Sköl!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  Maggie said I should try posting to the blog today - I hope I do this right!

First, thanks for the warm welcome!  As Maggie said, I am Polargold's Einherjar -- Ragnar!  I'm Maggie's half-brother on our mama's side, and I just turned 4 years old last month.  Our mom and dad wanted to adopt someone who could keep up with Mags and I think I'm the perfect pup for the job!

As Mags said yesterday, we go on lots of long, long walks in the morning.  Here we are with Dad on our first morning walk:

Dad, me, and Mags.  Dad's the tall one.

Sometimes on our walks, Mom tries to get us to pose.  Maggie says I've still got a lot to learn there.

"Hi, Mom!"
"Oh, Ragnar!  Not without treats, buddy!  No smiles without treats!!!"

She's teaching me all about politics, too.

"That's another Matta sign.  We're pulling for him!  Get it?  Siberian Huskies ... pulling ..."
"Huh!  Good one, Mags!"

Maggie said Mom made her say that "pulling" part.

On our second big walk, I finally saw the famous Kansas Ocean!

"There it is, Ragnar!  Isn't it beautiful!?!"
"I thought it might be bigger than this."
"BIRDIE!"

(Apparently Mom gets to comment on the blog sometimes.  I'm supposed to point out that there's a Great Blue Heron on the peninsula.)

ANYWAY, the Kansas Ocean is cool, but I'm not sure about sailing a Viking ship on it.  We can still go on raids, though.  We'll find a way.

That's probably enough for today.  Thanks again for the welcome!

"Is he cute enough?"
"Aw, shucks!"

Sköl!

Ragnar

Testing ... Is This Thing On?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Before I get to a very important announcement, I wanted to thank everyone on behalf of all of us here at Ao4 Headquarters for your kind words about Cammie.  We all truly appreciated your comments, emails, FaceBook messages, ETC.  The loss has been hard on all of us.

I don't want to say it's been especially hard on me, but wow.  I really need to have a pack mate.  Badly.

Anyway, Mom and Dad were so concerned about me that they called my breeder and had a long talk with her.  They had spoken before about adding to our family, but the timing was such that it wouldn't have been fair to Cammie.  Mom and Dad wanted to have lots of time to devote to her.  But now ... even though it was early after losing my Cam, they all knew I needed someone.

We drove out to Missouri - to my homeland! - to Polargold Headquarters.  I got to see EVERYONE - to include my biological mama and daddy!  My daddy is going to be 16 very soon, so it was really cool to get to see him.  And guess what?!?  My mama remembered me!  She really did!  I remembered her, too.

I loved everyone I saw there (especially my breeders, but they aren't up for adoption) and especially hit it off with this guy:

"Are you my new mom?"
"Hey.  Don't look at the camera unless she gives you a treat!"

That's Ragnar, schmoozing up to my mom, me, Maeve (one of Cammie's granddaughters -- a grand champion!), and dad. To make a long story short, out of the field of candidates to adopt, I chose Ragnar. He chose us, too. 

We've been taking long walks together:

Me and Ragnar

 

We like to relax on the deck together afterwards:

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

And we relax in the evenings together:

"Ha roo!"
"Got your footy-foot!"

Sometimes, we even settle down together!  Say "hi" to everyone, Ragnar!

"Sköl!"
"He's such a Viking!"

Let me make a proper intro, now that I've shown you what a really cool guy he is!  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my new little brother, Ragnar!

Polargold's Einherjar -- Ragnar!

That's right - he's my little brother!  Not just adoption-wise, but we have the same mama!!!  OK, technically, he's my half-brother, but to me he's my brother!

I just love him and he loves me and I've been such a happier girl since he joined the family!  We'll give you more details in the days to come, but for now, please help me welcome Ragnar!!!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

D'Azul's Girl From Ipanema

Cameron - D’Azul’s Girl From Ipanema

7 January 2008 - 5 June 2020

In 2017, she fought and beat adrenal cortical carcinoma (cancer).
In 2019, she fought and beat breast cancer.
In 2020, she fought and beat the adrenal cancer once again.
Through everything, she remained strong, loving, and kind.
Today, due to liver failure, we had to let her go.
Godspeed, sweet Cammie. You will always be so very loved.

Maggie - and Maggie's Mom and Dad

Blog Break

"So ... we're all in agreement, right?"
"I think so, Mags."
"Yes.  I think so, too."

"We'll be taking a break from writing the Ao4 Digest for a bit."
"I think this is the right choice."
"❤❤❤"

Thank you for understanding!

Mags, Cam

... and our mom

What's That!?!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Yesterday, I had a little one-on-one time with my mom.  She let me choose what we were going to do, so I suggested a walk.  It sounded good to her, so off we went!

We didn't really see or do anything too exciting until we were passing by a neighbors' rock garden ...

"Wait!  What's that!?!  Hold up, Mom!  There's something in there!!!"

It really captured my interest!  I saw it move fast, then it dived between the rocks!  and ... was it a sneaky snake?  A mole?  A vole?  A skink?  A lizard???  It could have been any of those things and I needed to investigate!

"C'mon, Mags!  Let's go!"
"But ... but there's something IN there!!!"

I don't know why she wouldn't let me catch it!  Moms sure can be funny some times!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher