and bottom winter camoflauge that is reversible to white with black streaks (that hasn't come yet), and from Selah and Samson I got (with Andrew's help) a bowl of dog treats, from my sheep I got some hay, from my cat Shem and David's cat Funny Face I got a bowl of cat food, and oh I forgot, from Dad I got a pichfork. A good combination of presents.

This afternoon Steve came over and we videoed some of how to sharpen knives. Also he gave me a handy waterproof covered survival book with a bunch of good ideas in it. My cake was bone shaped like a dog treat. I had a good birthday.

I'll put another post with some pictures of my knifes.

Peter

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Thursday

Today we got a package from sportsman's guide (a company that sells army surplus supplys and allot more) and I had ordered some bunny boots and a warm face mask (camoflauge). Also Andrew and I bought a set of fifteen knifes (we gave one to dad) and they are all of assorted colors and sizes. Two of them look like they would be used in the special forces (and they are all black). Andrew and I split them up and gave a few away (or at least my brothers haven't paid for them).

Peter

P.S. I forgot to tell you that yesterday a guy from speedy delivery droped off a box and didn't bring it in the house (or even knock). Later we found out sort of unpleasedtly that he left it on the hood of our car and the dogs smelled the candy in it and chewed some things that were in it, only a pair of knit socks and ate some candy. Here's why mr. speedy got scared:

that is Samson (my dog)

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Plumbing

Today (this morning) we worked on our snow fort and now it is about four feet tall (or a little more).

This afternoon Jonathan Dad and I went to work on more plumbing. About four hours of cutting copper pipes cutting PVC pipes soldering pipes cleaning and gluing pipes and all mostly in a crawl space (about three feet tall) and we're finally done. It was kind of fun.

When we got back my two brothers had cut more bricks of snow fort!

Peter

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Oops

OOPS! Too hot of water in the hose! The water in the hose got too hot that was going to the top of the water tank and it softened the connection to the tank and, WHOOSH! Shower! It got allot of the room pretty wet. We wiped most of it up but we will have to let some dry out. We are going to have to put up the copper pipe sooner than we thought! We just shut off the water and we will try again sometime later :-(

Peter

Nothing New

Hello,

Not much happened today. This morning I helped my brother Andrew build a model castle out of paper. It is from a kit, and the men are about half an inch tall. Also this morning Dad tested our heat exchanger and it is still heating up. We have some hoses connected to the pump from the well going into the top of an old water heater. Then the water goes down through the tank and out the back and into the wood stove, through the heat exchanger, gets warmed up and then it goes up (heat rising) into the top of the tank, then out to the other electric water heater (the electric water heater just keeps the water warm while it sits) and goes through the pipes to the sink and shower and whatever else has pipes going to it. Our house looks like a shop.

We went to work on more plumbing at our friends place and drilled some holes but we still need more parts to finish (we had got some of the wrong parts and needed a couple more pieces.

This evening we cut some blocks of snow and made a snow fort (not finished). It is about three feet tall, and about seven feet long and five feet wide.

If you think this is more than "nothing new" our days can be more complicated than this!

Peter

Monday, January 23, 2006

Just Another Day, and an essay about My Tree House

Hello,

Not much happened today. Just the usual, I get up, get dressed, go out and feed the dogs their breakfast, feed the cats, check on the sheep, and wait for everybody else to get up. Jonathan is usually up first, David next, me, Mom, maybe Dad then Andrew or the other way around. This afternoon I brought my binoculars and ran off into the woods because it is fun to hide and sneak up on my brothers! Also this afternoon we hauled some wood to the wood box and right after that it got really stormy looking in the sky. The clouds were really dark. Since there wasn't much to write about I will put an essay I wrote for the Dakota Times (my brother's newspaper) about my tree house.

My Four Level Tree House
I have a tree house in the woods on the right side of our house. If you walk down the trail that twists and turns you will go past the picnic area and up a small hill and there it is. Four levels high, about 20 feet to the top. Ground is the first level, five feet to the next level, the same to the next, five feet to the fourth level and lastly about five feet to the roof.

Upon entering the bottom level (ground level) you have entered the jail. You are surrounded by barbed wire (that you can't get out of). There is a small bench and a locked door. This space is small because the six trees grew in a pattern of about two feet by four feet. Exiting the jail out of the door under the ladder leading to the next level, you climb that ladder and enter the defense level. This level is open except for a railing around the outside. This is the second level. Now for the third level. Going up the hole (over which I would like to put a trapdoor with a lock) into an enclosed level with tarpaper to try to keep the wind out and there is two windows. There is also another ladder going up to the last level. This level has quite a view. You can see over the tops of the trees and to the neighbors property. This is the description of my four level tree house.

Peter

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Our Exploration

Hi there,

It was a nice and sunny Sunday afternoon today so we decided to go on a walk in the state forest that is next to our property.

We (Jonathan and I) brought our survival kits. They are US air force vests and mine has: water bottle, matches, compass, flashlight, emergency blanket, first aid kit, note book, pencil, poncho, whistle, fire starter, small gloves, knife, pliers, handkerchief, and a candy bar. We hiked about three miles on snowmobile trails to a lake that we thought was a good stopping place. Jonathan and I decided to take a look at a place we thought there might be a house. There shouldn't be anybody living on the state land. We carefully approached thinking somebody might think we looked suspicious because Jonathan had his rifle with him, I had a big walking stick, and we both were wearing army surplus equipment. It turns out that it looked like there had been a house there, there was an old junk pile and telephone wires with an old transformer on one of the poles. The place had a nice view with some trimmed spruce trees and a clearing. It probably was and is a party place.

Next to that there are two islands and the lake extends farther east. That lake is bigger than the lake we own. The two dogs followed us all the way. They also chased some snowmobiles until they were out of sight. We saw six snowmobiles total, and we hid from two of them :-)

Until next time good bye!

Peter

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Our Adventures In the Snow (and More)

Today we had some adventures on the icy road.

We were going to a friends house to work on some plumbing she had asked us to do. We had got as far as our neighbors the Lunds and dad was going not to fast and not to slow but we slid off into the ditch. Dad didn't have his snowpants (BAD) so Jonathan and I did the shoveling (good thing we had a shovel!) and we used some rugs and put them under the wheels to get more grip. We did some pushing and getting more and more onto the road until we finally got out! Then we went to work on the plumbing.

When we got there (She has a dog named Jake that isn't very friendly. He is only about 10 inches high, he is pretty brave for his size. He is shorter than one of her cats!) we started by moving her snowmobile and her washing machine. We will need more parts before we're finished.

Talk to you tomorrow

Interesting Joke

Here's a joke.

A couple of hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing. His eyes are rolled back in his head.
The other guy whips out his mobile phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a calm soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. First, let's make sure he's dead."

There's silence, then a shot is heard.

The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says, "Okay, now what?"

First Try

Hello,

This is my first try at writing online so whoever looks at this will see it. I'll do my best!

Peter