Wordless Wednesday

Luv and tail wags,

Dave and Storms

Full Moon Madness!

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me - Ammy! Did all of you enjoy the full moon last night? It looked just glorious here; I have pix to share with you in a minute!

Before I get to that, all of us here at Ao4 HQs have received some really sweet awards that we'd like to tell you about!

The Feisty Three presented us with this award:

Wow! That must be for doing zoomies! Hee hee hee! Thank you, pups! We like it very much and are honored!

Our cute, little friend Sonic gave us this award:

Isn't that sweet?!!? Mmm... that looks good enough to eat!

Sonic also gave us another award - as did our wonderful friend Darwin!

Thank you soooo much, pups!!! We just love the awards and we especially love your friendship! ALL of your friendships! Darwin said she especially likes my big smile - isn't that sweet?!?! Darwin - this is for you:

Just me. Ammy. Smiling. :)

One of the things that really makes me smile is weather and astronomy things, so how about I show you some shots of the full moon, OK?

Actually, this is the night before the full moon; Mom took that in case it was cloudy last night:

Fortunately, last night was clear and bright! Let's look at an atmospheric shot (hee hee hee!) Mom took of the moon over the neighborhood:

The moon was so bright, Mom didn't even use a flash! She did for this next one - it's me, out studying the sky:

Me, Ammy. Looking at the full moon!

Does the flash make my fanny look big?

I had Stormy's leash on. Don't get confused!

I was also checking for worms, as the March full moon is the full worm moon. I didn't find any, but I did see a bunch of robins hopping around today, so maybe they came out later!

Here's a close up of the full moon itself:

Isn't it beautiful!!??

Thank you again to our friends for the lovely awards! We are very touched and just think all of you are as sweet as can be!

Love,

Ammy

A Sibe's Work is Never Done...

Woo, everypuppy and everycat. It's me, Dave. It's Monday and the start of the work week. I've been hard at it already today. Storm and I took Mom for a walk, and now ... oh, excuse me. Mom needs my help with something.

Mumm here forrrrmmmm you, Mom....

Sorry, guys. I've got work to do.

Mmmmm.....

A Sibe's work is never done. We're members of the Working Breed class, you know! I hear Mom may need my help with banana bread later; I better get a nap in after I finish cleaning the yogurt container. Woo.

Luv,

Dave

Super Secret Sunday

Ha roo, pups and kit-cats! It's me, Zim. Up here on the catwalk.

For the next few Sundays, I'm going to be letting you in on a big secret instead of our normally scheduled Serene Scenery Sundays. It's worth it, trust me.

Many of you know that my bestest friend in all the world is Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat! She's just the coolest little black cat in the world! We have tons in common - like taking cat naps in the sun, snoozervising on the balcony or deck, going on cool adventures, making comfy nests in the bipeds' beds... that sort of thing. If you read her blog, you'll know that her mum and dad have left on a big holiday and have left Huffs in charge back in Australia. Her Uncle Heath is going to be staying there ... but ... well ... OK, can you keep a secret?!?!

PROMISE??!??

Well ... OK, but not a word! You must promise! OK ... let me move over a bit ... and ... oh, this is so COOL!

Huffs and me!

We'll only be posting about this on Sundays, in case Huffle's mum can read the blogs during the week. Just a safety precaution. Not a word to anyone, OK?

Have a great Sunday!

Play bows,

Zim (and Huffle!)

Soggy Saturday

Tail wags, dear readers. It's me - Stormy - here on a rainy, rainy, RAINY Saturday. And you know what to do on a soggy day!

Yep. Take a nice walk in the rain! That's Dave and me; the reds were out with Dad, so we took Mom. She decided to take her iPhone and shot those pix, even though she usually doesn't. Ha roo roo roo! Guess you know why now. Sorta blurry there, Mom!

We had a grand time, got toweled off, then finished the drying process on the bipeds' bed. What a great start to the day!

Enjoy your Saturday!

Tail wags,
Storms

Photo Finish Friday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me, Zim, here with Photo Finish Friday! I thought I'd share some cool pix Mom took while Ammy, Dave and I were out walking her the other day? Ready? Let's go!

Mom is always asking us to get together for a group photo. So why wouldn't she like it when we do this??!!??

Ammy, me (Zim) in the middle, and Dave

Mom claims there's some old family saying about "When Sibe noses come together, there's trouble to be found." More like something stinky and wonderful on the ground, Mom! Ha roo roo roo!

OK, moving right along... since she didn't like that group shot, we dispersed.

Me (Zim), Dave and the Yammer

She couldn't quite get the three of us in the frame. Ha roo roo roo!

As you can tell from Mom not having gloves on, our weather has taken a terrible turn! That day, it was sunny and topped 70 degrees! Horrible! Can't we have another snow storm?!!?

Due to the weather, as we neared the hour mark in our walk, we were a bit more "cooperative" about getting together for a pic or two. This next one came out blurry, so Mom did some special effects on it to make it look like a cool painting:

Ammy, Dave and me - the Z-man

Nothing like commemorating a great walk by commissioning one of the great masters to do an oil painting. Ha roo roo roo!

Here we are, back at Ao4 Headquarters:

Ams, Dave and me (Zim)

You can tell from the smiles on our faces that we had a blast! We had a great round of zoomies as a cool down, then I got to go on another walk with Storm! What a great day! Maybe that 70-degree stuff is OK after all...

Hope you had fun with us!

Play bows,

Zim

Photo Tagged Again!

Woo, everypup and everycat. It's me, Dave. We got tagged in a cool game by our Navy friends, the Bumpass Hounds and Kitties. It's the Photo Tag one - where you open your first picture folder, post the 10th photo, explain it, then tag 5 more bloggers. We did this a couple weeks ago, but Stormy said I should pick the first folder somewhere else and do it that way!

I opened the first folder in Mom's Mobile Me account and here's the tenth photo:

A block from Mom's US Sanitary Commission quilt

It's a block in a quilt Mom made. Or ... is making. She put the top together several years ago, but hasn't hand quilted it yet. (Her excuse is that it's huge and she wants to hand quilt it. Woo.) The block itself is a variable star and Mom hand-calligraphed the Bible verse Psalm 27:14 on it, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

The quilt top hangs on an antique ladder in our stair landing that goes to the upstairs. It's even in the background of one of my Haik-woos; you can see that here. Here's another look:

Me, Dave, in front of Mom's quilt

The quilt is made to look as though it's from the US Civil War era - by members of the US Sanitary Committee. That organization was sort of the precursor to the American Red Cross. In addition to providing limited medical support to the soldiers, the volunteers also collected personal hygiene and comfort items to be distributed to soldiers in the field. Among those items were quilts. Woo. So Mom made this quilt to look like one that would be sent to a soldier fighting in that war!

The quilt is made from reproduction-type of fabrics, made to look "scrappy" on purpose, and is made to look as though different women contributed the blocks. On many of the blocks, like the one above, Mom did some calligraphy. Often, the ladies would inscribe (Stormy taught me that word!) a Bible verse, a couple lines from a popular song of the day, a little drawing, or maybe a few words of encouragement.

Mom taught herself how to write using the style of penmanship they used back then, and changed her handwriting on the blocks to make it look like different people wrote them -- either with a different slant, different pressure, or even changing what hand she wrote with. Compare that top pic with this one, for an example:

Another block from Mom's US Sanitary Commission quilt

See how different the writing looks? (Compare the capital A's, for example.) Cool, huh? Oh - "Ad astra per aspera" is on the Great Seal of Kansas, which was adopted in 1861. It's Latin for ... umm ... hang on a sec. (OK. Thanks, Storms.) It's Latin for "To the stars through adversity" or "difficulties". Whatever. (To learn more about the Great Seal of Kansas - no, Marvin, Ammy said to tell you it's not a Harp Seal - please click here!)

OK... that's our photo and a very long explanation about it. If anyone hasn't played this tag yet and would like to, have at it! It's very fun!

Thanks to all the Bumpass Hounds and Kitties for the tag!

Luv,

Dave

Wordless Wednesday

Tail wags,
Stormy

Let's Take a Walk With Zim!

Tail wags, dear readers - it's me, Stormy! In the mornings, the redheads take Dad on a nice, long walk for their big exercise of the day. During that time, Dave and I take Mom on a shorter one. In the afternoon, we all usually get to do something with Mom - whether it's going out on a cool adventure, playing in the yard, or going on another walk from the house. One of my favorite things to do is take a walk with Zim! And Mom. Zim never rushes me and loves to take time to enjoy each and every thing along the way. I know many of you would love to go walking with Zim, too, so I had Mom shoot some pix to show you what it's like! Ready to go? Let's take a walk with Zim!

Here we are from the other day, heading down the street:

Zim and me (Stormy)

You can tell Zim is already looking around for some fun, can't you? Predictably enough, on our way home, Zim spotted one of our kitty-cat friends and stopped. Here's a collage:

I never did see the kitty, nor did Mom, but Zim knew he was out there. It was probably our friend the Calico Cat. She's a bit more shy than the other kits in the neighborhood. You can see Zim was doing his utmost to win her over and have her come over to visit!

Apparently when Ammy and/or Dave go with Zim on afternoon walkies, they aren't quite as patient with him while he communes with his friends. Me? I'm happy to take a little breather - plus I love kit-cats like Zim does. (One of my best friends back at Ft. Riley was a beautiful Siamese named Kit!) But then there comes a time when we do need to head back to Ao4 Headquarters.

Come on, Zim. Let's head home.

As a leader, it's up to me to ... lead.

I sure was hoping the Calico kit-cat would come over, Storm!

Can't we go back and try again?

Sheesh. Do you see that Sad Look he's doing in that photo above? Enough to break your heart! Who taught him that?!?! Oh... ha roo roo roo! Right. It was me. Well, I couldn't even look at him, or I would have caved. He's really got that one down, doesn't he?

We'll try again tomorrow, Zim.

We haven't seen the Calico since then, but we have made friends with a black and white kitty! She's even followed us home and hangs out in our yard now! We'll try to get Mom to take her picture.

Hope you enjoyed our walk with Zim. I know I always love it!

Tail wags,

Storms

Brace Yourselves

Ha roo, pups and kit-cats. It's me, Zim.

Better brace yourselves. It's Monday.

Play bows,

Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday

Tail wags, dear readers! Stormy here with Serene Scenery Sunday! Earlier in the week, I started looking around for just the right things for Mom to photograph for today's post.

Me, Stormy. Looking around.

Our sunsets are always a big hit and are so very peaceful! Here's one from Wednesday:

Sunset behind Ao4 HQs

Mom says it's "warm and wonderful". Hmm. "Warm". Hmm. Dave said the colors are really tranquil, so I thought I'd include it.

Some of you have asked about our sunrises. It's hard for us to capture them right from the house, but here's a peek at the sunrise on Friday:

Sunrise

If our across-the-street neighbors would just move their house, we could get a much better shot. Ha roo roo roo!

Before our Spring snow storm hit, we took a walk around our gardens to see what was going on. Here is a big bud on our Mohican Viburnum, ready to go!

Mohican Viburnum

Let's hope the snow and ice didn't do too much harm! Also ready to go are the Purple Emperor Sedum:

Purple Emperor Sedum

When Mom and I were out front, a lovely Cardinal couple was out, singing their songs and gathering little twigs to supplement their nest. Here is Mrs. Cardinal, policing up some of the dried grasses for her homestead:

Mrs. Cardinal

Isn't she beautiful? Her husband (did you know Cardinals mate for life?) was also hopping around, but Mom couldn't get a clear photo of him.

Speaking of redheads, when Zim went to the Top of the World on Friday, he had Mom take this shot of our hills:

From the Top of the World, facing east

Our wide-open vistas are very soothing, aren't they? Very serene!

For some reason, Mom didn't mark this photo to use for our peaceful post today, but the four of us Sibes sure like it. It's our Mugho bush out front:

Snow on the Mugho

Just beautiful, isn't it?

I hope you enjoyed our scenery! Have a serene Sunday!

Tail wags,

Stormy

Welcome, Spring!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me - Zim! As you may know, here in our hemisphere, it's the first day of Spring! We couldn't wait to see what our weather would be like - would Dad be golfing? Would we take a nice walk to the Kansas Ocean? What was in store for us? We naturally turned to our resident meteorologist, Ammy!

The biped meteorologists kept saying we were going to get blasted by a big snow storm, but we never believe them. Besides, day before yesterday it was in the 60s, so it seemed highly unlikely. But early in the day yesterday, Ammy went outside and ...

Ammy

"Oh, yes. I ... I smell snow coming!"

I never doubt the Yammer, but it just seemed sooooo unlikely! Mom thought somepuppy should go up to the Top of the World (we haven't been up there in ages!) and check out the conditions from there. Ammy really didn't want to go for a car ride, Dave was busy, and Stormy was helping Dad watch basketball on TV. Perfect! I'm always game to go anywhere!!!

I've had a little bit of weather training (not like the highly technical training our friend Marvin has just undergone!) so this seemed like a perfect fit! Here's the scene when we got up there:

Me, Zim, checking the scene

Mom didn't let me drive, but that is our car back there. Anyway ... I had a look to the west, where the storm was supposed to be coming from:

Me, Zim, checking the western front (so to speak)

I told Mom I needed to walk around a bit and get more of a feel for things.

Yeah, let's go down here, Mom!

Can you see the wind blowing through my fur? It was gusting up to 30 mph by then and the temps were starting to drop. It was great!

I did lots of snoofing and exploring and other stuff, then had another look around:

I think I smell something!

Then Mom told me I was facing east, not west.

Really? Don't tell Am, OK?

I didn't say I did well in Ammy's Meteorology 101 class ...

Mom and I decided to head home, so she could get the other members of the pack out for a short walk before the snow came. Because she KNEW it was going to come, since Amber told her it would!

They got a quick one in - right before it started 'snaining'. The temps still were dropping, and by late afternoon ... well, here's a look at our favorite meteorologist:

Ammy - perfect track record with her snow-casts!

Anypup else may have been tempted to say, "I told you so," but Am is far too sweet and kind! She sure nailed it once again!

Over night, it kept coming down, but went back and forth doing an icy mix kind of thing. There was even some thunder and lightning, which Mom thought was really cool!

Here I am, checking out our front yard this morning:

Hmm... wonder if I should build a really cool snow fort here?

I opted not to do a really cool snow fort for now, but did enjoy spending some time out there in the fluffy part of the snow.

Ahh! Comfy!

Welcome, Spring!

Play bows,

Zim

Photo Finish Friday

Woo, everypup and everycat. It's me - Dave - here with Photo Finish Friday. As the Yammer told you yesterday, Mom did get some nice shots of us the other day during our really fun photo shoot. I picked the best ones and will share them with you now!

Girls first! Here's Storms:

Stormy

She's looking in the general direction of the camera and isn't making a face at Mom, so that's pretty good! She was there when Mom tried Ammy's portrait shots and told her to keep the serious look going, so here she is:

Ammy

Well... OK, that's not the best picture of my little sister, but it IS a good "serious look", don't you think? Especially for someone who is usually cracking silly jokes! Ha woo! (Maybe she's doing that SuperModel "pout" thing?)

OK, now the pix you girl pups have all been waiting for - us boys! First up - get ready for this one - my kid brother, Zim:

Zim

Yeah. I'd say Zim worked the camera pretty well on that one, wouldn't you? I took a cue from him and did one of those "looking up" poses. Here I am:

Me - Dave

Mom said this shot really shows off my freckles! All I know is we got treats and hugs and tummy rubs! Woo!

I hope you enjoyed the portrait edition of Photo Finish Friday!

Luv,

Dave