Toy Box

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Last week, Mom whipped up another project in her Studio, then told Cam and me it was for us!  Wow!  She had just made us the placemat we showed you, so I couldn't imagine what it could be!

She set it down on the floor when she was all done so we could check it out:

"I like the wolves on it!  And that you aren't putting it on my head or anything."
"Don't give her any crazy ideas, Cam!"

Mom explained that it was a Toy Box!  Back when I was a tiny puppy, I had a Toy Box, but I never took anything out of it.  I'm not sure why not, but I didn't.  That same box is in the pantry now, holding all of our "under supervision only" toys; if the door is left open, I go in and help myself to toys!  Mom figured I was ready for a Toy Box out in the living room!

"And I'm allowed to take anything out, whenever I want.  Right, Mom?"
"Absolutely, Maggie!"

I have to admit, it's pretty cool!  Cam likes it, too, because if I leave my toys all over the puppy bed you see in the photo above, she won't lay on it.  She has Mom and Dad pretty well trained to come over and move my toys for her ... but this way, we can just pop them right into my Toy Box!

Do you have a Toy Box?  Are you reluctant to get things out of it, or do you help yourself?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Last month, I did a quick garden tour and showed you, among other things, the sedum in our Friendship Garden.  I said it was still in the "broccoli" phase - here's another shot from last month:

"Yep ... all it needs is some garlic and olive oil!"

Just kidding.

But look at it now:

"Wait.  Is that the neighbor?!?"

Sorry.  I got distracted.  Here's a look at the sedum, all nice and pretty in pink:

There are a few varieties in there, but we aren't sure of which ones -- Mom started all of them from cuttings from neighbors and friends.  All she knows is they're lovely and make her (and the butterflies and bees) happy!

Are your Fall flowers doing their things now, too?!?

Have a serene Sunday, everyone!

Cammie!

"Dumplings"

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  If you've been reading our mom's blog lately, you'll know she has been making something called "Persimmon Dumpling Pouches".  After an afternoon in the Studio, we all came upstairs and Mom was talking to Dad about them.  Well, Maggie and I heard the word "dumpling" and we got interested.  That was our big mistake.

Sigh.  Here I am:

"Seriously, Mom?  Seriously?!?"

And here's Maggie:

"We DO get a dumpling for putting up with this, though -- right?!?" 

We didn't get any dumplings, but at least we each got a Frozen Stinky Goodness treat.  I still think she owes us.

Cammie!

Under Supervision

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Yesterday, Mom gave Cam and me a couple of our "under supervision only" toys to play with for a while.  Cam got the treats out of hers pretty quickly, and I was right behind her.  After a bit, Mom asked if we were done playing ...

"Toy?  What toy?  Didn't you already put them away?"

I mean, it was under MY supervision - right?  Isn't that good enough?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Jaws-of-Steel Thatcher

Queen Of The Stairs

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  The other day, Maggie and I played Queen Of The Stairs, The Indoor Version.

Me and Maggie!

Maggie won that round, but we both had a blast!  Do you play indoor versions of some of your favorite games, too?

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Cam

Wrapping It Up

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Today, Cam and I will be wrapping up our trip to Illinois to see our grandma.  As we've mentioned, our mornings started with lots of good exercise.  Here we are, in the park:

"Squirrel up ahead!"
"I see it!!!"

I'm serious - they were EVERYwhere!

Anyway, Grandma lives in an apartment in something called an "assisted living" place.  There are all kinds of nice people there - residents and staff - who we got to schmooze.  We had all of them believing Siberian Huskies are the most well-behaved, sweet, quiet, calm, soft, cuddly puppies ever.  That's right - we were on our super-best behavior.  Mom and Dad said they couldn't have been prouder of us!

Cam and I felt very relaxed at Grandma's!  While Cam napped, I checked out the TV:

"Wow!  A Western!  Let's watch this, Grandma!"

It was great!  A TV right at my eye level!

Cam and I liked our grandma right away.  While Cam worked the snuggle angle, I did this:

"Et tu, Grandma?"

That's right - I let her put her visor on me.  I didn't even mind.

"Yeah, let's do a jauntier angle, Grandma!"

I sat there wearing it for a while.  It seemed to make her happy.  I liked doing that.

While Cam took a break, I covered the snuggle scene:

Cam, me, and Grandma

It was an awesome visit for all of us!

On the last day back at the cabin, Mom and Dad said we should all try to get some sleep early.  I was pretty beat, so ...

"I think I'll crash here."

The weird thing was that we all loaded back up into the HR-V just after midnight!  I remember seeing this again:

Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge - over the Mississippi River

That's about all I remember seeing; it was dark almost the whole way and Cam and I mostly did this:

"Zzz ..."
"Zzz ..."

Mom and Dad wanted to avoid the rush hour in the major cities we were going to drive through - St. Louis, Kansas City, and Topeka.  It was a hard drive, but Dad did a great job.  We saw the sunrise just over our Flint Hills:

Sunrise over the Flint Hills

Mom just took that through the window of the moving vehicle.  

It was a wonderful trip!  We loved seeing our grandma, but it is great to be home!  Thanks for letting us share our adventure with you!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Political Speeches!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  As you'll remember from yesterday's post, Cam and I found an old caboose in the park in  the Land of Squirrels    the land of Lincoln  in Illinois.  For me, what with being a Prime Minister and all, it brought to mind the campaigning candidates did, delivering political speeches from the back of the caboose!  Like this:

That's the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Harry Truman in 1946.  Actually, we drove through the area where that photo was taken (Fulton, Missouri; click here for more info) on our way to Illinois!  Anyway ... taking my cue from them ...

"Citizens of Mascoutah, fellow Americans, as your----oh, wait!  What's this?"

I got distracted for a minute.  I thought I smelled a squirrel.  I got back to my speech and ...

"And as your Prime Minister, I promise to stare down every squirrel I ..."

"CAM!  What are you doing?  Weren't you listening?!?"

I mean come on!  I was giving a very important address!

"Maggie -- I smell another squirrel over here!!!"

Well, that was a call to action if I've ever heard one!  I jumped off the caboose and ran over to investigate!  I climbed up onto the train platform and had a look around:

"I see him, Cam!!!  I see him!!!"

"Stare at him, Maggie!  Stare at him hard!"
"I'm on it!!!"

My political speech was forgotten about (though I took up the issues later with Cam), then we did some more exploring in the park.  Cammie said if nothing else, it showed I follow up on my campaign promises.  She's really nice like that!

More to come!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Exploring!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  I thought I'd fill you in on more of our trip today.  The early parts of our mornings were filled with as much exercise as Mom and Dad thought we could handle.  Something about "getting someone as tired as possible before going to Grandma's".  For the record, I don't think they meant me.

Anyway, Mom wanted to explore a covered bridge we had passed.  Here's a look:

Unfortunately, there were "PRIVATE PROPERTY" signs all over the place. It's OK; when Mom got close enough, she realized it wasn't an old one anyway.

We had also driven by a reservoir, where Mom and Dad spotted a little walking trail. We drove out there one morning and had a walk around.

"Come on, everyone!  There are ducks on the other side of that bridge!!!"

That's right - ducks!  Oodles of them!  And you know what that means -- duck poop galore!  What a great walk that was!

"Hey ... is this the Trippy Trap Bridge?!?"
"I'm not sure.  Let me check for trolls.  And Billy Goats."

That place was a blast, as far as Mags and I were concerned.  Mom and Dad might not have been so enamored - there's a chance we got muddy, covered in little seedlings, and they seemed to not appreciate all the duck poop.  They thought we could do with some more exercise after that, though, so we drove out to a park Mom had noticed the day before.

The park was nice - sidewalks all over the place and lots of interesting things to explore!  I found an old train car!

"Maggie!  Check it out!  A train!"

"Isn't it cool?"
"Ooh!  It's like a car from Hercule Poirot's Murder On the Orient Express!"

Here's a shot of us with Dad:

Dad, Maggie, and me.  Dad's the tall one!

We also found a caboose nearby!

"What is the caboose doing way over here?!?  This IS a mystery!"
"I know you love a good mystery, Maggie!"

And then ...

"SQUIRREL!!!"
"SQUIRREL!!!"

They may officially call Illinois the "Land of Lincoln", but from what we saw, it should be renamed the "Land of Squirrels"!  They were everywhere!!!  How fun!

More to come tomorrow!

Cammie!

Hitting The Road

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Cam and I thought we'd fill you in on part of our trip to Illinois starting today.  Let's take a look at Day One!

We drove and drove and drove.  Well, Dad did.  Cam and I napped pretty much the whole way.  I did catch some highlights out the window like this:

The "K"!

That's Kauffman Stadium - home of the Kansas City Royals! They are a baseball team Mom likes to  yell at   cheer for. Seeing it meant we were in Missouri -- the land Cammie and I were born in!

We kept driving. And driving. And napping. I eventually saw this:

The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, St. Louis, MO

We were going over the mighty Mississippi River! Wow. AND it meant we were in Illinois! I'd never been to Illinois. Cam said she wasn't sure if she had been or not. But anyway - Illinois! Land of Lincoln!

I guess in keeping with the whole "Lincoln" theme, we stayed in a log cabin, as you saw yesterday.

This was our first look at it:

Our place was the small cottage on the left.

The family who owns it lives across that covered deck, in the main house.  They were very nice people!

Let's head inside!

I was very interested in this huge fireplace:

"Wowzers!"

It was in the 90s outside, so no fire.  It was fun going behind that quilt hanging there, though!  Mom used my full name a lot when I did that.  Interesting.

The cabin had a little table and chairs:

Sorry I'm out of focus; it was a bit dark in the cabin.

Here's Cammie!

"Hello, everyone!"

Mom and Dad packed our beds and even brought Buckingham Palace along so we'd feel at home.  Cam really appreciated having both!  As for me ...

"How come there are only two robes and 4 of us??"

Anyway, more on our visit tomorrow!

Yours sincerely, 

Margaret Thatcher

We're Back!

Greetings and hello, everyone!  Mags and Cam here to let you know we're back!  Contrary to a rumor floating about, we were not out adopting a puppy -- we were in Illinois visiting our grandma!

Here's a shot of us in front of the place we stayed in:

"Hey, Mom!  That's a great idea, though, huh?  Adopting a puppy would be mighty fun!"
"I love puppies!"
"We are NOT adopting a puppy at this time!"

Anyway - we'll fill you in on the trip starting tomorrow.  Right now, we're just trying to get everything here back up and running!  We LOVED seeing our grandma, but it's great to be back.  Or as they say around here, "There's no place like home!"

Mags and Cam

Special Announcement

Greetings and hello, everyone!  Mags and Cam here with a short announcement.  We will be taking a short break from blogging after today.

Not the kind of break we took a couple years ago, Mom didn't trip over her own feet and break her wrists or anything.  We're all OK and will fill you in at the end of next week!

"Catch you on the flip side!"
"See you in a few days, Blogville!"

We'll be back on air shortly!

Mags and Cam!

For Me?!?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  The other day, Cam and I had just finished several extremely awesome rounds of CROG down in the Studio when Mom called me over.  She said she had just made something for me!

I thought maybe it was a new leash or collar ... maybe even another poop bag holder, since she's been on a bag-making kick, but no!  I walked over to where she and Cam were and ...

"Aw, shucks, Mom!  You shouldn't have!"

"Cute fabric, cute backing fabric ... nice, simple quilting ... not very fluffy, though ..."

I had no idea what it was!  Cam and I did love the fabric, though!  Here we are, showing our favorite part!!!

"It's a Siberian!"
"A Black and White Sibe!!!"

Adorable.  But still.  What was it for?!?

"Thanks, Mom!  Umm ... comfy.
Is it ... a new bed?
A liner for 10 Downing Street?
A throw for the end of the bed?"
"No ... you'll find out soon, Mags!"
"You should have guessed 'Rumpelstiltskin'!"

"If it's not any of those things ..."
"Are you sure it's not Rumpelstiltskin?"
"Pretty sure, Cam."

A few hours later, dinner time rolled around and ...

"Hey, cool!  My very own placemat!!!"
"It's like we're having a fine-dining experience, Mags!"

How cool!  It's my very own placemat, and is plenty big enough for the two of us to share!  See, I don't drink much water, so Mom always puts a bunch on my food -- so there's a chance, just a chance, that I get a bit messy when I eat.  Hey.  I can't help it.  I'm not the one who drowns my food.  Anyway, this way, Mom doesn't have to wash the floor three times a day - and Cammie and I have a really cute placemat to eat off of!  Now if Mom would stop calling it a drop-cloth ...

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher