Sample of Equinox Quintet music.

Jazz Quintet at the Lincoln Parish Library

Last night the Library presented Jeremy Davis and the Equinox Jazz Quintet. They were good. I really enjoyed the program. They played Johnny Mercer songs. The singer sang like Frank Sinatra but more so.

They played for an hour and a half to an appreciative audience. They are superb musicians!

The Rabbit Suite.

John has built two new rabbit hutches. There are now three. One for each of the two females and one for the male. John can now control the sexual activity.

The gray male on the right. On the left is the female that lost a litter of seven to the recent hard freeze. (The bunnies froze to death) We expect her to have a second litter soon. In the center is a female with a litter of six. The weather forecast for last night was for temperatures in the thirties. John installed a heat lamp for the new litter.

The wire screen around the cord is to keep the mother from eating the cord.

The six bunnies were all cuddled close to the lamp. They really appreciated John's work.

John Smith, Soldier from Chicago.

John Smith is a second great grandfather of Christopher David Monson. He is the father of Jackie's grand father, George Jacob Smith. John saw 3 1/3 years service in the Union Army during the Civil War. Here is a copy I made of his Honorable Discharge. This document may be the oldest piece of paper in my possession.

John went in the Army on 1 Dec 1861 and was discharged 12 Apr 1865. He was 5 foot 5 inches tall and dark complexioned. He was 19, so must have been 16 when he went into the Army. I do not know where he was born but he was discharged in Chicago. He was a shoemaker when he went into the Army.

I know that he married Anna Reader (born in Switzerland) in 1868. They had eight children between 1869 and 1886. Only three of the children survived until her passing.

I am researching John and Anna. Interesting couple. Anna was buried in Olney, Illinois.

Notice that John was given a bounty of $100 when he was discharged.

Bunny Report.

The Adams farm lost a litter of rabbits a couple of weeks ago. One night the temperature fell to 22 and the litter froze to death. We were blue. We thought that the mother would keep the bunnies warm.

In a few days a new litter of six was born. There were seven in the lost litter. We could have had thirteen!

The weather has been nice and the bunnies are doing great. The bunnies are for the future entertainment of the Adams grandchildren. In the meantime they are very entertaining to me.

They look like little rabbits, huh?

Rain drops on the Koi pond.

This is the way the surface of the Koi pond usually looks. Smooth and placid.

In a rain shower the other day it looked like this.

I wonder what the fish thought.

Danny and Diana Butcher visit. December 3, 2014.

Danny is my nephew. He is just a kid. (A good kid). He is 68 and a retired Los Angeles fireman. His wife Diana is a retired High School Librarian. A month ago they left their home in Pomona, California. They drove to New York (many stops on the way) to visit their grandson and his parents, their son and daughter. Then a little side trip to Key West, Florida. Then to Ruston.

It was so good to see them. Much visiting interrupted by meals. First night we had supper at Willie's Duck Diner in West Monroe. The next day we had lunch at Gap Farms in Arcadia. Last night was a gourmet meal (crawfish étouffée over rice) prepared by Kerry and John Adams. My daughter and son in law. Fine Southern Chefs.

Pictures at Willie's.

Selfie time!

Kerry, John, Christian, and Ross joined us at Willie's.

Pictures at Gap Farms.

Good home cooking at Gap Farms.

Pictures in Bonnie and Clyde country. Gibsland.

The Ambush Museum was closed but there was a display next door.

Old monument at ambush site.

A new monument has been installed next to the old  one.

Supper at Adams.

Miscellaneous Pictures.

Notice the old geezer in the mirror. Holding a camera.

Notice the Monson Nose. Uncle and nephew.

Danny and Diana Butcher. A nice couple

What a nice visit! 

John's Teeter Totter

John built this  teeter totter in under 2 hours. He is pretty talented. The lumber cost about what a commercial teeter totter would cost.

The Senior Center Quilters for America's Heroes treated me again!

This group is a part of a social club at the Northern Louisiana Medical Center. They were responsible for the recent quilt presentation to 12 local veterans. A picture of the ceremony was on the front page of the Ruston Leader.

After the ceremony we enjoyed a reception in the Medical Center's cafeteria. I was thrilled and appreciative of these efforts and thought that was the end of it.  It was not. The other day I received an envelope in the mail. There were four items in the envelope. (1) a copy of the Leader with the ceremony picture on the front page, (2) letter presented below, (3) a photo collage, suitable for framing, that featured me, and (4) a cd with some 124 photos of the affair. What a lot of work! I present two of the pictures from the cd below.

Pictures from the cd.

I appreciate all of the work by photographers, collage makers, etc. This work was repeated for each of the 12 veterans. Thank you from the old prune picker.

Murder on the Adam's Farm.

John and I returned home a little after 12 noon yesterday. John discovered the body of the chicken above in the woods a short distance from the the gazebo. Her head had been eaten off! The other chickens were out of sight. They shortly returned as we looked and called for them.

We think that the assailant might have been a cat. We sometimes see one in the yard. It must have been a small animal that could not carry the body away. There was a spot with many feathers. The chicken must have put up a good fight.

Now I know how a cattleman feels when the wolves kill a cow. Sad and angry.