My Meeting with Calico!

Tail wags, dear friends. It's me, Stormy, today! I hope all of you enjoyed seeing and hearing about Zim and Ammy's adventure at the park! Dave and I found plenty of wonderful things to do this past week, too. In fact, one day, when I was out walking Mom, who did I see but Zim's friend the Calico Cat!

Calico is still pretty shy around us, but I thought I'd see what I could do to win her over. I moved toward her very slowly. Here is a collage of my approach:

Isn't she a lovely kitty? I didn't want to push things with her, so I looked to the side a lot (kitties and pups alike appreciate that sort of approach - it's not as scary!) and kept things at a calm, peaceful pace. I stopped about 2 feet away from her, then just gave her gentle, slow tail wags. Here's a very short video:

That's as much as we did that day - I didn't want to try for too much too soon. Next time I see her, I'll try to get a little closer. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Tail wags,

Storms

Our Cool Adventure - The Grand Finale!!!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me again - Zim! Here with Ammy today for the Grand Finale of our cool adventure. We aren't sure how grand it is, but it is the finale. Ha roo roo roo! Let's get started!

First up, we're going back in time to view a couple videos that our dad shot on our first trip to the park that morning. In this first one, we had just discovered that tent with all the cool chickens and roosters and turkeys and gooses and other little guys in it. I ... umm ... I must admit, I hadn't quite found my Zim Zone of Calm quite yet. What can I say? I am a Siberian! Here you go:

Ammy was calmer than I was. (Ammy here. It's because Daddy had the camera going and I was trying to avoid it.) Oh, yeah. And I'm wearing a blue leash and Am's is green, in case you need a decoder!

I settled in a bit better after that, and we headed over to the cow and horse area. Here's another of Dad's vids:

Is it just me, or is Ammy looking at those cows a whole lot differently than I am!?!? I think they'd make cool friends! You know, have them over for dinner or something. Ammy looks like she like to have them for dinner. If you know what I mean. ("Oh, no, Zimmie. Not me. Hee hee hee.") Yeah. Right. Moving right along ...

Did you see the horses in the video? Here's another pic Dad took of me with them:

Me (Zim) with my cool horse friends. Cool sky in the background, too!

Mom could tell from looking at that one that I wanted to go back and see them! And so - we did! Without further ado, here are the shots some of you have been waiting for! My horse friends!

These guys were enjoying to bright sunshine:

This grey guy looked really soft and gentle:

He really liked me. We spent some quality nose-to-nose time. Here's another shot of my horse friends:

Mom liked that one guy's freckles. She has a thing for spots!

And here's my very favorite picture of the bunch -- me and some cowboys!!!

Me and my cowboy friends!

Cowboys are so cool!

I hope you enjoyed my and Am's trip(s) to the Riley County Fair and Kaw Valley Rodeo! Tomorrow, we'll resume our normal programming.

Play bows,

Zim

PS: If you missed them, you can see the rest of our adventure at these links: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four. Thanks for reading!

Our Cool Adventure, Part Four

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me again - Zim! I saw so much at the Riley County Fair and Kaw Valley Rodeo - thanks for letting me share it all with you! I'm going to wrap things up tomorrow, I promise!

Where was I? Oh, right. Trying to get snow from the Sno Cone vendor. Well, sadly, that was a bust. For whatever reason, they weren't open at 0700. Can you believe that? I sure would have liked to bring some snow home to everysibe! It was worth a shot.

These guys were having breakfast when I stopped by their area:

"Hey! What's for breakfast?"

"Oh. 'Hay' is for breakfast. Gotcha."

I left them to their meal and headed over to yet another area. There, I saw the most incredible sight. Check this out:

The Goat King

Yep. Royalty. Right here at the Fair. A Goat King! Can you believe it!?!? How exciting! He sure loved being up there on his throne, surveying his kingdom. I've got to tell you, it was an awesome thing to see.

After a bit, I came across these guys again. You know -- the brown not-cows:

"Hey, you guys! How's it going? Had breakfast yet?

Those other guys just got a bunch of fresh hay."

"Really? What a bunch of bull! Ha mmoooo."

"Bull." Get it? Ha roo roo roo! What a sense of humor! I made a note to share that one with Ammy as soon as I got home.

Tomorrow, I'll show you the horses I met. On my way over to see them, though, I met a really cool little cow-dog. Here's a little collage Mom put together of the two of us:

Me and my Dachsie pal

We hung out for a while, sniffing and doing play bows (Mom was having a hard time taking pix of us!) then his cowboy called him back over to go help rustle up some cattle or something.

Thanks for letting me show you around today! The grand finale is tomorrow - be sure to tune in!

Play bows,

Zim

Our Cool Adventure, Part Three ...

... or Quick Caption Wednesday!

"Four snow cones to go, please. Hold the cone."

Play bows,
Zim

Our Cool Adventure, Part Two

Ha roo, pups and cool cats -- and anyone else looking in! It's me, Zim, back with more of our cool adventure at the park! Yesterday, I told you about how when Ammy and I walked Dad, we discovered all kinds of cool animals at our park. I wanted to hang out with them longer, but Dad said we needed to go cool down and get water -- then Mom would bring me back!

OK! So, I had a nice long drink and a short nap in the air conditioning, then Mom and I headed back to the park! I was the only Sibe who got to go, as Mom wanted to take some nice shots of the animals with her good camera and didn't want anypup disturbing the animals. I was just the Sibe for the job! Once I'm in my Zim Zone, I can calm anyone!

We went back to that tent area first, where all the smaller animals were. There was a lot going on with the chickens and roosters and gooses and such, so we didn't get any photos. I think they were having some sort of modeling contest or something. I did get to look in on the little goats and saw this rather adorable one:

Little goat in the tent

Seriously, is that one of the sweetest faces?!?

Over where Ammy and I saw those guys taking their cows for a walk, I saw these little bipeds:

Mom said it's a wash station. I think it's some sort of torture chamber myself - all those hoses, the water, some suds ... horrible! You decide which you think it is.

This guy (or gal) got to be carried by his (or her) little biped.

I heard her say she didn't want her little sheep to get dirty. That's awfully sweet, isn't it?

Moving right along, I came upon some cows! And they were brown! It was my big chance!

"How now, brown cows?"

They cocked their heads at me and came over to the fence! (I knew Ammy wouldn't lead me astray!)

"Oh, Mabel, he's a polite little one!"

"Nice vibe, little Sibe!"

They were some really nice cows who seemed to like my zen-like demeanor. I hung out and visited for a good while. I bid them a good morning after a bit, then we went to check out more goings-on!

We saw a bunch of goats kidding around:

Ha roo roo roo. "Kidding around." Get it? Ammy told me that one. (There were goats on the farm where she was born, so she knows goat stuff!)

I also saw this guy, standing all alone. Like he was in solitary or something.

"Hey. What are you in for, buddy?"

I get real schmoopy when I see animals alone. I hung out with him until a cowboy came over and brought him some breakfast. He smiled at me and said I was "a fine-looking dog." I thought that was cool - 'cuz cowboys are cool!

That's all I've got for you today - but there's more to come! Stay tuned!

Play bows,

Zim

Our Cool Adventure, Part One

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me, Zim! As Ammy told you, we had QUITE the cool adventure on Saturday morning! It all started after breakfast, at about 0630, when Dad took me and the Yammer on our morning walk. He said we were going to head to the park - what fun! I love the park!

When we got there, it was even better than I could have imagined!

"Wowzers! Check this out, Ammy! There are cool animals all over the park!!!"

Dad said it was the Riley County Fair and the Kaw Valley Rodeo!!! It was so exciting! Dad walked us all over, so Ammy and I could see all the different animals! He shot a bunch of pix with his iPhone so we could show you!

"Hey! Who all's in there?!?"

It was a tent full of goats (some looked a lot like Jasmine!), chickens, roosters, gooses, turkeys ... all kinds of guys!

"Hey! Do you know Jasmine?!?"

Sadly, she didn't - but wished me a fun time walking around the fair grounds. Very polite, those goats!

Ammy and I saw some guys with cows on leashes:

"Look, Zim! Those cows are going for a walk, too! Hee hee hee!"

Ammy knows a lot about farm stuff. Or at least more than the rest of us. She grew up out in the country. I asked her how I could win over the cows. You know, what to say to them, how to say it - the basics. She said there weren't cows on the farm when she was born, but she heard "How now, brown cow?" is a popular expression. I thought I'd try it out!

"How now, brown cow?"

One of them looked over at me and started to say "moooooo".

"Yeah! Hey! How now, brown c--"

Ammy kept trying to interrupt me.

"Umm... Zimmie? That's not exactly a cow..."

Oops. How's a guy to know these things? I apologized and there were no hard feelings. I settled in, so we could all get to know each other. One of his friends came over to commune with me.

"Hey! I'm Zim. How's it going?"

"Zimmie, get up! Daddy says it's time to head home!"

Just when a guy makes some friends, it's time to pack it up and walk home?

"Aw, Dad! Can't I stay?!?!" I pleaded with him! He said no, but that he'd get Mom to bring me back after I had a cool down and some water. Now you're talking!

On our way out, we walked past these guys:

Me and my new friends, horsing around

They seemed to want to meet me; I told them I'd be back later!

Tune in tomorrow for Part Two!

Play bows,
Zim

PS: As you know, we had a full moon last night! We were expecting cloudy skies, so Mom didn't think she'd be able to "shoot the moon", so to speak. In fact, the night did start out cloudy:

...but then the skies cleared!

We couldn't resist sharing the best of Mom's pix! Ah roooooooooooooo!!!!!

Serene Scenery Sunday - The All Skies Version

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me, Ammy, resident meteorologist here at Ao4 Headquarters. We didn't do Serene Scenery Sunday last week due to Adopt-a-Zimmie Day, so Storm said I could take today's post to show you what our skies have been like for the past couple of weeks! Yea!

This first one is from the sunset on the 10th of July:

10 July 2010

It was almost like a painting!

On the 12th of July, we thought this big cloud was remarkable:

12 July 2010

It caused trouble, but not in our immediate area. (Stormy didn't say they had to be all serene photos!)

Here's a really cool sunset!

13 July 2010

It's from the 13th. And actually, it was hot, hot, hot. And steamy. It's not only the sunset, but the moonset, too! And if you look closely (at about 11 o'clock up from the moon) you can see Venus, too.

Skipping over to the 16th of July, we had this sunset:

16 July 2010

This moved in late in the afternoon of the 20th:

20 July 2010

It was a bit disruptive, but really gorgeous, in an "I love cool weather formations" kind of way. Here's another look at the storm clouds:

20 July 2010

By sunset that night, though, this is what the sky looked like:

20 July 2010

You always have to keep an eye to the sky around here; you never know what's going to happen! (Well, some of us do, but we keep an eye to the sky!)

This was part of our sunset that night, too:

20 July 2010

... as was this:

20 July 2010

Aren't Kansas skies wonderful!??

I'll finish with two photos from last night! Here's the first:

24 July 2010

And here is another look at last night's sunset:

24 July 2010

It was a bit toasty out - can you tell?

I hope you enjoyed our sky photos! If you'd like to see more, please feel free to visit our Sunsets and Sky Shots set on FlickR!

Be sure to tune in this week! Zim and I had a very wonderful adventure yesterday and he got to go back and have more fun!!! It'll take a few days to tell you all about it!!!

Love,

Ammy

Around the Corner

Woo, everypup and everycat. It's me, Dave. They say cooler temperatures are just around the corner.

Me and Ammy are here waiting for it!

Luv,

Dave

Photo Finish Friday!

Tail wags, dear readers, it's me - Stormy - here with Photo Finish Friday!

Before I get to today's photos, two things to cover:

Thing number one - Dave had a dickens of a time getting yesterday's video uploaded! Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience, but we got it sorted out as quickly as we could. Thanks for your patience!

Thing number two - we're very sorry we haven't been commenting on your blogs lately. Things are pretty busy for our mom right now, and since we aren't allowed to use the computer without her ... well, there you go. We're reading and hope to get caught up over the weekend, but please know in the meantime that we are thinking about you and are checking in on the iPad when we can!

OK! So ... Photo Finish Friday. Mom had this great idea to bring the camera along this morning when Dave and I took her for a walk. She thought she'd get some great walking shots and stuff ... but what a shame, none of her photos turned out. Something about someone pulling, someone not looking at the camera, someone trying to snarf stuff up off the sidewalk ... I'm not really sure. She did try again once we got home, and though I never did quite look at the camera (ha roo roo roo!) I thought I'd share the following with you.

Here's a portrait in a cool blue camo frame:

Me. Storms!

I kind of like that one. It's "different". Here is a collage of some more non-poses:

Honestly. How long do I have to not look at the camera for her to get the hint?!? Ha roo roo roo!

OK ... I did give her a cute head tilt shot:

Actually, I was looking down the street to see if Dad and the redheads were coming home from their walk yet, but Mom wants to think I was being cute. Who am I to argue?

By the way, if you think my feet are in strange positions behind me or that I'm twisted around in any of the above pictures, it's really Dave. He was standing behind me!

Have a great weekend!

Tail wags,

Stormy

It's Thursday and It's Not Wordless!

Woo, everypup and everycat. It's me - Dave! As most of you know, I am my mom's Guide Dog for the Color Blind and I do a whole lot to help her down in her Quilt Studio. She hasn't had a lot of time to work down there lately, so when she did get the chance to work down there the other day, I helped her get the most of her Studio experience! I've shown you some of my duties before and how important it is for the creative process to look at things from different angles, and now today I thought I'd show you a video of me helping Mom by providing my keen insight into what she's working on.

I hope you enjoyed that. I know my mom did.

Luv,

Dave

Wordless Wednesday

Tail wags,

Storms

Cantaloupe!

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me - Ammy! Oh, I know! You might be a little bit surprised that I'm blogging about cantaloupe, since it's orange and I don't really care for most orange-colored foods! But ... I was feeling a little funny the other day ...

"Hey Davy! Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Cantaloupe!"

"Cantaloupe who!?!?"

"Can't elope tonight, Dad's got the car! Hee hee hee!"

I couldn't help myself! Have a happy day, everyone!

Love,

Ammy

PS: Yes, Davy got some cantaloupe. I didn't want any... because it's orange.