Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...

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

"No getting on the ottoman...
 no trying to get Dave to play until his back is better...
no zooming as close to the dining room hutch as I can get...
Yeah, yeah, yeah... I got it..."

 
Just wanted to say thanks for all the great comments on yesterday's post.  ...And yes, it was all as fun as it looked!

Play bows,
Zim

Photo Fun-Finish Friday!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  I have a PACK of pix to show you today, so I'll try to keep the chit-chat to a minimum.  Basically, with Dave out on injured reserve, it's been left up to me to keep things lively around here.  (I showed you some evidence of that last Friday, in fact!)

Anyway, so there we all were the other night - Mom and Dad were watching a movie, Dave was snoozing, and me?  I was looking for a bit more excitement!  I went up on the catwalk to get a view of the scene.

 

Look at poor Dave down there! He really needs something to cheer him up!

   

Yep. It's time to Zimstigate some fun around here!

   

 Watch this! This is going to be great; I know how to kick things up!

You know the "No Siberians Allowed on the Furniture Rule"? Let's start with that one!

"Ha roooooo! I'm on the ottoman! Ha rooooo!"

 
You have no idea how fun that was! Until ...

 "NoNoZimmieNO!"

 
Hmm.   Where have I heard those words before?  And what do they mean?  Probably not important.

"Hey, Dad! What's shakin'?"

Then I remembered - "NoNoZimmieNO!" is a cheer they do when I do something particularly fun!  And not only was Dad cheering me on, but he was clapping for me! That's when things took a turn for the better!

Since we had so much fun, I'm switching the pix into cartoon mode.

"Play bows, Dad!"
"Right back at you, Zim!"

I had to wonder if Dad knew what signal he was sending me with his body posture. I think Mom did; in fact, I think I heard her start praying under her breath. (Mom's nice like that.) I think you all know what came next.

ZOOM!!!

I swooshed into the dining room, then back into the living room!  Flew up onto the catwalk, back into the living room, and another lap around the dining room table! Then I flew back into the living room, around the dining room table again ...

"Must keep low to the ground ... and very still ..."

...and kept the party going like that for a good long while!  There were shouts and cheers of amazement and joy from Mom and Dad!

"My work here is done.  For now!"

It was tons of fun, trust me!

If you'd like to see more photos, please visit the set on FlickR. And sure, Mom may have acted a tad bit shocked (mostly about the ottoman...) but it's like Stormy always taught me -- if the bipeds are taking pictures, you're not reeeeeeeally in too much trouble! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Play bows,
Zim (AKA, the Zimstigator!)

I'm Bored!

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  It's been almost two whole weeks now since I hurt my back - actually, none of us remember me specifically doing anything to it, it just REALLY started hurting and my vet saw some disc problems when she took x-rays.  Anyway... I've been really good about resting (more or less) but I'm getting so bored!

"Mom?  Can't we go do something?  Mom?"

I'm feeling a WHOLE lot better and all that "resting" stuff is wearing thin!

"Seriously, Mom.  I'm bored.  Can't we do something?!?"

Then I gave her the message she can't refuse:

 

"I ... umm ... need to use the yard.  Yeah, that's it."

Mom never refuses our requests to go outside to go potty -- unless there is a major lightning/thunder storm right on top of us or something else dangerous.

Oh!  But before I head out -- I wanted to point out the quilt behind me to our pal Remington!  It's a quilt Mom made to honor our great brother Booter; it's called "Booter's Quilt:  Dogs in Kansas".  He was an Aussie/Lab mix, but one of our vets affectionately referred to him as a "Pocket Newfoundland" once and that sort of stuck with him.  Mom smiles and thinks of him when she reads Remington's blog!

Here's a better look at the quilt:

Mom pieced it in 1992-3 at Fort Riley, Kansas, then finally quilted in in 1995 when they lived in South Korea.  Mom said the pups in the pattern were Goldens, but she made them all black or black and white and grey for Booter!  We've shared some pix of him with you before (and you can see him in our blog banner!) but we wanted to show you one of Mom's favorites today.

 

That's from about 1989 and that's one of our non-fur cousins there. Mom loves how that photo shows his gentle side - and we see a lot of that in Remington! 

Anyway, I'd better get to the yard before Mom accuses me of faking that I need out.  There's one more thing I wanted to show you, too!

"Check it out!"

It's my cool purple harness. I really like the red one my vet student made me, but now that I'm getting strong again, Mom and Dad feel better having something more substantial on me. Also I don't have to trail a leash behind me this way. And ... this way I'm in PURPLE again!

I hope everyone has a great day!  I plan on needing to use the yard a lot ... ha woo.

Luv,

Dave

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows and luv,
Zim and Dave

Word's Getting Out

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  So the other day, Dave was resting like a good boy.  I thought Mom could use a little R&R, so I sent her a mind-meld message that we should take a little trip together!  And we all know there's no better place to relax than the Kansas Ocean!

We walked around a bit, then I spotted something!

"Hey!  Look at that, Mom!"

I couldn't believe my eyes.  I was mesmerized!

"Right here, at the Kansas Ocean!"

As you can see, my shadow was as transfixed as I was!

Eventually, I had to make my move! I had to move in closer! Check it out!

"Ha roo?"

Can you see them?!?  Down by the water's edge.  A family of bipeds -- TOURISTS! At the Kansas Ocean! Word must be getting out about what a vacation hot spot it is! How exciting! I wonder if they have any shaved ice or salt water taffy they'd like to share with me...

Play bows,
Zim

Hey, Everybody!!!

Hey, everypup and everycat!  It's me, SGT Zim!  It's MONDAY!!!

"Get up!  Get up!  Get out of those racks you lazy bipeds!
Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, sweet pea!
Daylight's burning!  Let's go!  Let's go!"

Yep...

"Ha roo roo roo!"

That ought to shake up the neighborhood a bit.

Play bows,
Drill SGT Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave, here with some photos to help make your Sunday a bit more serene.  I thought we'd start with another look at the blooms out front.

Remember the Redbud trees Zim showed you the other day?  Here's a closer look at a branch full of them:

The leaves are forming already; they'll replace the blooms before you know it.

Under the Redbuds are those PJM Rhododendron.  Here is a close up of one:

And a close up of some blooms on the other:

Mom loves the color -- and so do I!

We always love the changing skies here. They were particularly stunning the other day. Mom took a couple shots while she was out doing errands. Take a look:

That's actually near the Kansas Ocean. You don't think she went there without me and Zim, do you?

Hmm. That one looks remarkably like a hill on the way home from the Kansas Ocean.  Hmm.  I'm sure it was just on her way to somewhere ... right?

When she got home, Mom said I could go out onto the deck to take another sky picture with her.  Check this out:

The clouds went on forever!  It made us both feel very serene.

Know what else makes me feel serene?

That's right -- snuggling with my mom.

What makes you feel serene? Whatever it is, make sure to spend lots of time doing it today!

Luv,
Dave

Kicking Back

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me - Zim.  It's been quite the week here at Ao4 Headquarters.  I think after all the excitement around here, we need to take the weekend to do some major league kicking back.

I'll be in here with my own personal Siberian cold air vent if anyone needs me.

Play bows,
Zim

Photo Finish Friday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  I've got three quick pix for you this week that we think pretty much sum up how things have been around Ao4 HQs this week.  Ready?

Being the  Lab in a Sibe suit  good boy that he is, this is what Davy spent a lot of time doing:

Oh, sure. Mom wanted him to lay on one of our orthopedic doggie beds instead of the hard tile floor, but hey, you can't have everything.

As for me, remember that really cool fort Mom showed you on Tuesday?!? Right - she stacked the air mattress on top of the biped bed so Dave wouldn't jump up there and I thought the space between them made a great den or cave?!?  That one.  Anyway, she seemed kind of alarmed to find me in there and asked if I would please refrain from going between the mattresses like that. Really. She said not to go between them.  Fine.  So... during one particular round of zoomies, I discovered a way to have even more fun with her stacked fort!  Check it out!

"HA ROO!"

Isn't that just the BEST!  Mom and Dad got all kinds of excited about it, too!  This third picture - well, more of an image - should give you an idea of what Mom looked like when I flew up there:

I had no idea that Edvard Munch guy knew my mom!

Have a wonderful, fun weekend, everyone!

Play bows,

Zim

My Cool New Threads

Woo, everypup and everycat, it's me - Dave!  A special thanks to all of you for the get well wishes!  I'm still not 100%, but I'm feeling a ton better than I was!  I'm trying real hard to do all the stuff my mom and my vets told me to do - and to not do the ten million things on the "no-no" list.  Which brings us to yesterday's picture...

Zim and I weren't really going for a walk!  I'm on "only out to the yard/only on lead" for a while; Mom snapped that photo on one of our potty trips.  We were just at the edge of our yard and she made us turn around.  Needless to say, I wanted to keep going!

Here we are, after Mom got us turned around:

"Hey, Zim.  Whatcha see?"
"Fluffy Black Cat is over in her yard! Maybe she'll come see us."

Zim always likes seeing his kit-cat friends.  She didn't come over, though, and Mom wouldn't let us walk over to her yard.

"I don't think she's coming, Zim."

Oh.  Did you notice my cool new threads? Here's a better look:  

My cool new threads

My senior student rigged it up for me the other day at the vet school.  I need to wear a harness instead of a collar - something about the neck bone being connected to the back bone ... or something like that.  I didn't have one of my harnesses with me, so she built this out of two slip leads.  Isn't she clever?    I actually like this better than my regular harnesses, so Mom is letting me keep this on.  (I just have my collar on so my tags are with me!)

Anyway, what do you think?  Do I look OK in red?

Luv,

Dave

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows and luv,
Zim and Dave

What Was I Thinking?!!?

Hi readers!  The boys turned their blog over to me today.  We don't do this very often, but they really thought I should take this ball and run with it.  (Not that kind of ball, Dave; sorry.)  (And no, it doesn't squeak.)

Dave has a back injury.  (That's an over-simplification, but bear with me.)  He has come a long way towards feeling better in the last couple of days (inserting major thanks to everyone at the KSU Vet Med Teaching Hospital!!!), but in addition to meds, he has a long list of no-nos for the next 4 weeks.  One such no-no is jumping ... which brings us to this post.  To help him get through the first part of his recovery, I've been on the floor with him for parts of the night - or more specifically, on our air mattress.  Rather than deflate it every morning only to have to re-inflate it at night, I thought I would be really clever and just put it on top of our bed!  That way, I would also block him from trying to jump onto our bed - a major league no-no right now!  Sounds great, right?

Here's how it looks:

I can't believe I'm posting this to the internet...

Looks like a good plan, right? Not only does it make the bed too high for Dave to try to jump up, but he doesn't like change, per se, so I knew that something out of the ordinary up there would keep him at bay.

"Hi, Mom!  There's something weird on the bed.
I'll just lay here like a good boy, OK?"

What a good puppy!  Isn't he?!?

But then ... in the back of my mind, something was nagging at me.  It seemed too easy.  Too perfect.  Too ...

...inviting?!!? Noooooooooo!!!

But fear not! Let's tip-toe around to the other side for another look.

"Oh... hey, Mom!  Cool fort you built here for me!  Thanks.  Very comfy & private."

ZIMMIE!!!  I really should have seen it coming!  At least it was Zim and not Dave ... and with as scared and concerned as we've been for Davy, the boys' dad and I truly, truly appreciated the laugh Zim gave us!

And so the question is what was I thinking, trying to outsmart a Siberian Husky?   (There, Zim.  I said it.  Happy now?)

Have a great day, everyone!  And remember to take joy from all the little things in life.

KZK

Blooms!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  We're supposed to get a nice Spring thunderstorm in a bit, so I thought I'd show you some of the blooms out front in case they get swept away by the rains.  Want to look around?

Here's an over-all look at one of the planting beds out front:

The three redbud trees are getting nice and fluffy; you can see the one on the left best, since one of our pines is behind it.

In the front are some big grasses that Mom and Dad just cut back; before too long, they'll be a couple feet tall!  Between the redbuds are some rhododendron that they put in last year; we're all happy just that they made it -- and now they're blooming!  Let's take a closer look!

Me and the Rhododendron bush.
Red blooms from our Texas Quince can be seen down on the next tier!
(Dave wanted me to point that out!)

The two pink ones made it - they are PJM Rhododendrons. The other one they planted didn't make it through our hot, hot Summer.  Here, let me move over so you can have a better look at things:

Rhododendron in front; TX Quince down in the next tier

Dave likes how the pink on the bushes goes with the redbud blooms - and that the quince are from Texas!

Anyway, Spring has come early this year - and as long as we don't have a wild snowstorm or hard freeze again (both could easily happen here...) we should have an interesting growing season! Oh! Speaking of interesting!

"Hey, Fluffy Black Cat!  Is that you down there?!?  Come on up and hang out with me!"

Sorry.  I though I saw a friend.  It wasn't her, though.

Anyway, we'll share more pix as everything starts growing; we always love seeing what's blooming in other areas, via your blogs!  We hope your gardens are growing strong!

Play bows,

Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday - The Snoozy Edition

Ha roo, pups and cool cats, it's me - Zim.  Here's what I've got for you to help make your Sunday a bit more serene:

Well... Dave did give you a heads up that we'd be doing lots of relaxing this weekend!

Play bows,
Zim

Relaxing Weekend

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me - Dave!  It's been quite the busy week around here and we're ready for a nice, relaxing weekend!

Mom wrote a tutorial for an original table runner and posted it to her blog; I had to make sure she made all the right color choices!

"You need a dark green in there to balance things out.
Trust me - I'm your Guide Dog for the Color Blind."

Mom knows that when I start giving her "the look" (see photo above) that it needs some work.  How can she tell when she's got the right "mix"?  Check it out:

Much better!

We put in a lot of hard work, and now it's time to relax!  So over the weekend, I plan to do a lot of this:

While Zim does a bit of this:

Do you have big plans for the weekend?  It's time to RELAX!  

Luv,

Dave