What To Watch

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  As you know, I love a good TV show or movie -- especially detective shows!  We recently came across a good one!  It's called Maigret. 

Maigret is a (fictional) French detective based on a collection of over 100 novels and short stories by Georges Simenon.   

First we watched the 1990s version, starring Michael Gambon:

"Oh, this is a GREAT episode!  Maigret's on to the killer; I just know it!!!"

... then we checked out the 2016 ones, starring Rowan Atkinson.  Mom didn't take any shots of me watching those; sorry!

Both actors did a splendid job interpreting the role!  There are even more versions of the novels and short stories -- I think we should look into those, too.  There's a version with Charles Laughton that I think would be worth seeing.  I hope we can find that one!

So if you're looking for a good family-friendly show to watch while you're trying to stay cool, look for Maigret!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Patience Pays Off

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  The other day after lunch, Mom went downstairs to work in her Studio for a while.  I decided to help her.  Well, not so much "help her" as "set up an ambush", hoping Cam would join us.

♫ "Oh, Cammie?!?  Why don't you come on down here?!" ♫

I waited.  And waited.  And waited.

She didn't come down, so I gave up after a couple hours and moved over to lay on that nice, cool tile in the Library.

The next afternoon, Mom and I headed to the Studio once again.

"Do you think it will work today, readers?"

Once again, I waited patiently and quietly.  Before I knew it, Cam had trotted down the stairs and was in the Studio!

She knew I was laying in wait for her, so I didn't have the element of surprise or anything, but it was still great!  We had an excellent round of Crazed River Otter Games (CROG)!

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

We played and played, then took a short break.

Me and Cam, catching our breath.  Or breaths.  Whatever.

After that, we raced up and down the stairs a bunch of times together, played another round of CROG in the Studio, then Mom said it was time to head upstairs.  We raced up and down a few more times, then grabbed some water in the kitchen.  After that, we settled in like the good puppies that we are:

"That was fun!"
"Gotta get our exercise in, Mom!"

Since we can't go on afternoon walks due to the heat, Mom is happy that we can exercise each other!

Did anyone notice I'm laying on the air conditioner vent in that last picture?  Stay cool, everyone!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

About Those Sunglasses

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  I wanted to explain a little bit about the sunglasses Maggie and I had on yesterday.  You see, Mom keeps trying to get a "nice" photo of us by her potted plants out front.  But every time she tries, the sun is in our eyes and we squint.  A lot.  That's why she decided we should wear the sunglasses.  Here's how our photo session went.

"My glasses keep slipping!"
"Swap with me, Maggie.  Maybe they'll fit me better."

So we switched glasses.

"Yeah ... I think they're a little better on me."
"This pair is better, Cam."

Once we were settled on who would wear which pair, Mom backed up and took a shot.

"How's this, Mom?"
"Yeah, how's this?  Treat-worthy, I'd say!"
"Oh, you two are so cute!!!"

Fortunately, she had some mighty tasty treats on her, so we gave her the money shot:

"Should I break it to her that no one can see her flowers?"
"Nah, she's happy with us posing so nice ... let's not ruin it for her."

Not bad, is it?  I mean, you can't see her flowers, but we aren't squinting!!!

Stay cool, everyone!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Cam and Mags

Helpful Hint?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  The other day, Mom posted some "helpful hint" to FaceBook.  It was something about the importance of washing the outside of the windows first.

"Missed a spot, Mom.  Right here!  Right here where my nose is!  Yeah, that's it."

I have no idea what she's talking about - do you?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Stair Play

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  The other morning after our walk, Mom went out and washed down the lower deck (you know ... because Bart's hanging around out there and doesn't carry little bat-sized bags with him ... if you know what I mean) then she said Maggie and I could come down and help her finish her watering.  We had something else in mind!  Take a look:

To watch on YouTube, please click here.

It was lots of fun!

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday: What's In Bloom

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie!  Today, Maggie and I thought we'd share shots with you of what's in bloom around our gardens.  There is a lot going on out there, so let's jump right in!

Mom was delighted to see these bushes in bloom, as she thought she had killed them:

Crape Myrtle

In the Wildflower Garden, we currently have the following blooms:

Black-Eyed Susans, just starting to open

Moonshine Yarrow, with a surprise PowWow Wild Berry Coneflower popping up!

Cheyenne Spirit Coneflower

Up in the Friendship Garden ...

Day Lilies

This is a new-for-us variety of Coneflower - the color is really intense!

Glowing Dream Coneflowers

This Bumble Bee really likes our 4-headed coneflower:

Bumble Bee on PowWow Wild Berry Coneflower

Some Lavender popped up in an unexpected place, so Mom dug it up and stuck it in a pot.  It looks right at home in the Friendship Garden:

Rosea Lavender -- it's PINK!

Further down, the Becky Daisies are coming into bloom:

Becky Daisies

As we showed you the other day, we have some Orange Hobbit Sunflowers in planters on the back deck.  Here's another look at that one:

Orange Hobbit Sunflower, with bug

Over on the south tiers, the Butterfly Weed is going strong in the Butterfly Garden:

Butterfly Weed

Out front, I'm fairly sure we've been invaded by some sort of alien plants:

Hen and Chicks, looking very strange!

They're pretty cool-looking, but we're keeping an eye on them.  We've watched too many SciFi movies to trust those things!

Mom planted a packet of seeds to grow some gold-colored Cosmos:

Not a gold-colored Cosmos bloom

They also have light pink blooms.  But not gold.  Not yet, anyway.

In our mailbox planter, we have more Orange Hobbit Sunflowers!  Here's the biggest bloom:

Orange Hobbit Sunflower

This group is looking much better than the ones in the planters on the deck; they get different sun.

Last shot -- here is a group photo of me, Maggie, and the Orange Hobbitses:

"Smiles, everyone!"
"Yay!"
"🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻!!!"

We hope our garden tour added a bit of serenity to your day!  Happy Sunday!

Cammie!

Paw Dangling

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  After our walk this morning, it was still cool enough to go out and enjoy some time on the deck.  I thought I'd do some Paw Dangling, like so:

Me, doing the Paw Dangle maneuver 

This next angle lets you see the actual dangle a bit better:

"Oh, yeah!"

You can see Cam's front paws in the photo above.  She opted for a modified Paw Dangle.

"I'm just dangling my toes!" 

She was a bit tired from our walk - and though these maneuvers are relaxing, they're quite complicated to pull off!  Me?  I wasn't tired at all.  I decided to kick things up a notch by tossing in a Snooter Rest while I was at it.

"Cam!  Check it out!  A Paw Dangle AND a Snooter Rest!"

Doing both at the same time was AWESOME!  But remember - I'm a Working Breed.  I'm a professional.  Please do not try this at home without proper training!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Shots By The Sunflowers

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Yesterday evening, Mom took us girls out on the deck to get a shot of us with the Orange Hobbit Sunflower that's blooming out there.

Cam, me, and the sunflower

I'd say "mission accomplished", wouldn't you?

Hey. We even threw in a bonus second shot!

"Take another one, Mom!"
"Yeah, Mom!  All three of us!"
"🌻🌻🌻!"
"Funny, girls."

We're Siberian Huskies, and we're here to help.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Cool!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  It's COOL today, temperature-wise!  Right now it's 10:30 in the morning and it's still in the 70s!  That's amazing for us lately!

We had a nice walk this morning, then all of us went out on the deck to enjoy the day!  Mom and Dad had coffee while Maggie and I relaxed.

"How about some Crazed River Otter Games, Mags?"
"CROG sounds perfect!"

We played and played, and then ...

"Wait!  Someone's walking down the sidewalk!"
"Let's stare!"

"OK, they're gone.  BOOM!"
"Mrnffff!"

It was great fun!  The perfect way to celebrate a cool day!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Cammie!

Excitement

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  The title of this post should be "Excitement Isn't Always Where You'd Expect To Find It", but that's a bit long.  Anyway ...

There we were, on our morning walk the other day.  We got up to the top of the hill and took in the sights ...

Mags and me, taking it all in!

... and the smells ...

"Oh, yeah!"
"Nice breeze!"

... then headed down the trail.

"I'll bet we see something exciting along the trail!"
"Me, too!"

You'd think that's where we'd see something exciting, but no. Nothing. It wasn't until we got down to the street with the townhouses when:

"Cam!  BUNNY!  By the driveway!"
"I've got my radar locked on him!  BUNNY!"

We stared at him, then he ran off.  It was very exciting!  Maybe things are more exciting when they're not where you'd expect them?!?

Cammie!

Traffic Report

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cam, here with your Monday morning traffic report.  Traffic seems to have stalled along the main thoroughfare through the living room.

Please proceed cautiously or avoid this route altogether.  Thank you!

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  For Serene Scenery Sunday this week, I thought I'd walk you around some of our backyard gardens.  Let's start right up top by the gate!

"Nice crop of Blue Flags coming in up here, Mom!"
"Funny, Mags."

Just kidding.  Before the guys took out our Ash Trees, Mom dug up the sedum that were in that rocky area so they wouldn't get stomped.  She has them growing in big pots up top.  She put the flags in to remember where they were, in case she wants to put them - or something else - back in there.

Just down a bit are the Stella D'Oro Day Lilies

"I've got my eye on you guys!!!"

One Spring, when Mom was removing the dead stuff, one of them attacked her and poked her in the eye!  She ended up being OK, but it cost her a trip to the ER.  Ever since ... well, let me just say, "Don't turn your back on the Day Lilies!"

Further down are the Lavender plants!

"Ooh!  Bumblebees!!!"
"NoNoMaggieNoNo!!!"

"So many rules out here!  Honestly!"

At the end of that tier are some Daisies (not yet in bloom, but close!), Sedum, and this Butterfly Weed!

Butterfly Weed!

We have several of them scattered around the gardens - we are hoping the butterflies will enjoy them!

Here I am in the Friendship Garden:

Me in the Friendship Garden

I thought I saw something and Mom didn't have treats, so ... you know.

The coneflower on the left, by the pot-o-sedums, is a PowWow Wild Berry Coneflower.  It has some double blooms on it this year!

Double your pleasure, double your fun ...

Pretty cool!

"I think it's time for some zooming, Mom ..."

That's a wrap for this week!  Thanks for walking around the gardens with me.  It's time to start zooming around the grassy parts now!

Have a wonderful Sunday - keep it serene!!!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher