just for weiwen

This blog entry is just for Weiwen. Look what you're missing Weiwen.

back in my wyoming studio

Ok, my studio is set up. I've had a six week break and now I better get to work. I'll probably be staring at the easel for a while before inspiration strikes....but maybe not! More shall be revealed.

winter looming

A view from our balcony of the Never Summer Range.Look at the snow! I use to live over there just under these magnificent mountains in Grand Lake, Colorado. Brrrr!

Finley

Scroll down to previous blog.

Finley Cole Younger

Mernie went to Sacramento on the week end to visit our new grandson Finley.What a cutey! The one on the right is pretty cute too. Hee Hee!
Corky, Mernie's son, took some great pics of the pair. I think you have to have had babies of your own or be a nurse or something to be able to change a baby's nappy. I don't think I could do it unless it was a matter of life and death. I almost had to do it at a kindergarten I taught at and I was ready to resign on the spot.Luckily there was a seasoned Mum there who happily did it for me. I think she realised it was better than having to clean up after me as well. Give me horse poo any day!

Littl' Flambeau

Although difficult to see the horse on the right is Flambeau ,the lovely grey horse featured a few blogs back. I suppose he is about 6mths old here. My how he has changed! The other one is Domingo. He at least is still the same colour but now has the build of an army tank. Rod describes him as a gigantic weiner dog!
Don't forget you can click on images to make them bigger and that you can view previous blogs way back to Sept of last year. Just check down on the bottom right of this page.
Ooo Roo!

oops!

This is a rough poster I made to let people know about a working bee at the ranch. Click on it and read it. See if you can find the mistake!









Ok, so there are only thirty days in September. Here is the really funny part though. October the first is the day I was born! I forgot my own birthday! How's that for a blooper!

spectacular

Speccy sunset! That's Wyoming. One minute its gorgeous next minute its spectacular!

Welcome to the Native American room. Rod's roommate Bob was so kind as to give us some lovely Native American Artwork and I have put it to good use. While the rest of the house(and ranch) still needs some attention I have at least made one room look civilized.This is the guest room so come on down; we're ready fer ya!
( Rod made the bed head. Fits the theme and I love it!)

Pinedale

So, what do you think is the most popular activity in Pinedale?

Weiwen in Pinedale

Weiwen has moved to Pinedale for a new job and a fresh start. I helped her move last week. She rented a big pick up and we loaded it up and went. I think this will be a great place for her. Good people, fresh air and a decent income!

Roo Droppings

Roo Droppings
Woe our computer crash last week and mernie has been tearing his hair out to get it going again. He still has programs to load and once again I'm pictureless.I'll just have to be patient I guess.

golden staircase

I had an art professor once tell me, "ronnie never be afraid to climb the golden staircase." Last I heard of him he had a heart attack. True.

life

Just a quick note to say how much I love life on the ranch. There's lots of work to do and I'm completely exhausted by the end of each and every day.I'm up at 5.30am every day and can't wait to get going. Life is full of real things to do.Concrete tasks and satisfying rewards unlike the art world that's full of possibilities that may or may not happen and more times than not...don't! I'm happy to take a break from all those disappointments until once again I throw myself to the lions.Right now hearing the sound of horses whinnying as we drive up with their meals three times a day is all I need. It will be interesting to see if I still feel this way in a couple of months when the snow begins to fly!

'ave a banana!

'ave a banana! 48 cents a lb here in Laramie; Something like $14.00 a kg in Australia. These are mighty big ones what's more.

geriatrics

Here are two of the three oldies I'm trying to fatten up before winter. Embassy, Mernie's white arab above has actually gained a little weight I think. He was skin and bones.Tiny, the Belgium is an enormous but oh so gentle giant with a bung knee. Gotta love 'em.

flies

Here is Rod sucking up flies with the shop vac. Now that's gotta make an Aussie feel right at home. I've never seen so many flies in Laramie.These flies are much better behaved than Aussie flies however. They seldom get in your face unlike the aussie breed that all compete for that juicy little spot in the corner of your eye.See Mernie with a bloody useless can of fly spray. Now wouldn't you think a superpower like the USA would have come up with a fly spray that actually kills flies! While it asphyxiates us, it manages to simple annoy the flies. After Rod had finished his fly round up, they sprayed this stuff down the nozzle to kill the flies incase they might find their way up the hose and out again.Hmmm! Guess what. The next morning the room was full of, you guessed it, FLIES!

where the deer and the antelope play

Well, the deer are probably in the high country but we wake up to antelope right outside our window each morning.

willy the jeep

This is my new vehicle. Willy. He runs great but has no brakes. Minor detail. Mernie just runs him into the haystack to stop it. Sort of funny sight. I think I want real brakes!

the view

This is the sort of thing I see from our bedroom balcony everyday. Mernie has his job back at the power company reading meters so I am not looking for a job outside of the ranch. There is plenty enough to keep me busy right here and soon I will back in my studio which is only partially set up at this stage.Life is good!
Click on this image to truely appreciate it.

Hummer

Don't get too many hummingbirds out here on the ranch. They generally hang around where there are flowers. However while out in the paddock doned in my bright red ball cap I was dive bombed by one.Must have been passing through and misstook me for a sugar stop. So I set up a humming bird feed and now we have two.They are so cute. Only about the size of an index finger. They are almost impossible to catch on camera in flight. I'll keep trying.So far I have lots of shots of nothing!

Our indoor arena

He's such a clever boy! I'm been a horse whisperer and he looks like he's actually listening. Here we are in our indoor arena. What a luxury!

'56 Chevy

Mernie's 56 chevy at sunset. While we were away some kids on the ranch shot holes in the windshield with bb guns. Grrrrr!!

high speed internet

Mernie still has his cold but he is smiling 'coz now we have high speed internet. Today he also found out he has his job back with the power company.

Poor Mernie

Funny cigar ya got there Mernie. Well actually its a thermometer. Poor Mernie has a really bad cold.Poor Mernie!

MY cowboy feeding in the wind

Click on the image of Mern with the horses. I think its really nifty as you can see the hay dotted in the air around him. What its like 'feeding in the wind'.

a real sweetie

He's a little young and green so Mernie went and bought a new helmet (brain bucket as he calls it) for me. Check out the colour. Check out the background. big country Wyomin'!So far this horse is a real sweetie.

Flambeau

Meet the newest horse in my life. This is Flambeau. I've been asked to work with him as he is a little too much for the owner. So far he is great. No dramas. And does he look like endurance material or what!!

Mernie at work on the ranch

Had to get a dumpster the size of a small house, (the kind they use at construction sites,) to cart away the garbage around the ranch. The basement has filled up about a quarter of it. Admittably, a lot of it was here before we left. Here is Mernie with his mini bulldozer just having a ball.

Inside the house its starting to look civilized. Boy was it a mess.A if playing the game of "name that goo" was enough but I even found dirty plates with forks still on them hiding nder the couches.Yuk!

back on the ranch

'Riding the range', view from our bedroom window and the hay waiter."Your order sir."

callington belly dancers

Just backing up a bit. This is the belly dancing class I belonged to in Callington.Erica our teacher is the one with the yellow veil. A great dance teacher and fun gal. I'm going to miss these crazy beauties and the fun we had.When I get on top of things here I'll be joining the Laramie belly dancers. Look out for that blog.

Been away from the ranch for 3 1/2 years and there's about 3 1/2 years worth of cleaning and repairs to do here. We have been working solidly since we got home and it will be a way of life for a while, but its great being home. The house was so filthy a wonderful friend of ours, Jan, came in with some helpers and did some serious cleaning so at least we could live here. We are truly blessed to have such great people in our lives regardless of the hemisphere.
I took some pictures of the panorama around our house the other morning but they barely do it justice. Here they are any how.Welcome back computer technology. (That's a wild antelope in the background of the picture on the right.)

back home on range

Back in Wyoming and its summer! Yay! A smooth but sleepless flight over the Pacific put me in a familiar but grubby unwelcoming LA airport where I experienced the usual hassels. This is the 3rd time I have been detained and I've never committed an offence. I've never even thought about committing one! I had all the documentation that the Sydney consulate assured me i needed to get through immigration but apparently struck the wrong official. When I handed the pan-face, uniformed clad, 'gentleman' the sealed envelope he asked me where the attached piece of paper was. There never was one but there were staple marks. It couldn't have been too important if it was stapled to the outside with one measly staple! I said I had no idea and gulped as he ripped open that precious document I had been guarding with my life. Then he put it asside and told me to wait while he attended to TWO 747's worth of passengers. I told him I had a plane to catch at 10.44am and he just nodded and mumbled, "you'll catch your plane." It was 7.30am but after having been detained twice before for a miserably long 5 hours a piece, I wasn't feeling too reasurred. So I sat down where he told me to and tears welled up as I watched and airport full off people of all nationalities pass happily through his hands.
After about an hour another officer came out from the 'little room' and asked me what was going on. By now my friend at the counter had served everyone and had dissappeared with the all my documentation including my passport. The second officer said "this isn't right" and took off looking for him. Now both of them had dissappeared and i was left in limbo. However they both returned a few minutes later.The second officer went back to what he was doing and 'Gracia' beckoned me back to the counter. Suddenly he was Mr nice guy telling me i didn't have to get so upset.
He figure-printed me right there at the counter, handed me my stamped passport, smiled broadly and told me to have a good day. I took it mumbled something like, "you too" and raced off to get my baggage to take through customs. I caught them just as they were ready to take them to the unclaimed dept. No hassels in customs thank goddness;got to the terminal with only 25mins to spare. Ordered and drank a nice vod and ton, boarded the plane to Denver and bopped across to Colorado.Need I say it was so comforting to step inside the friendly and civilized DIA and be greeted by sweet Mernie.The rest is not history, its the future.

down to the wire

Well i'm down to the wire now. I leave on Thurday morning to pick up life again in the US. My good buddy Dianne has been busy helping me tie up the loose ends of my four year return to australia. I will miss her so much. I haven't made a lot of new friends since returning but the few i've made have been gems; especially this one. I'm really on the hop now so i wont go raving on as much as i'd like to about this.
Anyone who happens to be on my dad's email contacts please write to him as he has become an email monster!
Adieu

baby its cold outside

Its cold, damp and wintery here in South Australia. I'm looking forward to going back to Wyoming where it is warm. Now doesn't that sound topsy turvy?

limbo

Still sitting here in limbo. I' m spending most of my time trying to sell our property and two cars. The market is pretty flat right now. I think what we are asking is really reasonable if not a down right bargain but have also come to the conclusion that the value of anything is directly proportionate to whether you are buying or selling it!

quick update

Mernie's in Sacramento, CA. I'm still in Callington, SA. Had an offer on the house.Put in a counter offer. Waiting, waiting waiting.
Meanwhile I'm working on a picture book about a spider called Boris (of course) that gets sucked up by terrible Hilda's new vaccuum cleaner. It seemed to be a 'really bad day' for poor ole Boris! As it turns out though it was just another 'bad hair day!'

mernie in LA

Mernie has arrived safe and sound in LA.

Bye bye Mernie

Mernie left for the great US of A this morning and will be missed by all here in OZ ;especially by this little black duck. Had a nice little send of last night with a few drinks at the Doggie and deli ( local pub and general store). I took him to the airport at about 8am but it didn't really sink in that he's gone until I came home to this particularly empty house. Of course we'll be together again soon but we don't know how soon. I have to sell the house and vehicles and take care of a few fiddley things first. Bit of a waiting game. In true form, I bet nothing will happen then everything will happen at once and I'll be catapulted out of here and lob in the states thinking now what was that all about?
Mernie has taken the camera so there wont be any piccies for a while unless i figure out a way to get them off of email. Possible? Please stay tuned.
Bloggfully yours, Ronnie.

What an experience seeing all the things you paid good money for go off for a song. Funny the value people put on 'stuff'. A box of odds and ends that I was thinking of giving away went for $17 and our 2year old lounge suite we bought for about $1500 went for $37. OUCH! We all had a lot of fun though and 15% went to the footy club.Now we have an empty house to sell and we are sleeping in a swag.

auctioning of all our worldly goods

What an experience seeing all the things you paid good money for go off for a song. Funny the value people put on 'stuff'. A box of odds and ends that I was thinking of giving away went for $17 and our 2year old lounge suite we bought for about $1500 went for $37. OUCH! We all had a lot of fun though and 15% went to the footy club.Now we have an empty house to sell and we are sleeping in a swag.

lavande

Romantic candle lit dining at its best at Lavande of Callington with hosts Chris and Terry.Gorgeous place, superb food.
www.lavande-sa.com.au

Of course later we let our hair down and danced all over the place.

The Evolution of the Ishchicks

The Funny Chickens (or The evolution of the Ishchicks.)
by Stanley Gilbert Eden Editored and illustrated by Ronda Eden.
(A children’s story)
(Well at least one version of the story)


Once in a far-away place called Funny Land there lived lots of funny animals. The pigs were funny. The horses were funny. The cats and dogs were funny. Even the insects were funny. It was a great place to live because they could have fun all the time being funny. All the animals loved it. That is, all except for the funny chickens. They spent the whole time whinging.
One day the leader of he funny chickens said,
“There must be a better place for us to live than this Funny Land!”
So he ordered all the funny chickens to build a sailing ship. Off they sailed in search of a better place for funny chickens. All was going well as they sped full sail over the waves with great hope in their hearts. Then suddenly….. the wind stopped. And they waited and waited not going anywhere for a very long time until the leader announced,
“THIS WILL NEVER DO!”
And he leapt over board and started to swim. The others follow and although they weren’t very good at it at first, they got better and better until they became expert funny swimmers. And they swam and they swam for days, weeks and even months until they finally struck land. They staggered up onto the beach where there were people lying everywhere sunbaking.
Wet and exhausted they plonked themselves down amongst the people and started making their funny chicken noises. The sunbakers laughed at them because they sounded so funny. They were quite amused until this racket went on for about five hours! Then they didn’t think it was funny any more!
So they chased all the funny chickens back into the sea. They swam and they swam once more in search of a better place for funny chickens. (But that’s not the end of the story!)
The sunbakers shook their fists and shouted,
“GOOD RIDDENS!”
Then went back to their sunbaking.
All was peaceful for a while until some one yelled out,
“LOOK!” and pointed to the funniest egg you have ever seen. It was pink with purple spots and square instead of round. It was so funny everyone started to laugh.
“HEY, IT’S STARTING TO CRACK OPEN,” shouted someone else!
It trembled and spun then started to wriggle and bounce all over the beach. “HOW FUNNY,” they all screamed!
Suddenly it exploded open and out popped the funniest creature you could ever image. It was half chicken and half fish! Now the sunbakers were laughing so loud they were rolling on the sand. The funny creature was terribly insulted. After all, they were the ones that looked so funny. So it poked out its tongue at them, ran across the beach, leapt into the water and swam as fast as it could toward Funny Land...... where it knew that it belonged.

up date

G'day y'all.
Won't be long and we will be back in the great USof A. Mernie will be heading back at the end of the month and I will be tagging along behind after the property sells. We sold the float (horse trailer)on the week-end so that's a start. Now we need to sell the ute (truck), house and all the doo dads collected over the last four years. Why do people need so much stuff? We all have it! Loads of 'I might need this someday stuff!'
I'm making the best of the time left here by spending as much time home in callington as possible enjoy the surrounds, friends and the horses that people have loaned me since the boys went to Horse Med.Typically I'm really loving the place now on the verge of leaving it. Anyway we a heading for a great place so I can't complain. We are fortunate people.

horse float

horse trailer

Inside of the horse trailer (float for Australians) for sale. More images to come.

cold in Cally

This looks like a picture I may have taken in Wyoming or Colorado but it was taken yesterday morning in Callington, South Australia! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The piece of ice was lifted off of the bird bath in our backyard.

Have you ever gone by Pelican?

Latest Kiddie Lit.

Have you ever gone by Pelican?

Have you ever been all cosy

tucked up in your bed

so warm your cheeks are rosy

just you and little Ted

But then you heard some noises

and wished they'd go away

Coz you and litttle Teddy

would like ot sleep all day!

So you opened up one eyelid

to see that noise you heard

then both your eyes popped open

to see a GIANT BIRD!

Staring down upon you

along that big, long bill

A super, gianormous pelican

was standing really still

Then it started dancing

all around your bed

knocking things right over

the ceiling bumped its head!

And then it snatched your teddy

right out of your hand

and held him it that floppy bill

How much can one kid stand!

"GIVE ME BACK MY TEDDY?"

you screamed 'til you turned blue

but then it snatched your nice warm beanie

and held it in there too!

It was trying to tell you something

What was it about?

Its cold outside.Was that a clue?

It was without a doubt.

So you got up and said "Hello,

Mind if I hop inside?"

It opened up its great,big gob

And took you for a ride.

Out of your bedroom window

up into the sky

just you and little Teddy

Above the world so high! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!