Photo Finish Friday: Howl-oween

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with Photo Finish Friday!  Since today is Howl-oween, Cam and I thought we'd share some really scary pictures with you!  The first ones are from our mom's foray out to Tuttle Creek State Park last weekend.  You can see her whole album at this link, but here are our creepiest favorites!

The sunrise over the foggy canyon is enough to make me want to howl:

"Ha-ooooowwwwwlllll!"

Here is a shot of the very rare and very frightening Two-Headed Double Crested Cormorant - and its ghoul-friends!

... I mean "gull" friends.

How about a prehistoric-looking Great Blue Heron, swooping down in the fog!!???!!

I'd hate to be the fish on the receiving end of his attack!

Even the road into the park was eerie!

Mom and her friend explored lots of different areas, even going through spider-infested woods!

The spider who wove that had to be the size of a Malamute!

Closer to home, we also have some scary goings-on!  Not just the Giant Cats we showed you the other day!  Worse than them --- it's these Straw People who don't say anything, but make weird gestures with their straw arms and legs!!!  Here I am this morning, giving them a piece of my mind!

"You don't scare ME, Straw People!  No way, no how!!!"

My dad said I was very brave.  Mom and Cam walked right past them.  RIGHT PAST THEM!  Can you believe that?!?!

"Oh, Maggie, Maggie, Maggie..."

Sure, Cam talked a good game this morning, but check out this video from a couple days ago!

If it doesn't play, please click here.  Yeah.

Anyway, have a happy and SAFE Howl-oween, everyone!  Remember - no bolting out the front door, no eating costume parts, and NO chocolate!!!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Garden Tour Walk

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Maggie and I had a very nice walk yesterday morning with our mom and dad.  We ended up taking a route we don't normally take and it was very enjoyable.  On one of the roads, there are a couple very pretty gardens that Maggie and I love to check out!

"Look, Mags!  Isn't it pretty?!?"
"Oh, yes!  Um... check that sign on the left, though.  Ha roo roo roo!"

I assured her the sign didn't mean what she thought it might mean.  Silly puppy!!!  I went first, just to make sure there weren't any Giant Cats lurking about or anything!

"Just a couple pumpkins, Mags.  No huge cats!"

You never know.  They could be roaming the neighborhood, waiting to leap out at innocent walkers!  Here is Maggie, checking the garden out:

"I like the way the sunlight's hitting these ... whatever they ares!"

Isn't it a lovely spot?!?  We liked this next garden, too:

"Very peaceful!"
"Yes, it-SQUIRREL!!!"

Yep, a great walk that got even better!  I hope all of you are enjoying a beautiful Fall season!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Cammie!
and Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

TV Show Review

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with my continuing review of movies and TV shows.  I've discussed "Person of Interest" before, but that was back when I was still a tiny puppy.  I still like it a great deal, but it's about way more than beeping noises, as per my first review.

It's very suspenseful ...

"Oh, no!  The bad guys have Lionel!!!"

... and there's a lot of great action!  The best episodes feature Bear, of course.  

"Notice they had to bring Bear in to rescue everyone?
That's him on the far right of the screen."

All of the action and suspense and everything is great!  I really get wrapped up in the show - and when it's over ...

"Oh, that was exhausting!"

What can I say?

Anyway, I give this show four stars out of five; some of the episodes are way too cheesy and seem to veer away from the action and suspense we look for in this show!  I did enjoy the last episode that aired, though!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Hide And Seek

Greetings to all!  Shhhh!  It's me, Maggie.  I'm back here:

"You can't see me, but I'm wedged between the door and the laundry basket!"

Cammie and I are playing a game called "Hide And Seek" and it's my turn to hide.

"Shhhh!  Don't tell Cam where I am!"

Don't tell anyone where I am. Cammie's supposed to find me on her own.

"Hmm.  Does anyone have a watch?"

It sure seems like I've been in here a long time.

"She IS actively looking for me -- right?"
"Zzzz...."

I think this game might be more lively if I was the one doing the seeking!!!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  As Mags mentioned yesterday, these are the more "scenic" photos from the walk where we saw the Giant Cats!

So ... earlier in the walk ...

"We're almost at the Hudson Trail!"
"Oh, I hope we get to take it!"

We didn't take the Trail at first - we took some detours via the roads - but then got on one of our favorite parts of it!

"Isn't this wonder--MAGS!  What are you doing?!?"
"LEAF!!!"

She loves pouncing on leaves! Mom told her to "leave it" - but shouldn't that be "leaf it" since it was only one leaf? Ha wooroowoo!  Anyway, I told her there were more to come, so we should get going.

"Seriously, Mags.  Look down there!"
"Wowzers!"

We walked a little bit further and sure enough ...

"See, Maggie?"
"LEAVES!!!  Tons and tons of LEAVES!!!"

Mom thought the scenery was gorgeous, I loved all the sights and smells, and Maggie ... well ... you know.  The leaves!

"Most.  Awesome.  Walk.  EVER!!!"
"It is mighty lovely!"

We were having so much fun that we got to walk a couple segments of the trail!

"New England's got nothin' on us!"
"I've heard people go there from all over the world, just to chase the leaves!"

It was such a lovely, serene walk!  I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our beautiful Fall scenery!

Cammie!

The World's Most Interesting Siberian

Greetings to all.  It's me - Maggie. I don't always post this late in the day ...

"I don't always post this late in the day ..."

... but when I do, it's my mom's fault.

No, seriously!  Sorry to be so late! We'll share the photos Cam promised we'd put up tomorrow - OK?  Blame our mom. Something about the lake, fog, cool birdies, lots of photos, blah, blah, and blah.

Catch you tomorrow!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Oh. My. CATS!!!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Mom took some great pictures of Mags and me on the Hudson Trail this morning, looking all Autumn-y and all, but those are going to have to wait until tomorrow.  Why?  Because of what we saw when we were almost home.  Brace yourself, pups!  In fact, you better sit down!  Are you ready?

There we were, just calmly walking down the road, when ...

"CATS!!!!!!!!  Giant CATS!!!!!!!!"

They were HUGE!  And they were staring RIGHT at us!  Look at the size of the claws on those things!

I buffed an alert - and Maggie stopped right in her tracks!

"Great Dane in the morning!!!  Well, no ... they're even bigger than a Great Dane ..."

It was WILD! Not only were they staring at us, but they MOVED! Their heads went back and forth, following every move Mags and I made!

"Ba woo!  Boooo!  Ba wooooo!"
"BUFF!"

The giant cats must have really scared our mom, because she started laughing hysterically.  I've heard some bipeds respond to highly dangerous situations that way.  There were people in the garage who came out to see what was going on, and for some reason they started laughing, too.  Maggie and I figured they must have been reacting to the sight of those giant cats, too, so we continued to tell the cats to stay away!  (Mom asked the people if she could take pictures, in between laughing fits.  Sometimes I worry about her.)

Anyway, we were pretty certain we had made sure the giant cats knew not to mess with us and our Mom, so we continued on our way.  When we reached Ao4 Headquarters, we checked the area to see if they were waiting there to ambush us or something.

"Does Ao4 HQ looks safe, Cam?"
"Yep!  Squared away, Peeps!  Those giant cats won't mess with US!"

Whew! We'll stay on alert, just in case, but for now ... we're OK. Heads up to all of you, though: There are giant cats on the prowl! Beware!

Cammie!

Grilling Help

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Mom went out on the deck yesterday and invited Maggie and me to go with her.  I thought we were just going to go hang out and soak up some afternoon sunshine ...

"WAIT!  What's that?!?"

... but there was much more to it! Mom brought out some chicken she had been marinating and opened up the grill!

I settled in to stand guard over her, when ...

"Hey, Cammie.  Whatcha doing?"
"Stop right there, little one!"

Maggie still doesn't know to stay away from a hot grill, so I made sure to remind her!

"BOOM!"
"BOOM back at cha!"

We amused ourselves in play for a while, until we saw someone walking down on the road behind our house.  We did what all good Siberians would do - we stared!

"Do we know them?"
"Shouldn't the question be 'do they know us?'?"

Mom said we did a really good job and that we weren't just great guard pups, that we were great company, as well. We thought that should mean only ONE thing, right?

"I do believe we've earned some chicken, Mom!"
"Yeah, Mom!  Pony up!"

What about all of you?  Do you help your bipeds grill, too?  It's hard work, but the payoff is mighty tasty!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Parade? What Parade?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  I forgot to tell you something.  On one of our walks over the weekend, I saw this cool sign.

I waited quite a while, but I never did see a parade go by. Isn't that odd?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Only Because Mom Had Treats

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Us girls took Mom on a nice, long walk yesterday morning, as Maggie showed you.  Because it was such a lovely day, we decided to take a walk after lunch, too - and took both Mom and Dad along!  Maggie and I had a lovely time.  Mom brought the good camera along and shot some portraits of us.  We cooperated ... but, as the title of this post says, only because Mom had treats!

Our first stop for photos was the Kansas Ocean:

Maggie and me at the KSO

Mom asked Maggie to smile, and since she had those treats showing, we gave her this:

All smiles at the ocean!

That made Mom pretty happy!

Our next stop was beside one of our favorite meadows:

Me and Mags in the meadow

Kind of artsy, with me in focus and Maggie blurred a bit, don't you think? Here's another one:

Meadow shot, take #2

Our last stop was in a little courtyard at Grand Mère Village, AKA the Giant's Castle. Dad had a seat and us girls posed by him:

Me, Mags, and Dad.
Dad is the tall one in the back row.

We got treats for that, but Dad didn't. I'm not sure why. He was sitting and smiling and everything. I think Dad should file a grievance with Mom.

Anyway, I hope you like our portraits! Our other treat was getting in over 4 1/2 miles. For those who may be wondering, no, Maggie wasn't one single bit tired. Mom was, though.

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday!  Cam and I took Mom on a lovely walk this morning, and we thought the scenes we saw might help you feel nice and serene!  Are you ready to go?  I'll try to keep the chit-chat to a minimum.

The first thing of note was our sunrise.

That was actually a little earlier in the day.  We saw that, then had breakfast.

Anyway ... we went down this street...

Me and Cam

... then up the hill!

Cam and me

It's the same hill we walked up when we went to the park the other day! When we got to the entrance to the Hudson Trail, I posed on the rocks, while Cammie sat patiently:

Sorry about my leash on Cam's nose. Ha roo roo roo!

Anyway, today, we got to go down the trail!!! I zigged to the left:

Cam and me

And I zagged to the right:

Me and Cam

Cammie calmly walks in a straight line. Is it just me, or is that odd?

Anyway -- we got to the entrance to the next part of the trail, and I asked if we could go down there.  Mom said, "YES!"

"Can we?  Please?"

It was great! For some reason, I got put on a short leash, while Cam was given plenty of slack.

Cam and me

I have no idea what that was all about.

Here's an un-related photo.  No, really.  No relation to anything.  Look just off-center.

See the squirrel?

We got to walk yet another segment of the trail, too!!! Here's a nice shot of Cam:

"Hello, everyone!"

I ... was still on a short leash. I promised Mom I wouldn't pull as hard, and she let up.

"Check those trees, Cam!  There are bound to be more squirrels up there!"
"Oh, Mags!"

At the end of that part of the trail, we turned up one of the streets. I struck a pose at my favorite corner:

Me, Margaret Thatcher, at the corner of Churchill and Churchill!

Cammie has a favorite hill she likes to walk up. Today, rather than walking up it, we walked down it - which Mom said is much more serene. Here's our view going down:

When we got to the bottom, Mom thought she heard geese honking, so we took a detour and walked over to the Kansas Ocean.

Me and Cam at the KSO

If you look very closely, you can see geese swimming in the ocean! After we left, they took flight - and flew right over us! It was really cool!

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

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher