It's Here!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  I keep hearing about this Polar Vortex thing.  You know - what we used to call a cold air mass coming down from the north?  Yeah.  Anyway, we were out on a quick trip to the corner when ...

"Ooooh!  I can smell Siberia!  ... or at least Nebraska."

It's here!  And it's a cold one.  The good news, as per our mom, is that given that this is Kansas, our "real feel" temps are supposed to shift about 80 degrees by the weekend and we could see 60℉.

How cold has it gotten where you are?  I hope you're all staying warm!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Spaceship Time!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Yesterday afternoon, Maggie and I got to spend some quality time with a couple of our "under supervision only" toys!  I played with my Pink Spaceship!

"Look!  It's my Pink Spaceship!!!"

It had flown its way to the bottom of our toy box, so I hadn't played with it for a while.

"You didn't fly off to another galaxy or anything, did you, Pink Spaceship?"

I mean, I think it was at the bottom of the toy box, but I'm just not sure!

Cammie!

Do You Think ...

Hello, everyone! It's me, Cammie! Do you think if we ignore Monday, it'll go away?

"Hello!"

Nah. I don't think so, either. We might as well make it a good one!

Cammie!

Can You See Us?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags!  Hey, guess what?  Our mom made us new collars and leashes yesterday!  Here we are in the living room, showing them off:

Can you see our new threads?!?

Maybe not.  They're camouflage.  Camouflage! How cool is that?

We wore them on our walk this morning. Can you see them?

Me and Cam, out for a frozen stroll

Of course you can't. They're CAMOUFLAGE!!!!  How fun is this going to be?!?!

OK, here are some better shots of us out in front of Ao4 Headquarters.

"Hey, Cam.  We're totally like matching bookends now!"
"I wish you hadn't said that, Mags ..."
"Oooh, yeah! ♫ 'One pair of matching bookends, different as night and day!...' ♫"

Mom's got the theme to The Patty Duke Show stuck in her head now.  It's not like we'd try to slip one over on her or anything.

"This is so cool.  We should totally do the Patty-Cathy thing, Cam.  I get to be Patty.  She was into rock 'n roll."
"Fine.  Cathy was the smart, sophisticated one."

Yep.  Matching collars and leashes.  This is going to be SO much fun!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

That Funny Feeling ...

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Do you ever get that feeling that you're being watched?

"You know, that sort of funny feeling?"

"You don't quite know ... wait!  She's right behind me, isn't she?!?"

"Hello, Cameron."

And NOW I have a funny feeling I'm about to get "BOOM"ed!

Have a great Saturday!

Cammie!

The Great And Mighty Hunter!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  As many of you know, the Siberian Husky is known to have a high prey drive. It's in our DNA - it's a behavior learned over hundreds of generations in harsh arctic conditions -- much like Kansas right now. Our forefathers had to hunt to survive! Maggie and I like to keep our hunting skills sharp - you know, just in case dinner is late or something!  So ... the other morning ... there I was ...

"Ah!  Animal tracks across the frozen tundra!"

Tracks in the snow!  How exciting!  I silently followed them, ready to pounce on my prey when --

"BOOM!  Wolf attack!"
"ARGH!!!"

I couldn't believe it!

"You've gotta be ready for anything out here!  I'm the hunter now, and you're my prey!!!"
"You better pray you don't become my prey first!"

Anyway ... things seemed to evolve into a round of Crazed River Otter Games instead of hunter and prey, but it was REALLY fun!!!

Cammie!

Slip 'N Slide

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  We had another ice storm, then about 3 inches of snow on top of that.  The ice made it impossible to go anywhere, but once the snow fell, it actually gave us all some traction.  Yesterday morning, we all suited up and headed out on a walk:

"It's good to get out!"
"This is great!"

No one had shoveled except for our Dad and our next-door neighbor, so we walked in the street. The City hadn't plowed or put down chemicals yet, so it was safe.

We did some uphill walking:

"Follow me, everybody!"

It was a bit slippery, so we took it slowly.

"Engage your four-wheel drive, Cam!"

"Is that 'four-wheel' or 'fur-wheel'?"
"Ha roo roo roo!  Good one."

The path by the water tower had been scraped, so we went up to check that out.

"Oh, does this look like a mess!"
"A slippery mess!"

Mom says during ice and snow events, she prefers to go uphill instead of down.  Something about "gravity".  We decided to turn back around.  Of course, that was downhill, too ... but whatever.  We did need to get home!

I went off-trail on the way down; it was less slippery:

Me, prancing through the snow

All four of us did a little slipping, but no one fell, so it was a success!  Are you able to get out on your walks?  Stay safe!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Cam and Mags

Day 792

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Here we are at what?  Day 792 of ice and single digit temps?  Something close to that.  We weren't able to walk yesterday, as everything was iced back up.  Mom has been trying to get creative to encourage Cam and me to get "indoor exercise".  I thought she meant like more rounds of CROG (Crazed River Otter Games), perhaps some Siberian Rules Fetch, practice my aircraft carrier landings ... stuff like that. But yesterday, she came up with a super-crazy idea.  Check it out:

"Fine.  Happy now, Mom?"

Seriously.  I don't know how me getting on the treadmill is going to accomplish anything.  I think the cold and ice are getting to Mom.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Quick!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam.  Maggie and I were just hanging out together this morning, not walking because it's a million degrees below zero out there, when Mom came in and accused us of being "up to something".  Us!  Can you believe that?!?!

"Quick, Maggie!  Do your best Innocent Look!"
"On it, Cam!  Tossing in a Head Tilt for added effect!"

I mean ... look at those faces!!!  Who could accuse us of being up to ANYthing?!?

Have a great day, everyone!  And remember, keep a good Innocent Look tucked into your repertoire "just in case".

Cammie!

Day Off??!!??

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.

"Hello!"

That photo is from yesterday - our Day Off. Oh. From walking. See ... we normally walk every day, but yesterday, when it was time to go, it looked like this outside:

Out front

I know - beautiful, right? Only that was hard-packed snow and ice, and the windchill was 5℉ below zero or less.   That's right, -5℉. (For our international readers, that's -20.5℃.) Since the temps weren't supposed to change much, Mom and Dad thought it safest if we took the day off from walking. Maggie and I don't really like changes to our routine, but ... yes. For pups who are used to being in the house, and given the lack of fur on my tummy still, that was way too cold. Instead of walking, we did a LOT of this:

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

And I do mean a lot!  So much that Mom couldn't even get photos, because we were so fast and pumped up. We had a race course that went from the main level, down the stairs to the Studio, around the Studio and through Mom's sewing table, then back up the stairs. It was AWESOME!

Today, it's still very icy and slippery, but the temp at walking time was about 9℉.  A little better!  Given yesterday's activities, Mom and Dad opted for us to do this:

"How's your belly, Cam?"
"A little cold, but I'll be OK!"

It was a very short one, but at least it was a walk!  We're going to try again after lunch!

I guess the day off reinforced to Mom and Dad how  crazy we get if we don't get enough exercise in  how much we love our walks!   For the many of you who have snowy/icy conditions -- please be careful out there!

Cammie!

Saturday Snoozing

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Saturday is a good day to kick back and relax.

"Zzz ... "

Thank goodness our chairs have built-in chin rests just for times like these!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Photo Finish Friday: The Week In Review

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  In addition to everything else we showed you this week, we've done a lot of other things.

We took lots of walks in the snow:

"Hello!"

We made a new friend:

"Hello!  Mind if we do sniffies?"
"Your arms are like sticks, man!  You really need a sammich or something!"
"❄❄❄❄"

Dad tried to strangle Maggie:

"ARGH!  Dad's got me!  ARGH!"
"Right, Maggie.  Funny."

Just kidding!

Our snow began to melt and we had fog and drizzle:

"Sing it with me, Cam!  'A-woo, werewolves of London!!' "
"I like that 'Gonna get a big bowl of beef Chow Mein' part!!"

And with the melting, came re-freezing and more drizzle.  We have still been able to go on our walks, though!

"Safety first, everyone!"
"Maggie and I will keep you safe!"

No one has fallen yet, so I think we're doing well!

We also posed by the fireplace, just for kicks:

"Ha roo, everyone!"
"That's a wrap for today!"

We hope your week has been as good as ours!

Cammie!

Kicking Back On My Quilt

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  As you saw yesterday, I just love kicking back on my quilt. It's very relaxing.

"Ahhh!  So comfy!"

Nice, but a little lonely.  Thank goodness I have help available:

"Oooh, yeah, Cam.  That's nice."
"Mom's right, Mags.  You're very snuggly and warm!"

We both like laying on my quilt.  And I LOVE to share - especially with Cammie!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Backing Up Tuesday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Today, we're backing up a bit (in more ways than one, but we'll get to that) to before we got our lovely snow.  Remember the pix we shared of us having some Sibe-style fun in the backyard?  Cam mentioned that Mom had tried to get us to do some posing, too.  Here's how that went.

We started out on the top tier wall, by the corner of the house:

"I need my sunglasses, Mom."
"It's not too bad ..."
"Could you two please try not to look so ticked off?  I have treats!!!"

From there, we moved on to the Friendship Garden.  Given the treat situation, I tried to look all fluffy and cute:

"Pretty cute, huh?"
"Now the sun's in MY eyes!"
"Better ..."

After a bit, we moved back over to that top tier for more wall poses:

"What the fluff is she doing, Cam?"
"I have no idea."
"OK, now stay right there ... stay!  Please stay!"

That's when Mom thought she'd back up a bit. (That's the other backing up I mentioned!)

"Yeah, that's good, Mom.  A little further."
"Yes, just keep backing up ..."

And when she had backed up jusssssst a wee bit more, that's when Cam and I ...

"Get ready, Cam!"
"I was born ready!"

Backing up.  Always a great idea!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Snow Walks

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Now that we have nice weather, we're taking even more fun, long walks than normal!  It's been wonderful and Maggie and I have been having such a wonderful time!

Here we are from yesterday, at the trailhead.  Dad was trying to get us both to sit down.

"Hey, Dad!  Check out my snow nose!"
Dad:  "Maggie, sit!"
"Make me."

OK, maybe she didn't say, "Make me", but she certainly wasn't having any of that "sit" command.  Yet.

Mom decided to take a shot of me:

"Get my profile, Mom!"

Maggie eventually gave in and sat, but we both refused to look at the camera.

"Anyone coming that way, Mags?"
"No. I don't see a soul."

"No one over here, either."
"I can't believe this!"

You'd think with as nice as it is out there, there would be people everywhere!  But other than the odd runner, we had the place to ourselves.

Today, that part of the trail was "too muddy" (is there really such a thing?) so we took a different leg.

"I love this part of the trail!"
"Me, too!"

That part is paved and the city cleared some of the snow, so it was easier for Mom and Dad.  They don't quite have the good footing we do!

We hope all of you are getting out and enjoying some lovely weather, too!

Cammie!

Snow Nose Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Today, Cam and I thought we'd share a tutorial with you about how to get a snow nose.  Now ... to clear up any confusion beforehand, I don't mean a "snow nose" as in the pigmentation of our snooters.  To read an excellent explanation of that kind of snow nose, I encourage you to please read our great-sister Amber's post at this link.  We love that she mentions Juarez's snow nose -- Juarez is my daddy and Cam's half-brother!!!  Isn't that cool?!?!?

Anyway ... take it, Cam!

"Snow nose ... snow nose ... OK!  First you find some fluffy snow and then ..."

"BOOM!  Snow nose!  Did you catch that, Mom?"
"Errrr ... can you do that again, Cam?"

Good help is so hard to find -- Mom wasn't fast enough on the draw.  I tasked her to take some action shots of me on our walk instead.

THIS is how to get a snow nose:

"BOOM!"

The results?

"Ahh!  Snow nose!"

I also had Mom film a very short video!  Are you ready?!?  Let's go!

To view on YouTube, please click here.

We hope this tutorial has been helpful!  Have a wonderful, snow-filled Sunday!!!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher (and Cammie, too!)