For the Birds

Tail wags, pups and kittens, it's me, Stormy. We're a bit behind posting today because of some small 's' storms in our area. I don't care for small 's' storms, but fortunately they haven't been too severe. Even so, thunder and lightning are for the birds.

Speaking of birds, Mom learned a new "trick" in her PhotoShopElements class - using a clipping mask as a frame. She took some of her bird photos and framed them using the technique. I thought I'd share those with you.

Here's a little robin:

Robin on our roof

To get the full effect, you might want to click any of the photos to go to FlickR, then hit "all sizes" to see them larger.

Here's a little schputzie:

Sparrow on our fence

And here are a couple of a cardinal:

Cardinal on our wire

I love this one:

"Lalalalalala...."

Oh, and just so you don't think this technique is strictly for the birds...

Me. Stormy.

All puns encouraged by Amber. Ha roo roo roo!

I think the thunder and lightning are past us - time for a walk!

Tail wags,

Storms

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows,
Zim

Fun With a Friend

Woo everypuppy and everycat. It's me, Dave. Mom's been tricking me lately when we're out in the yard playing. Instead of doing the Tuggy-Tug Game between rounds of Fetch, she sneaks two of my toys out there and entices me with one so I drop the other. I can't help it - I fall for it every time.

"Mom... do you have my Squeaky Husky Friend behind your back?

OK... here's my Squeaky Tennis Ball..."

That's pretty much how it goes until I get really, really to where I've had a ton of fun, then Mom lets me have both toys.

"I'm just hanging out with my squeaky friends!"

That's the husky toy Mochi gave me. It's currently my very favorite toy and I won't let anything bad happen to him. Except for some dampness and pollen and grass stains. Woo.

"Did you want to say something, Squeaky Husky Friend?"

Here... let me help you...

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!"

I love it when he says that!

I hope you all get to do something fun today!

Luv,
Dave

Zim's Stinky Goodness Jerky Treats

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me, Zim! I thought we'd kick off the work week a little differently and post a recipe! It might seem like an unusual recipe, and it's one we've considered not posting, but in case it might help anypup or anykitty out there -- let's go!

How many of you are on restricted diets? Oh, I don't mean you have an evil mom like ours who doesn't let you have all the cheese and popcorn and coffee you want - I mean a restricted, prescription diet, as per your vet's orders? Can I see a show of paws? Don't be shy, hold 'em up. Yeah, that's what I thought. Many of you. Well, due to some health conditions (nothing to worry about, I'm fine, blah blah blah), I am on a very restricted diet, and eat a prescription food. Often there are no treats to go along with prescription diets - to include mine.

We all know snacking is very important! And a couple pieces of your dry prescription kibble is an OK treat ... but not all that exciting! (Especially for those of you with pack-mates who still get cookies!) My mom and Dad came up with some ideas that might help you fill in the snack gap! I'll be leading you through the recipe for my favorite treats - a little something we call Zim's Stinky Goodness Jerky Treats! Ready for the recipe? Here we go!

First step, grab a couple CANS of your prescription food, pop 'em open, and slide the food out whole.

Sort of like jellied cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving! Next, get one of those cheese slicers with a wire cutting thingie on it.

Slice the canned food into thin slices. Maybe 1/8 of an inch? Thin. This is about the stage where your biped will understand why they're called Zim's Stinky Goodness Treats. Ha roo roo roo! This prescription food isn't HALF as stinky as the one I tried out first! Ha roo roo roo!

But I digress...

Next, you want to get a Stinky Goodness Machine. Ours was at that Bed, Bath and Beyond place, but they're everywhere, disguised under the name "Food Dehydrator". Go figure. Cut the slices in half-moon pieces and line those babies up in the Stinky Goodness Machine. Two cans will fill a 4-tiered machine, if you cut the way we do.

For the record, my dad, the bestest dad in the world, came up with the idea of getting a Stinky Goodness Machine. I think it was right after Mom tried baking some of my treats in the oven. Wow, the whole HOUSE smelled like Stinky Goodness! It was GREAT!

Anyway, for some reason, my mom puts the Stinky Goodness Machine outside on the screened-in part of the deck.

I have no idea why. We can't smell it out there!

Cook your treats on the high temperature (for jerky) for a couple hours, until they are as crunchy as you'd like them - or even just to the leathery stage! Just keep checking them - a lot depends on your humidity, how thick your slices are, and the exact kind of prescription food you're on.

"Are they done yet? Are they done yet? Are they done yet?"

Once done to your satisfaction and cooled, store in a tightly sealed container in the magic cold box. Mom said that "tightly sealed" part is really important. I have no idea why.

Oooh, doesn't that look great?!!? All that's left now is to do some taste-testing!

"I ❤❤❤ Zim's Stinky Goodness Jerky Treats!"

Mom also makes other treats for me using the kibble. I'll post the recipe for those another time! Also, the people who make my prescription food gave my vet a list of some people food that I can have in very small quantities. Rice and green peas are on the list - that's how we came up with my sushi Kansas Rolls! I love those! Also thankfully, bananas are on the list, so I can still stand Banana Formation with everySibe!

I hope this helps some of you out there!

Play bows,

Zim

PS: Note from the mom of the Ao4: Any derogatory comments aimed at Hills or other pet food companies will be deleted. That would not be helpful, nor is it relevant to this blog post. Thank you for understanding.

Super Secret Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats, it's me, Zim, here with my bestest friend Huffle Mawson, for another installment of Super Secret Sunday! As you may know, Huffs is paying a super secret visit to us here at Ao4 HQs while her mom and dad are off galavanting around the world. Or somewhere. They think Huffle is back home in Australia with Uncle Heath, but the secret is she's here with us! (To review, you can read parts one, two, and three at those links.) Also to review - mum's the word on this, OK?

This week, we've just been having a blast! Mom has a hard time getting pix of us all doing zoomies together, but we've done lots of that - plus something Huffs calls "Thundering Herd of Elephants". I like that one a lot!

Here's Dave, getting a drink after a rousing game:

"Hey Huffle Mawson. Is that a stuffed mousie? Can I see him for a minute?"

"Umm... I'm not sure, Davy. Is today Shredurday?"

Ha roo roo roo! I'd be worried about that, too. Mom put Huffle's mousie away and she (Huffs) decided to go explore the garden with Ammy instead of playing in the house. Here they are, over along the southern perimeter:

"Ammy! Is that Oswald over there?!?!"

"Where, Huffs????"

I love Huffle's camo job! See how she's all blended into the foliage like that?!?! Very cool.

Oh! Speaking of foliage, Huffs and I did some exploring in the garden, too, and we stumbled upon yet another thing we have in common:

"It's an ornamental grass, Huffs. Fountain Grass, I think."

"Very tasty, Zim!"

Nothing like chomping down on some vegetation! Yummers!

Tune in again soon for more of our great visit! And remember - it's super secret!

Play bows,

Zim (and Huffs!)

Shredurday

Ha woo. It's me, everypup and everycat - Dave. Yeah, OK, Ammy helped me with the post title - did you think it was her at first?

Some of you have left comments lately wondering how we can have some toys that are over 5 years old. Well, trust me, not all of them last that long - but most of them do. And why? Because some are designated as "backyard supervised toy only". Meaning Mom has eyes on us the whole time and we're usually actively engaged with her and the toy the whole time. There are some times, though...

"Hey Mom! What's that down there on our fence?"

It was a Cardinal she's been trying to photograph. I told her I'd stay right here and play with my fun Loopie toy.

So while Mom did this:

Cardinal on our fence

...I did this:

"Oooh, I think I've got a little hole started..."

And because Mom's real BIG, hard & fast rule is that we are NOT allowed to swallow toy parts or stuffing...

...I was real careful about that.

"I'll just lay the stuffing over there..."

Mom would have confiscated it if I started eating the stuffing; that can really mess up your tummy-tum and other connected body parts.

I had a blast de-stuffing; I don't do that very often, but it was really fun. And it's actually just a little hole and Mom said the toy is still very usable! Woo!

Happy Shredurday, everybody! Ha woo.

Luv,

Dave

Photo Finish Friday!

Ha roo, pups and kit-cats! It's me, Zim, here with Photo Finish Friday! As the Yammer told you yesterday, we have tons of pix of us to share, so let's get right to it, OK?

For those who have asked, Mom tries to do something special with each one of us during the day. We all love the individual attention. We have play time together, too, but for some reason it's harder for Mom to take photos of that. I have no idea why! Anyway, here are pix of each of us, out having fun during our one-on-one time!

How about some shots of those gorgeous sisters of mine to start with?!? Here's Stormy first, waiting for Mom to catch up with her.

Stormy

That was after a great play session in the yard; Storm was waiting for Mom to open the gate to the deck so she could come in and get a beverage. Doesn't she look happy?!? Speaking of happy, here's Amber!

Ammy

Is her smile contagious, or what?!? Here's another photo of her:

Ammy again

I wonder if she was thinking up something funny to tell us!?! She always busts me up with those silly jokes of hers.

Here's Dave, waiting for Mom to throw a toy. He LOVES toy time!

The Deeve

Here he is, running up from the second tier:

Dave in a cool action shot!

And here he is, striking a pose as he catches his breath:

Dave catching his breath!

Mom loves how shiny his fur looks there. I have no idea why I said that.

Hey, remember last month when Stormy mentioned my Calico Cat friend? I always look for her when I'm down where I think she lives. She's a bit shy, but I think I'm winning her over. Why do I think so? Well... check out who was on the steps in our side yard the other day!!!

The Calico Cat

Sigh. Isn't she beautiful!!? She sat there and let Mom take a bunch of pictures of her. I was watching from the breakfast room windows. When Mom got in from her photo shoot, I asked her if I could go see the Calico Cat. Sadly, by the time I got out there, she was gone. Here I am, looking for her:

"Calico Kitty?!?! Callie-co? Are you out here?!?! It's me - Zim!"

I'm sure she'll be back, now that she knows the way to our house!

Since I couldn't spend time communing with her, I opted to play some football instead. Here's my cool action shot:

Me, Zim, running with our cool camo football

I hope you enjoyed Photo Finish Friday! Let the weekend begin!

Play bows,

Zim

Fun in the Garden

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me, Ammy! Mom's been taking tons of photos of us out in the garden lately. Before we post the new ones, I have a few for you from a week and a half or so ago. We'll get to the newest ones soon - promise!

I was out just sort of exploring and playing around while Mom snapped away. Here I am, striking a pose up on one of the retaining walls:

It was a beautiful, sunny day, as you can see. I felt really happy.

Me, Ammy, thinking about beautiful things and smiling.

Then Mom backed up to take a farther-away-shot and I ...

"Oooh! Is that a bug?!?!"

Hee hee hee! I couldn't resist. It was just a little bug. Not a grasshopper, it's not time for those yet, but it did remind me of a joke.

"Do you want to hear my joke?"

OK... a grasshopper walks into a bar. The bartender looks at him and says, "Hey! We have a drink named after you!"

The grasshopper gives the bartender a confused look and says, "You have a drink named Bob?"

"Hee hee hee! That one kills me!"

Love,

Ammy

Wordless Wednesday

Tail wags,
Storms

Interesting...

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me - Zim! As many of you know, part of my duties here at Ao4 HQs involves helping Mom run errands. She has a terrible sense of direction and it's up to me to navigate for her. Having said that, sometimes we veer off the beaten path and find all kinds of cool stuff!

Back in the wintertime, when the weather was really great, we found these guys, for example:

"Oh, cool! Pull over, Mom! I want to go play!"

I mean, seriously! Check these guys out!

Does that look like a great place to get out of the car and play or what?!?! Oddly enough, Mom refused to let me go make friends. I'll never understand that kind of thinking!

Anyway, the other day I made a rather interesting discovery! Way back in '07 Dave showed you the place where Moo Cows go to learn how to make butter (follow that link to read Dave's explanation!) and do the other things that cows do. It's the Purebred Beef Teaching Center at K-State, near our vets. Hmm. I had sort of forgotten all about that ... until I was driving around that same vicinity with Mom. Check out what I saw!

The sign reads, "Equine Education Center". And "Be a Part of the Future!"

What?!?! Why would horses need to go to school?!? And what's that "Be a Part of the Future!" thing all about!!?!! Are they planning to take over the world or something?!!? This is interesting, pups and kits. This is verrrrrrrrrrry interesting.

I checked their website and part of it read, "K-State’s equine education center will house classrooms, hands-on laboratories and state of the art workout and performance arenas and stalls...." Wow. Their own gym and everything. What to make of this?!!?

Rest assured I'm going to keep my nose to the ground over this one! I'll keep you posted on any new developments.

Play bows,

Zim

Woo

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me, Ammy! Oh, I know - due to the title of the post, you probably were expecting Davy, since that's his very favorite thing to say and all, but no! It's me! It'll make sense to you shortly!

See... there I was the other day, out playing in the yard with one of my favorite toys. It's almost three years old, but we all still love playing with it. I love pouncing it and running after it when Mom throws it! I don't bring it back, but happily stand back and wait for it to move again.

"I'm watching you like a hawk, Cool Camo Football!!!"

Then I thought about how much everyone seemed to enjoy my jokes last week and I thought I should come up with another one to kick off this week.

"Hmm... a new joke... hmm..."

I was helping Mom play Scrabble the other night and she checked to see if this was a legitimate word:

iPhone screen shot

See where it says, "Woo is a valid word"? Hee hee hee. That gave me the idea for my joke!

"Hee hee hee! This is the perfect joke to tell Davy!"

Are you ready?

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Woo.

Woo who?

Don't get so excited; it's just a joke.

Hee hee hee! Isn't that perfect?!!? Mom didn't get me telling it to Davy on video, but she did interview him about it afterwards. Here's a vid, featuring Davy, Zim and me.

"Woo hoo!" Have a great week! Hee hee hee.

Love,

Ammy

Super Secret Sunday

Tail wags, pups and kittens, it's me, Stormy. Zimmie has already shown you that Huffle Mawson is visiting us from Australia while her parents are on vacation, then showed you photos of Huffs being shown around Ao4 HQs. I thought I'd take the next installment about our secret visitor myself. She is settling in nicely and we've been showing her all around!

To see how she'd do out on a walk, I escorted her myself on the first one. Since Huffle is an honorary husky, she has to be on a leash like the rest of us! Since I have blue camo, Ammy has pink, Dave has desert and Zim has woodland green, we thought it would be cool for Huffle to have purple. Here's a little special effects photo Mom did of that first walk; doesn't Huffle's leash look great on her!!??

Huffle and me (Storms)

We had a great walk together, and by the next day, I thought she was ready to walk with all of us - Mom, Dad and the whole Ao....5. Ha roo roo roo! Dad held all the leashes while we were up by the water tower so Mom could get a picture. Oh - and can you tell? Ammy started cracking jokes!

"Hey, Huffle! Did you hear about the cat who swallowed a ball of yarn? She had mittens! Hee hee hee!!!"

"Umm... good one, Ammy. Hey, Storm, can I walk over there by you?"

"Whoa! Careful, Huffs!"

"Ha roo roo roo... 'mittens'! Yeah, come on over here by me, Huffle!"

There's nothing more enjoyable after a walk than a round of zoomies then to sit out on the deck. We don't have any zoomie pix for you - they were really blurry! - but here's another special effects pic Mom did of Zimmie and Huffle out soaking up the sun.

Zim and Huffs, the bestest of friends

Needless to say, Zimmie looks thrilled to have his bestest friend here, doesn't he?!? We all just love having her here!

We'll post more pix from her visit next Sunday. Now remember - her parents think she's back in Australia with Uncle Heath while they're out galavanting around the globe -- so mum's the word!

Tail wags,

Storms