Red & White Smackdown

Ha roo, pups! Zim here! Hey, did you see our pal Indy's post the other day? He put some great shots up of him playing with his friend Storm (not our Storm ...a different Storm!) and the look on Indy's face in some of the pictures reminded me of a certain someone around here.

Yep... for readers who know us, you'll know that we all have distinctive perso --- excuse me, dogalities. Storm is the highly intelligent leader, Dave is the lovable lug, Amber is the sweet, innocent one, and I'm the playful, somewhat mischievous guy. I don't want to ruin the image anypup might have ... but we don't always fit into those little "boxes". Take for instance my sweet, innocent sister Am. You may have seen this picture of us:

I can't remember if we've posted it before; it's one of Mom's favorites of us reds. We look totally lovely, don't we? What you may not have seen is the "out-takes". Ha roo roo roo! Check out Miss Innocent in this one:

Am on the left; me on the right!

Doesn't she sort of look like that one shot of Indy? Ha roo roo roo! I told her, "Amber, you're so scary!"

Hee hee hee! Me? Scary? Hee hee hee!

Here's another one:

I'm on the left; Am is on the right!

Aren't we scary?

Ha roo roo roo! Hee hee hee!

We both had a good laugh over that one. I'm not sure ... but I think Amber would be a lot scarier if she'd stop giggling.

Play bows,
Zim

What Did the Fish Say ....

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! I hope everypuppy had a very happy weekend and stayed as cool as they could and had FUN!

Our dad had to go to a conference on Friday. He brought home all kinds of pens and pads of paper and stuff that the different colleges gave to the instructors. Pratt Community College gave him this cute little paper fan; he thought I'd like it because of the pun on it:

"Dam Proud to be a Beaver Fan." Hee hee hee! And it's printed ON a fan, which makes it even punnier, so to roo. It reminded me of another great joke! This one just happens to be the most favorite pun of one of my non-fur cousins, Becca, who lives in a land far, far away!

Are you ready for this one?

What did the fish say when he swam into the wall?

Dam!

Hee hee hee! Oh, that just tickles me! Have a happy day, everypuppy!

Love,
Amber

Sunday Salute - Pippin!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to our very good friend Pippin!

Just over a week ago marked a rather special 1-year anniversary in Pippin's blogging life -- last year Pippin almost stopped blogging! (Gasp!) As she said, "... I'd been blogging for a pretty long time and never got a single comment. So, my person and me decided that maybe we should focus more time on learning flyball than on blogging about it, so we said sayonara. We'd joined Dogs with Blogs a few months before that--I'm dog #59 (who would have guessed there'd be such an exponential rise in dog bloggers to almost 600 now!). And suddenly all these doggies came to the blog and left me a message and I looked at Chuck's page and his Opy had come up with Paw-It-Forward. I was the dog who was going to quit--sad but true. And suddenly, we had so many friends and we keep getting more. And, that's another way of looking at family." We are SO glad Pippin stuck it out - and so glad the Dogs With Blogs community helped her out! (Way to go, Charlie & Opy!)

We display the Paw It Forward randomizer in our sidebar, but here it is again:

Why not use it to stop in and say "ha roo" to a pup you haven't visited yet? It might be just what that blogger needs to keep going!

We've learned a lot from Pippin and her flock about Border Collies and what makes them so very special! (That link is to one of our very favorite posts!) We love to read about their pack dynamics (to include their interaction with Pippin's extended flock), their everyday lives, and we love to watch how they herd sheep! In fact, here's Pippin in action!

Pippin herding sheep - what a beautiful sight!

Pippin and Miss Tansy having a sing-along! We bet the girls sound great together!

And here's her brother Hamish having a go at the sheep!

Wow! Border Collies are the perfect combination of smart and FAST! Here's a close up of Hamish:

The very handsome Hamish Braeburn Moy

Border Collies work hard, so they need to rest hard, too! Here are Hamish and Pippin, kicking back at home.

Hamish & Pip

Hmm... another picture with Hamish in it. Gee... I wonder who's in charge of photos for today's post?

Did you say you wanted another picture of Hamish?

Hamish.

(Sigh...) I do love a man in uniform!

(Note to self: Put more thought into who uploads the pix for the Sunday Salute.)

We love Pippin's blog and are so happy she stuck it out! Pippin, thank you for sharing the wonderful world of Border Collies with us, the every day antics of you and your flock-mates, and the great stories, pictures and videos of you guys herding! You've taught us so very much about those things & more ... and perhaps the best lesson of all - the power of friendship!

Left to right: Kyzer (front), Renzo, Miss Tansy, Hamish, Rafe ... and PIPPIN!

Pippin, for all you do ... we salute you!

The Army of Four

New Tee Shirts!

Ha roo, everypup! It's me! Zim! Hey, guess what the mailman brought us yesterday? Our very cool Hike N Howl tee shirts! YEAH! It seems like Mom just ordered them a day or two ago, but here they are already!

She said I could decide which design was for her and which one was for Dad. I checked them over real close.

Ooh, this white one has a grey and white Sibe on it. How cool!

And the blue one has the cool official Hike N Howl logo! (And a little bit of nose art now, too!)

I couldn't decide! They're both so cool! I tried to ask Dave, but he was helping Mom with something.

I'm kinda busy working right now, Zim ...

Maybe we'll let Dad pick. They're both so cool, you can't go wrong!

We're going to get Mom and Dad to wear them the day of the hike, so we can pretend we're walking right along with all our pals! Good luck to the hikers and volunteers!

Play bows!
Zim

Weather or Not

Hee hee hee. "Weather or Not". Get it? Hi, everypuppy! It's me - Amber! Our sweet friend Boomer asked if we'd let our mom post more of her weather pictures on the blog! We're happy to do so. Since I'm the resident Meteorologist, Stormy said I could post the pictures!

Our deck faces West, across the Flint Hills, so we have a great view of most of the storm fronts that come rolling in. Here is a video Mom took the other night off the deck. She pans 360 degrees, so you can get the full effect of the sky (don't get dizzy!) -- the sunset, the storm rolling in, the BLUE sky, the black clouds ... everything! All at the same time!

Isn't it pretty!?! (I should have warned you about the sound. That's a million cicadas. Perhaps two. They're a bit loud, aren't they?)

Did you notice the line of clouds near the end? They are in the process of forming into "mammatus" clouds, which often accompany thunderstorms. This one, in fact, was a doozy! Every time we have clouds like that, I like to ask Storm, Zim or Dave, "Why are the clouds so m-mad at us?" Hee hee hee! A little weather humor. Zimmie loves that one.

Here are some other pictures of mammatus clouds Mom has taken; they look like the under-side of a bowl filled with cotton balls, don't they?

That's the real color of the sky - no funny editing! These two pix were taken at sunset, so the light reflecting off the clouds did that! A friend of Mom's said it looks like we're living on another planet. :)

Not Mars ... just Kansas!

We've posted some pretty nice pictures of funnel clouds rolling in and pretty sky shots at this post and this one. Needless to roo, we like it when the sky looks like this because of the snow involved! In fact, let's look at a really bee-roo-tiful sunset:

Oooh, yes! I like this kind of sunset! I feel cooler already!

I like those kind much better than this kind ...

Mom took that one the first year she, Dad, Storm and great-brother Booter were in this house. (I don't think we've posted it before; if we have, please pardon the redundancy!) Dad was at work, Storm was pacing & helping the big Siberian on the City's PA system sound the alarm ("Wooooo!"), and great-brother Booter was thumping his tail against the door to go downstairs to safety. And Mom? Out on the deck with the Pentax. I don't want to say anything I shouldn't say, but I think Mom should have listened to Booter and Stormy!

Anyroo... I hope you enjoyed our weather pictures! Thanks for asking, Boomer!

Love,
Amber

Somebunny's in the Garden Again!

Woo, everypuppy! It's me, Davy! I was out helping Mom in the garden the other day, checking things out, watering, stuff like that. Here I am down at the bottom of the yard, inspecting the Crape Myrtle. You can see the pretty white blooms on the Rose of Sharon, or Althea, too. (Speaking of whom... does anypup know how Althea is doing?)

Then we went over to the south side of the yard. Mom tried to get me to pose on the retaining wall, but something caught my eye over underneath the Smoke Tree! I knew right away ... there was somebunny hiding in there!

I couldn't pose, I could only stare into the tree. Then I just couldn't take it anymore; I launched into action!

Come on out! I know you're in there!

Sadly, by the time I ran in there, he was gone. I followed his scent along the path up to the top of the yard.

I got to pick out those pavers, if anypuppy is wondering. As Guide Dog for the Color Blind, I'm not limited to the Quilt Studio!

I tracked him from there ... into the Red Prince Weigela.

Come out of there, you ... you ... you BUNNY, you!

Where'd he go?

Was somepuppy looking for me?

That bun-bun's got some nerve coming in here! I stared at him and he ran through the fence into the neighbor's yard. I sure showed HIM who's in charge around here!

You know what I thought about then! Zimmie's bean stalks! Woo, I had to go make sure they were OK!!!

Whew! They're OK!

Fortunately, they looked fine. Mom said she had just doused them with more Bunny-Be-Gone a few days ago. I made sure to tell Zim. He really worries about having an escape route for when we go after the Giant!

Somebunny better stay OUT of our yard!

Luv,
Dave

Guess Who's Back?

Ha roo, puppers! It's me - Stormy! Guess who's back? It's Mom's favorite bug-eating machine, Bart the Bat! Yeah, Zimmie told you about him back in May. We knew he was out there, and Mom was finally able to get a good picture of him. With my help, of course.

Can't see him, Mom! Get closer!

Nope... can't see him. Not yet!

This is the same woman who goes out on the deck to take pictures of massive thunder storms, tornadoes, and the like. C'mon, Mom -- get up close and personal with Bart!

She finally got up on a chair and took this photo:

YEAH! There he is! Hi, Bart!

Mom did pretty good with that one. In other news, here are two S(s)torm pictures she took yesterday:

storm with a small "s", brewing up trouble

Me - Storm with a capital "S", checking out the sweet potato vines by the mailbox

I wasn't brewing up trouble, at the time. Ha roo roo roo.

Stay cool, pups!

Tail wags,
Storm (and uh... wing flaps from Bart!)

Haik-woo #38

Woo, Dave here! Our very dear friends Jazz & Dixie asked me about my Haik-woo the other day. After reading that Haik-woo, they went back and checked the others! They made some really sweet comments (even about the freckles on my nose ... woo!) and asked, "How long does it take to think them up and put the down on paper?" Thank woo for the compliments, girls! And for the interest in my Haik-woo!

Sometimes they come to me right away and other times I struggle over the words for weeks! Since by its very definition a Haik-woo only has 17 syllables, each one is very important; I try to make every beat count!

I get inspiration from everywhere, on walks, in the Quilt Studio, from friends ... and I do some of my best thinking in my own writer's retreat. I think very profound thoughts there! Woo.

Music also inspires me. I really have strong musical preferences - the old jazz standards and Basia (especially when she woos in Polish). I love the song "Watermelon Man" by Mongo Santamaria -- that could be my theme song! I also LOVE old Sergio Mendes and the Brazil '66, especially "Mas Que Nada". Mom and I woo with them; her Portuguese isn't as good as Storm's, but she's trying! AND, last but by no means least, I love the bagpipes and Celtic fusion! I come running every time Mom sticks a CD like that into the player! I was thusly inspired to write my latest Haik-woo. I give you ... Haik-woo #38.


Put on some great, inspiring tunes and stay cool!

Luv,
Dave

PS: My mom got this great t-shirt from the MaPaw Sibe Rescue store; everyone thinks the drawing is me, but it's my twin brother of a different mother, Harley! Woo! It's Harley playing the pipes! Woooooo!

Cursors!

Hi everypuppy, it's me - Amber! I hope everypup had a really happy weekend and got to do fun things and stayed (relatively) cool and got ice cubes!

I was reading our friend Cosmos' blog the other day. His mom is going to have jaw surgery and he asked for recipes for milkshakes or soups for her - and help keeping her spirits up! I'm not a cooking expert like Zim - he spends a lot of time in the kitchen! but I do know some good jokes! I'll post some new ones soon, and I must say, I'm still giggling over the one Marvin told the other day! Did everypuppy see that one? "I was born with them." Hee hee hee! That was SO funny!

OK ... back to today's post! I don't mean "cursors" like people who say bad words! Stormy said that is actually "cursers". Bipeds really have a confusing language, don't they? I mean the arrow thingy that shows where you are on your computer page. Anyroo, from time to time, we try to help our readers understand computer things, and I came across this very good explanation of how your cursor works! Please click here to see how your cursor really works! It will take a moment to load, but it's well worth the wait. I never knew this! Slowly move your mouse over the light gray circle and you will see how the magic works. Amazing!

I was shocked when I discovered how it works!

Have a great, happy day! Love to everypuppy,
Amber

Sunday Salute - Hike N Howl!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes to everyone teaming up for the big Hike N Howl 2007!

The Hike N Howl is a fund-raiser being held on the 1st of September at the Norristown Farm Park in Norristown, Pennsylvania. You may have noticed the logo over in our sidebar! It is sponsored by the Alliance of Northern Breed Rescues: Harnessed to Hope Northern Breed Rescue, MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue, and the Delaware Valley Siberian Husky Rescue. They are pulling together (... Northern Breeds ... pulling together ... a little sled dog humor! Hee hee hee!) for this event to help support the dogs assisted by all three groups. They have scheduled a day full of fun, with the hike itself, Canine Good Citizen testing, a mushing demonstration, Northern Breed fur spinning demonstration, and much, much more! Various vendors will be there, plus fooooood booths, and prizes & raffles! They're also going to have a great parade of alumni pups from the 3 rescue groups! Won't that be special!!?!??!

We can't attend the hike, as we're about 1200 miles or so from Norristown ... but there are ways we can participate! This week, we sent our mom and dad a mind meld message about sponsoring somepuppy who is hiking! That's right! You can make a pledge/donation to one of the hikers! You can see some of these great pups at these links, with info about how to sponsor them. It was hard for us to decide who to sponsor, as so many friends of ours are hiking! Indy will be there, and Sasha, Xia will be cheering everypup on from the sidelines! ... and Echo, Shilo, Magnum, Kelsey Ann ... and MORE! How could we choose? We had Mom mail our check to the pup we've known the longest and who has a striking resemblance to our very own Dave. We really wanted to do this for our special pal - Harley is like a member of our own family, since he's Dave's "twin brother of a different mother"! Ha roo roo roo! (Hey Harley ... supersize me! Woo!)

Harley with an award he received after helping his mom with an MS fund-raiser!

We are also going to grab Mom's plastic card and get a cool tee shirt with the Hike N Howl logo on it! Check them out! Aren't they great!?!? You can get one, too, and all proceeds go to the Alliance of Northern Breed Rescues!

Please follow some of the links we posted to learn more about this great fund-raiser and how you can get involved! Good luck to all three of the rescue groups and to the hikers themselves -- and for those of you within driving distance of Norristown, PA, have a wonderful time at the Hike N Howl. Oooh, hey... maybe our friends at Team Husky are going? Hey, Summer and Prince? Would you be willing to pick us up in your jet? Are we on the way from New Zealand to Pennsylvania?

To all of the great volunteers involved in the Hike N Howl - Harnessed to Hope Northern Breed Rescue, MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue, and the Delaware Valley Siberian Husky Rescue - for raising funds and caring for pups in need, for putting on such a fun, educational event, and for ALL you do, we salute you!

The Army of Four

PS: Go, Harley, GO!

Search Engine!

Hey pups! It's me - Zim! Our friends at the MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue have come up with a great way we can all help raise money for homeless Siberians! Just by using this search engine:

they will receive money for their rescue group! That's right! Every time you click there and use the search engine, they will receive a penny. On the surface, it might not seem like a huge amount, but those pennies add up over time! And how many internet searches do you do every week? Here at Ao4 Headquarters, we do oodles! Why not let those searches help out a great cause?!!?

We're going to try to upload the cool graphic and link to our sidebar, but I'm not having good fortune in that area right now. I have a few things to do, then I'll give it another go at it.

Is that cappuccino?

OK... now I'm ready to go help Mom do the watering out back and check on my magic bean vines!

It's exhausting work, but somepuppy has to do it.

A little more on the Dwarf Fountain Grasses!

Have a great day, everypup - and remember to do some searching to raise money for MaPaw!

Play bows,
Zim

Morning Walk - Storm and Dave Detective Service

Ha roo, pups! Storm here! In order to somewhat "beat the heat" here, we've been doing our morning walk earlier in the day. As Dave explained back in January, in the mornings, Dad usually runs the redheads, then he and I help Mom find them! It's really cool. Well, as cool as something can get when it's hot and humid outside. Ha roo roo roo.

Here we are from a couple mornings ago, coming down the hill near the entrance to the trail:

Dave on the left, me on the right.

As you can see, my fuzzy undercoat looks great - the guard hairs just haven't come back yet! I sure do feel good these days, though!

When we got to the entrance to the trail, Dave said he thought he saw them coming. I was doing something important, so he was the first to spot them.

Storm! We found them! Here they come!

Great. Hey, look, there's a bug on the sidewalk!

Mom could barely see them, but she has learned to believe us when we say someone's coming. She took a shot down the trail with the camera:

Can you see Dad and the redheads coming!?!?

Here they are!

Zim, Dad and Ammy

We did find them! We're so good at this!

I hope all of you are getting your exercise in while it's (relatively) cool and have as much fun on your walks or runs as we do!

Tail wags,
Stormy

Haik-Woo #1

Woo, it's me - Dave. I thought it was time to share another of my Haik-woo with you. This is actually the first one I wrote. I'd like to send it out to our good friend Maya Marie's sister, Missy. I give you ... Haik-woo #1.

I have no doubts that Missy shares my sentiments.

Luv,
Dave

Leopole the Bold

Ha roo, pups, it's me - Stormy! Our friend Louka left a comment for us the other day in reference to a certain cartoon character the boys thought I resemble. He was really kind and said, "Oh and Stormy, don't worry about the comparison that Dave made. That other character is really cool! I mean look at him, he's omnipresent! Being everywhere at once is really cool! Oh and I met him in real life too and I wanted to go say hello, but for some reason mommy objected. He looked really nice, though." Isn't Louka sweet? He really helped bail the boys out, if you ask me. And too bad he didn't get to meet the real you-know-who up close and person - uh, Siberianal! I don't know why his mom wouldn't let him!

That story reminded me that a couple Springs ago, we had a little visitor in our yard. I love little puppies and other fuzzy things and have a very strong maternal instinct and I thought he looked like a sweet little kitten or something and please, oh, please, can't I bring him in and raise him as my own? Here he is on the retaining wall by our Snowball bush.

Mom followed him around and took some pictures. Here he is, after he made his way down the wall.

Hi! Do you know Stormy? She said I could live here!

For some reason, like Louka's mom, our mom wouldn't let me adopt or even play with this wee little babe. We named him Leopole the Bold. Sadly for me, Mom and Dad hired an Animal Control Officer who put some humane "live traps" in our yard; he caught little Leopole after a few days and released him out in the country where he'd previously released the mama and other babies he caught next door.

I don't see what the harm would have been to let me raise him as my very own.

Tail wags,
Stormy