Friday!!!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, and it's FRIDAY!!!  My advice?!!?  Grab it and shake it for all it's worth!

"YEAH!"

Have a good one, everybody!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

TV!!!

Greetings to all! It's me, Maggie! The other night, Mom was trying to get a shot of my snooter for some reason - you know, she wanted one of those head-on shots.  I'd normally oblige, but we stumbled onto a TV series I've really been enjoying!

"Not now, Mom.  'Campion' is on!"

I couldn't help it!  We've been watching Campion (also known as Mystery! Campion) and it's a very interesting show!  Basically, it's a British mystery show set in the 1930s.  It's fun, sort of campy (no pun intended with the name Campion!), and intriguing all at the same time.  Great mysteries, cool cars and costumes, quite the enjoyable show.  

I think my profile shot is good enough, given the circumstances, don't you?  Check out Campion if you're into mystery/detective shows - you might enjoy it!  (We found it on Britbox!) 

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Cam

It's Greenies Night!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  About every fourth night here at Ao4 Headquarters, it's Greenies Night!  I shared the routine with you a year or so ago, and it's pretty much the same.  Here's what we do!

I send Mom a mental reminder that it's Greenies Night.  She looks at me and caves because ... well, let's just say I have a certain power over her.  We go to the magic closet, AKA the pantry, and Mom reaches down to get the box.  I always come in, do a little cat stretch between her legs, then stand there to supervise -- like so:

"There they are, Mom!  There they ARE!!!"

I wait while she gets two out, then I run into the living room to tell Maggie!  She joins me in the kitchen, and we line up while Mom comes out of the pantry.

"Ready, sweet girls?!?!"
"Ready, Mom!"
"Totally!"

She gives us our Greenies, then we run with them into the living room and chew them on our beds.  One of these days we'll try to get Mom to get a shot of us actually chewing them, but truthfully, by the time she makes it into the other room, we're almost done.  Maybe we should get Dad to give it a go.

Anyway, we sure do love our Greenies!  Do you have a favorite occasional treat?  Let us know!

Cammie!

PS:  This post was not sponsored by the Greenies people or anything.  We just thoroughly enjoy them!

A Fine How-Do-You-Do

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.

"Hey."

So ... the good news on the remodel front is that the cabinet part of the vanity is in.  The bad news?  They ... brace yourselves, pups and kit-cats, brace yourselves ... they destroyed the box it came in.  DESTROYED IT!!!  You know - the box to end all boxes that I showed you!??!  Can you wrap your furry heads around that?!?  Destroyed it!  Without so much as a by your leave!

"Such a fine box ... and now it's gone.  GONE!  Before I could even hop inside!  Sigh."

Oh, sure.  It's "easier to break the box down" than to lift the incredibly heavy cabinet up and out.  Right.  Don't think about my happiness or anything.

This is a fine how-do-you-do!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone. It's me, Cam. Sometimes, you just have to stop, sit down, and enjoy the view.

Whatever that view might hold.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Cammie!

Tutorial

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  My mom's been watching a lot of tutorials lately, trying to get back into the quilting groove.  It's been fairly successful, as we've been spending some time in the Studio doing sewing stuff.  I thought I'd try doing a short tutorial of my own.  I've found that the short ones are a bit more effective -- you know, easy to follow, keep your attention, that sort of thing.  So ...  that being said, here's my very own tute:

How To Get My Mom To Do Anything
A tutorial by Polargold's Margaret Thatcher

Do the Head Tilt.  See illustration below.

Illustration 1:  The Head Tilt

Use sparingly, as repeated tilts lose effectiveness.

Disclaimer:  Results may vary.  Not available in all 50 states, international inquiries welcome, use only as directed. Activities described in this blog may be potentially dangerous, if not used carefully. We are not responsible for what your biped might do when confronted with The Head Tilt.  If you choose to engage in this activity, it is by your own free will and at your own volition. Avoid any and all modifications.  Do not take unwise risks, consult a certified professional if you are not sure of something. Remember: Safety first. Never drink and drive! Never do more than you are comfortable with. Always wear safety belts and use all appropriate safety equipment.  Not recommended for puppies or kit-cats under the age of 6 months; you're already cute enough to tool your bipeds out of anything, The Head Tilt may send them over the edge.

Short and sweet - what do you think?

Let me know how it goes if you try it out on your own biped!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

The Secret Is Out

Greetings to all.  It's me, Maggie.  I made a VERY interesting, important discovery yesterday.  I now know what's really going on with this so-called "bathroom remodel".  Here's how it went down - and what I discovered!

Dad was downstairs working, so it was just Mom, Cam, me, and Ken the main remodel guy.  Again, due to doors being opened at any time by who-knows-who, Cam and I are either on leashes or in 10 Downing Street (my carrier).  Ken came in and needed to ask Mom a question in the bathroom.  Cam was hanging out in 10 Downing Street, so Mom latched the door and brought me with her into the construction zone.  I had only made it as far as the bedroom when I made my startling discovery.  Check. It. Out:

"SERIOUSLY?!?!  Ken has BOXES in here?!?"

That's right.  Ken has a secret stash of boxes!  Ha.  "Bathroom remodel".  He's in there BOXING!!!

"Yeah, right.  Nice floor.  Whatever."

To his credit, he did offer to let me keep the box.  I think he felt guilty.  I didn't accept.  I'm holding out for the box to end all boxes.  It's full now, but I hear it will be emptied today.  Step into the garage with me - and take a gander:

"I've got dibs on this one!"

Isn't that one THE box?!?  It has something called "the vanity" in it.  I want it.  I want it so badly.  And after discovering this secret stash of boxes the remodelers have got going on, I think I deserve it!  I'll keep you posted.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

About Yesterday's Photo ...

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Thank you for all the nice comments on yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo!  I thought I'd explain a little bit about how it came to be.

There I was, letting my mom do some portrait work ...

"How's this?  Is the lighting OK?  Is my collar straight?"
"Perfect, Cam!  Perfect!"

"OK, I'm ready for my closeup.  ... and that treat you're holding."

And then ...

"Hey!  What are you two doing?  Did I hear the word 'treat'?"

We weren't trying to be sneaky ... it's just that Maggie was off doing other stuff!

"I hope you have more treats, Mom!"
"Wait - let me get into position!"

And that's how we got yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo!

Oh.  One more thing.  It wasn't really all "wordless".

"Sigh."
"Hey, Cam! Hey, Cam! Hey, Cam!!!"

I hope you enjoyed the "behind the scenes" look at our photo shoot!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Cam!

Yes. Yes, I Am

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  My incredibly awesome mentor, Mr. Teddy (someone needs to start blogging again) Westlife, left a great comment on yesterday's post.  He wanted to know, "Are you up on the catwalk, Mags?"

"Why ... yes.  Yes, I am."

This new-found freedom to go up there is just awesome!

"I can see for miles!  Or at least almost to Chelsea the Border Collie's house."

It's great!  High windows on one side and a view of the main floor on the other.

"I believe I've found a new favorite hangout!"

Of course, being of the "social butterfly" persuasion, I limit my time up there -- I miss everyone too much!  But it is nice to go up there and keep watch on things.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Ready Or Not

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.

"Ha roo!"

I was just thinking.

"I'm sort of like Monday ..."

"... in a kind of 'Ready or not, here I come!' kinda way!"

Let's make it a good one!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Photo Lesson Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam, here with Maggie.  We have some miscellaneous photos for you this Sunday to help you feel serene.  Our mom has been continuing to try to fully understand her photo editing program (Affinity Photo) and instead of using the instructor's photos for the lessons, she uses her own.  Naturally, most of the are of us.  (Birds come in a close second.). Without further ado, let's get to the photos!

Here's a nice one of us girls out front:

Maggie and me!

After going through the workflow checklist on that, she followed a tutorial to learn how to convert to a pencil sketch:

Maggie and me in pencil!

After that, she figured out on her own how to bring a little color back in, to make it look like a colored pencil drawing:

Maggie and me in a colored pencil sketch!

I think she's starting to catch on!

I can't remember what she was learning how to do on this, but here's Maggie from a recent pool party:

"Filler up, Mom!"

Our mom started following a lesson on how to cut a subject with a lot of hair out of one scene and paste it into another. The instructor used a supermodel with long, flowing hair. Mom used us, of course. Affinity Photo is allowing her to get down to each strand of fur (unlike PhotoShop Elements) to make the selection look more realistic. She did great on that part of the lesson, but the pasting into another scene didn't work like in the lesson, so she improvised. If you follow her on FaceBook, you've already seen this, but we think it's cool, so here it is:

Maggie and me

We like her version better than the lesson!  It looks like album art for some kind of Celtic rock group or something.  Like maybe Blackmore's Night!!!  Don't you think?

That's about it for this week!

"I thought that was it!  What's this, Cam?"
"She learned how to do her own Orton Effect.  I thought this would be a good closer."

We hope you have a wonderfully serene Sunday!

Cammie!  (and Mags)

Ha-loooo?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Now that the weekend is here, how about a boxing match at Ao4 Headquarters?!?  Everyone is invited over!

"Ha-looooo?  Is anyone there?"

Kit-cat friends?  Fellow boxers?!?  I'm ready when you are!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

More Garden Fun!

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Yesterday, I started showing you around the backyard a bit. Let's walk around a bit and see if anything is in bloom.

Up in the Friendship Garden, there are still signs of life:

"Can you see the Sedum?"

The sedums are looking pretty good in our "extreme drought", but then they are succulents.  Or some of them are.  Or something like that.  Anyway, they like it hot and dry and sunny, and Kansas certainly delivers on those things!

Some of the Coneflowers are doing OK, after being treated for some pests.

"This Glowing Dream Echinacea looks OK!  OOH!  A Bumble Bee!  Hello, Mr. Bee!"

Don't worry.  I'm not the one who would try to get up close and personal with a bee.  That member of the family was in the house having daddy-daughter time.

Oh.

I don't mean my dad, in case you were wondering!

Anyway, our Lavender plants are alive, though they aren't really blooming.

"They still smell nice!"

It's getting a bit hot out here!

"Let's head for the shade!"

The Amur Maples are nice and thickly-leafed this year -- they provide the perfect canopy!

"This is a lovely spot to stop and contemplate important things.
You know ...
... important things like if I'll get a treat for this great tour,
how long until lunch time,
if Mags and I can get a nap in this afternoon ... stuff like that!"

I hope you had fun in our gardens and yard!  I sure did!  Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!

Cammie!

Garden Fun

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Yesterday morning, Mom and I had some fun out in the back gardens and yard.  I did a nice pose on the limestone chunks by the gate ...

"Hello!"

... then we did some exploring!

Me, off on a backyard adventure!

We had a very nice time!  I'll share more pix with you tomorrow, but here's the most interesting discovery we made:

"We better step it up, Mom.  We might have rain coming!"

As you can see by the grass in the foreground, we REALLY need the rain!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Rockin' It

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  On our walk the other morning, Cam and I did some posing for Mom.  She asked us to jump up on some limestone by the trailhead, so ...

"Is anybody coming, Cam?"
"I don't think so."

We were very obliging, if I do say so myself.

"This makes us rock stars!"
"Cool. I get to be the lead singer!"

We totally rocked it!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Weekend Walk

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!  We sure did - toy time, play time, time on the deck, long walks, and lots of peace and quiet.

Saturday morning, we got an early start on our walk.  We went up and up and up one of the big hills:

"I love these hills!"
"So do I, Maggie!"

Then it was down hill for a while ... and then we ended up at the park!

"We've got the place to ourselves!"

I thought that called for a celebration -- Siberian style, of course!

"What are you thinking, Cam?"
"You know what I'm thinking, you little crazed River Otter!"

"HA ROO!"
"HA ROO to you!"

I hope your weekend was just as fun!

Cammie!

Super Serene Sunday!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!

"Ha roo??!!??"

"In here!  Greetings!"

No sooner had I compared an area of the in-process bathroom remodel to a giant box, when what should appear on our doorstep?  An AWESOME box!!!  How wonderful - and how serene - is that?!?  Nothing beats a new box!

"Maggie isn't getting treats, is she?"
"No, Cam.  Just a box."
"How can you say 'just' a box?"

Seriously!?!  "Just" a box?  I think some people around here need to understand the true meaning of "serenity"!

"I don't get it, Mom."
"Whatever makes her happy, Cam.  Whatever makes her happy."
"How 'bout a little help over here?  My box is collapsing."

Have a wonderfully serene Sunday!  And if anyone wants to come over and box with me, there is plenty of room!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Honorary Kit-Cat