Back to school again..... :S

Hi guys,
  Today looks like a nice day to be outside, with a nice warm temperature of almost 40 degrees! :P  Well, nice for being a day away from the winter soulstice, anyway.  Let's just hope that it stays nice for a while longer...

  Anyway, yesterday, Dad; Andrew; and I worked on Andrew's car some more, and then this morning, Andrew went up to Bismarck to pick up some more parts that he had orderd through the Dodge dealership up there.

  Our current shop project, (one of them) is taking apart our Internataional 1486 tractor apart to find a bad bearing in there somewhere.  You see, one day when Andrew was changing the hydraulayic filter on it, he found a roller from a bearing in the housing for the filter, meaning that a bearing went out, and the roller got trapped down by the filter.

  After digging into it for a while, and not finding the bad bearing where we thought it was, we think we are going to have to split the tractor, and examine further. :S  Anyway, it looks like it is time to go again, so here is a parting picture. :)  As you can see, you could mow in there for hours... :)

  Jacob B.

Agricultural Simulator 2012 screens. :)

Hi guys,
  I just got my copy of Agricultural Simulator 2012 Deluxe on Saturday, so I have been playing that whenever I have a little free time.  The game is very good already, and with more updates coming, it looks very promising!  Here are some screenshots that I took.

 Here I have a worker going ploughing.

 Just finishing combining my wheat field, and you can see my worker in the background.

Baling the straw, as my worker cultivates.

I've got some bale collecting to do!

Spraying my corn. :D

Here I am taking a load of energy corn silage out to the Bio Gas plant!

Coming back empty, but just had to get a picture of this huge meadow.

Back to the farm!

Chopping another load!

Taking another load... had to get some pictures of the beautiful scenery on this huge map!

Dropping off the trailer...

And last, I used the built-in "flight mode" to get this cool shot of my farm yard and fields!

  Hope you like my pictures. :D  After playing the game for a while, I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes agriculture.  The game quality is very high, the graphics are amazing, and it is the most realistic farming simulator type game that I have found.

  There are a few bugs though, lest you think it exactly perfect, but nothing too big.  One cool feature, is that on the big Fendts, like the tractor that I am driving around in the pictures, you can actually put the dual wheels off by pressing a button, and by pressing it again, you have duals. :)  I don't know if it makes any difference in traction or not though.

  Another nice addition to the game from the previous editions, is that, if you are raising the right animals, you will get milk, wool, or eggs, considering that your animals are healthy. (yes they can get sick and die on you, if not taken care of)  Love the game, and if anybody buys it, let me know, because I would love to play some multiplayer with you. :P :D

  Gotta run, Jacob

A Book Report.

Hi guys,
  Mom told me that I had to write a book report on the book that I just finished, so here goes. :S  The book is called "The War for Mansoul", and it is basically the story of man's soul on earth, and how we get tempted to sin. :(  The book is set in the time of castles and sword fights!

  It starts out with the devil, aka. Diabolus plotting in hell to take away God's greatest possession, the fictional town of Mansoul.  In the town of Mansoul live many fictitious people like Lord Mayor Understanding and Mr. Conscience.

  To make a long story short, Daibolus appears to the Mansoulians as a dragon, and after some fancy persuading gets let in and takes over the town's castle.  After a while, Emanuel, (son of king Shadi who had possession of the town before) comes and reclaims the town as his own...

  After reclaiming the town, Emanuel exposes Daibolus to the townspeople, and then sends him on his way back to hell.  The people are all very happy now, but there are still a bunch of Daibolonains hiding in the walls of Mansoul.

  These Daibolonains eventually send a messenger back to Daibolus, telling him that they have weakened the Mansoulians's spiritual strength, and that he should try to take the town again.  He does return and breaks into the city, but never gets into the castle.

  After some time of fighting, getting nowhere, they leave, thinking that the Mansoulians will let down their guard, but they actually go out after them, and with the help of Emanuel, kill all of the Daibolonains outside of the town, except for Daibolus and his executive demons, who escape back to hell.

  After that there is a speech by Emanuel, telling his love for them, and that is pretty much the end of the book.  On the whole, it is a pretty good read. I would give it a 9.5/10, just because some of the chapters were seemed like endless rants. :(

  Well, I'm singing out again, Jacob B.

Long Time no Write. :P

Hi guys,
  It's been a long time since I've written anything, but I have been very busy working on the shop project and a whole lot of other stuff.  We actually have the shop finished, except for finding a place for everything again, so that is very nice to have done!

  I think it was the Wednesday two weeks ago that Dad; Andrew; and I went up to Bismarck to pick up a few supplies, and....... a giveaway POOL TABLE!!!  That's right, a pool table!  We had to take it all apart to get it out of the guy's basement, but now we have a 8' pool table in our heated shop!

  Last Saturday, everybody that was home, (Mom was at another body talk class in Calgary, Canada.) went up and played some ice hockey on a frozen lake up in our pasture!  We had a lot of fun until it started getting dark, so we came home and played some pool. :D

  Two days ago, I pulled my dirt bike into the shop, and pulled the engine out of it.  I am going to put a new "top end" in it, which means getting the block bored out a little bit so that it is all smooth again, and then putting a new oversize piston and rings in...  Well, time for me to go again, so I will see you later.

  Jacob B.

  PS: For those wanting to see pictures of Agricultural Simulator 2012, it hasn't come yet, but it should soon... *twiddles thumbs* :P

Shop Renovation. (and some other stuff)

Hi guys,  The past week or so, Dad; Andrew; and I, with some help from mom and Cora on occasion, have been working on fixing up our shop so that we can have it heated over the winter, so that we can work all day out there, instead of catching a chill.

  So, to accomplish this goal, we have built a wall that divides the shop into 2 parts.  The front is the heated work area, and the back is "cold" storage. :P  After bilding, insulating, and painting the back wall white, (to reflect the light) we started on the side walls yesterday.

  We got 8 rolls of insulation put up yesterday, and that is about as far as we can go until we rip out the shop bench and some other storage racks...  So we started putting plywood up on the sides last night.  We also got our stove put up yesterday, and it was about 20 degrees warmer inside then out, and with the walls about  a third of the way insulated!

  First video of Agricultural Simulator 2012 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE3xexkJJS4  Looks pretty good, and I am waiting for my copy to come from Germany somewhere..... :P  I will get you all some pictures as soon as I can.
  Jacob B.

Shop and School Work...

Hi guys,
  Sorry I haven't written in a while, but my computer is on the fritz, so I am writing from Dad and Mom's computer.  Also thanks for all of the comments from my readers!  I appreciate them all very much, and will try to give some out as well. :P

  Anyway, I have been keeping busy with my school work, as well as working in the shop, and doing other odds and ends.  Andrew's Intrepid is coming along nicely, and when we have that one done, he has another project car to start on!

  For the past few days, Dad; Andrew; and I have been working on cleaning out a space in the shop so that we can build a wall across part of it.  The reason for that is so that we can insulate the front part of the shop, and then we will set up a wood-burning stove, so that we can have some heat!

  Just a little note to all gamers.  Agricultural Simulator 2012 will be released this Friday, so if somebody wants to see some pictures, here is the official site link: http://www.agrar-simulator.de/  Go there and click on Bilder up at the top of the page.

  Well, Mom wants some help to clean up the house a little, so I gotta go. 
 Jacob B.

Another driver in the family!

Hi guys,
  Yesterday, Mom and I went over to Linton so that I could take my road test to get my drivers licence!  They were running a little bit behind schedule, but when I did get around to taking the test, I past!  So now we all can drive by ourselves! :P

  Last night, Mom; Andrew; and Cora all went up to Bismarck to see a play of Fiddler on the Roof...  Dad and I stayed home and watched a movie because we don't like that kind of thing.....  When they got home at about 11:45, Andrew said it was prety good.

  On Saturday, we had a birthday party! :-)  It was just us and Dad's cousin, (I think) Jerome.  We had a nice time opening presents, visiting, and eating cake and ice cream! :P :D  Jerome also dropped of one of our stock trailers that he had borrowed.

  Today, Mom and Andrew are up in Bismarck; Dad is trucking again; Cora has been working on the carrot project; and I ave been doing my school work.  We also had to go outside and chase a couple of cows back in the fence and then go around and check the fence...

    Well, Cora wants some help with the carrots, so I will go.

  Jacob B.

School; a trip to Bismarck; and a good game!

Hi guys,
  Today, I have been working on my school work and playing some; Andrew has been working on hauling the round bale stacks into the hay yard and getting the plow hooked up to the tractor to dig up the potatoes; Dad went trucking; Cora went to town; and Mom is doing a couple of sessions.

  Yesterday, Andrew bought another '02 Dodge Intrepid that needs some work.  I went with him to Bismarck to pick it up, and it is in pretty nice shape...  From what we can tell, it appears to have some lifter noise...

  Now, about the good game!  It is a game called Automobile.  You are a car manufacturer in the beginning era of the car, and you try to build more advanced cars and then try to sell them.  It is very complexed and a very good strategy game!

  Also, first Work In Progress pictures of the new Agricultural simulator 2012 can be found here: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B005K4Q3HK/ref=s9_simh_gw_p63_d0_g63_i1?pf_rd_m=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=147E6WFH6B1JYABAZH51&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463375173&pf_rd_i=301128

  There is also a deluxe version featuring a more advanced map and a few more models here: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B005K4Q3KC/ref=s9_simh_gw_p63_d0_g63_i3?pf_rd_m=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=147E6WFH6B1JYABAZH51&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463375173&pf_rd_i=301128

  Well, Andrew wants me outside now, so I will have to go.  Jacob B.

Shop work

Hi guys,
  This afternoon, Andrew and I worked on "Peeley", Andrew's combine.  A bearing had gone out on the feeder house, the part of the combine that takes the grain from the header up in to the thrashing components...

  So, after fighting with the big electric clutch/gear, we finally got that piece off of the combine, to find two very chewed up bearings!  You see, when one bearing goes out, it usually sends lots of little metal shavings everywhere, and in this case, they went into the other bearing and took it out too. >:-(

  After examining the damage, we lifted up one of Andrew's cars to try to figure out if he had a warped brake roter, or if there was just a bunch of junk in behind the roter, causing it to be mounted a little off center.  It turns out that it was just a bit of rust, and not a warped roter.

  Well, time to go do the chores.  Jacob B.

School...

Hi guys,
  how ave you all been doing?  We've all been doing fine around here...  Well, except for the cows knocking the water hose out of the water tank and making a huge muddy mess, that is. :P  At least almost all of the cows are staying in the fence now!

  This morning, Mom left to do sessions in Bismarck again; Dad and Andrew both left for that farmer's farm; Cora worked around the house, and I worked on my school some; checked the cows again, and also played some too... 

  I am having a rather hard time coming up with something more to write rite now, so I will say goodbye.

It's that time of year...

...for mysterious packages to arrive, only to be whisked away to Cora's bedroom.  The reason for that is because my brother Andrew and my birthdays are just around the corner. In fact, mine is only five days away!  And then I will be 16!

  Anyway, yesterday we all got up and did our chores, and then we went up to our pasture to move our cows the five miles (roughly) home.  That project took us a good three hours...  When we got them home, we put them in our combined corn field, so they can eat on the stalks for a while.

  We are working on school in full swing now days, so between doing school; checking the cows; and doing odd jobs around the farm, I have been keeping plenty busy...  Andrew and Dad have been keeping busy too, as they have been gone almost every day of the week.

  We have talked about building an ice hockey rink for several years now, but we never got around to building it, but this year I think that it might happen!  Andrew has found a fairly inexpensive liner, but we are still looking...

  Well, gotta run, Jacob.

Alas, the school hath started again... :-)

Hi guys,
  Yes, I am back at the grindstone so to speak.  Actually it's not that bad, just a little annoying.  This morning, Mom is doing a couple of sessions; Dad went to haul grain; Andrew went up to the pasture to work on some fence; and Cora and I are staying inside as much as possible. :P

  Last Friday, we got a phone call saying that our cows were all out in the same alfalfa field that they were in the last time, so Mom and I, being the only people home, went up to get them back in.  We finaly got them in, but then we had to go around the fence to find any bad places and fix them...

  Well, by the time we got home, it was about 6:15 and we had left at about 1:30!  And to make things worse, Friday is the day that we clean the house on.  Needless to say, the house didn't get cleaned very much...

  Yesterday, we combined some of our corn around here!  We had both of the combines going, and I was driving the white truck with the grain box.  I think that Andrew is going to try to combine some more today when he gets home...

  Well, time to go.  Have a nice day today!  Jacob B.

School goes on.....

Hi guys,
  Yesterday evening, Mom and I went up to Steele for a meeting about the John Birch Society.  We were there for about 2 hours, listening about how to take back our country...  I think I will let Mom tell you more.....

  This morning, Mom left for Bismarck to do sessions; Dad left to go haul some more grain; Andrew left to go drive grain cart for a farmer; Cora worked around the house, and , before Andrew left, Andrew and I worked on the rafters some more.

  After lunch, I started working on school, and this is the last thing on my school list! YAY!!! :P  I am also going to run up to the pasture to check cows pretty soon, as that has become one of my daily jobs, because they kinda like to jump out of the fence. >:-(

  Well, I will talk to you all later, Jacob B.

Washing the baler...

Hi guys,
  As the title suggests, yesterday I pressure washed the baler.  The reason for doing this is to get rid of all of the old hay leaves and dirt and dist that had gathered during the haying season.  I will try to dig up a few pictures that Mom took of me yesterday.  Sorry, they don't want to load. :-(

  Anyway, once Andrew and I had finished washing the very dirty baler, which took us about 3 hours, we "winterized" the pressure washer.  To winterize it, we ran all of the water out, and ran some straight anti-freeze in until it was through all of the systems.

  I have also been working on tearing apart the rafters that got blown over by the wind.  We have to take them all apart so that we can figure out what is all wrong with them so that we can start rebilding them again...

  News for my game fans: Giants software is releasing a special "Platinum" edition of Farming Simulator 2011 with all three of the DLC packs, as well as a new game; Ski Region Simulator 2012.  Those two will be released on the 21st of October.  Also, Agrar Simulator 2012 should be coming out on the 25th of November...

  Gotta run, Jacob.

Busy with everyting but school. :-)

Hi guys,
  as the title suggests, we have all been very busy around here for a while, and now is the first time that I can write.  Mom has been talking some more BodyTalk classes in Bismarck, and along with going up for sessions, she has been home for 1 whole day this week! :-)

  The other day almost all of the cows were out in our neighbour's hay field, so we spent two and a half hours getting them in and fixing all of the fence that they knocked down.  By the time we were done, we had to ride back home in the dark!

  We also worked on the grain trailer for the truck in the past week.  We put in new brakes, bearings and oil seals on all of the main axles, as the seals were letting all of the hub oil out of the hub, and the bearing were not getting enough oil.

  Andrew will be working for a farmer for quite a while, driving a grain cart chasing the combine!  They have enough corn to combine to keep him busy for a while. ;-)  Anyway, I need to get going, as I should go check the cows pretty soon.  Bye
 Jacob.

Busy as ever.

Hi guys,
  Today, we are having some very nasty, windy weather, so we are staying inside as much as possible. :-)  Yesterday, Andrew and I went up to the pasture and moved the cows to a different pasture, and then he finished combining the flax, and I disked the field right away.

  This morning, Andrew went over to our rented land by Hazelton to bring back a loader tractor, and he just got home now.  I think that we might be stacking bales this afternoon...  Andrew also mowed the ditches over there.

  I got my straw baled up today in Agricultural simulator, and I tried stacking them 2 high on the bale trailer, but I accidentally dumped some of them off. :-)   I also mowed some grass and collected it in a forage wagon... :-)  Here are some pictures.

 

Well, I suppose I should probably get back to my school work, and/or go outside and see what Andrew is doing, so I will say goodbye for now.

  Jacob.

I'm back. Again...

Hi guys,
 It's been a little while since I've wrote, but I have been busy swathing with the old Versatile 400 swather, cutting down hay and flax.  We also stacked a lot of 2nd cut hay bales here recently, so that kept us busy for a good day.  I think we got about 250 stacked in one day!

  As you might have heared, my Mom was away for a BodyTalk class this last week, and then just after she got home, Cora left for three days to go help some of our friends pack for a move.  Cora just got home yesterday, so it's good to have everybody home again.

  Also, here are a couple of pictures from Agricultural Simulator Biogas.  I finally got around to doing my silage! :-)

  Let me know if you want more pictures. ;-)

  Well,  Mom said that now that I am older, I have to write a little bit more than I did last year.  :-S   So I guess I am just rambling now...  Well, seeing how I don't have much else to say, I will leave it at this, and say goodbye for the weekend. :-)

  Til' next time, Jacob B.

 

A picture post for Hristiyan.

Hello again,

Yesterday, my second cousin, Hristiyan, requested some pictures of making hay in the new add on for Agricultural simulator. Biogas! So here are some pictures with the whole process of making grass bales. I might get some more pictures of silaging and foraging later.

Note: that is a REMOVABLE frontloader!

Well Heristiyan, that will have to do until I can get some more screenshots... Hope you enjoyed it.

Jacob

School has started, and thus my blog is reserected from the dead! ;-)

Hi guys!
  It's been a long time since I've posted, but we have all been very busy on the farm, and I haven't had much time to write, until Mom made it part of my school again this year...  So how has everybody been since I've posted?  If anybody is reading this, I hope that you are all doing well.

  So as you may have heard, if you read my family's blogs, my second cousin, Hristiyan, came here for a while, so we had a lot of fun when he was here...  Here is a picture from the Bio gas add on that I told you about H.! 

:-)

  The other night, I was swathing down some wheat, when Mom came and said that our neighbor's horses were all out in our alfalfa field!  Well, to make a long story short, Andrew and I were on our dirt bikes trying to get them in, and we started shortly after 7:00 PM, and when we were done, it was about 8:30!

  Well, Cora just called me for lunch, so I got to go.

 Talk to you later, Jacob B.

Nasty Weather. :-(

Hi guys,
  Today it is VERY windy and it is raining a little bit too.  It is so nasty outside that nobody wants to go outside, so Dad and I went to Wishek to pick up our quick hitch for the 7250, and then we drove around for a little bit looking through all of the dealerships.

  We aren't doing much today, Cora went to work in town; Dad and I just got home from Wishek; Andrew is looking at computer parts and what not; and Mom is going to go take a soak, I think.  When we came back, we could see the green house plastic bubbling severely. :-(

  So how is everyone enjoying all of the slop? :P  It is fun just getting in and out of our yard right now!  From what I saw on the trip, everybody has a messy yard too. :-(  Anyway, time to go, so I will say goodbye, and I will talk to you all later.

  Bye, Jacob B.

Still Snowing :-(

Hi guys,
 Yesterday and today, us guys have been busy working on Andrew's quad, and now this morning, we are finally finished, and Andrew and I took it out for a drive, but I will let Andrew tell you about that sometime, if he ever gets time...

  We have been getting some more snow here lately, and now we have somewhere around 8 inches on the ground here, but it is melting off as it comes down, or at least the thermometer says that it should be anyways...

  I just looked outside the window, and it is still snowing, but just a very little bit.  This morning, Dad left to go get another load of hay home, so he should be getting home soon...  Anyway, I had better get going, so I will say goodbye.

  Jacob B.

Snow Again!

Hi guys,
  I just looked out my window here, and I see that it is snowing again! :-(  I thought that we were past that for good! :-(  So much for cleaning grain for today, I guess.  Andrew has been gone for the past few days cleaning grain, and he was doing a big job, and he is going to get home tonight, but only because of the snow.

  Well, we have got the greenhouse built, except for the doors, but we have hauled in a load of compost and spread that out inside of there, so they are pretty much ready to plant now!  Now we just have to build up some doors, and we will be done!

  Boy, that snow is really coming down fast!  And it has to come right in the middle of our calving/cleaning/field work season! :-(  Well, I gotta go, as Andrew just called and wants me to guide him into the quonset in a minute, so bye bye.

  Jacob B.

Greenhouse and Cleaning Season

Hi guys,
  What have you been doing recently?  I have been helping the rest of the family put up the greenhouse, and that project is getting close to finished.  I think that we might get it finised today, actually!  All we have to do is to build some doors, and put up the plastic!

  The guys are going to be out cleaning grain pretty soon, I think they could go now if people's yards wern't so messy. :-(  Andrew was having some problems with bearings in the motor for the big fan, but he got it fixed now.

  It sure is nice to look out the window and see grass, although brown, it sure beats looking at snow!  I have bween playing SimTractor for a little while now, and there are a few things that would be nice to have in Farming Simulator, but the really bad thing is that they give you all of the implements, instead of you aving to buy them. :-(  Anyway, time to go.

  Jacob B.

Crazy Days!

Hi guys,
  Yesterday, Mom went up to Bismarck; Cora went to work in town;  and Dad, Andrew, and I stayed home and worked on the greenhouse that we are putting up on the side of our building.  We also went with Andrew to load up a ATV, but I'll let him tell you about that...

  We have got all of the rafters up on the greenhouse, and it is actually starting to look like something now!  We are going to be putting up the boards that hold them all together today, and probably build some end walls, too.

  For all you Farming Simulator guys, (if I have any), I have discovered the original Farming Simulator!  It is called "SimTractor", and it really does have some good functions, but the graphics are lacking. :-(  If you want to download the demo, or read about it, visit the website here: http://www.simtractor.com/  Gotta go.

  See you guys later, Jacob

Yuck, Mud!

Hi guys,
  Yuck, we are right in the middle of the muddy season. :-(  Now when we go out to chores, or go outside, we always put on those big, heavy overshoes, and then they get all covered with mud, and pretty soon you are carrying 5 extra pounds around!

  Our latest project is making a greenhouse on the side of our building that we have been putting up.  We have got the frame for around the bottom built, and now we have to stake it down.  They we will start putting up the frame, and so on...

  Yesterday, we built a pair of front fenders for our 4-wheeler, as the ones that came with were pretty much non-existent, and you always got mud thrown up into your face, so we took some old tin from an old dryer, and bent it into shape, and now we have some fenders!  Anyway, gotta go.

  Jacob B.

Stuck. :-(

Hi guys,
  Yep, I'm back again, and I don't know what to write, so expect some rambling in this post...  I was just on the Agricultural Simulator forum, and they said that the next patch is in testing now, so that shouldn't be very far away, now.

  Anyway, yesterday, Mom left for Bismarck to do sessions; Cora left for work; and Dad, Andrew, and I went over to Hazelton to pull out the truck that got stuck the night before.  First we had to fix a tire on the loader tractor that was over there, so we did that, and then we went out to the truck.

  When we got out there, I found that the truck was high-centered on a thick snow drift, and under the snow drift was sheet ice. Well, eventually, the maintainer guy came along, and we borrowed his tow rope, and we pulled just the truck out, and then we dug more snow away from the trailer, and then we hooked the truck back up again, and then we pulled the truck and trailer out.  That was yesterday in a nutshell.  Anyway, time to go.

  Bye, Jacob

The Circus

Hi guys,
How is everybody doing today? We are all doing fine.  This morning, Dad said that we had four new calves!  We had to get one of the cows in the barn this morning, as it was rather nasty out this morning, and the cow didn't really want to go...

  Last Saturday, we had a pleasant surprise!  Andrew and I were playing on our computers, when Dad came into our room, and said that we were going up to Bismarck for lunch!  We went to our favorite place, and after that, Cora took us to the Circus!!!


  It was a lot of fun, but I will let Cora tell you about it in detail.  Anyway, is everybody ready for the muddy season?  I know that I am not looking forward to it.  Anyway, It is time for me to go now, so I will say goodbye, and I will talk to you all later.

  Bye, Jacob B.

News and PC games...

Hi guys, what's up?
  Not much is going on right here, as Cora left for her friends house early this morning; Mom left for Bismarck early this morning; Dad is pushing some snow around; Andrew is heading out the door to work on the tractor, and I am doing school... ;-(
                                                       '
  This morning, there was a lot of frost on the fences and everything, and, although I don't like winter all that much, it was a pretty sight.   Anyway, what do people think about the oncoming muddy situation?  I know I am not looking forward to it.

 By the way, if you are interested in Agricultural Simulator, here is a link to a video of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aw-pAU12A4 Be warned, it takes a fairly high-powered PC to run this game at any amount of quality.  Note about video: really dumb music,so i suggest muting.

  Bye, Jacob B.

Snow again. :-(

Hi guys,
  How are you all doing today?  We are doing fine, although we don't really like the weather. :P  It was so nasty last night that Cora stayed in town.  She got home earlier, but now she is going to go down to help some friends that just had a baby...

  We got rain and snow yesterday, but the snow was more like miniature hail then snow.  You could just watch it come down and bounce off the ground. :-(  And then when we wanted to go out to chores, the door was froze shut. :P

    Cora just came in and said that she is not going to go down to her friends today, as the roads are still too nasty, so she is going to get up early in the morning and go, so don't expect much from her blog for a few days.  Anyway, I had better get going.

  Bye, Jacob B.

Mud... :-(

Hi guys,
  How are you all doing today?  When I woke up, it was raining, and that means that we are going to be getting even more mud, and I think that everybody here would agree that we have too much mud already. :-(
Do any of my readers think that they have too much mud already?

  Anyway, some more news about that game.  It is actually unfinished now, but they are working on a new patch for it, and I think that should be the final patch.  The game is actually set in the Swiss Alps, so a very pretty map, but all of the tractors and combines are made by Claas, a German brand, so that's not very American.

  The game does still have some bugs in it, like not being able to buy the other farms, and grass stuff that was supposed to come with the game, but they say that will all be fixed in the new patch.  All in all, it is a good game that still has a few bugs in it yet, but definitely worth buying if you have some spare cash...  Anyway, I had better go.

  Jacob B.

A new Game

Hi guys,
  I just bought a new computer game, but I have to write before I can try it out...  It's called Agricultural Simulator 2011 Extended Edition.  As the name suggests, it is another farming simulation game.  You can visit the website here: http://www.agrar-simulator.de/

  Don't let the website fool you, the game is actually in the English language, and uses American measurements, even though it says it is German...?!  Anyway, it looks like it has some nice features that Farming Simulator doesn't have.

  For example, the tractors and implements leave wheel tracks; you're vehicles get dirty; you have to buy your land; you can upgrade your garage, stables, and grain silos; and many other goodies. ;-)  Anyway, time to go play some more. :P

  Bye, Jacob

Home School Convention in Review...

Hi guys,
  We just got home from the Home School Convention last night, and seeing as it was like 10:00 pm, we opened the seven boxes that had came while we were gone, and then we all went to sleep, and most of us slept in this morning... :P

  As I had expected, some of the workshops were interesting, some not so interesting, and outside of that time, I was either talking with friends, or walking around the outskirts of the building talking with friends, which I did a lot of yesterday...

  Anyway, I just got off of my Farming Simulator site, as I was getting cached up on all of the mods and news that I had missed...  Andrew is looking at video of the convention right now, and I am getting interested, so I will talk to you all later.

  Jacob.

Home School Convention

Hi guys,
  Today, Dad is going to be hauling hay home from our Hazelton ground; Mom and Andrew are going over to the Home School Convention; Cora is going to go work in Napolion; and I am going to stay home and do my school.

  Right now, Andrew, Cora, and Mom are packing up all of our old school books to take to the used book sale, I think that Dad is outside feeding hay to the cows, and I am NOT looking forward to the two and a half pages of algebra that await me...

  I just heard Mom say that they are done tearing apart the house looking for books, but now there is a huge mess all over the place...  Anyway, I have to start doing my typing, and then I probably will start on algebra, so I had better get going.

  See you later, Jacob.

Oops...

Hi guys,
  Today, Dad and Mom went up to Bismarck to do sessions, and to get our calf check released from the loan office...  Cora went to work after lunch; Andrew just got in from outside and is working on his computer; and I am doing my school...

  Yesterday, I accidentally deleted all of my Farming Simulator mods, and I didn't have a back-up copy, so now I am in the process of re downloading all of the mods that were worth downloading again...  I am about three fourths of the way done...

  I just looked, and Andrew is downloading a Swedish TV series called"Doctor Finlay".  Has anyone ever watched this?  Our family, except me, watched the first season, and now they can watch the rest...  Anyway, I had better get going.

  Talk to you later, Jacob.

Full Schedule

Hi guys,
  We have been very busy here lately, loading out some of our grain that we have sold; doing BodyTalk and BETAR meetings; getting new camcorders; designing business cards and sales slips for the grain cleaning businesses; and getting puled behind the snowmobile in a sled... :-D

  In case you didn't know, Dad, Mom, and I are going to a radionics class, which is going on in Blue Earth, Minnesota on the 9th through the 12 of March.  We are all very exited, as things are getting close.  We have on our schedule: Cora's B-day; HS convention; and Radionics class, and they are all pretty soon...

  Anyway, are people looking forward to the Home school convention?  I think I am going to get very bored... (zzz :P)  Well, I had better get going with some other school/farming simulator mod browsing, so I will talk to you later.

  Jacob

We got a new vehicle

Hi guys,
  If you didn't know, on Friday, Dad and Mom went to Napoleon to dump a load of grain in the elevator, and they left with the old white Chevy truck.  Several hours later, which was way longer then it should have taking to just dump the grain they came home with the white truck, and this...

  It is a 2007 Chrysler Pacifica that is loaded with almost all of the options.  Overhead DVD player; sunroof; satellite radio... :P  On Saturday, we all went and took it for a drive around Braddock.  Here are some more pictures.

  Anyway, that is our big news. We also got some of our wheat and oats sold recently too, and so that got cleaned and loaded out onto trucks on Thursday and Friday...  Anyway, I had better get going, so I will talk to you all later.

  Jacob.

Mud?!

Hi guys,
  I was just reading in the new Popular Mechanics that came here today, and was looking at the interesting article about the nuclear missile silos, and how they work, and saw that there are three places were they are based, and one is Minot Air Force Base!

  Anyway, I was playing Trainz Simulator for a while, but then I crashed my train, and Mom had told me to write earlier, so that is what I am doing right now.  Rambling. :P  It has been very nice temperatures here, but yesterday's wind was a little bit much.

  Is everyone ready for spring?  We are starting to get some mud from a lot of snow melting.  I just looked at the temperature, and it says that it is thirty six . nine outside, so more snow is melting and making more mud... :-(  Anyway, time to go, so I will talk to you later.

  Jacob

Yesterday, we went to Bismarck...

Hi guys,
  I just got started with my school, after cores and helping in the shop for a little while.  I am also looking at my Farming Simulator site, so this post is taking a little bit longer then it should... :-P  I have found that it is very hard to concentrate on writing when you are looking at Farming Simulator mods...

  Yesterday, we all went to Bismarck to buy some cubicle panels, and to set them up in a certain way so that we now have two rooms in the one big room...  We also picked up an air compressor head , and I think that Andrew and Dad are putting that on a tank right now.

  After we were done working, Mom took us out to the Texas Roadhouse for super, and, to put it simply, our chores took a little bit longer then they usually do.., :P  Anyway, I have to go help clean the house now, so I will talk to you all next week.

  Jacob

This morning...

Hi guys,
  Right after I got in from chores, and Mom pounced on me for school, so I guess I might as well do it and get it done with...  I did my typing already, and after my writing, I think that I am going to go do my math with Mom.

  Right now, Dad is outside feeding the cows and pushing snow; Mom and Cora are working on the dishes out in the kitchen; Andrew just sold a computer on BisMan Online; And I am looking at what Andrew is doing on is computer...

  This morning, Cora and I moved an old chicken nest down to the barn where all the chickens are, and we fixed it up a little bit, and we put some straw inside, so now, maybe, we will get some eggs...  Well, I had better get going, so goodbye.

  Jacob

A new School Week. :-(

Hi guys,
  we just got started with school, and with lunch just around the corner, we didn't dig into algebra, so I did my typing class, and then started writing on here, after browsing my Farming Simulator forum "LS-UK" for a while.

  Right now, Dad is looking at tractors and combines on an Internet auction site; Mom is reading an e-mail; Cora is working in the kitchen; Andrew is working on an ancient, very loud computer; and I am working on my school...

  We have been getting a little bit more snow every now and then, and I think that we have got somewhere about two feet now, but at least the weather is nice.  Well, I just got the "come set the table" call, so I had better get going.  Talk to you later.

  Jacob

Yesterday, we went to the Capital...

Hi all,

Yesterday, all of us, except Dad, went to the home school day at the capitol, and Dad went to the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society annual convention. We all had a good time at the capitol, but I got a little bored...

So for those of you that don't know, I have been working on an entry for the North Dakota Teen Drivers Safety video contest, and to enter you have to make a 30 second video, and hold a traffic safety event, which I did yesterday at the capital. Here is the video of me giving my speech at the capital.



So how many of you got to the Home School day at the Capitoll? And of those, how many sat with your Representatives?  I sat with Senator Erbele, and had a good time.  Anyway, I have to go clean the house, so I will talk to you all next week.

Mom went to town...

Hi guys,
This morning, Mom hurriedly got ready to go to Bismarck, as she has sessions to do, and was going to go meet some friends. Also, Dad left early to go over to our rented land over by Hazelton, to get a load of hey home.

Right now, Dad is on his way home with a load of hay, Mom is probably getting ready to do a session; Cora is getting some lunch put together; Andrew is taking apart his broken laptop again; and I am working on my school.

This morning was one of the nicest mornings that we have had in a long time, with a temperature of 24 degrees, and no wind. Anyway, I have to get going with some math, so I will talk to you on Monday.

Jacob

Nice weather!

Hi all,
I just got started with my school, and decided to write quick, as Mom is on the phone talking to one of her friends, after getting interrupted right in the middle of our school's morning opening exercises.

Right now, Dad is working on the main computer; Mom is talking on the phone; Cora is on her computer; Andrew is writing a blog post about a still/video camera that he has been looking at for a while; and I am getting started with school.

It is really nice outside this morning. Right now, it is twenty one degrees, (above) and no wind, so chores were pretty nice this morning. Anyway, I had better go see if Mom is off the phone yet, so I will talk to you all tomorrow.

Jacob

Another Usual day...

Hi all,
Today, Mom is going to go up to Bismarck to do her sessions, and to do some more errands, and I think everyone else is staying home. I hope to get more done on my short video for the Teen Driving Contest today too.

Right now, Dad is outside feeding the cows; Mom is getting ready to go to town after lunch; Cora is working on her computer; Andrew is looking at computer parts and stuff; and I am working on my school. :-(

Just looked over at Andrew, and now he is looking at selling his broken laptop on Bis Man Online. Anyway, I have my video to work on, and all of my school work to do, so I had better be going.

Jacob.

Dad and Mom went on vacation.

Hi all,
Yesterday, Dad and Mom left to go to a friends wedding, and to visit with some old friends that live up that way, and when they were done with the wedding and visiting, they decided to visit some more and spend the night with their friends.

Also, as it was really windy and cold outside last night, Cora decided to stay in town, as she had to work today, but now she is home, as well as Dad and Mom, and Andrew and I had a good time at home.

I just looked out of the window, and it is snowing again. This morning, Andrew had a fun time pushing his way to a new bale stack out in the snow-covered field, but he got the bales! Anyway, I will go for now, see you tomorrow.

Jacob

Forgot what to write!

Hi all,
Today Mom and Andrew went to Bismarck to do sessions, and do all of our other errands. Right now, Dad is working on his computer; Mom and Andrew are in Bismarck; Cora is baby siting; and I am doing my school.

Right now, I can't really think of anything to write, and it is very exasperating, as I knew everything that I was going to write about before I started writing this post, and now, I seem to have forgotten them!!!

Was just surfing my Farming Simulator site, trying to come up with something to write, but it didn't work. :-( Well, I had better get going with some other piece of my school work that I have to do, so I will say goodbye.

Jacob

A Usual day...

Hi all,
Today, we are all at home, doing all of our usual stuff. Dad is going to start working on his bookkeeping that he starts this time of year; Mom is getting ready for a client; Cora is gonna head for work in a while; Andrew is helping Dad; and I am writing.

Yesterday, the guys worked on fixing the loader tractor, and now it is working fine again! It sure is nice to have the farm parts store just a mile and a half away! ;-) Aargh, I can't come up with stuff to write! :-(

We have got about 2 feet of snow on the ground now, and we enjoy driving the snowmobile around! Anyway, I had better get going with someting else, so I will say goodbye to you all for now.

Jacob

Stuck!

Hi all,
This morning after chores, us guys stayed outside to get the loader tractor out of the snow, as it got stuck last night, and the 4020 couldn't pull it out. I see that they got it out with the Case Magnum 7250.

Right now, Dad and Andrew are outside working on the 9030 loader tractor, as a hydraulic cylinder broke; Mom is feeling better, so she is working in the kitchen; Cora is helping in the kitchen; and I am writing... ;-)

So how is everyone doing with all of the snow that they have gotten? We are doing fine, as we have the loader tractor to push snow with. (when it works!) Anyway, I had better go do some other school, so I will say goodbye.

Jacob

Catching up.

Hi all,
Yesterday morning, an oil hose broke on our 9030 loader tractor, and right now, Dad is down at Titan getting the hose fixed, as He does not really like feeding with the JD 4020 and the bale fork. ;-)

Today, Mom isn't feeling very good, so she is in bed right now; Cora is working in town; Andrew is listing some computer parts on eBay; and I am working on my never-ending pile of school work... ;-(
'
We have been very busy working on getting Mom's office perfected, and now her room dividers are in place! Anyway, I had better get going with some other part of my schoolwork, so I will say goodbye.

Jacob

Snow...

Hi all,
Yesterday, we all went up to Bismarck to finish up Mom's room dividers, and so some other things, and now, Moms office looks a whole lot different, but I will let Mom post pictures of that on her blog.

Today, Dad is off hauling grain; Mom is up in Bismarck doing sessions; Cora is working in town again; Andrew is working on his computer some more; and I am working on my schoolwork. (and hating it)

We have got a lot of sow on the ground here. It looks like two feet. How is everyone else doing with all of the snow that you have? We are just working around it... Anyway, I had better go do some other school.

Jacob

Yesterday, we went to Kiester's...

Hi all,
Yesterday, we all went down to visit the Kiester family, and we all had a good time playing games, and watching a movie. Tomorrow, we are planing to go up to Bismarck, to finish working on Mom's office.

Right now, Dad is trying to get out of the yard with the truck; Mom is doing a session on a neighbor; Cora is off working in town; Andrew is outside helping Dad; and I am still working on my school.

We have gotten a lot of snow here lately, and we are getting some more as I write, and I think that we have got about one and a half feet of snow already. Anyway, I had better get going, so I will say goodbye.

Jacob

100th post!

Hi everybody,
This is my 100th post! As I am writing, I am listning to Andrew' s banjo playing, which is going on right behind me, and it is sounding very good. I am sick as of right now, and that is why I am writing at this time of day.

Right now, Dad is playing cards on the computer; Mom just got done doing a session; Cora is working in town; Andrew is playing his banjo; I am finishing up my school for the day; and the dog is asleep. ;-)

Yesterday, Dad, Mom, and Andrew went to Bismarck, Cora went to work, and I stayed home alone for the afternoon, except for when the car stopped working right for Cora, so Then Cora took Andrew's pickup to work and I brought the car home... Anyway, I had better go.

Jacob