Wordless Wednesday

PSA- privacy

Edited to add: this takes effect Thursday March 1st.
If you value your online privacy, check this out.
http://news.yahoo.com/how-to-remove-your-google-web-data-history.html

How to Delete Your Google Browsing History Before New Policy

With just a week to go before Google changes to its new privacy policy that allows it to gather, store and use personal information, users have a last chance to delete their Google Browsing History, along with any damning information therein.

Tech News Daily reports that once Google's new unified privacy policy takes effect all data already collected about you, including search queries, sites visited, age, gender and location will be gathered and assigned to your online identity represented by your Gmail and YouTube accounts. After the policy takes effect you are not allowed to opt out without abandoning Google altogether. But now before the policy takes effect, you have the option of deleting your Google Web History by modifying your settings so that Google is unable to associate data collected about you with your Gmail or YouTube accounts.

Tech News Daily reports that Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that advocates for online privacy, says: "Search data can reveal particularly sensitive information about you, including facts about your location, interests, age, sexual orientation, religion, health concerns, and more."

EFF advises all Google users to delete their web history.

Meanwhile, Center for Digital Democracy has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, asking the Commission to sue Google to stop the policy change. Tech News Daily reports FTC can impose fines up to $16,000 per day for violation.

Daily Mail reports that deleting your browsing history before March 1 when Google's new privacy policy comes into effect will limit Google's ability to track and record your every move online. The process is simple. Follow the steps below:

1. Go to the google homepage and sign into your account.

2. Click the dropdown menu next to your name in the upper-right hand corner of your screen.

3. Click accounts settings

4. Find the "Services section"

5. Under "Services" there is a sub-section that reads "View, enable, disable web history." Click the link next to it that reads: "Go to Web History."

6. Click on "Remove all Web History"

When you click on "Remove all Web History," a message appears that says " Web History is Paused." What this means is that while Google will continue gathering and storing information about your web history it will make all data anonymous, that is, Google will not associate your Web History information with your online accounts and will therefore be unable to send you customized search results.

Google's ability to gather personalized information about you by assigning data to your Gmail and YouTube accounts will remain "Paused" till you click "Resume."

Sunny Monday

Today's sun makes up for last week's snow. I was real happy to see the sun break over the mountain this morning.

 Beamer got turnout without his blanket- happy Beamer!

A few good rolls to get rid of the feel of the blanket.....

and a few laps around the field....

kicking up his heels....

and that was all- time to look for grass under the snow.

In this photo you can clearly see the hematoma he has above his left knee. It's been there for about a year, and I consider it just a blemish as he has no unsoundness from it, and it isn't tender to the touch.
The girls did a lot of napping in the sun, when they weren't busy digging up the soft ground looking for roots to nibble on. They are making some pretty big craters.

No frost in this ground!

Sunday Stills

Today's Sunday Stills challenge is trees- no problem! I took advantage of the heavy snowfall for this one. But first, the day before, I shot this one of a tree that all the walkers along this road have a little fun with; every Christmas they hang decorations one it as they walk by; one or two at a time until it looks like this:

The snow had just started falling, and by morning we had plenty.

Bet this hawk was wishing I had a feeder full of mice.

By noon, the trees had shed their snow. The nice thing about late February snow here is that it doesn't last long.

But it sure is pretty while it lasts.

Back to white

We had a snowfall warning in the weather forecast and they were right, we got 7 inches of heavy wet snow overnight. Can you say photo-op? The buildings here all have metal roofs, so snow was sliding this morning. Chickory got dumped on, but it didn't bother her much, she went only a couple feet away and came right back.

No, the building isn't crooked, my camera was.

The horses don't seem to mind the snow at all, I bet they would rather walk through snow than mud.

Ted did a little bit of plowing, but we'll let nature take care of most of the snow removal, it's melting already.

By my calculations, Belle is about 5 weeks away from foaling, although she hasn't started bagging up yet.I'll post the foaling contest in about a week. She gets to be in her big foaling stall at night now, I usually put them in at night a month or so before foaling. Pretty soon it will be time to separate Rio from the mares, as he isn't gelded yet. Gussie and Chickory haven't come into heat yet, but probably will in about a month. 

Well the sun is trying to come out, so I guess I better get on the tractor and do a little snow removal for the horses, get rid of the big piles that slid off the roof. 

Tess has a mate-date

I made the decision to breed Tess back to Moss, the sire of her last litter. So yesterday we headed for Kimberley, and had an opportunity while there to visit Sammi in her new home. She looks great, and is obviously happy and well settled in- and very loved.

She has mellowed out a bit, (now that she doesn't have to compete with my two hooligans) but she still is the wiggliest dog ever. She had a quick visit with Tess and Reba before I left.

I think she was a little worried that she might have to leave with me!

I am so happy that Sammi has such a good home.  And I'm also happy that we don't have that much snow here! Kimberley has a ski-hill, Panorama, so if any of you bloggers ever books a vacation there, let Janice or I know- Janice lives almost right next to the ski-hill. Here is a shot of some of the scenery between Kimberley and Cranbrook.

Taken in the evening on the way home

I stopped at Janice's, and we loaded her truck with dogs and headed to P's ranch. Needless to say, Moss was quite happy to see Tess, and about half an hour later, the deed was done and it was time to visit the sheep and watch Moss work. It was wonderful to watch him work, he is such a stylish dog.

He will even go in really tight spots, very quietly and wait for P to give him the command to move them which is what he was doing in this next photo.

As you can see, the sheep are standing still, and he's waiting... waiting.....
Moss's next show will be in Heppner, Oregon.

I'm secretly hoping that I can keep one of the pups, because I really want to get doing trials.
Tess's due date is April 24th- almost the same date as her first litter they were born April 27-28.
I am willing to reserve a pup for anyone interested.
Some of the beautiful scenery on the way out - I think Janice is going to do a post on this on her blog too, drop by Own a Morgan & QH

You know you're doing something right....

When the pups from your dog are doing so well. Abby, who is owned by Jenn, the daughter of Carol over at All These Pretty Horses blog has done really well in Rally Obedience; here is a link to the post Jenn did on her blog.
Way to go Abby and Jenn! 12th in Canada is awesome!

Photo courtesy of Jenn's Facebook page

Love her curly fur. For anyone interested, I am taking Tess (Abby's mama) over to breed back to Moss (Abby's sire) tomorrow. Pups should be ready in June.

Wordless Wednesday

February blahs

We are at that stage of winter when the promise of spring has me making plans, itchin' to do things, but can't quite get things happening. The frost is coming out of the ground, so it is pretty muddy in places (like the horse pens); the round pen still has frozen ground, and the hayfield is too soft to ride in right now, I tried riding Beamer in there yesterday and he was sinking past the top of his hoofs. So it's road riding for now- the good news is that I should have insurance on my horse trailer next week, so I can at least haul to an arena or some better trails.
There is a working cowhorse clinic in the works at the local indoor arena, most likely in April with Jessie Thompson . I remember him when he was just a kid, how time flies. If I get to go, I'll have to take Gussie, so I guess I'd better start legging her up. Chickory is still too green, and it will be breeding season for Beamer, so Gussie it is. Better start putting some dollars away for that!
I've been making plans for my flower gardens, I want to enlarge two of them and get some more roses. I hope I can get a Tuscany Superb and a yellow rose, maybe Eureka. But it's hurry up and wait time. Sigh. So here is a reminder of summer flowers to keep me going.

Sunday Stills

It's all about texture:

The varied texture of these cedar logs from the smooth shell to the rough  and rotted core;

the variety of textures in my scarf collection;

Merle's soft fluffy fur and the roughness of the hay;

and the smoothness of the horn wrap against the engraving and the rawhide binding of the horn cap on Chickory's saddle.

Word Verification

I don't use word verification on my blog. A lot of bloggers do, and that's up to them. Personally speaking, I get very little spam, and check my comments daily so I can delete any which I consider spam.  I see blogger has decided to use absolutely horrible word verification, and as a result, I probably won't leave comments on the blogs who have that. I'll still read your blogs though, but I just don't need the level of irritation that I get from trying to leave a comment.

I've been mugged

I got a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday; a gift from Sherry over at Fern Valley Appaloosas for my guesses on her contest post. Thanks you so much Sherry, for this beautiful cup:

It's extra special because of what it says on the back side:

and who doesn't love some Ghiradelli chocolate! I love this cup and will make it my morning tea mug- what better way to start the day than to be reminded of a good friend! 

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

St. Valentines day

St. Valentine was a Catholic priest who was martyred in the year 269. Here is a little of his story:

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. [Additional evidence that Valentine was a real person: archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine.] Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth [Claudius II]. Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome [when helping them was considered a crime], Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner -- until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate [circa 269]

Saints are not supposed to rest in peace; they're expected to keep busy: to perform miracles, to intercede. Being in jail or dead is no excuse for non-performance of the supernatural. One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

Hence the modern practice of letters and cards dedicated to lovers. What has gotten lost in the commercialization of this day is the concept of standing up for your beliefs in the face of all odds, even to the point of death.
St. Valentine is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.

Ted and I on our wedding day,  we are still this happy.

Honkers and hooligans

While many blogs are talking about recent cold temperatures and even snow for Florida, here in lovely Creston, it really feels like spring. The geese have returned, and there are large flocks feeding in the hayfields that surround us.

I did see a bald eagle in with them, but he was so far away this is all I could get of him.

 Songbirds are returning, and we saw our first robin two days ago, although I've been hearing them for a couple of weeks. The ground is thawing, so mud has returned too.
I spent some time in the pasture the other day trying to get a good photo of Rio's heart marking for Sunday Stills, but he was feeling good and not wanting to stand still for me. Then he did the darndest thing: he was about 50 yards away, and up went the tail and ears, and he came straight for me at a high trot,

I was busy trying to get sequence shots of this, but the camera was a little too slow so the next shot looks like this:

And he stopped perfectly about 4 feet in front of me with this look on his face as if to say, "is that what you wanted?" He cracks me up- he sure inherited Beamer's penchant for hamming it up for the camera!

Then he and Chickory took off, and unfortunately I was shooting on the shaded side of them, but in these photos they are airborne, and Rio looks like a carousel horse because of the fencpost.

Chickory in this photo reminds me of the Winchester Rifle logo horse.

Sunday Stills

Today 's challenge: from the heart.

The nearest and dearest to my heart

as well as my daughter;

I keep this little photo of her on my desk, it's my favorite one of her

Of course, my critters are kept in my heart, especially the big guy

and the hooligans.(Please ignore the floor that needs sweeping, it is the mud room after all.)

This 'n' that

Where did this week go? I sure didn't get much done! Oh well, I guess mundane chores count for something. Little Mr. Rio managed to get another cut on his other hind leg, fortunately just a surface cut, nothing serious, but  if this is any indication, it's going to be a tough year for him! The first cut is almost entirely gone, just a dime sized area to grow hair back on. No proud flesh, no scarring, thanks to my essential oils. And let me say, it was a very nasty ragged cut, almost to the bone. Love my oils!

You talkin' 'bout me?

I got to thinking today, Rio will be the first descendant of my good mare Sundee that I'll actually get to ride- that is, if I get to keep him long enough. Sundee is the mare pictured in the background of this blog, a photo that was taken when she was 3 years old, riding down at Polson Montana gathering cows with Walt Vermadahl, who now lives at Cave Creek Arizona with his wife Mary- they are avid team ropers.

The dogs are bored out of their ever lovin' minds and have been really pestering me to play ball with them.

I try to throw it where there isn't any mud, they are really looking like farm dogs these days as we are in mild weather again and the snow is mostly gone. My mud room is really living up to its name, as that's where the dogs sleep at night.
Coyote Belle's baby is active, last week I was delighted to put my hand on her flank and get bunted by the baby. Can't wait! 6-7 more weeks! Foaling contest coming up in 2 weeks- stay tuned.
Tomorrow Ted and I are going to the Valentine's dance our church puts on, includes an awesome dinner of stuffed pork roast and all the trimmings. MmmMmm good. Dancing to a good country band and a night out with my sweetie- works for me!