Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Mags and I were in the midst of a very important meeting this afternoon when Mom started calling us. We had already had lunch and gone outside, so we were going to just ignore her, but ...
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| "I have frozen cookies!" "Wait. What?!?!" "OHMYTHOR! FROZEN COOKIES!!!" |
I mean ... it's FROZEN COOKIES. FROZEN. COOKIES!!! Needless to say, Mom got our attention! Mags and I will get back to our planning meeting later!
Sköl!
Ragnar
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Yesterday, Ragnar and I worked overtime helping our mom in her Studio! We did zoomies (including through the cubbies in her sewing table), explored her closet, put on a Snooter Jousting event, and Ragnar even helped empty the trash! By close of business ...
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| "Zzz ..." "Zzz ..." |
Ragnar and I are always totally in synch!
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Mags and I thought you might like this scene from our walk the other morning!
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| "Hi, Mom! And hi, blog readers!" "Ha roo, everyone!" |
We felt very serene. ... And we had less than 2 miles to go until we were home!
Sköl!
Ragnar
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags! The other day, after Ragnar and I horsed around a bit in the back yard, Mom wanted us to pose by the Succulent Garden. Fine. If we have to. Right? We sat very nicely:
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| "Sigh. Fine." "Yeah ... whatever. Hey! Is that Tao over there?" |
I thought I saw our favorite neighbor for a minute there. Anyway, yes, there was talk about looking at the camera and blah, blah, blah, so ...
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| "Let's do our Tough Guy Look!" "Yeah! I'm on it, Raggi!" |
I mean, when even Ragnar is bored with Mom's photo shoots, you KNOW it's time to just chuck it and go inside!
Happy weekend to all!
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! Mom started snapping pictures during our water break again ...
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| "Hi, Mom!" "❤❤ Oh, RAGNAR!!! ❤❤" |
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| Ragnar and Mags - Play Hard, Rock Hard! |
We liked that one a lot! Since I did a solo shot, Mags figured she would, too.
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| "Here, get my blue-eyed side!" "❤❤ Maggie!!! ❤❤" |
A lady who was walking up the trail stopped and said we looked beautiful ... so I'll bet she'd buy our CD!
Sköl!
Ragnar
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. The other morning, we took a water break near this lovely stone bench. We had a nice, long drink, Mom gave us a couple treats, then Ragnar and I hopped up on the bench.
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| "Hey, Mom!" "Hi, Mom!" "Perfect, puppies!!!" |
I know. Rather out of character to be so very cooperative, but ... I mentioned our mom had treats, right?
They were the good kind.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. The other day, Ragnar and I were hanging out together in the backyard, doing some exploring, some playing, and some posing (of course). By the time it came to posing on the upper tier, I was getting a wee bit bored ...
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| "No more photos, Mom. Really." "Mags, we could do a couple more!" "Please, Maggie?!?" |
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| "We could do an action shot of us jumping off the wall ..." "Now THAT sounds exciting!" "No jumping off the wall!!!" |
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| "Ready, Raggi?!?" "Ready when you are, Mags!" "Maggie, you are supposed to be setting a good example for your little brother!" |
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| "Define 'good' ..." "I'm a good boy. Mom says so ALL the time!" "You're both good puppies!!!!" |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. As you know, Mags and I had a very busy weekend. On top of all the walking and general work around the house, we also helped a LOT in the Studio. Oh, sure we took a LITTLE time out to relax ...
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| "Zzz ... I'm Ragnar Jimmysson at the helm of my Viking ship ..." |
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| "... leaving behind the fjords and off to pillage a village somewhere ..." |
Anyway, Mags was right over here ...
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| "Hey, Mags! Are you doing OK?" "Must ... hold up ... the wall ..." |
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| "She might have worked too hard." "Nah, I'm good!" |
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| "She has one amazing work ethic!" "Zzz ..." |
Hi everybody. It's me, Ragnar. For Serene Scenery Sunday, we just wanted to share one more photo from our trip down to Council Grove.
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| Mags and me on 700 Road |
It was so peaceful, so beautiful on that sunlit lane!
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Sköl!
Ragnar
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags! Wowzers, did we ever have an adventure this morning! We all piled into the HR-V while it was still dark and drove down to the town of Council Grove!
Council Grove is a small town steeped in history! The town itself is named for the Council Oak, a tree under which a council of U.S. commissioners and the chiefs of the Great and Little Osage tribes negotiated a treaty in 1825. The treaty granted the Americans and Hispanics right of way on the Santa Fe Trail - through Osage territory - in exchange for a payment to the Osage. The tree itself was destroyed by a storm several years ago, but the stump remains under a protective canopy. Council Grove served as the last opportunity for Santa Fe Trail travelers headed West to pick up supplies for their journey.
There are tons of historic things all over town. Here is a shot of us by a memorial to WWII soldiers from Council Grove:
We found a park with cool things in it like this train engine!
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| "All aboard!!!" "Good one, Ragnar!!!" |
It's not a real train engine, but Mom wouldn't let us climb on the real one. Something about my feety-feet getting stuck in the metal grating. What. A. Killjoy!
We walked through town until we found the Flint Hills Nature Trail and explored that for a couple miles:
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| "Crossroad!!!" "I wonder where the road goes?!?" |
The trail is a former railway line (rail to trail) that stretches 117 miles. We didn't walk the whole thing. We did check out the road it crosses:
Back in town ... this is a statue called the Madonna Of The Trail:
It's dedicated to the spirit of the pioneer women in the US. Being named after a strong woman myself, I salute these brave frontierswomen!!!
We also found a statue called Guardian Of The Grove, a depiction of a Kaw warrior:
The statue contains a lot of symbols important to the Kaw (also known as Kanza) Indian Tribe whose last Kansas home was located in Council Grove. Kansas was named for the Kanza Indians!
We also found a beautiful river walk along the Neosha River:
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| "I love this!" "Look, Mags - a bridge!!!" |
Yes, there was a bridge across the river, and YES, we got to cross it!!! A definite highlight!
The downtown area is really quaint, packed full of historical, interesting buildings:
In case you ever wondered how big (or not) the covered wagons were that the settlers used to cross the prairie:
Yeah. That would make for quite the long journey! Before we left town, we ran into a Kansas celebrity and stopped to pose for a photo with him:
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| Ragnar, the Tin Man, and me!!! |
He seened a bit stiff. I think he needed that infamous oil can there at his feet!
What an AWESOME adventure! Thanks for coming along with us!
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Ragnar and I did a little backyard garden posing this morning. Here we are, up by the top gate:
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| Me and Ragnar being way too cooperative |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! Last weekend, when we were at Fort Riley, I found this super-cool brick path.
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| "Hey! Look at what I found!" |
There's only one thing to do when you find a cool, old path - right?!?
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| "Let's go!" "YEAH!" |
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. As I mentioned yesterday, Saturday afternoon we hit CiCo Park to check out everyone who was there for the Junior Rodeo. We had a blast - and of COURSE we had to swing through the park on our Sunday morning walk.
We greeted all kinds of horses, sheeps, goats, cows, and calves ... but I have to admit. I had a favorite. Check out my new friend, Spot:
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| "Hi, I'm Maggie and oh, I just LOVE your spots!" "❤❤❤" |
Is this the cutest calf you've ever seen!?!? We really hit it off. I think I'm back to asking Mom and Dad if Ragnar and I can adopt a baby cow. They really seem to like us.
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags! Remember how yesterday, as Ragnar was wrapping up our trip to Fort Riley? How just when he thought the day couldn't get any better ... we found a bridge?!? Well, guess what?!? The day got even BETTER later on!!!
When we went out for a potty break after lunch, Mom thought she heard the PA system from the park. It's about a mile away, but sometimes you can hear things like that. It could have only meant one thing -- something was going on at CiCo and we NEEDED to check it out! Dad said we couldn't count on whatever event it was being there Sunday, so we all headed to the park. And guess what?!?! Junior Rodeo time!!!
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| "Look at all the kids! And horses!" "And cows!!!" |
The park was packed with all kinds of FUN! We really liked these horses, so we sat and admired them for a few minutes.
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| "Look at those guys, Mags! Aren't they beautiful?!?" "I'd love to be friends with them!" |
We also saw something we'd never seen before -- the Heel-o-matic 2.0. When I read it, I thought it was so a steer would heel on a leash or something, then I realized it's so the cowboys and cowgirls can practice their roping skills!
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| "What a dummy! Ha roo. Get it, Raggi?" "Good one, Mags. Ha woo." |
We kept walking and hit absolute pay dirt!!!
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| "RAGNAR! Do you see what I see?!?" "I see GOATS!" |
Yes, but just past the goats were ...
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| "SHEEP!!!!!!!!" "Oh, BOY!!!" |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar, here to tell you a little bit more about our very cool trip to Fort Riley yesterday!
As Maggie mentioned, once we left the reviewing stand, we headed over toward the US Cavalry Museum. There are all kinds of touching memorials over there AND lots of awesome tanks, artillery pieces, and personnel carriers used by the 1st Infantry Division over the years. The first thing that caught my eye was this cool tank:
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| "Hey, Mags! Check out this cool Sherman tank!" |
Mags thought we should pose by it!
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| "This is so ... wait. What's Dad doing over there?" "I see a squirrel." |
We decided to move on. We found a Stuart Light Tank and tried a pose by that.
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| "I like the Sherman tank better." "Tanks a lot. Ha roo roo roo!!!" |
And she says I spend too much time with Mom!!!
This cool artillery piece caught my eye:
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| "Oh, Raggi. I see something over there we HAVE to get a shot of!" "OK, quick smile for Mom first, though!" |
What Mags saw is this very special statue:
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| The dedication reads, "In memory of the one and a half million horses and mules of the Union and Confederate Armies who were killed, wounded, or died from disease in the Civil War." |
The statue was given to Fort Riley by Paul Mellon. Mom and Dad were there for the dedication in the 1990s, when Dad was still on active duty. Mellon served and trained at Fort Riley during WWII and was very proud of his service. It's a very touching memorial.
Also on the subject of horses, we did a little more walking and found the Duty statue.
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| Me and Maggie at the Duty statue! |
The statue honors the cavalrymen and horses who served our nation!
And speaking of horses ... did you know there are horses assigned to Fort Riley?!? And you know how much Maggie and I love horses! We HAD to walk over to their stables to see if they were there!
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| "Hello!?! Any-horsie home?!?" "We're very friendly!!!" |
They were in there -- we could smell them and hear them! They must have been working, though -- in a meeting or something -- because no one came to the door. Mom and Dad said we'll go to Fort Riley again and take another shot!
In the meantime, here's a photo of them in action, courtesy of the US Army and the Commaning General's Mounted Color Guard webpage:
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| Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard, Fort Riley, KS |
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| "Ragnar! Look! A BRIDGE!" "This is SO AWESOME!!!" |
