Photo Finish Friday - More From Keats!

...the town, not the poet.

Ha roo, pups and cool cats, it's me, Zim!  Thanks for all the kind words on the post yesterday!  I just had a blast in Keats and was happy to have some Autumn-y pix to share with you.  Today I'll share more of our adventure with you!

Without further ado, here's our favorite photo from the day:

Yes, to those who are wondering, I was staring at the squirrel across the street. I didn't really feel like looking at the camera (or even facing the camera), but Mom was happy with the shots she got!

Now... remember when I was cutting across that field?  I told you that I saw some rather odd things?  Well, check this out!!!

"Great Dane in the morning!"

Can you believe that?!?!  A Sea Serpent - right there in the middle of Keats Park!!!  How bizarre is that?!?!  I don't know the town of Keats very well, but I've never heard mention of an ocean there, so I'm not sure how this guy ended up where he is.  Maybe there used to be one, long, long ago or something.  (Dave showed me a map one time after I discovered the Tuttle Creek Dam Ocean, so I think I need to consult that again.  It clearly showed sea serpents!)

Anyway, I showed no fear of him ... then saw a guy I remembered from my last time in Keats! I had to go say "ha roo"!

"You haven't changed at ALL!"

He still looked great.  It's so nice to catch up with old friends!

Anyway... Mom also did a little vignette-thingie around that first pic I showed you.  Let's wrap up Photo Finish Friday with that, OK?

Mom can't decide which version she likes best!

Have a great weekend!

Play bows,

Zim

Autumn in Keats

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  Dave and I thought it was pretty cool that so many of you knew exactly who we were looking at in yesterday's picture -- Maude, the Bully Cat!  Mom didn't see her, but she was lurking around over there.  Dave and I always know!  I was hoping she'd come over, but she must have been otherwise engaged.

Anyway, so yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny Autumn day here in Kansas.  Late in the morning, Mom asked me if I'd like to go on a little adventure - just her and me!  She didn't need to ask twice -- especially once she touched the car keys!  I LOVE going for rides!  She grabbed the Nikon, too, so I knew we were going to do some "getting out and walking", too.  Ha roo!

We headed out to the neighboring town of Keats!  I hadn't gone exploring there in quite a while, so I was all kinds of excited!  We pulled into their park and got out for some adventure.  There were all kinds of interesting smells all over the place!  I led us over to a path that goes all around the perimeter of the park -

"Look at that cool path!   Let's do some exploring!"

Mom was all excited about how beautiful the trees were.  Frankly, the more she stopped to admire everything, the better it was for me!  I got tons of snoofing in!

"Squirrel!"

I also spotted a squirrel across the street, but Mom wouldn't let me go make friends with him. Maybe next time!

We crossed a big, open field before too long:

"Hey... what's that over there?!?!"

While I was out there, I spotted some rather odd things; I'll share those with you in an upcoming post!

We turned back at some point; Mom wanted to do a photo shoot of yours truly under those pretty trees near the start of our walk. I was happy to do a couple poses for her.

Here's my cool look:

And here's my "I see that squirrel again!" look:

I'll share our favorite one with you tomorrow!

I hope you enjoyed going to Keats with us!  Are you having nice Autumn weather, too?  I hope you get to go out and do some cool exploring!

Play bows,
Zim

Wordless Wednesday

Luv and play bows,
Dave and Zim

Great Idea for Today's Post!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  I had a great idea for today's post... and then...

...it's gone! My great idea. It just ... got zapped right out of my head!

I have no idea what I was going to write. I asked Dave if he remembered -

"Wait ... it's coming to me..."

... but he couldn't come up with it, either.

I guess this is a post about nothing.

Play bows,

Zim

Weekend in Review

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  Dave and I had quite the busy weekend.  We had beautiful weather -- in the 70s and lots of sunshine -- so we filled our days with lots of walkies physical training (PT),  hanging out on the deck  guarding the house from our outpost, playing and doing zoomies  inside PT, tooling Mom out of treats  chow call, and then a little recreation!

I decided to kick back and watch a little football yesterday afternoon!  The KC Chiefs had the late afternoon game, which fit in perfectly with my schedule.  I did my best to cheer them on!

I must have done a good job, because they stomped the Oakland Raiders 28-0. (Sorry to any Oakland fans out there!)  We had watched a bunch of college games on Saturday, so I was in good practice. Most of our teams won then, too. Maybe all of them. I can't remember.

And of course, let's not forget the World Series!  Dave and I had to keep tabs on how that's going.

"Are the Rangers doing good?  I can't look!"

Dave gets pretty wrapped up in his Texas sports teams!  (And he must have been a good watcher, too, 'cuz the Rangers WON!  The series is all tied up at 2-2!!!)

So... that's our weekend in review.  A mighty busy one.  We might need to rest up a bit today.

Play bows,

Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  I hope the following pix will help you find that inner zen!

A few weeks ago, I helped Mom plant two big bunches of Mums by the mailbox.

"Yeah!  Those look great!"

Should we see how they're doing now?

Here's the bunch that faces Fluffy Black's house:

Oooh! A bug! Is that ...

...Mothra? Ha roo roo roo - just kidding!

Here is the bunch that faces Maude the Bully Cat's house:

Mom apparently thought they were the same when she bought them. For the record, she took Dad shopping with her, not Dave, Guide Dog For The Color Blind. 'Nuf said!

Oh, and remember the rocks Mom and Dad put in the garden last weekend? Well, in that kind of pink and terra cotta grouping, there is a small boulder called "Moss Creek Sandstone". Check out this close-up!

Isn't that cool?  Mom and Dad really like that one!

That's all I've got for you this week.  I hope these photos will help you have a serene Sunday!

Play bows,
Zim

Big Shoes To Fill

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  I keep meaning to show you these pictures so you can help me figure this out.  See... a couple weeks ago, the guy in the brown truck brought a package for us.  Mom said it was new shoes for Dad and Dad was all excited and stuff.  Only ... he left them in the dining room and ... well ... check this out!

"How come Dad needs 4 shoesies?"

They must be for me, don't you think?  Unless Dad's planning to become a quadruped?  (Ha woo.)  They wouldn't come close to fitting Zim - his feety-feet are smaller than mine.  So ... I guess they're for me.  On the one hand, at least my feety-feet won't get wet.  On the other hand ...

... I have some really big shoes to fill. So to speak.

I think this calls for a nap.

Luv,
Dave

Fun With Photos Friday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  Just a quick photo Mom did with PhotoShop Elements for you and some captions!

"You know what that is out there, don't you, Zim?!?"
"Yeah!  The start of the weekend!"
"I was thinking it was the new driveway."
"That, too."

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Luv,

Dave

Things That Make You Go "Hmm"

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  Yesterday's picture was me spotting my friend Fluffy Black Cat -- sometimes it's hard to tell her and Maude the Bully Cat apart in photos, but no, it was Fluffy Black.  She's a real sweet kit-cat; I always like seeing her!  But anyway, all this talk about my cat friends reminded me of a photo Dad took and showed us.

He goes to all the Kansas State University home football games - you know, the Wildcats?  Anyway ... umm ... well, just take a look at this!

Hmm....

Talk about the ultimate walk-in closet!  Who knew!!?!!

Play bows,

Zim

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows,
Zim

Special Kansas Fabric!

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave - Guide Dog for the Color Blind.  Mom and I got some VERY special fabric in a week or so ago that I keep meaning to tell you about.  It was designed by a really famous guy named Jason Yenter - and it was made JUST for specially participating Kansas quilt shops!  We were really excited, because we LOVE Jason Yenter's designs!  Before she put it in the wash, Mom had me and Zim pose with it.

Zim and me!

Look at how perfectly attentive we both are! BOTH of us at the same TIME! Isn't that remarkable?!?

"I'm only in it for the Stinky Goodness Treats!"
"Roger that, Zim!"

I understand.  He's not as into fabric as Mom and me.  After those nice poses, Mom gave us treats and Zim went off to do zoomies and stuff.  Me?  Oh... umm...

"I totally dig this, Mom!"

I can't help it.  Jason designed it to celebrate the Kansas sesquicentennial celebration --  150th birthday!  We're going to have to make something REALLY special with this!

Luv,

Dave

Tapped Out Monday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me - Zim!  Oh, Dave and I aren't tapped out!  In fact, it got chilly last night -- into the 40s (8-ish C) -- and us boys are ready to GO!!!  Mom and Dad are a bit tuckered out, though.  Despite us helping a LOT, they're zapped from working on a big landscape project.

It started before our driveway was ripped out.  There is a garden bed that runs the length of the drive - it was filled with a Mugho or Mugo Pine gone wild, and three Crimson Pigmy Barberry Bushes.  Dad dug up the pine before the driveway was taken out - click here to see where it used to be (check the first picture  in that post).  It was overgrown and the roots were doing bad things and ... let's just say the Mugo had to go-go!

 In better days, the bed in question looked like this:

Ahh! Those were the days! But so anyway... Dad dug up the Mugo and then two of the Barberries, and he and Mom removed the egg rock/river rock that served as the base of the bed. They smoothed it all out with shovels and rakes and stuff - it was a MESS out there! Oddly, Dave and I had to snoopervise from inside the house. It was exhausting work for us, as you can imagine!

When I went rock shopping with Mom the other day, we were actually on a scouting mission for rocks for that bed! Yesterday morning, Mom smoothed some more, then started laying fabric over the bed!

Mom seems to have a "thing" for fabric, doesn't she? Ha roo roo roo! This was landscape fabric, though; it's used as a weed barrier.  Oh, and Mom said if you want to meet everyone in your neighborhood, go outside wearing a dirty, raggedy sweatshirt, shorts, Crocs kneepads, garden gloves, legs and feet all muddy, and 15 mph winds with 30 mph gusts to style your hair -- apparently you are guaranteed to see everyone who lives in a 5 mile radius.

Anyway, over lunch, I heard Dad say that they were going to head back to the rock place to go get rocks!!! REALLY?!?!? Oh, I wanted to go soooooo badly! Mom said "bipeds only" this trip and reminded me of this sign at the rock place:

Very funny, Mom! My new girlfriend had the day off anyway, so I didn't miss much.

Mom and Dad were really excited when they got home and spent lots more time out there with shovels and rakes and Dad's muscles - it's a good thing Dave and I were able to help by watching them out the front windows! Before we knew it, Mom said, "C'mon, boys! I have something to show you!"

We headed out there and wowzers! It was all so different! Here's Dave down at the bottom where the Mugo-a-go-go was:

Mom and Dad (mostly Dad) had moved that egg rock/river rock onto a tarp, cleaned it off, then put it back in the "new" bed.

Further up toward the house, they put in more of the cool boulders they bought:

"I really like the depth of color in these ones!"

That kind of blue/green stuff on the lawn is grass patch stuff where the Mugo killed the grass.  We're just at the very season-end of where you can seed your lawn - we're hoping it will take!

Here's an over-all shot:

Come Spring, Mom said she's going to nestle pots of plants in there with the rock chunks.

They bought one more rock - a chunk of limestone. It's up on the porch; can you see it? Let's take a closer look!

Now that's what I'M talking about!!! That's worth posing with!

I let Mom and Dad sleep in until 0530 this morning, since they've been working so hard.  Yeah, that is sleeping in for me.  Hey - they're the ones who named me after a Drill Sergeant!  Ha roo roo roo!

I hope you enjoyed seeing Mom and Dad's latest project!

Play bows,
Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  I've gone back through some photos Mom took throughout the course of the week to bring you the ones I thought looked most serene-like.  Ready?

Mom worked long and hard to get me and Zim to pose in front of the Mums this week. This is the best one she got:

Zim and the Mums

Yeah. Given that this one was second-best ...

Zim and me

...you might have a good idea of how helpful we were being! Ha woo. We had fun. That's part of that whole "serenity thing" anyway, isn't it?

Zim got to go to Anneberg Park for the first time in a long time. While there, he saw some of his goose friends:

"Come to me, Gooses!"

He said that they had been WAY over on the other side of the Anneberg Ocean when he got there, but he went near the shoreline and lured them over like he does. (I still have NO idea how he does that!) Just when they were almost there, some people went, "Oh, look! The geese!" and came running over. The geese wanted to see ZIM, not the people. Party crashers!  They scared Zim's friends off!

Anyway... we've also been having lots of fun hanging out on our deck. It's very serene out there - especially if Mom is grilling! Here are some cool Lomo Camera effects Mom did of me and Zim:

Me!  Lomo camera effect via PSE9
Oh... and Dad's feety-feet in the background

Zim!  Lomo Camera effect via BeFunky iPhone app

Well, that's about all I have for you today. I hope you have a nice, easy Sunday. Before you go, though ...

"Tummy rub, please?!?"

Thanks.

Luv,
Dave

Snoozy Saturday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  It's been a VERY busy week around here, so I think we should all do a lot of this today:

Seriously. Repeat several times today. Trust me - I'm a professional!

Luv,
Dave

Let's Go Shopping!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me - Zim!  At first I thought it was rather odd that Mom invited me to go shopping with her yesterday, but Mom was looking for a place way out in the boonies that we'd never been to -- obviously I was along to navigate.  (As some of you may remember, my mom could get lost inside a lunch-sized paper bag, so one of my duties is Navigation!)  We found the place without too much trouble and got out to look around.

Mom was all kinds of excited and said she'd found exactly the place she and Dad were looking for. I was a little concerned about her, since all I saw was a bunch of rocks.

I mean ... rocks. And ...

"Most peculiar!"

... I'm not sure. But it was a GREAT place to explore!

We went into a little office and met a very nice lady named Tara who showed us around.

Did I mention she gives really nice ear scratchies? I sure liked her! She said she could help Mom find just what she was after - and had a special surprise for me, too. Really?!?! For me?

We walked around some more ...

"Hmm..."

Tara said it would be OK if I went in there.  Ha roo roo roo!

She showed Mom a billion different rocks of all shapes and sizes and kinds and then ... THEN ...

"Ha roo!"

She was the "surprise" my new friend Tara mentioned.  I can't remember her name, but WOWZERS, was she sweet!!!  We play bowed and stuff and then she showed me all over the place!

"Oh, come smell this, Zim!"

It was the BEST shopping trip I've EVER been on; we had a blast exploring everything together!  Too soon, it was time to head home, so my new Golden friend and I said our good-byes.

Oh, I know what you're thinking. It looks like she's giving me a kiss, doesn't it?  Well, I'm NOT going to tell!  That's between us!

Mom and Dad will be going back to buy some rocks very soon.  I sure hope I get to go with them!!!

Play bows,
Zim