A bench to sit and drink beer on!

 Today Mern and I made a bench mainly from scrap wood.Tomorrow I'll paint it.Click to enlarge. R

Loft Deck

Starting work on the deck outside the loft. Mernie Jimmy and Corky.

Everything including the kitchen sink.

My little kitchen in the Dome!

 We now have a kitchen with hot and cold running water in the Dome. M fixed all the leaks and now just need to spruce up the cupboards.Now we are living in the kitchen and working on the loft which will become a guest house.

Dang! Blurry picture.Cupboards next!

 Everything including the kitchen sink! Click to enlarge.

Also have a garden in the kitchen.

Tevis training, American River

 Click to enlarge photos

I met Robert Weldin (who took these photos) at I Know You Rider in Evanston last year. He offered to take me riding on the Tevis trail which is pretty well in his back yard. He and his gracious wife Sharron hosted us this week end and we rode the last portion of the Tevis; the part that will, on the day, be done in the dark with lots of drop-offs to avoid. Wish i had taken my camera as the views are spectacular, mostly right above this, the American River hundreds of feet below.Gotta have a good horse and I've got one! Poor Ice, Mernie's horse, was a trooper. She struggled but kept up. She got to the middle of the river and stopped. Kip had to go feach her so we took the opportunity for a photo while she rested and cooled off. Robert and Sharron supplied lunch of wine cheese, cherries and chocolate making the whole day extremely civilized.They have good endurance horses and know the trail inside out and back to front.Kip rocked! He LOVES this trail and says bring on some more! Next training ride 31st May then the real thing on 9th August. Yeehah! R

April Full Moon Ride out in the desert behind Smith Valley

 We have the best neighbors!Ron and Janiss up front. Jim driving Moonie and J riding Concho. In the rear, Rick driving is mules. Somewhere behind him is our direct neighbor Cub driving his red mules surrounded by a bunch of riders including me. I was riding Subha and she was 'hot to trot!' This was early on at our April full moon ride. Lots of fun! Photos by Cathy Eckart

 Jim and Moonie. Behind ( no, that's not Kipling) Bob and Sandy on their Arabs with Janiss on he haflinger (Concho) in the middle. Click to enlarge all photos.

 Moonie, Poised and ready for action.Feisty little Fjord!

 See Mern's white hat in the b/g. He was going for a ride with Cub in the wagon.

 What a life!

Making things with scrap wood

 Planter box from old siding. Click pics to enlarge.

 His and hers stool boxes.Having way too much fun.

Bench to put the camp oven on in the dome. We bought a planer so we can make even pallet wood look like new.

Spring at the Dome

 According to the locals it has been cold and windy but for us, coming from Laramie, this is like the Bahamas! 
Click on pics to enlarge.

 Blossom and leaves.Yes, we have trees here!

 The horses love it. Below, look at the old girl lookin' spunky! She really is LUCKY!

 They even have horse challets now!!

We still love Wyoming with its 'character building extremes' but we figure we have plenty of character now thank you very much!

From our pile of old wood....

 Look what Mern and I made in a matter of hours from the old wwod pile we inhereted with the property. Commentary to come.

Frogs and horsey mat

 I wish i had used a lighter blue for the lines to make it more subtle. It's not subtle! I threw a few frogs and painted a door mat in and other than a touch up and another coat of gloss, I'M DONE!

 Clcik images to enlarge.

Crazy pattern

 Holy cow! Clear coat next and we're done!

 Click on pics to enlarge if you are game!

Finally painting the floor.

 Ahhhh!The day of painting the floor after two weeks preparing the concrete. Pretty easy. Two coats of this light blue, then tomorrow it gets its crazy design and glossy top coat. Stay tuned!

 This part was delightfully easy!

That bloody concrete floor!

 We are following a DIY blog that recommends lacquer thinner covered with plastic and then scraped with a plastic brush and scraper. Our lovely glue, having resided here for about 30 years, required more ompf and has just about knocked us out. We found vinegar to work as well as thinner and less toxic but required more time under the plastic. Then a razor blade scraper plus lots of elbow greaseworked great and removed most of the glue. Trouble is, there is some other unidentified substance that is very determined to stay. We hit it with every other recommendation we could find except the grinder which we were to cheap to hire for around $150.Mernie says we couldn't get into the corners with it anyway.(?) This prep has taken around two weeks. I am more than ready to start painting!

We also washed it with vinegar and rinsed with warm water, so now we have to wait for it to dry really well.

Mrer Champion Gelding 1st feather weight

Got a blanky!!

 Does i t make my Bum look big! Click to enlarge pic! Oh now it's even bigger!

The concrete floor

And now for the floor.Gonna paint it!

Happy 11th Anniversary to us

It was our 11th Anniversary on Saturday and we celebrated at The Hayday Restaurant in Wellington. Bask Cuisine, great hospitality and enough food for a week. We are still eating it from our doggy boxes and it's Tuesday. Good stuff! See i have a new do and a hair straightener. RClick on pic to enlarge.

Riding in Red Canyon

 Another canyon just out our back gate! Click to enlarge pics.

Back to the Bedroom with color!

 Ok, I've scrubbed it three times and prepared it for painting. Here I've done the cutting in.

 Bright and cheery yellow after grey dirty soot. I like it! Finishing touches yet. This is one of the things we do between our numerous coffee breaks.