Surprising Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Today's post is a continuation of yesterday's surprising story.  Ready to get back to it?  Let's go!  Now ... where were we?

"We were right about here, Mags.  On the moon."

Right! On the moon! And look at what I found:

"Look everybody!  A moon rock!"

I thought we should take it home with us!  It would look awesome in our garden, wouldn't it?  Dad thought it might be a tad heavy, though.  Yeah.  So not only did I lay to rest that myth that the moon is made of cheese (it's NOT!  ... unless it's cheese that tastes like dirt ... ) but that whole "no gravity" thing seems to be a hoax as well.  What an educational walk this turned out to be!

Anyway, Cam got way ahead of me while I was posing on the moon rock.  She found something cool, so she and Mom stopped to investigate!

"Wow, Mom!  Check this out!  Look at what's in here!"

Mom had to take a look, of course!

"Ha-loooooo!"

Ha roo roo roo, that was a good one, wasn't it?!?!

"Ha roo roo roo!  Gotcha, Mom!"
"Good one, Mags!"
"Oh, my silly Maggie girl!!!"

We spotted some crazy-looking lunar machinery or something and went to check it out.

"Let's cross these moon craters and take a look!"

I went on ahead to check out a big claw-looking thing.

"This thing has big teeth on it!  Just right for digging up the surface of the moon!"

We've seen similar things in some construction sites in our neighborhood, but this was just sitting there all on its own.  I guess on the moon, you hook it up to a space capsule or something; we didn't see any machines!

We did see where they had done some digging, though, and made another interesting discovery!

"Want to see what else we found?"

Tune back in tomorrow to find out - and for the conclusion of our walk to the moon!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Surprising Scenery Saturday

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  I hope all of you are enjoying the weekend.  As I mentioned yesterday, you just aren't going to believe where Maggie and I walked!  We're going to spend the next couple days showing you our amazing journey.  You may want to brace yourselves for the big surprise!

Anyway, it started out like any other walk.  We walked up the hill, then down to the Kansas Ocean.  Instead of looping around to the meadow where we see the deer, we headed up a steep hill!

"Oooh, this is so exciting!  And steep."

We kept going up and up and up!

"Catch your breath, Mom, we still have a ways to go!"

And up some more!

"Oh, my word.  All of these craters and stuff.  I think I know where we are!!!" 

Can you tell by the terrain I'm walking through where we were?!? YES! How many of you guessed: "ON THE MOON"??!?!  It was unbelievable!  Who'd have thought we could walk all the way to the moon?!?!

"All these smells are outta this world!"

Maggie was so right - the smells had us on sensory overload! And for the record, she did sample the surface, and contrary to popular belief, the moon is not made of cheese! No, really. It isn't. Mags said it tastes remarkably similar to dirt and dust, with a smattering of coyote and deer scent. Interesting!

"This is so cool!  We're the first Sibes on the moon!!!"
"I know!  It's so exciting!!!"

We kept going, and before too long, we made another interesting discovery!

"Cam!  Up here!  Look!  An ocean!"
"An ocean on the moon!!!"

Can you believe it!?!  An ocean!  On the moon!  I took a moment to take it all in.

"And we shall call it ..."

Since we were the first ones to see it, I think we should name it - don't you?  But what to call it?  I was thinking "Moon Ocean", but ...

"That's too much like that 'Moon River' that Andy Williams dude sang about!  Now c'mon, there's lots more to explore!"
"Hmm ... you've got a point ..."

Actually, she had a point on both counts!  There was still so much to see!  

I hope you enjoyed walking on the moon with us!  We'll share more tomorrow!

Cammie!

Photo Finish Friday!

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Mags and I thought we'd do a little photo essay today to show you what happened the other day.  Remember we saw those tree service guys at our house?  And then Maggie staring out the front window?  Right!  Well, we had to have two trees removed and it was just an amazing process!

The trees were on either side of the house.  The first tree, the easier of the two to deal with, sits on the north side of our house.  Well, it sat on the north side of our house. Here is a shot Dad took of us not posing by the tree for Mom:

"Cam?  Cammie?!?  Cam?!!?"
"Hello!  Would any of you like to rub my ears?"
"I'm being the good one!  Go, me!"

Sorry, Mom. There was too much going on. Anyway, that tree was over-crowded by the neighbors' trees and something needed to give. The guys parked a big crane vehicle in our driveway, then hooked a rope from the crane to the top of the tree.

They sawed way down at ground level, then ...

!!!

Pretty cool, huh?

They made quick work out of that tree, then went on to tackle the one on the south side of the house. That one was diseased, so it had to go even worse than the other one. The big challenge was ... well, take a look at where it was from the backyard:

Right. Down on the middle tier. Here's a shot from up in the front yard:

Yikes! But the guys thought they could reach it, so once again, they hoisted one of the workers up top with the crane ...

... and he secured a rope around the top of the pine. Just like before, they popped it out of there after some saw action, and lifted it away.

This made our mom nervous.

That's a screenshot of a video; Mom forgot to take still shots. Mom was nervous during that removal. Something about being worried they'd drop the tree on Ao4 Headquarters.  That wouldn't have been good!

Anyway, with the trees flying around like that, you can understand why Mags and I opted to stay inside! We did check everything out afterwards, though!

"Mmm... fresh pine mulch!  Smells so nice!"
"Wait.  Wasn't there a tree here an hour ago?"

The men used a stump grinder afterwards and did a really great job!  Dad spread the mulch all over the tier where the sick tree had been; Mom and Dad will plant something there in the Spring!

That was our big excitement!  Oh.  And also, you won't believe where Maggie and I walked yesterday!  We'll start showing you those pix tomorrow!  Be sure to tune back in!

Cammie!

Thanksgiving 2014

We are joining with our fellow 'residents' to say how thankful to be a part of Blogville!

We are so very thankful for the kindness, the friendship, the sharing, the laughter, and the understanding.  We feel so blessed to be a part of this network of ALL of you - fellow bloggers AND our readers, many of whom do not blog.  You are all part of this "community"!

"Do you think the turkey's done yet, Cam?"
"Patience, little one.  Patience!"

"O come, let us sing unto the Lord:  let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms."

Psalms 95: 1-2

From Ao4 Headquarters - from our hearts to all of you, we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving! Please remember to say a prayer of thanks for the members of our military - many of whom are not able to be home, celebrating with their families.  May God bless and watch over them!   And may God bless each and every one of you!!!

Cammie, Maggie, and our bipeds

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Hmm...

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cammie.  Mags, Mom, and I were just back from a walk this morning when ...

"Wow!  I wonder what's going on here?"
"Hey ... isn't that OUR house?"

This could get interesting!  We'll keep you posted!

Cammie!

Laundry Day

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  It's Monday, a day we all get back to work.  Here at Ao4 Headquarters, that means it's Laundry Day.

"Let's get those socks put away now, Mom!  Step to it!"

Don't worry. I'll pick up whatever she drops.  I'm here to help.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Maggie, Mom, and I went out on the deck this morning to enjoy the peacefulness of a drizzly, chilly day.  Care to join us?

"It's really lovely out here!  So quiet, so peaceful, so ..."

"MAGGIE!"
"BOOM!"

Maggie had a little excess energy, so I thought it would be fun to run and play!

'Let's play, Maggie!"
"YES!  Let's do Crazed River Otter Games!!!"

And so ... we engaged in some very relaxing, serene play!

"Let the games begin!"
"Let's go!"

Maggie dove under a chair to try to elude me, but I was right on her heels!

"Nice try, Peeps!"

Wow, can that little puppy move!!!

"Hey!  Wait a sec---"
"Ha roooo!"

Can you tell how fast she is?

I thought THOSE moves were crazy - but check these next two shots out!

"How in the world ... ?"
"Wheeee!"

Incredible!

Here we are, in a double play bow:

"Play bows, Cam!"
"Play bows to you, Mags!"

Unfortunately, Mom didn't catch both of us in the frame, but she was happy anyway.  We were, too - plus a tad bit played out.  We went back up to the upper deck and struck a pose.  Mom had turned the camera off, but shot this with her iPhone:

Maggie and me.  Don't we look serene?

Mom tried a shot with the camera after that.  I decided to do my regal look.

My Maggie and me.

I hope you feel as serene as we do now! Have a lovely Sunday!

Cammie!

Lazy Day

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  It's a foggy, drizzly day here at Ao4 Headquarters - just perfect for settling in after a long walk and taking a little nap.  Right, Mags?

"Youuuuuu betcha, Cam!"
"Exactly right."

Do NOT wake her up.  Please.

Cammie!

Studio Work

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  As you may have noticed, Cam and I have been downstairs lately, helping Mom in the Studio.  Mom said she needed to wait until I was out of a certain crazy puppy stage before we could give it a serious try.  I have no idea what she's talking about.  Anyway, I've spent time down there, but it's been to run around playing Fetch!  Now that I'm a big girl ... it's time to get to work!

"You're not getting started without me, are you?!!?"

That's the outer Studio there.  I didn't want Mom to get started without me!  While she worked on the machine, I squeaked my Squeaky Red Football.  (See Wednesday's post!)  She said I was very helpful.

After that, we moved into the other room of the Studio - the inner room! Mom put some stuff on the floor and I went over to check it out.

"You want to know if they WHAT?!?"

As some of you may recall, my great-brother Dave, who I never had the good fortune to meet, was Mom's Guide Dog for the Color Blind.  Mom wanted to see if I had any opinions or interest in color.  I gave it my best shot.

"This denim looks like it would be fun to chew ..."

Either you have the gift or you don't.  So far ... well ... let's just say Mom started checking the Studio for these:

Mom's marbles

She keeps them in an old jar right on her cutting table in case she thinks she's lost them.

We moved back out to the outer Studio. I did a safety check out the French doors. Mom decided to have the curtains open after that.

"But all that sunlight is making me sleepy!"

"Seriously, Mom.  All this work and that bright sunlight ... I can barely keep my peepers open!"

Mom seemed happy about that, for some reason.  Hmm.

Dad was in the Library, so I moved into the Gallery, where I could keep an eye on both him and Mom.

"I'm still here for you, Mom.  Just holler if you need any more help!"

This Studio work thing is pretty tough.  I'm building up to it.  I'll keep you posted on how it all progresses!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher