A.N.D.R.E.W.

I once thought of calling my blog A.N.D.R.E.W.  which would have been short for "A North Dakota Review Each Week", but then I thought I would HAVE to write once a week, no more, no less. It turns out that's about all I write anyway! :-) Anybody have a better acronym?

 Well, This past week has been a full one. I totally rebuilt Mom's "Zapper" (A little electronic device for killing internal parisites, read the book "A Cure for All Cancers" by Dr. Hulda Clark.)
 I had built the original model about 8 years ago, at which time I didn't know how to solder, so I just used little jumper wires to connect everything... Then, every so often, one (or more) of the little wires would fall off, and I had to take time to put it back together... Seeing as that was getting old, and I now know how to solder, I decided I would just fix it once and for all! Here is the outcome:

 Needless to say, Mom was very happy as well!

 I spent most of the week working on machinery around here, trying to get the combines ready for the sunflower harvest. On Friday, Dad and I changed the oil in the van, then changed the oil in my pickup, and rotated the tires... (Ie. Front ones on the back, back ones on the front... It makes your tires last a little longer, and I would like to get as many miles as possable out of the old ones before they have to be replaced...)

 Saturday we all went down to Eureka, SD. to visit my Grandparents, and to pick the rest of the apples from my Grandpa's tree. Now we have more apples to process...

 I guess I should go up to the pasture and check the cows now, so I will have to go.

 Andrew B.

More Appleseed pictures: Sunday -- Persistance Pays Off

We started the Appleseed at 9:00 Sunday, to give us a little more time for chores, as well as to give the weather a chance to warm up a little bit.  Day 2 of an appleseed is more practice of what you have learned on day 1, although they do teach a couple new things as well.

 Here are some more photos for your enjoyment, although I am not completely sure all of these are from Sunday. :-)

Some of us boys standing on the "Backstop;"

"Make sure you get the sling as far up on your arm as possable;"

Kyle helping Mom with, um, something. :-)

One of the main goals of an Appleseed is to help people improve their shooting skills. Improve their skills to the point that they can score Rifleman on the AQT (The AQT is the Army Qualification Test, which is the type of target used most at an Appleseed.) Well, I was shooting very close to Rifleman scores, but just not quite... I still hadn't made "Rifleman" by the end of the Appleseed, but Jonathan was willing to stay a little longer, while I shot some more AQTs. (Thanks Jonathan!)

After two more tries, I finally made it. YIPEE!!!  The Bartletts had to leave shortly after, but they stayed long enough to take a picture of all of us boys (Maybe I should say 'Young Men'):

Then, Jonathan gave me my official Appleseed Rifleman Badge:

 

Here is a close up of the badge:

The Bartlett Boys had to leave for home right away, so here they are getting ready to go:

  Overall, I had a very good time at the Appleseed. I really enjoyed having so many friends here, and the chance to learn alot about shooting well. Maybe we will do it again next year!?!?

 Andrew B.

Review of our Appleseed

Hello again!

 Well, it's all over. Our Appleseed is done...  There has been a good deal of writing about it at my sister's blog, as well as Jonathan Bartlett's blog, so check them out. I will just give a quick review here. :-)

 Our gathering started on Friday, with Jonathan and Peter Bartlett arriving about 4:00. The Appleseed instructors (Alex and Kyle) arrived at about 5:30, and our friends, Ben and Amanda, got here about 9:00. We all had a fun evening doing chores, eating supper, and playing foosball and air hockey:

Saturday morning, after doing the chores, and after everyone was signed up, (There were 4 more people who came in the morning) we all headed out to the range. But, seeing as our range is out in our pasture, and the trail out there is quite muddy from all the rain recently, we had to use my pickup as a sort of taxi:

Anyway, we all got out there, and got the program going. Seeing as the weather was not the nicest, we all came in for lunch, and had our History lesson in the house. Then it was back to the range for a few more hours of instruction.

 Here are the "Orange hatters" showing the proper use of the hasty sling:

"Peter, show us the steady hold factors for the prone position."

Saturday's program ended at 4:30, at which time we all headed back to the farm for a time of fellowship, more games, music, chores, and supper... (Not necessarily in that order)

 To be continued...