Carpe Monday!

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  I know it's Monday, but that doesn't mean you can't find something you love...

... and grab hold of it!

It'll change your whole outlook!

As they say, "Carpe Diem!"  Or in my case...

...Carpe Mr. Squee Key Moose!

Isn't Monday better already?

Luv,
Dave

Serene Scenery Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, here with Serene Scenery Sunday!  This week, I thought we'd take a look around Headquarters and see what there is to see.  Ready to get started?

The buds on Red Bud Trees out front are about ready to pop open.

Red Bud Buds

Aren't they pretty? With the warm weather we had yesterday and have today, I should have a great update for you REAL soon, full of beautiful purple blooms.

There's not much else going on out front. Let's have a look around the side yard.

"Hey, any kit-cats out here?"

I don't see any of my friends right now, so let's get back to what's in bloom.  Can you see the red down by the bottom of the fence?  That's Texas Quince.  Mom wasn't happy with how her pix of those came out and will try again.  I'll keep you posted on that, too.

The Mohican Viburnum are just off-camera to my left. They are ready to bloom:

Mohican Viburnum buds

Pretty soon, the bushes will be full of nice, crisp white blooms.

Down in the rock bed under the Purple Ash tree are a bunch of Purple Emperor Sedum.

Purple Emperor Sedum

Tune in next month to SEE-DEM in bloom. Ha roo roo roo!

"Maude?  Is that you?  I heard you meowing out loud over there!"

I know the bully cat is over there somewhere.

"Wowzers!  That's some pile of litter they had delivered for her!"

Want a close-up of the blooms on Maude the Bully Cat's tree while I'm over there?

Ornamental fruit blooms

It's pretty AND drops yummy-tasting fruit all over the place!

Let's head out back; for some reason, the mere mention of that fruit makes Mom start feeling not-quite-so-serene. Something about Dave... snarfing... tummy aches... smooshed fruits on the carpet... I have no idea.

The Juddi Viburnum is also about ready to burst:

Juddi Viburnum buds

This is a large shrub that sits right next to our lower deck. We can smell the blooms when they open; they're really sweet and fragrant! Mom can't wait for them to open!

Here are the tops of some of the branches on our White Ash Tree by our deck:

White Ash Tree

No leaves yet, but they'll be out soon. Aren't the squiggly ends of the branches cool? We have no idea why it's doing that this year! I also dig that blue Kansas sky!!!

That's about all I've got for you this week. I hope looking around our gardens brought you some serenity. I'll keep my eye out for more blooms...

...and will be sure to keep you posted!

Keep it serene!

Play bows,
Zim

It's Saturday

Woo, everypup and everycat, it's me - Dave! And you know what day it is...

"IT'S SATURDAY!!!"

That's right - Saturday!!!  And you know what that means!  Time to kick back...

...and relax!

Have a great one!

Luv,
Dave

Photo Finish Friday: Haik-Woo #43

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me - Dave.  For Photo Finish Friday this week, we couldn't decide what to post.  I thought Zim was going to post more pix of our walks (we've been going on an awful lot of forced road marches -- I mean really nice, long walks lately) but Zim had another idea.

"How about you post your latest Haik-Woo, Dave?"

He wanted me to show you my new Haik-Woo!  He's just the best, most supportive kid brother a guy could ask for!  Oh... he was re-reading a card we got in the mail from Huffle Mawson and her family.  The envelope has really cool military fighter plane stamps on it!  The card was nice, too.

Anyway, I thought I'd go with his idea to share my latest Haik-Woo.*  I'm dedicating this one to my mom, from her Guide Dog for the Color Blind.

I can't wait to get into the Studio and get to work!

Luv,
Dave

*Note:  Many of you are familiar with the Japanese haiku: three lines, 17 syllables total of non-rhyming verse -- 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the middle, and 5 in the last. Haik-Woo is similar, only the last word of that third line has to be my favorite word - "woo". It's very challenging to get your point across descriptively yet briefly. And that's why Haik-Woo is quite the art form.

Mr. Squee Kee Moose

Woo, everypup and everycat! It's me, Dave! There was a little confusion on Zim's post from yesterday. That toy he had looks a lot like his new blue camo collar and leash ... BUT Mom did not make it! It was a gift from our very beautiful and kind friends Mochi and Bali and their mom! (Their mom is beautiful and kind, too!) Here he is, playing with it:

Zim and the cool blue camo toy

You can't tell from the photo, but it makes a really nice SQUEAK!  Zim doesn't play with many toys, so it made Mom really happy to see him play with this. It made me happy, too ... because I got to play with one of the other toys they sent!!!

Me and Mr. Moose

It's my friend, Mr. Squee Key Moose. Can you see him OK? Here he ... oh, wait!

"Are you looking at my moose?!?!"

I don't like the way Zim's looking at him!

"MINE!!!"

Just kidding. Mom says we're very good about sharing.

If you'd like to see a very short video of me and Mr. Moose in action, and to hear him SQUEAK, please click here.

Your comments did get Mom thinking ... and I think I might be trying out some home-made squeaky toys before too long!!!  Woo, way to go, everypup!!!

Luv,
Dave

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows,
Zim

Walk to the Kansas Ocean!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me - Zim!  To celebrate our cool day yesterday, we did lots of walking.  Well, OK, we would have done lots of walking anyway ... but Dave and I really liked that chill being back in the air!  In the afternoon, we walked and walked and walked - and guess where we ended up?  Oh... right.  The title of the post gave it away, didn't it?

Here we are, on the sidewalk boardwalk by the Kansas Ocean!

"I see ducks out there, Dave!"
"The sun's in my eyes, Zim!"

We walked along the ocean for a little while, then turned to head back. Instead of going back the way we came, we decided to go up this path that goes to the water tower -- you know, the area I showed you yesterday!  How cool!

Here I am, way out ahead of everyone:

"I wonder where that gate leads?"

Pretty soon, the prairie grasses will be real long in there and the bugs will be back in force and Mom won't think it's a great idea to go that way -- so we made the most of it!

Here are me and Dave, heading up the hill:

Oh, I know what you're thinking -- "Kansas doesn't have hills." Oh, trust me ...

Me and my shadow

...we've got hills!

Here's Dave, heading into the curve:

Mom likes how Dave is sort of curved to match the path. Whatever.

Near the top, you can look over the edge down into a culvert. If I was a coyote, which I'm not, despite what some people might think, that's where I'd hang out.

"Ha roo down there!  Is any-coyote home?!?"

When we reached the water tower, Mom shot a pic of one of her favorite signs around town.

Apparently, there is a shortage of dictionaries at city hall. Ha roo roo roo!

Anyway, we sure had a great walk! Hope you enjoyed coming along with us.

Play bows,
Zim

Repeat!

Ha roo, pups and kit-cats!  It's me, Zim!  Did everyone have a good weekend?  We had a blast.  Well... kind of literally yesterday, as it was windy even by Kansas standards.  When Dad got back from yesterday's round of the golf tournament, once again he and Mom thought we should all go on another walk together!  This time, Mom remembered the iPhone.

Here I am, ready to head out:

"C'mon!  Let's get this party started!"

We headed up to the water tower area. Mom and Dad didn't want to take us too far because even though there was a lovely breeze blowing (well... actually 40 mph wind gusts...), it was warm! We had record-breaking temps - our official high was 92°F (33.3°C).  Dave and I aren't used to that yet! We were OK with a shorter walk - there are GREAT sniffing opportunities by the water tower!

"I smell coyotes!"

We hear the coyotes at night; I think the water tower area is one of their stomping grounds! Mom does a lot of that funny "ZimmieGetYourSnooterOutOfThere!" thing when we're up there. I have no idea what that's all about.

Here we are coming down the home stretch:

Dave and me

As you can see, Dave was ready to hit the water bowl!  I admit, we got pretty hot out there.  When we got home, it was all we could do to grab a quick drink, race around doing zoomies for a bit, then get some of this in:

"ZZzzzz...."

Never fear! After we all had dinner, we were ready to entertain Mom and Dad for a while.

The Dave and Zim Show

Mom's zoomie shots aren't the best, but you get the idea!

I hope your weekend was as fun as ours!  Oh!  And the really great thing is that those 40 mph wind gusts brought in a cold front last night!  The winds are still cranking out like crazy - but it's 40°F (4.4°C) now!  Ahhhh.... much better!  ...at least me and Dave think so!

Play bows,
Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday: Saturday Re-Cap!

Woo, everybody!  It's me - Dave.  Yesterday, I told you about our big plans for the day and about our new quilt.  Since it was all so very serene, I thought I'd post a re-cap of the day's events today!  I was REALLY helpful to Mom all day long, so I've got lots of this on film.  Are you ready?

OK!  The quilt first!  It's just a nice, poofy "throw" for us guys!  It's got flannel on one side, with cool scenes of sled dogs and polar bears and arctic foxes and stuff.

Me.  Dave.  On our new quilt.

It's so comfy! I just love it! It sets off my blue eyes real nice, too, doesn't it? Oh... but it is for both of us.  Here was Zim's first reaction to it:

"Oh, yeah!  I totally dig this!"

The other side is a really cool wolf print:

The flip side!

I like that side, too! It's not flannel, it's a polished cotton. Umm... you know. In case you were wondering.

Anyway, the day started with breakfast and a nice, long walk with Mom:

"Almost home, Zim!"

Dad is in a golf tournament this weekend, or he would have joined us! Go, Dad, go!

When we got home, we did zoomies and got treats, then did some of this:

"Dibs on the new quilt!"

Before I knew it, Dad was home and it was time for lunch. After that, Dad said since it was so nice, how about we all go for a walk together!? It was great. Mom forgot her camera, but we had a great time and walked a really, really long time!  Zim and I got big drinks when we got home, then we headed downstairs. Zim hopped in the bathtub for a snooze (don't ask...) and I went to work in the Studio.

Guide Dog for the Color Blind, hard at work!

Mom was going to use sort of a medium blue for the binding on that big quilt. Seriously!  Did she think I was sleeping?!?!? I got up and told her that was NOT the right choice!  I chose the navy with red and tan stars (it's the border for the block third from the right in the bottom row -- can you see it?).  Much better.  (I've had a lot of input into this quilt from the very beginning!)  (Oh... and yes, it's taken Mom a while...)

I let her get that put together, then we all went upstairs.

"What are we going to do now, Mom?"

Oh. See my Eukanuba bandana? It was in the Studio. I asked if I could put it on and Mom let me. Woo.

Mom said it was time to make dinner, so I did some snoozing. After that, it was time to watch the basketball tournament!

"You're on the furniture?  Are you sure you're comfy up there?!?"

Sadly, we're not allowed on the living room furniture.

Since Mom didn't cave and come sit on the floor with me, I decided maybe a little serenade was in order.

"Wooooo!!!"

Zim joined me for a while, too. It was really beautiful! Mom must have really liked it, because before I knew it, we were doing this:

"How about 'deli'?  Did you do that one yet?"

I multi-tasked:  snuggled and helped Mom with her word game.  I mean, Siberian Huskies are working breed pups!

Isn't that the best way to spend the day?!?  I hope today is just as serene for all of you!

Luv,

Dave

Saturday's Plans

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me - Dave.  Anyone have big plans for Saturday?  Me and Zim are going to do some of this:

Me, Dave, out on a walk.  Zim is off-camera.

And a little more of that...

"Hey Dave, this is great fun, isn't it?"

Then do some zoomies (Mom didn't shoot any good zoomie shots) and some of this:

The Z-man catching some Zs

Me, Dave

Don't you think I need a new quilt to cover that bed? I mean, I really like our cool Army quilt, but it's not quite big enough. Well, never fear! Mom made us a new one. We tested it out last night and gave it the Siberian Husky seal of approval!  We'll show it to you tomorrow!

Do any of you have big plans for the weekend?  I think it's time for a treat and another nap.

Luv,
Dave

Photo Finish Friday

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me - Dave - here with Photo Finish Friday!  Today's post was inspired by a comment left on my Wordless Wednesday post this week.  Our pal Marvin ... No, wait...  Marvin's mom mum ...err... A friend in the UK said, "Ha ha ha! Dave reminds me of that poster from the First World War, with Lord Kitchener, pointing at the crowds and saying 'Your Country Needs You!'. Dave cracks me up totally!"

Hmm...  Lord Kitchener.  Do you remember the poster?  Here it is:

How cool is that!??!  I had Mom make a few changes to my photo from Wordless Wednesday. Check it out:

Do you like my mustache?  I thought that was a good touch.

That's a wrap for Photo Finish Friday.  Thanks for the inspiration, friends!

Luv,
Dave