2019 The year in a Nut shell!

 This is how we brought in the NY last year at the Death Valley Duck ride. See here our good friend Carlita's sample of the costumes she carry's around with her to ensure everyone gets into the groove at the BIG XPNY's eve party at the Trona Golf Club.Yes, in the middle of absolute nowhere! I don't have pics of the event as they are on my phone and I'm having trouble scooting them from there to here through cyber-space.I'll keep trying because I'd love to show you just how a bunch of us endurance riders, many of which are WELL over the drinking age, just spent the last 4 days riding up to 200 miles and still have the energy to whoop it up 'til midnight!This year we both got bad colds for Christmas so didn't go. :  (

In June, our Smith Valley Art Group had a very successful showing at the Jeanne Dini Cultural Center in Yerington. It was a huge success and everyone who's anyone was there. See here the flyer put together beautifully by none other than our own Stephanie Doanne.Click to enlarge.

Later in June /July Mern and I took the Greys to Strawberry fields in Utah. Another fun-filled Dave and Annie Nicholson Ride with Howard Kent as manager. We did a 35 and a 50 mile with a leisurely day off in between.It's nice to just smell the roses sometimes....or in this case, the strawberries!(Photos not in order)
See below Mernie and Ice with the white blob in the foreground being Kip's flagged tail. "Come on Mrs Slowcoach," he's sayin'!
From Utah we went to Wyoming to visit all our buddies and stay with the Kellers who were in the middle of packing but still found time to throw us a party and invite all of Laramie. LOL Love em!Again pics on the phone!
The Pic above is the Big Horn 100 awards meeting. We did the 50 but still attended the 100 award on Sunday.The little girl in the green T-shirt rode the 100 and came in with her Mom around 4 in the morning....She is NINE years old! (There was a big adventure at the the BH involving Mernie and a rotory blade aircraft. Go to Kip's blog. http://themonkeysknownothing.blogspot.com It's somewhere there!)


 

 
Then to the Big Horn 50 miler. Not the 100 this year.Dang says Kip but I got m'gal!

The greys discussing when the 'ell are they comin' out with carrots.

See here the trench up the fenceline Kip dug trying to tell us to take us over the road to his old home at On A String Ranch! We did!

 Just part of Mern's big renovation project. Above... before below...after. Deck, siding, painting and repair including ALL the doors and windows. All rebuilt! Super Mern has been at it again!

 Weiwen came to visit for Thanks Giving and we had a great time just hanging out, catching up and getting together with the neighbors. See our lovely new neighbor Mike third from the right.Photo by Stephanie Doanne

 See below three generations of Youngers. Zoe, Mernie and Maeline. Mernie was sick with a cold. Poor boy!

 Christmas party at Steph's. Photo by Steph who still managed to get in the pic. First on the left.

Kip won the NASTR 'Silver Rush' triple ride award and here he is showing off his prize blanket and being photo bombed by Weiwen!

New member of our herd. Goof ball Tush! (TU Shamir) He LOVES the old girl. Yes we still have Lucky she will be 32 in May!

 

These three pics are sort of stuck together. From top....
Tush our new boy meeting old Lucky Girl who will be 32 in May.
 Kipling tackling the rocks in Bailey Canyon on his fourth VC 100. Photo by Lucy Trumbill.
Kipling(not happy) at the National Championships in Ridgecrest, CA. You will have to go to his blog to findout just why he's in one of his 'moods'! ...  http://themonkeysknownothing.blogspot.com Photo by Merri Melde who had to throw toys at him to get his attention. Wasn't amused!

Early in the Year we had a visit from Andy, who now owns On A String Ranch . She dropped in as she had a meeting in Reno. It was a short but lovely visit and nice to catch up on what was going on 'back at the Ranch!'
 My good buddy Donna and I took another road trip this year to check out our state of Nevada and sniff out some art.We found lots of it in Eureka and Elko. We always have a great time just nosin' around and cruisin the streets in her limo of a car we call Priscilla Queen of the Desert! Donna and I have also been creating art together in the Dome Studio whirling paint and ink around trying to make prints on gelatin. We compliment each other with our unique random style!
  Lots of neighborhood parties have been enjoyed by all around here and have a new neighbor, Mike who is a lovely man and fits in well. He moved into Randy and Lucielles's place. We miss R and L but thank them very much for selling their place to such a nice person. We have been sooooo lucky with neighbors!
 Both Mernie and I still go to Yoga and I was going to some dance classes for a while. That was really fun but when Tush arrived I had to cut back dance as well as pistol group practice on Friday Mornings and a few other things. Having a four year old horse is a bit like having a toddler!He's a good toddler though!
We did several endurance rides this year. Kip has blogged all of them so just go to his blog to get filled in.
We lost our dear friend and neighbor James in August. He was such a talented,creative, funny and kind man.He forged beautiful items out of metal and you will find at least one piece of his work in most of the homes around here. He'll sure be missed.

 Zoe sweet but fiesty! In the nicest of ways!

Finley. A gentleman and a scholar!

Our Grandkids are growing like beanstalks. They are embracing life and leaving no stone unturned.Both are smart, polite and a pleasure to be around. Finley is 13 and taller than me and Zoe, although still pint sized, is 10 and tiger on the soccer field. We are all proud of them. We spent Christmas in them in Sacramento. Mernie's daughter Maeline was there and we all had a really relaxing time.Even if we did come home with nasty colds!
I'm sure I've miss some things. I tend to do that. However what's not here is probably on Kip's blog! He doesn't miss a trick! Here's to the new decade! Ronnie

Other blogs more updated

I know, I know, I look a bit like a bag lady or, as some of you might remember from my past performing days, "Fanny Leadbottom"! Oh god! I hope she's not trying to make a comeback!! Anyhow, I'm back at it again with this Exhibition and mini performance of Banjo Paterson's, Man From Snowy River at the Yerington Center for the Arts. All is well for us here in Nevada. I will post pics of property improvements etc later. Meanwhile go to my other blog http://rondaeden.blogspot.com(go left,scroll down and click on the rabbits) and my ornery horse's blog http://themonkeysknownothing.blogspot.com  The World According to Kip!Yes he's pretty darn opinionated and full of himself!
Cheers, R

2015 Home at the Dome

  Yep! We did it again. Go to http://themonkeysknownothing.blogspot.com for more about the Tevis 2015

The Grand kids are horse hounds! YAY!

Halloween neighborhood, Trick or drink!

Callie and Brent visited.

Tried to retire but didn't work. Back at it with a vengence!

Nice renovations to the loft and dome. Still a ton of work to be done. Oh well!

Let's see. How do I keep this short.
   We have been here in Wellington, Nevada for 2 years now and love, love, love it! I'm back in my studio after trying to retire from the art world and am now in three local gallery's. Atsy Fartsy in Carson, East Fork in Gardnerville and The Art House in Yerington!   
  The Brothers Foot, the kiddy's book I illustrated for Steve Cormey, has been republished on Amazon along with Robby the Roo. Go check 'em out.My friend Jen,owner of Bumples Online Interactive Magazine is to thank for that. Go check out Bumples too.We'd love to get some reviews...... hint-hint!
I have also started a wonderful little art group here in the valley. We call ourselves SVAG (Smith Valley Art Group) and comprises of 6 women and one patient gentleman who manages to put up with all our silliness. LOL.This group is probably the best thing i have done so far with my art career!
When I'm not in my studio or riding I do yoga, play guitar,walk and attend a local pistol shooting group. Ladies only! Mernie is having equally as much fun, building, baking, shooting and playing pinochle with the neighbors.We do crosswords together almost every night to keep the grey matter moving. We have no TV as you probably know! Oh, and he too is a yogi and attends a class religiously twice a week.His health is good other than a kidney stone episode and some tooth surgery this year. 
We have only three horses now Kipling (see his blog above) Ice and the old gal Lucky. Lucky will be 28 next year and is still very ridable!Kipling completed the 100 mile Tevis this year again as well as a 75 mile and a 50 mile but bombed out on the VC 100. Monkey error of course and you can read all about it straight from the horse's mouth by going to his blog.
In June I did a fabulous road trip back to the Colorado front range and attended my super good friend Debbie's wedding. She finally found her prince after searching among the frogs. Their wedding was celebrated at a medieval castle in Morison and everyone was is costume. What a time we all had! It would sure be one hard to beat!
I visited so many wonderful friends and took in a workshop with Grand Lake's accomplished water colorist Donna Lyons.What a pleasure!
While I was away had our little Arabian mare Subha was put down. Her lameness was getting worse and she was not a very cooperative patient. She is now at peace.
In October our neighbor and good friend Tom and I started attending pottery class in Yerington.We share the driving every Wednesday evening. I love this new medium!
We see the family more now we are closer to Sacramento. Finley and Zoe are great kids and as a bonus they love horses!! What more could a Nanna and Papa want! 
Mernie's Mom is still with us and under the tender loving care of his son and daughter-in-law Corky and Cindy. She was 90 this year.Alzheimer's has a grip on her but she battles on. Bless her and bless her carers even more.
Well that about as long as I can sit here at the computer so I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and New Year surrounded with love and good cheer.
 from Ronnie and Mernie xx
Oh and remember, life is way too short to spend time vacuuming!

Mernie's deck railing creations on the DOME.

 Mern has been working very hard making these very unique railings on our deck. This is conduit paint with a bronze rustoleum(sp).Anyway it looks great and is up to code. Bewdy Mern!!Click on photos to enlarge them.

Mernie's Creations and Renovations

Pic 1. Starting to demolish the Dome's deck. The Blue sections are the start or the new deck.
Pic 2.The finished loft deck and picnic table.
Click on images to enlarge.

 The deck with Mernie's shed (man cave) underneath.

 The stairs leading to the Loft's Deck.

My drought friendly garden as viewed from the loft's deck.

2014 Christmas Letter

2014 Xmas Letter for Ronnie and Mernie

So we have been in Smith Valley, Wellington Nevada for a year now! Andrea Lewis and Gerri Brown now have On A String Ranch in Laramie and, true to Murphy ’s Law, everything broke when we left. They are very capable people and we are confident they will work things out. I have heard the place is still going strong and is still ‘The Best Little Horse House in the West'.

We are really enjoying it here and have made super new friends although we miss and think often of all those we left in Laramie. We plan to visit….in the Summer!

We started 2014 with the bare minimum of home comforts, washing dishes in a tub and cooking on a camp stove. We have now completed the guest house with its big beautiful deck over looking the valley, the dome’s bedroom and ensuite, hallway, studio and kitchen. We have a washer and dryer and have got the wood heater going. The horses have shelters and a big water trough. We have four now as we sold Flambeau to our friend Jim who lives not too far away and boy has he got it good!

 I attempted a garden this year and the rabbits and squirrels thought it was a marvelous idea! I did manage to fence out the deer that wander through and loiter here daily. It is peaceful here.

We have been graced with the presence of many visitors of international character this year. Cousin Coral came from Australia in May. She is the genealogist of the family. Hand it to Coral to find several relatives living out here in the high desert of ‘Vada. So now I have Netti, Mike, Tanner, Michaela, and Jacob (who are something like 3^rd Cousins twice removed) living just down the road! The good news is, they are super nice people so …thanks Cousin Coral!

Then came the Germans! The peace took a vacation and fun and laughter took its place. My friend Eleanora, her husband Guido and their five children: Katie, Lisa, Noah, Lois and Emma travelled around the West for about 6 weeks in a big bus. We are so glad they dropped by to our little dome home in the middle of nowhere.And of course, there was our Chinese friend Weiwen from Nebraska who came to visit the Germans and also came here for Thanks Giving. We had a really nice Thanks Giving.

 Next my Sister Julie and her hubby Steve arrived and spent a fabulous two weeks with us. No time to breathe between the coffee, wine and chin waggin’! We did spend lots of peaceful moments out of the partially finished deck.

In 2013 I met Robert Weldin at I Know You Rider Endurance Ride. He and his beautiful wife Sharron live in Pilot Hill, CA near the Tevis Trail. He convinced me I should train with them and do the Tevis. His help was really appreciated and I’m pleased to say Kipling rocked. We started at 5.15 am on July 9^th and completed the famous Tevis Cup on July 10, 2014 at 4.08 am the next morning. Mernie and my new friend and neighbor Tracey- Jean Wolfe crewed brilliantly with some help from Mernie’s son Corky and a lovely lady called Heather. Chris, Kip’s former owner came all the way from Laramie to be there at the finish line with Kip’s favorite treat, black Aussie licorice. That really made this special event extra, extra special! Robert and our Israeli friends also completed with happy and healthy horses.

Our last and cherished visitor this year was Amnon a young man from Israel. We met him through Robert and the Israeli Tevis group. We decided we should take Amnon home with us for a while. Amnon helped Mernie finish the deck and many other projects, exercised and cared for our horses, prepared delicious Mediterranean food, and even taught us a few Hebrew words. He was a pleasure to have around and really kept us on task!

It was a good year. We both have our health and our horses and along with our wonderful friends and family. What more could anyone want?

Next year I plan to focus on Abstract art, pick up the guitar and the doo again and enjoy life with Mernie in the high desert of Nevada.

 Amnon our Israeli cowboy.Click on images to enlarge.

 Julie and I in Genoa, NV's first settlement.

 Kip and I at the Virginia City 100. See my buddy Robert on Sundance behind.

 The big achievement for the year. The Tevis cup. Looks exhausted doesn't he? LOLPhoto by Kumba.

 The gorgeous Weiwen at Thanks Giving.

 My studio where i spend a lot of time. That's if the weather is too bad for riding. LOL

The dome kitchen make over.

The Deck off the Loft

 The master himself at work.

 Scroll down for commentary.

 There are a few more pics between images these two but i just have to find them. Story of my life! Here is the deck off of the loft guest house. Mernie has been working on this for a couple of months with the help (and hinderance) of yours truly. Brother in Law Steve lent a very good hand while he was here as did Eleanor from Germany! But all in all its Mern's baby.And a lovely baby at that!Click on image to enlarge.

 Look at those railings. Redwood and rebar. Sounds like a good name for a song!