Happy Birthday!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  We interrupt our series of posts about our trip to Fort Riley to bring you a special announcement.  This is what I was doing one year ago today:

Dancing Winds Polargold Legacy (Bebe) shown with her first puppy, Polargold's Margaret Thatcher

Yes!  That's me and my mama!  It's my BIRTHDAY!  I've never had one of these before and they seem quite fun!  There has been a lot of singing and a nice walk and some watermelon so far!

I'd like to extend happy birthday wishes to all of my sisters - Boo Boo, Journey, and Morgan.  Here we are, all lined up with our beautiful mama:

Dancing Winds Polargold Legacy (Bebe) with her Women Warriors litter:
Polargold's Margaret Thatcher, Polargold's The Morrigan, Polargold's Boudica, and Polargold's Journey to Colestah.

We lined ourselves up in birth order all by ourselves in that photo - aren't we smart puppies?!?

Oh.  And so there is no confusion, since I'm using our full names a lot here today:

I'm the one on the right.

Do something fun today to help me celebrate, OK?!?!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

PS:  Tomorrow we will resume our regular programming.

Another PS:  Many thanks to my family back at Polargold Siberians and Finnish Lapphunds for kindly allowing us to use my baby pictures!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Our Latest Adventure, Part 2

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam.  Thanks for heading out on our adventure with us yesterday.  Now ... where were we?

"Well, I had just yelled, 'DUCK', though I guess I really meant 'incoming'!"
"Gotcha, Mags."

Some of you probably figured out that we were at Fort Riley, Mom and Dad's "old stomping ground".   Since we are in the Army of Four, it was high time Maggie and I did some exploring out there.  I thought perhaps we'd explore historical main post, but no.  We were out on the range roads.

"Hey, Dad.  How come there's another road running parallel to ours?"
"That's a tank trail, Cam."

It was very pretty out-- wait.  A what? 

"A what, Dad?!?"
"Dad?!?"

I thought he was kidding at first ... and then:

"Yeah, Dad ... but it's not like there are any tanks out here, right?"

"I'm going to have to get back to you."

What a wild adventure this has turned into!  More to come!

Cammie!

Our Latest Adventure

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  So there we were yesterday, just relaxing after lunch, when Dad asked if we'd like to go on an adventure.  Wow!  Given the fun we had last time we all went somewhere together, we all jumped at the chance!

We headed west this time and went to place Mags and I had never been - but that Mom and especially Dad were very familiar with.  We hadn't been on the road too long when we started to see interesting things ...

"Umm... check it out at about one o'clock."
"Wowzers!  Is that a---"

"DUCK!!!"

"Yeah.  This could take a few days to explain."

Keep your heads down, everyone. We'll explain more later!

Cammie!

Serene Summery Scenery

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam, here with this week's venture into serenity.   Mags is going to start us out today - ready?  Take it, Mags!

Thanks, Cam.  Let me just take it ...

"Thank you very much!"

... and run with it!

"Wheeeee!  Ah, the serenity of run, run, running through the yard!"

It was perfect!  And so serene!  Birdies singing, Mom tossing my toy around for me, me running and running and running to get it!  Oh.  And ... um ...

"Wow.
Would you believe it was attacked by a pack of squirrels?
How about a spontaneous explosion?
No?  How about err ... ummm ... "

I know!  I know what you're thinking, "Quick!  Do something cute and serene!"  Am I right?  Try this on for size:

"Mmm, smell that lavender, Mom!  And oooooh, don't the Crape Myrtles look nice?!?"

Yeah.  Back over to you, Cam.

"Oh, Mags!"
"Yeah, but it was FUN!  Isn't fun synonymous with serene?  I mean, it CAN be!  Am I right?!?"

How about a quick look at our sky from the other morning:

Serene Summer sky!

Doesn't that look like a great way to start the day?  That was our view on our walk!  And now ...  how about I take you all for a nice serene tour of the garden?

"This is some Blue Oat Grass and a bunch of the sedum plants Mom put in!"

Let's meander down the path a bit and take in the sights there!

"The orange thingie is a Butterfly Weed!"

Hmm.  What else should we look at?

"I know!  Run back up to the top tier with me!  C'mon!"

Oh.  I should point out the White Rose of Sharon bushes down on the bottom tier in the photo above; they are in full swing right now!  But come over here!!!

"Let's pick some tomatoes!!!"

Homegrown tomatoes make all of us serene!

Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us! 

Cammie!

(and Maggie, too.)

How Hot Is It?

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  As expected, yesterday got toasty-hot.  Real toasty.  Like burn the bread in the toaster toasty-hot.  And do you know why?  Exactly!  It's Summertime!

Anyway, like many of you, we try to get all of our outdoor fun activities taken care of early in the morning, then just relax in the air-conditioned house the rest of the day. Some of you go for walkies in the evening but here in the great state of Kansas, it's still too hot.

"It's still hot, isn't it, Mom?"
"Cam... something is zapping all of my energy..."

Mom said it was indeed still too hot after dinner; I got the thermometer and took a look myself.

"Oh... my."

Yep. Quarter 'til seven and it was 103 outside. 103.1℉, if that makes a difference. That's 39.5℃ for any international readers following along.  I guess that's cooler than it had been, but still mighty hot, hot, hot!!!

"Maybe if I try to eat this, it'll cool down!"

Maggie had a good idea, but it didn't really help.

We're already done with all of our big outdoor stuff this morning, now we'll play inside games! Keep cool, everyone!

Cammie!

Photo Finish Friday

Greetings to all, it's me - Maggie!  For Photo Finish Friday, I have a handful of pix Mom snapped of me throughout the week that give you a good idea of how I spend my mornings.  Ready to take a look?

Here I am, out on a walk, ready to head down the Hudson Trail:

"C'mon, Cam!  Jump up here with me!"

Cam usually chooses not to jump up there with me.  Something about the possibility of someone jumping her.  I have no idea what that's all about.  Anyway, great walks lately and we're usually home by no later than 0730 so we can beat the heat.

After our walk and breakfast, we usually go out back with Mom to help her in the tomato garden.  I like to check the daily harvest.

"Nice-looking tomatoes ... and mmmm, what's this?  It smells nice!"

It was something called "Rosemary".  I liked it!

After that, as I showed you the other day, it's time to relax!  Mom and I like to change up what we play with.  Here I am with my gigantic Jolly Ball:

"Got it!  Got it!"

It's pretty fun.  After that, we go inside for a cool down.  After a beverage and a bit of laying on the cool tile floor, I like to relax in the living room.

"Me?  No.  I have no idea what happened to those beds."

Speaking of beds, I like to help Mom make the big bed, then get a little cuddle time in afterwards:

"Hey.  I can see birdies out the window!"
"❤My little Peep!!!❤"

Well, there's nothing that says I can't bird watch and snuggle at the same time - right?  Besides, Mom loves birdies.

After that, it's time to get vacuuming:

"Misssed a spot, Mom."

I love to help with the vacuuming! I also love to be vacuumed. It's very relaxing.

By the time we've done all of that, lunchtime is right around the corner.

"Don't we need to cut up a watermelon or a cantaloupe or something?"

I love being on KP.  Cam does, too, especially if melons, pears, or apples are involved.

While Mom and Dad eat, it's important to not run around and be disruptive.  We also are considerate and do not bother them while they eat.

"Hello."

Snuggling up to Dad's feety-feet fits the bill!  Besides ... you just never know what he's going to drop!

That's basically what I do in the mornings!  How about you all?  How do you spend your Summer mornings?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Toy Camouflage

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie, here with a clever invention some of you might find very helpful.

Are you ever playing with a toy ...

"La la la la la..."

... just enjoying a good chew ...

"Oh, oh, this is great!"

... when you get this crazy feeling that you're being watched?

"Uh oh!"
"Whatcha doing, Cammie?!?  Heyyyy, is that one of those 'NoNoMaggieNotForYou' toys?!!?"

Or perhaps not "watched" so much as "stalked".  Stalked by someone who wants to take your toy away from you and can destroy it in less than five seconds.

That's when you need Toy Camouflage! In order to protect my toys, I've come up with a clever invention!  All I have to do is take my toy, carefully slip it onto my wrist ...

"Just slip it on like this!"

... and it becomes a bracelet!

"Toy?  No, Mags ... this is just a bracelet!"
"Hmm... a bracelet, huh?  I guess I'll have to play with my squeaky blue hippo, then ..."

Yep.  The Toy Camouflage Bracelet-o-Matic 5000 comes in reeeeeeal handy.  Look for it soon at a  toy store  fine jewelry store near you!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Relaxing After A Walk

Greetings to all!  It's me,  Maggie.  Here at Ao4 Headquarters, like for many of you, we are in the midst of something called "Summer".  That means that today, for instance, our heat index is expected to reach 111℉ (43.9℃).  Cammie and I took our big walk before 0700 and now it's time to relax.

This is how I like to relax after a walk:

"Here I come!  Here I come!  Here I come!"

That's right - a nice round of Kong-on-a-Rope!  These photos are actually from a couple of days ago - but you get the idea!

"I've got it!" 

Mom gives it a good throw - and I bring it back.  Over and over and over again!  It's GREAT fun!  And the backyard is fairly shady in the early morning, so it's not too hot.

"Whee!!!"

My Kong-on-a-Rope is special, because it belonged to our great-brother Davy.  I didn't get to meet him, but Cammie just adored him and has told me lots about him - and told me he was a very special Siberian who loved to play Fetch!

I love to play Fetch, too, though sometimes I play the Siberian version --- you know, where Mom throws a toy and I run off with it!  That's a ton of fun, too!  But there's something about this Kong-on-a-Rope that makes me want to chase after it and bring it right back!

"Here I come, Mom!"

Sometimes, I like playing a little Tuggy-Tug with it, too.

"Tug, tug, tug!!!"

That's not as much fun as powering through the yard with the Kong-on-a-Rope, though!

"Got it, got it, GOT IT!!!"

What a great way to relax after a walk!

Now... one last throw, then I think it's time to head in to get some water and do zoomies with Cam in the air-conditioning.

"CHANGE UP:  Siberian Fetch!  Chase me, Mom!  Chase me!"

How do you relax after you've put in a couple miles of walking?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher