Young girl barrel racing.

Older girl doing a good job barrel racing.

2015 Peach Festival Rodeo.

Attended the rodeo Saturday night. It was a good one.

Same announcer.

The clown got busted. Illegal use of a phone booth, I guess. Good thing that the Sheriff was on the ball.

The horse was too fast for my camera. See following films of two barrel races.

21 days to my 90th.

First 90th Birthday Card.

Today it is 24 days to my 90th birthday. And I received my first 90th birthday card! It is a beautiful card designed and made by Yvonne Turner. Yvonne is a dear friend and is the sister of Jewette Farley. Jewette is also a dear friend. Jewette took his Mother's words to heart. When Jewette was a boy, every time he left home and told his Mother good bye she would say these words. "Be a sweet boy".

Isn't that a great card? It is colorful like me. It was a thrill to receive and appreciated. Thank you Vonnie.

Third day on roof.

About three more hours were spent on the frame. All legs are in place now.

That is Homer Brown on the roof. He knows steel roof construction. The ground was fairly level in front of the trailer. The ground fell down a slope behind the trailer. One leg had to be 19 feet long. The standard length was 12 feet. The front legs fit into one prefab steel piece in front. But behind the trailer the legs had to be taylor cut to fit the slope. Steel pipes were driven into the ground. Then the leg was lifted and lowered over the pipe. No cement was used.

Looking good. Almost ready for sheeting.

Roof. Start frame. Did a lot in two hours.

American Carport spent 2 1/2 hours with me today. As you can see they did a lot. Have to build a couple parts at the shop. My sheeting is about due. The crew will be back in the morning.

Cross members are screwed together.

And put in tentative place.

The frame looks rugged.

Three foot steel pipes with cleats are driven into the ground. Cleats hold the frame down,

The roof of my fifth wheel trailer leaks a lot.

I have lived in a fifth wheel trailer for thirty years. I have had many roof leaks. The bad thing about an RV roof leak is that you can not find them. You end up calking all the seams on the whole roof. Then, eventually you get another leak. I had the whole roof treated after we moved to HWY 544 a couple of years ago. The other day I got a big leak. I think a tree branch falling caused the leak.

Well I have given up on my RV roof. I am having a roof installed over my roof. American Carport in Ruston is going to install a roof over my fifth wheel trailer this week. They delivered some frame parts today.

Looks like rugged steel stuff. Should stop most tree parts. I am going to be cozy and dry.

Lily Monson. My youngest grand daughter.

Gee! Lily is so lovely. She lives in Fresno where she works full time and attends Fresno State. She will graduate in 1 1/2 years. Good student, hard worker, and a nice person.

I thought that I would put this picture on my blog to give it class. I have never seen a Monson nose that is so good looking.

Bella. My great great great great grand niece. (That is four greats)

Did you know that I am a great great great great grand uncle? It is hard to work that into a general conversation. The picture below is of Bella in her ballot outfit. Bella lives in Hanford, California.

Bella is good looking, huh? The next picture was taken three years ago. Bella had walked over and sat in my lap. I remember that moment fondly.

Great grand daughter Holly playing in her backyard.

Holly's yard is in Woodenville, Washington. This stream is not always this large. On one side of the stream is Holly's backyard, on the other side is a freeway!

I will spend the night of July 17 at Holly's home. Her folks will meet me at the Seattle Airport. The next day we will drive and ferry boat to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands. All of my oldest daughter's family will spend the following week on Orcas Island. Me too. Monday July 20 is my 90th birthday. (Have I ever mentioned that?) Hope they have a cake.

Maybe I will stick a toe in this stream.

Saturday breakfast at Unionville Store.

I had breakfast at the Unionville Store this morning. You probably recognize some prominent Lincoln Parish citizens. I had sweet potato jam on my biscuit.

When one citizen said he would prefer to kiss one of the other citizens rather than one of the others, there was great laughter and this fact was posted on the wall. I can not name any names.

30 days to my 90th.

Vital signs.

Down to 247 pounds and back up to 250! Would like to be at a lower weight for my trip to Washington. Have to get dedicated.

Columns are date, steps/pounds, high blood pressure/low blood pressure-pulse, and temperature.

33 days to 90.

Hearing aids for the old prune picker.

I picked up new hearing aids at 1 pm today. I wore them for seven to eight hours this afternoon. My main objection is hearing myself speak. It sounds like I am in a well. It is disconcerting. Hope this can be adjusted. You should hear what chewing an ice cube sounds like!

34 days to 90.

NE Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society Meeting. 6-14-2015.

Margaret Rivoire gave a talk on the "Vanishing Coastline of Louisiana".  16 square miles vanishes every year. Two large contributors to the problems are (1) farmers and levees, and (2) oil well canals. These factors disturbed the natural ebb and flow in the wetlands.

Margaret is from the area and knows her subject well. I enjoyed her talk.

Hadacol Boogie

Bluegrass Country

North Louisiana Bluegrass. 6-13-2015.

Second Saturday of the month already.

Bluegrass Country.

Reasonable Facimili.

The Bayou Valley Boys could not make it. Everyone got together to fill in for them. Good job.

Nice show. Not one train went by. I won a door prize for being the oldest Father present. In 37 days I will be 90.

Foot Sleeves.

My ankles swell up every day. My Doctor prescribed some compression stockings. I wore them for awhile but it was a real hassle to but them on. I did not like the hassle so I went back to letting my ankles swell. The stockings had really stopped the swelling, however.

I noticed this product.

I ordered a pair. It takes all of my strength to pull them on.  (Almost a hassle) But they work.

They are getting stretched and are easier to get on. (less hassle) They look sporty!

38 days to 90.

Patches the cat.

Patches came out of the woods a couple months ago. She was known as the the cat out of the woods. Katie gave her the name Patches. A good name. She is sort of mottled. She is so homely that she is cute.

Patches has had quite a life so far. She showed up pregnant. Then she showed up with a huge bite out of her leg and two kittens. (Did the biter kill the rest of her litter?) Then one of the two went missing. Poor Patches.

Patches and I have adopted each other. She greets me when I get out of my car or step out of my trailer. We hang out in the gazebo. After she sits on my lap and lets me pet her, I feed her. I like to think that she likes me for myself and not just the food.

You can see that sometimes she hangs on to my knees. Notice the blood on the knee in the picture. I love Patches and am willing to bleed for her.