Author: Elaine

How NOT to start the day

I did something unprecedented yesterday evening: I decided to take a nap at 6:30. I almost never take naps. At 8:30, I woke up long enough to realize, “Good, Jack is feeding the horses.” At 12:30, I woke and realized I was still dressed. I took off my clothes, and went back to bed. Finally, I woke up again about 4:30, feeling completely refreshed.

So this morning I decided to catch up reading email and just relaxing. I felt more cheerful than I had since discovering Lily’s injury because it had gone down so much when I removed the wrap yesterday. The vet was quite optimistic when she saw it before she put the gel cast on it.

Then my neighbors called. They could see a deer hung up in my fence. Jack had just left for the office. We agreed to meet at the deer in five minutes and see what we could do.

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A Good Day Goes Bad

Yesterday morning I went to my trainer’s barn to help her with a class. She has one little seven year old girl who is a beginner beginner. My trainer doesn’t usually take them that young, but this little girl’s first word was probably “horse.” We quickly learned to never ask her if she has had enough riding, because she is never ready to get off the pony on her own.

Usually I work with the beginner while my trainer works with the other kids. However, yesterday morning she handed me the megaphone and took the little girl into the center of the arena to work with her. I had to figure out what to do with five students of varying ability without using the center of the arena. There was one advanced teenager on a fiery Thoroughbred named Cappy; a not very advanced teenager on my trainer’s old show hunter Havoc; the perfect kid on the grulla Indy; the kid who is a pretty decent rider but doesn’t get out much on Danny, the small Arab cross; and the kid who wants to show on Major, the impressive looking Percheron cross.
Continue reading A Good Day Goes Bad

Jack

Jack
I took this photo at the reception of a wedding that Jack and I attended on Friday. It was held at the Officers Club at the Air Force Academy which has very nice facilities. Jack and the bride’s mother used to go to elementary school together, so it is safe to say we are old friends of the family. We found seats next to one of the bride’s high school teachers and his wife. I told them that it had never occurred to me to invite one of my teachers to a wedding. His wife says it happens a lot. He must be a great instructor.

Arnie

Arnie
My friend’s cat Arnie, like many cats before him, discovers that it is easier to go up a tree than down. Fortunately, the lowest branch of this Ponderosa pine was close enough to the ground that my friend was able to lift him down.

Gmail, Archiving, and Spam (aka UCE)

Despite having long thought web mail a necessary evil, I am beginning to enjoy using Gmail, the recently introduced web mail application from Google. Although I am not interested in it for my “personal” email, I have been routing most of my email discussions lists there. It is nice to know that I can search for information that I once read via email, rather than having to use the limited search facilities provided by yahoogroups, for example.

I’ve also been interested in the way that Gmail filters Spam. If something spam-like ends up in the Inbox, I can mark it and click on a “Report spam” button. (Did Google get a special dispensation from Hormel? Or has Hormel decided to stop fighting this battle?) When I check the spam folder, I find not only those things that I have marked, but an accurate filtering of spam items I never saw in my inbox, including mail that discusses spam. Drive-by spammers are not unusual on some of the art discussion lists which I frequent, and one spam will frequently lead to five posts condemning it, which seems rather pointless.

Rainbow

Rainbow
I saw this rainbow yesterday from a house that sits high above Colorado Springs. The owners of the house generously host the monthly meetings of the Inkslingers, the rubber stamp club to which I belong. The members take turns giving demos and workshops: last night, we worked on fabric stamping a canvas tote.

Gmail

For the past few days, I have been using Gmail. I now have a few invitations.

I think this is a very smart type of viral marketing by the gmail group. What better way to get people to start using your product than restricting initial invitations? Then everyone in the initial group invites their friends, and it becomes cool, and people check it out rather than saying “oh just another webmail application.”

Cute Chicks

Sunny

Cassie

Martha

For a long time, my horse trainer has wanted to get some pet chickens. Five days ago, she finally did so. Sunny, Cassie, and Martha belong to the breeds Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, and Plymouth Rock respectively. Until they get a little larger, they are living in a brooder in my friend’s garage. However, when she has assistance to guard against hawks, cats and other hazards, they get to scratch in the backyard. They apparently grow while you watch.