Where Eagles Dare

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  So, there we were yesterday afternoon.  Zimmie and I ate our lunches, then took Mom and Dad on a nice walk.  I had settled in for my nap, when I heard the garage door open and shut.  Hmm.  I figured Mom and Zim were heading off on an adventure, so I came out to see Dad.  You know - give him my condolences on the Browns' game see how the Browns did, see if the Chiefs  had lost yet  were on yet, ask if he wanted to go outside - the basics.  Only ... it wasn't Dad in the living room, it was Zim!  Mom had taken Dad on an adventure!  You can imagine we weren't real thrilled with that, so we did what comes naturally to us at times like that -- we took naps.

Anyway, Mom and Dad were so happy when they came back!  They were all excited about what they had seen and where they'd been ... and so I thought I'd go through their pix and vids and share some with you today.  I know - it's not me and Zim, but I have to admit, they're pretty cool photos anyway.

They went to Tuttle Creek Lake/Dam/Reservoir -- only across the dam this time, over by the River Pond.  Is it me, or do they use an awful lot of names of bodies of water to describe things here in Kansas?  Anyway, these are the first guys they saw:

Gooses, ice skating

And more gooses on the ice:

More gooses on the ice

Mom loves geese and said she could have been happy watching them the whole time.  As you can tell from the title of this post, though, they went in search of eagles!  (You didn't think this was going to be about that old Clint Eastwood/Richard Burton movie, did you?  "Broad Sword calling Danny Boy ..."  We've all watched that a lot of times together!)  Anyway, they wanted to go here:

Look across at the far bank, in the tree tops.  Can you see some large dark spots?  Let's zoom in!

That's right - it's EAGLES!  Lots of them!  There are at least five in the photo above, plus one coming in for a landing!

Let's zoom in some more:

Trio of Bald Eagles

Aren't they magnificent?!!?  Here are some more shots!

A pair of eagles, communing with a crow

Eagle in flight

Mom also got some shots of an adult eagle with a juvenile one! I'll add the captions!

"I told you to be home by 2!  And where's the bass you said you'd pick up?!?"

I mean, really.  The dad eagle doesn't look happy.

"Your mother is not going to be happy, son."

Our dad shot a bunch of videos.  Here's one of them - you can see the eagles in the trees and see them flying.  You can even hear them talking ... but mostly you can hear our 30mph Kansas winds.

If that doesn't play, please click here.

You can get an idea of the area Mom and Dad were in.  They said something about being better that Zim and I weren't there because it was slippery, snowy, and there was tons of goose poop under foot.  Sounds great to me and Zim!  Maybe next time.

They went down the shoreline a bit to this area to shoot more pix:

You can see an eagle nest over on the left-hand side!

Mom and Dad also took some pix in another location, across from an island.  There were eagles there, too, but Mom's pix were mighty blurry of them.  (Remember, she has a pretty simple camera, a Nikon CoolPix P90, and didn't have a tripod with her.)

She did get more gooses later on in their outing!

And then she saw these guys and wanted to remember them, too:

Mom and Dad had a great time and said they could have stayed there even longer -- but they missed us and wanted to get home.  And something about Mom wanting a hot shower to thaw her feet out.

I hope you enjoyed Mom's pix and Dad's video!  

Everyone stay safe tonight - see you next year!  Ha woo!

Luv,

Dave

Serene Scenery Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, here with some photos guaranteed to help you find some inner serenity.  Let's start with a couple of sunsets!

This one was taken off our deck, like most of the sunsets we share:

And here's one Mom and I shot just a stone's throw from the house, while we were out running some errands:



It was really gorgeous!

The rest of today's photos are from an outing we went on a couple days ago!  Mom and I headed out to Tuttle Creek Lake/Dam/Reservoir/Ocean to see if we could see the Bald Eagles.

We looked for a really long time, but couldn't see any.

"Maybe if we head down this way!"

We looked all over the place ...

"Ha roo?"

... but no eagles.  As we've said before, we're fairly sure the eagle population in the area knows our car by sight and leaves when they see us coming.

We did some fun exploring and sniffing around, then Mom said it was time to head back home.  We got into the car, she buckled me into my seatbelt, then buckled in herself and started pulling out of the parking lot.  As if on cue ... we looked up -- and three American Bald Eagles swooped into the area.  Wow, can Mom park the car, unhook us both, secure my leash to her wrist, and grab the camera FAST when she wants to!

Here's what we saw!

Eagle in flight

They were pretty far away - and fishing so fast that it was hard for Mom to get many photos.  Oh, were they a beautiful sight, though!  So strong, so graceful, so COOL!!!

Fishing!

We're learning more about where we can go to try to spot them - maybe get in a bit closer.  But until next time, this sighting left us both feeling so wonderful, so full of joy, and so blessed to see these magnificent birds!

I hope today's post has brought some serenity into your day.  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Play bows,
Zim

Here's Looking at You!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  Mom whipped up a fresh batch of Stinky Goodness Treats for me the other day.  While she was in the cutting stage, she mentioned something about "lots of air bubbles", but I assured her I would be happy to take care of any pieces that didn't make it into the Stinky Goodness Machine and she should just keep plugging along.

Before too long, we had a nice, fresh batch of Stinky Goodness Treats to enjoy!

"Here's looking at you, Mom!"

I think they're rather festive looking!  Sort of like snow flakes - no two are the same.  And every bit as tasty as always!  Am I right, Dave?  ... Dave?

"Y'ello!"

Yep!  They get Dave's Seal of Approval, too!

I hope all of you get something special to snack on during the holidays!

Play bows,
Zim

Ain't Misbehavin'

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  I wanted to comment on a couple of the husky ornaments from our "Special Memories" tree.  You saw them a couple days ago.

Anyway - for the record ...

Just because we have ornaments that show huskies misbehaving and doing crazy things like knocking over a snowman -

- and jumping up on Santa to give him a big kiss -

- certainly doesn't mean Zim and I would engage in that kind of mischief!!!  We are well-behaved gentlepups who wouldn't dream of causing any kind of disturbance!

"Woo."

No, really.  I think all of you know that by now, but I just wanted to go on the record.

Luv,
Dave

PS:  In totally unrelated news, we had a wonderful time playing indoor zoomie games with our dad the other evening!

"I'll distract him, Dave!  You go around back and do a sneak attack!"
"Got it, Zim!"

Ummm... well, yeah, but we were playing.  Not misbehaving!

Does anyone else think the huskies on those ornaments should be red and white?  ....

Square Knot

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  I've got a question for you.  What do you get when you cross left over right, and right over left?

A square knot?

No ...

You get Mom and me!  Ha wooooo!

Remember to take time to kick back during the hustle and bustle of the holidays!

Luv,
Dave

Ha Rooing

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  I hope all of you had a most wonderful Christmas!  We went on some walks and stuff, then hung around the house.

"Hey!"

Oh, yeah.  More Christmas decorations behind me.  Another quilt on the chair back - and then see on the table?  Let's get closer!

Some No-No-Zimmie balls, a porcelain bell from Berlin, and a husky spinny thing!

It's pretty cool having ornaments named especially for me - don't you think?  The sled team thingy spins around on that pole!  Davy knows how to make it go but I haven't figured that out.  Yet!

I've shown you just some glimpses of the dining room.  You could see the table and all in the pix of the Patriotic tree; here are a few shots of the hutch:

Some of Mom's Christmas Naif Villeroy and Boch pieces
Mom bought them in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg

This shot's for our buddies Frankie and Ernie:

Lennox snowman that our aunt and uncle sent us

No need to thank us, pals.  We know how much you love snowmen.  Ha roo roo roo!

Speaking of "ha rooing" ... Mom and Dad had another Scrabble Throw Down going yesterday.  Mom thought I was helping Dad, since I could see his board from where I was, but I was trying to send her a mind-meld message about what word she should play.  Check it out:

"Play it, Mom!!!  Play it!  There's an O you can use right up there on 'gout'!!!"

I mean, seriously!  There was an open O sitting out there in the open!  She could have spelled "ha rooing" for a TON of points!  Using all the letters in your thingy gives you 50 bonus points right there!!!  She could have also hit a couple triple letter spaces!  But did she listen to me?!?!

No.  She did not.

I spent the rest of the game like this:

"Fine.  Don't listen to me!  See if I send you any more great ideas!!"

Sure, sure.  She claimed the governing Scrabble computer wouldn't have accepted "ha rooing" ... but come on!  She should have at least tried!!!

Happy Boxing Day to those who are celebrating it - and happy Boxers' Day to Casey, Cinderella, and all of our other Boxer pals out there!  Right, Dave?  Ha roo roo roo!!!

Play bows,

Zim

Christmas Day 2012

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not:  for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11

Merry Christmas to all of you and ha roo, pups and kit-cats!  It's me, Zim!  Is everyone having a wonderful celebration today?!!?  I sure hope so!

Since it was an angel of the Lord who helped spread the good news about Jesus' birth, I thought I'd put the focus on some of our angel ornaments - and a couple manger scenes like the one above!  That little Nativity scene and star is carved from olive wood and is from Bethlehem.  It was given to Mom by a special friend and she just cherishes all that it represents.  It's on the tiny tree on the mantle that I showed you a couple days ago.  Look behind me in this next pic:

Right.  You remember now.  And from this angle you can see another tree!  Take a look from this angle:

Note that there's a great view of this tree from the sitzbank!
I'm not on the sitzbank because it's Christmas and I'm doing my sweet, innocent look.

This tree is decorated with a couple Nativity scenes also carved from olive wood from Bethlehem:

And angels rejoicing!

All of the angels are from Belgium or Germany - and many were given by friends or family members.  There are angels singing, playing instruments, riding on SLEDS - all kinds of stuff!  They're getting the word out that Jesus was born!!!  And look!!  There's even an angel in a horse-drawn cart!

"Ha roo!"

No, there isn't a Zim Detection Device on this tree.  No need.  Honest.  Back to looking innocent...

Please join with us, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  From all of us here at Ao4 Headquarters, we wish you God's rich blessings on this Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas - and play bows,
Zim
and Dave!
and our mom and dad!

The Special Memories Tree

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  I'm here today to show you another one of our Christmas trees and some of the ornaments.  We don't really have a name for this one, but since there's a story behind everything on it, I'm calling it the Special Memories Tree.  Fair enough?

You caught a glimpse of this tree the other day; it's right behind where Zim and I were having a little Christmastime fun!  It's filled with some old ornaments and some new ones - it's the tree we hung our special mini mitten ornament from Mollie and Mitch and other ornaments friends have sent us!

I was a lot of help decorating it.

"Snuggle in right here, Sock Monkey!"

I kept the Sock Monkey out of trouble over by the fireplace while Mom put everything else on the tree. Let's look at some of the ornaments!

Deer ornament from Germany

I showed you the Lab ornament the other day; we also have a Beagle one:

Beagle ornament, for the Beagles in Mom's life

Mom grew up with Beagles, so they're very special to her.  We also have some husky-like ornaments:

To keep the real meaning of Christmas in the forefront, we have this near the top of the tree:

And topping the tree itself is a crown:

Our grandma made the crown!

One year, our mom's mom helped make a bunch of ornaments for the Chrismon trees at the church she attended; she made a couple extra crowns and this one is ours! A Chrismon tree is an evergreen tree filled with handmade ornaments that are Christian symbols.  A crown at the top of the tree symbolizes that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Let's step back and have a look!

"Don't worry, Sock Monkey.  You'll be safe up there!"

Oh, I know what you're thinking.  "So many things at snooter level!"  Am I right?  Don't worry - Zim and I have been trained to leave things alone that aren't ours.  We wouldn't dream of messing with the tree - right, Zim?  Besides, Mom seems to know when someone gets too close to the tree...

"Hey!  Hey, Sock Monkey!  Wanna play?!?!
Hey, what's with the bell?!?"

That's right.  Mom still uses the brass bell from Germany as a "Zim Detection Device".  As the saying goes, "Every time a bell rings, a Siberian is too close to the Christmas tree!"  Ha woo.  Works like a charm.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Luv,

Dave