Ha Roo?

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

"Ha roo???"

What's going on?  Where is everyone?  Where is this morning's post?  I thought Cam had it covered!

Meanwhile, downstairs in the Studio...

"Hmm... was there something I was supposed to do this morning?  Hmm..."

"Lemme see... went for a long walk at the crack of dawn,
played like a crazed river otter with Zimmie,
ate breakfast,
played like a crazed river otter with Zimmie,
guarded the house while Mom cavorted with Beth, the Border Collie boys, and birds,
played like a crazed river otter with Zimmie,
had lunch,
the river otter thing again..."

"I certainly can't think of anything I left out."

Sigh.  Girls!  Oh, well.  At least she remembered the really important stuff.

Gotta run.  Time for a little river otter action.

Play bows,

Zim

Photo (Outtake) Finish Friday!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  Tonight is the season opener for the Kansas State University Wildcat football team!  As you know, we go to KSU for our veterinary care - so when they asked for photos of "pets" dressed in K-State purple for their FaceBook page, we got right on it!

Cammie's never done this before, but I'm used to this kind of  torment  entertainment.  I thought I'd share the "process" of how Mom does these photo shoots with you for Photo Finish Friday - sound good?  Let's let Cammie go first!

Out came the hat and some treats.

"Sigh..."

Well, that photo DOES show off all the KSU stuff on the hat really well! Not really what Mom was after though, Cam. Let's see that sweet, happy face of yours!

"Honestly.  There aren't enough Zuke's in the world for this."

Um... yeah. Mom decided to ditch the hat and go for a purple bandana for Cam.  I mean, c'mon.  This is Cam's first time!  She's totally new at this!

Let's give that bandana a go!

"Seriously?"

I hope no one had a mouth full of water when they saw that one.

"Do you REALLY want to know what I think of this?"

Errr...

No. Better try something else, Mom. This just isn't flying!

MUCH better! Doesn't she look great?!?! And all set to cheer on the Cats!

Now ... about that hat!  Let me have a go at it!

"It's falling OFF again!!!!"

I look a bit startled there, don't I?  Yeah, well, the hat kept falling off!  I don't know what was different, but it wouldn't stay on my head.  Mom thinks my pupils look ginormous there and I guess she's right.  I'm not sure if it's because of the slipping issue or the fact that we had a BRAND NEW batch of Stinky Goodness Treats to reward my excellent modeling skills ... but I was all kinds of excited!

Mom thought we were as ready as we were going to be and suggested we move our party outside.

We ran into the same issue out there.

"Hey!  Who turned out the lights?!?"

No sweat. I'm a pro. Let's improvise!

"How's this?  The jaunty, playful look!"

Mom thought I looked  like the hat would stay on for more than a split second  exceedingly handsome and cool, so she moved out for the money shot.  Here's our final take:

Not bad, huh?

Have a great weekend, everyone, and GO CATS!!!

Play bows,
Zim

PS:  No Siberians were harmed in the making of this fan photo.  Ample rewards and positive reinforcement were given. Void where prohibited. Actual mileage may vary. Prices slightly higher west of the Mississippi. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Package sold by weight, not volume. Contents may settle during shipment. No user-serviceable parts inside. Use only as directed. Not applicable in all 50 states.  Ha roo roo roo!

Quality Time

Hello, everyone! It's me, Cammie! Since it's been way too hot to go on afternoon adventures lately, after I do after-lunch zoomies and wrestling and more zoomies with Zim, I've been spending quality time with my friend Pink Pig. Mom took a bunch of shots of us the other day and I thought I'd share some with you.

We like to hang out in front of the fireplace on the fluffy bed there:

"SQUEEEEALoink!"
"Hold still, Pink.  You have something on your head."

She sits up nice and straight, doesn't she?  Good pig!

"What's this on your neck?"
"SQUEALLLLoink!"

I was just de-fleaing her, like I would myself or one of my puppies.  Or the inside of Mom's wrist.  Mom giggles when I do that!

"I wish it wasn't so hot out, Pink Piggie!"

I had a lovely daydream about snow ... and cold ... and winter adventures!

"Doesn't a snow storm sound great, Pink?"

"You're being awfully quiet, Pink!"

Pink was oddly quiet.  She usually has a lot to say when we play!

"Pink Piggie?  Are you asleep??!?!"

I gave her a gentle nudge or two:

"SQUEEEEEALoink!  SQUEEEEALoink!  SQUEEEEALLLLLoink!"

"My goodness, Pink!  I think one little 'oink' would have covered it!"

Sigh.  Pink Piggie needs to learn to use her indoor voice!

"Zzzz ... cold ... snow ... winter ... zzz ..." 

I think Mom is as ready for cool afternoons as Zim and I are!  Maybe not the whole "snow and cold" part, but crispy Fall football weather sounds good to all of us!  Even to Pink Piggie!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows,
Zim

It Wasn't A Dream!

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Remember last week when I told you about some of the challenges I face while guarding the inner room of the Studio?   Well, I drew Inner Studio Guard Duty again over the weekend ... and ...

It all started when Mom showed me a new toy she bought just for me!

" 'Beyond Tough', huh?  We'll see about that!"

It's like the toy was challenging me right from the start!  Anyway, I took it with me on Guard Duty.  It's blue on one side and yellow on the other. I had just flipped it onto the yellow side when I got this creepy feeling.

"Odd.  I feel very odd."

It wasn't dissimilar to the feeling I got after that weird dream I had in the Studio last week!  Like I was being watched.  By someone.  Or by something.  

I brushed that thought aside and got back to work on my new toy.

And then ...

"Hey!  Hey, Zim's Mom!  She's awake!  Can I meet her?"
"Not really a good idea, Roger.  Roger!!!  Ro--"

"What could possibly go wrong?!?"
"What have we here?!?"

It wasn't a dream after all!

"I'm Roger the Rat, from Australia!"
"Really?  Come closer, Roger the Rat.  Yes.  That's it.  Just a little closer..."

"Come to Cammie, Rog!"
"Help!!!"

Mom made him go sit on the shelf for a while.  I have no idea why.  I wanted him.  Bad.

I got back to my toy and then ...

"No, really, Zim's mom.  She likes me.  I can tell!"

He's a very persistent rat.

"I think we could be friends, Cammie."
"Don't bank on it, rat.
Umm... I mean sure we can, Roger.  Come a little closer, I want to tell you a secret."

"You're MINE now!"

If Mom hadn't intervened, I would have shown him some good, old-fashioned Siberian fun.  As it was, he had to go sit on a shelf again.  Behind the closet door.  He must have misbehaved.

At least I know it wasn't a dream last week.  And fear not!  I will get him one day.  I'm only doing what comes naturally!

Cam!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  Did everybody have a good weekend?  Cam and I sure did - except for the whole "it's a million degrees outside" part.  Despite that, we kept very busy!

Cam helped Mom clean the house:

"Oh.  Did you want me to move?"

I helped in the Studio!

"Hey.  Whatcha doing?  Are you done yet?
How about now?
Wanna go do something?
How about now?"

Seriously.  Mom has to be forced to take breaks when she gets in there.  I mean, she could work continually for an hour or something if it wasn't for me insisting she get up and change gears!

"That's more like it, isn't it, Mom?"

Cam, being the quick study that she is, knows that if I get some one-on-one time with Mom, so does she!  And guess what she wanted to do?

Cam-a-roo, riding shotgun!

She's a fast learner, isn't she?  

Oh!  You know her bag holder bag that Mom made out of ... bags?  Mom whipped one up for me, too!

Mom bought that blue bone-shaped carabiner - and found a hot pink/red one to swap out on Cam's.  Pretty cool, huh?

Cam had fun playing in the backyard with Mom over the weekend:

"I'm not going to jump, I'm just going to look.  REALLY!"

Mom said Cam is getting good about not jumping off the retaining walls, so once they make a sweep of the yard to make sure there isn't anyone in there (kit-cats, bunnies, coyotes, etc.), she's getting more and more off-lead time in the yard!  (Totally fenced in, 6-foot fence, complete with concrete mow strip, locks on the gates ... basically Fort Knox.)  We love playing out there with Mom!

That's how we spent parts of the weekend!  Otherwise, we had some great early-morning walks and spent an awful lot of time doing ... this:

I hope you all packed as much fun into the weekend as we did!

Play bows,
Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  This week, I have an assortment of shots taken by both my mom and my dad that Zim and I thought might help you find a moment of serenity.  Ready to take a look?  Let's start with the ones my dad took!

He saw these beautiful flowers at the golf course:

Their Latin name is Rudbeckia hirta, but we just call them "Denver Daisies".  Aren't they colorful?!?

Dad also saw a bunch of broccoli growing there!

Broccoli!

Mom said it's not really broccoli, it's another variety of sedum. She said it'll get pink later.

Our sedums here at Ao4 Headquarters is all doing great. We have some shaped like broccoli, too, only ours is purple. There is some by my favorite rock:

Can you see the sedum?

It's a little dark there because of the shade. Can you see-dem OK? Ha roowooroo!!!

Here's some more of the same variety (Purple Emperor Sedum), out in the open:

" 'Can you see-dem?'  That one never gets old!"

As you know, there was a full moon this past week.  Mom took lots of shots of it; you are welcome to see them in our Sunsets and Sky Shots set on FlickR; the newest pix are at the end.  The one we liked the best was a couple days after the full moon - here it is:

As I mentioned last Saturday, Mom headed out to the big lake with Beth and the Border Collies.  She had a really great time stalking some birdie called a "Green Heron".  She was all kinds of excited about it and had one of her bestest times ever out there!  That whole set of pix is at this link, but I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites with you!

I thought this was a helicopter at first!

It's a big dragonfly!  I think that's where someone got the idea for helicopters, though.

Some of you might not find serenity in dragonflies, so here's a pretty Thistle and a Sulfur Butterfly:

Is that better? And how about some of Zim's goose friends coming in for a landing:

Mom and Dad said once it gets cool out, they will take me and Zim to the big lake. They went together, but without us, during the week; it was crazy-hot out, so Zim and I were happy enough to stay home and guard the house. This is Mom's favorite shot from their outing:

Great Blue Heron - a very serene fisherman!

For the full set, you can click here.

I hope you feel nice and serene now!  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Cammie!

You Just Never Know

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me - Zim!  We have a saying around Ao4 Headquarters that you just never know what or who you're going to see when you head off on an adventure.  Take the other day, for example ...

Cam and I each got one-on-one time with Mom.  Cam did backyard playtime, but me?  I wanted to head out on the open road!  Mom and I got into the car and headed out.  We went all over the place and pretty much just saw this:

Pretty, and we had fun, but really ... nothing too exciting. Mom headed back into town, then right at the edge of where our subdivision starts ...

TURKEY!

Right in our immediate neighborhood!  And he wasn't alone!

"Please!  No pictures!"

Pretty cool, don't you think?  So remember - keep your eyes peeled!  You never know who you might see when you're out and about!

Play bows,
Zim