Look Out!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Even though we've had a lot of skies that look like this lately:

Mammatus Clouds

... we've also had some wonderfully sunny parts of the days! Lately, I've been exploring our decks and learning all the good look-out points! Let's head down to the lower deck and I'll show you, OK?

If you come over here, where the deck wraps around the northern part of Ao4 HQs, you can see all kinds of stuff.

One of the neighbor kids photo-bombed my post. Hmm.  Anyway, sometimes there are birdies or bunnies over by our honeysuckle by the steps, so it's important to check that scene!

Let's go over to the big part of the lower deck! Part of it is under our upper deck, so it's nice and shady a lot of the time. You can see to the west and to the south.

"Is anyone out there?!?"

You know what's to the south of us, don't you? Fluffy Black Cat's house!!! Wait! I think I see her!  Head to the high ground - quick!

"Must get to the high ground!"

Zimmie taught me that "high ground" thing.  He's real smart about stuff like that!

I couldn't see FBC from the landing on the stairs, so I headed all the way up top and struck a pose:

"Halt!  Who goes there?!?"

"I think that should scare off any intruders, don't you?"

Here's my "I could go for a hug and a treat, please" pose:

It worked, in case anyone was wondering!

Back to the "look out" part!  When you see this from the upper deck ...

Big storm rolling in!

... it's time to say "Look out!" and head inside!  Or if you're our mom, grab the camera or iPhone and go take pictures.  (If you'd like to see more pix of our stormy weather, please click here to visit our set on Flickr!)

But anyway ... whether it's to be a "look-out" or to say "look out!", the deck is the place to be!

Thanks for looking out with me!

Camo!

Quick Quiz

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cammie.  Quick!  What 1960s movie was my mom thinking about while I struck this pose by the neighbors' garden?

How could she even think such a thing?

Camo!

PS: If you give up, please click here.

Wordless Wednesday

Luv, !, and play bows,
Dave, Camo, and Zim

First Road March

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cam.  I've learned SO MUCH since I've joined the Army of Four!  Lately, I've been focusing real hard on the morning routine. Zim's taught me a lot about that!  It starts at about 4 o'clock -- I mean 0400 - when Drill SGT Zim wakes Mom up.  He gets to go outside to go potty, then gets a treat.  Hmm.  I've decided I'd like to do that, too, so I've been getting up with Zimmie to start the day Army-style!  We nap until Dad gets a cup of coffee and try to wait until the sun's up - then the two of us head out on a road march with Dad!  (Mom goes back to sleep stays with Davy and takes him out when he gets up; he's not as much of a morning pup as Zim and I are.)

Anyway, we saw some really wonderful things the other morning and Dad snapped some pix with his iPhone!  Here's the first thing I saw!

"Down by the water, Dad!  Do you see her, Zim?!?"
"Oooh, what's this?"

I saw a deer, getting a drink out of Little Kitten Creek!!!  Zim was snarfing something tasty off the sidewalk in that photo, but he eventually saw her, too!  (Sorry the shot is blurry - remember, it was dawn!  ...and something about having two Siberian Huskies on leashes... I'm not clear on that part.)

You can see her better here:

It was mighty exciting, as you can imagine!

Over by our fire station, I spotted this!

"DINNER!"

Can you see him?

"DINNER!"
"That's not dinner, Cam!  That's a turkey!"

Can you believe that?!?!  A turkey!  Zim said he and Dad see them a lot in the mornings!

"DINNER!"
"Hi, Tom!"
"Zim!  Is that you?"  

How does Zim lure prey over like that?!?  Errr.... I mean his "friends".

"Who's that with you?"
"DINNER!"
"This is my new sister.  I think maybe you shouldn't come much closer, Tom.  For safety's sake."

My brother amazes me sometimes.

Anyway - here's another picture of Tom:

Turkey
"DINNER!"

Now you know why I'm more than happy to get up with Drill SGT Zim and start the day early!  Look at all the excitement I'd miss!  Thanks for coming with us on our first road march of the day!

Camo!

Memorial Day 2013

Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May, is a day we celebrate and thank all those who served or who are serving in our military.

Veterans Day, the 11th day of November, is when we honor those who served or who are serving in combat.

Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, is a day to honor those who have fallen in the service of our country - our war dead.

Photo Credit: D. Myles Cullen

It is a day of reverence and respect rather than one of celebration.

Photo Credit:  US Army

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 

(John 15:13)

Please take time today to honor the men and women who have given their lives so that we may live in peace and freedom.  May God bless our fallen veterans and comfort their families.  We will never forget you!

With great respect,
Zim, Dave, Cam, and our bipeds

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam!  Did you enjoy my Dave's post yesterday from the front yard?  Today my post is about some things going on out in the back yard!  Ready to take a look?

Up near the house, our rose bush is blooming!  Let's start there!

"Rooooooooose bud."

The last of our lilacs bushes to bloom is in full swing now - the Miss Kim Lilacs!

They're right behind me; can you see them OK?  They smell wonderful!

Another wonderful smelling thing in the backyard right now is our Yorktown Snowflower Tree!

Here's a close-up:

Sadly, like the Snowball Viburnum that my Davy showed you, there's no real snow involved.  I did check it out, just to make sure!

"No real snow.  What a cruel hoax."

It IS real pretty, though.

To my left up there is a Butterfly Weed and a bunch of Daisies.  They aren't ready to do much yet.

Further up the hill, we have a small cluster of Day Lilies:

They aren't doing anything other than getting leafy and full right now.  They're on the border of our yard and Fluffy Black Cat's yard, so I thought I'd check and make sure she wasn't trying to sneak in or anything.

Back over to the tiered area...

I can't remember what I was doing in that photo, but you can see our gorgeous blue sky!   Just in front of me, cut off of the shot, is one of our many different Sedum plants!  That's one of the Purple Emperor Sedums - let's look at the ones on the next tier up!

"Here they are!"

We have three different "SunSparkler" varieties!  Here are three Lime Zingers:

SunSparkler Lime Zinger Sedum

My favorite, the D'Azul-berry ones:

SunSparkler Dazzleberry Sedum

OK, D'Azul-bery isn't their real name.  But it should be!  And lastly, the Cherry Tart:

SunSparkler Cherry Tart Sedum

From up on that top tier, you have a real good view of everything - our retaining walls are about 4-5 feet high in places.  I could see the top of the Snowflower Tree!

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see our Blue Dune Grasses and ... that I'm off-lead!  That's because I'm a quick study and have learned not to try to jump off the walls!  Aren't I a good gi---

"Oooh, what's that down there?!?!"

More or less.  Zimmie said once the leash is off, I can do anything I want to - to include ignoring Mom when she calls me.  Zimmie's really fun!

I hope you enjoyed walking around our back gardens with me!  Do you feel serene now?

Camo!

"Out Front"

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  Today I thought we'd take a walk around the front gardens and I could show you some of the blooms and other stuff - how does that sound?  Let's start over here, with some of our favorites:

It's a bunch of Lilies of the Valley!  Lily of the Valleys?  Whatever.  This was before Cam and Zim did all the barking, as you may be able to tell!  Here are some close-ups!

Lily of the Valley

Rumor has it that our Mom carried Lily of the Valley in her wedding bouquet.

Pink Lily of the Valley

We really love our Pink Lily of the Valley plants; the mom of our buddies Mitch and Maggie sent them to us!  We love having special reminders of our friends living in our gardens!

The Korean Dwarf Lilacs are in full bloom:

They're right by our garage door, so we get to enjoy them every time we go outside!  I wish you could smell them!

Oh!  This isn't in our garden, but Zim thought you might like to see it!  There is a wildflower called Rose Verbena blooming all over the place.  Here's a shot Mom took on an adventure with Zim:

They add a great splash of color on the prairie!

Speaking of splashes of color ... the first of our Peonies has opened!

A bunch more are ready to pop; Spring is so exciting!

A year or two ago, Mom and Dad transplanted one of our Snowball Viburnum bushes.  This is the first year it has bloomed:

Needless to say, that thrills Mom.  And the rest of us.  Of course, it might be more thrilling if they were actual snowballs, but maybe that's just me.

Let me see ... what else have I seen out front that was beautiful?  Oh, yeah.  I remember ...

"Hi Davy!!!  Kiss-kiss!!!"
"Aw, c'mon, kid..."

Yep.  My kid sister.  She's one mighty sweet, beautiful little girl.

OK, moving right along ... did you see the Super Moon last night?  The moon rises out front, so that fits in well with my theme here today!  Here's the best of the shots our mom took:



Could you hear us howling?

I hope you enjoyed our tour of the "out front" area.  Have a great Saturday, everyone!

Luv,
Dave

Photo Finish Friday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  After yesterday's post, you may think that it's all work, work, work around here - but trust me, I make sure we go out and have some fun, too!  That's what Wordless Wednesday teased -- a little look at one of my recent adventures!  Could you tell where I was?!?  Tuttle Creek State Park!  It was great fun!  Today we'll take a look at some of the cool stuff I saw!

When we first got there, I saw this one guy swimming around in the water.  From a distance, he looked like a sea serpent or something, but then Mom zoomed in with her camera and we got a better look:

It's an immature Double-Crested Cormorant.  The "immature" part has nothing to do with his personality or anything, it's his age.  Ha roo roo roo!

Here's a group of more Cormorants:

And here's one coming in for a landing:

Coming in for a landing!

"Wow, how cool is that?!?"

Here's a scenic look down the River Pond:

Very peaceful, isn't it?  This guy was enjoying the view from above:

Turkey Vulture

We walked down to another part of the park:

"Let's go this way, Mom!"

Mom usually lets me choose the way.  I know where all the birdies and stuff are.  In fact, I spotted this guy for Mom:

Western Kingbird

She wouldn't have seen him if I hadn't been staring up at him.

We walked down to another place by the water to have a look around.

"Look over on the bank!  Gooses!"

I saw some goose friends over on the bank ...

... and called them over.

Special lomo camera effect on a Canada Goose

Mom did a special effect on that one, but not on this one:

Canada Goose

The way the sun was hitting the water made it look like a sea of diamonds!  It was really cool.

We walked a little more and did some looking out at the water:

Mom really liked this one stream area:

We didn't see any cool birdies or anything in there, but it was a real peaceful scene!

Even though we had stayed on the roads and on the docks, after Mom took that shot, she looked down and found a TICK.  Oh, not on me - on her blouse.  It was enough to freak her out ... so she quickly brushed both of us off and we got back in the car.  That's when Wednesday's photo was taken - all buckled in and ready to head home.  Ha roo roo roo.  Have I mentioned Mom's not a fan of ticks?

No more were found, so really all in all, a very pleasant outing!  Thanks for coming with us!

Play bows,
Zim

PS:  There are more photos in our Flickr set, Tuttle Creek, if you're interested!