How To Get My Attention

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave!  So ... yesterday was a sunny, breezy, beautiful day here.  Mom decided it was time for Zim and me to pose in the front yard, in front of the Support Our Troops sign.    That didn't sound like a lot of fun to us guys, so instead of posing, we did this:

Zim was looking for bugs and I was having a nice roll in the cool grass! Mom tried almost everything in her little bag of tricks to get us to pose nicely, but instead, we did more of ...

That grass felt sooooo good! I did a little more rolling:

Zimmie got bored looking for bugs and decided to see if any of his kit-cat friends were in the neighborhood. While he looked around, Mom snapped a profile shot of him.

She was hoping I'd be willing to pose (or at least get up), but I was otherwise engaged... like so:

"Ohhhh.... yeahhhhhh.....!"

It's the next best thing to making snow angels!

Anyway, Mom put Zim back in the house, then she and I came back outside.  She said she had the perfect way to get me to look at the camera.  Ha!  Surrrrrrrrre you do, M--WAIT!

"Is that what I think it is!?!?!"

She had a secret weapon, alright!

"Squeaky Camo Football!!!"

I hadn't played with my Squeaky Camo Football in AGES!  We had such fun playing -- just gently, don't want to over-do -- then I did a tough-guy pose for Mom:

After that, Mom said we could either go on a very short walk or play a little more football.  I couldn't decide which to choose, so ...

...I took my Squeaky Camo Football on our walk!

What a great afternoon!  I hope something equally fun is on tap for today -- for all of us!

Luv,
Dave

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows and luv,
Zim and Dave

Fire Department Headquarters

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  Remember on Friday and Saturday, I showed you some pix from my visit with my goat and sheep friends?  What a great adventure that was!  It didn't end there, though - and I thought I'd show you the rest of my cool adventure today.

Once my friends left to attend their class at KSU, I thought a little exploring was in order.  I suggested to Mom that we cross the street and go over here:

It's the headquarters for our city's Fire Department. I thought I'd stop by, see if the Dalmatian was in, and pay my respects.

I'm assuming they have one -- isn't it a requirement that Dalmatians run Fire Departments?  Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be in - must have been out on a call or something.

I did find a big stretch of honeysuckle vines that just called out for some exploring!

"Wow!  I never knew that!"

There were TONS of great messages in there! It was like a pup version of a library - I learned about all kinds of cool stuff snoofing through the vines!!!

When we got to the end of where the honeysuckle was growing, I saw something else that caught my eye; check it out!

"Wowzers!  What's that?!?"

I wanted to go check it out, but Mom wouldn't let me.  She said it's part of the Fire Department's training equipment.  I'd love to zip up all those stairs and call out a nice, loud "HA ROO!" from the top of the tower, but I guess I'll just have to make do with our cat walk... unless I can meet up with the Dalmatian and get an invite from him!  How cool would that be?

Have a great day, everyone!

Play bows,

Zim

Draw Something

Woo, everypup and everycat. Are any of your bipeds out there playing Draw Something? My mom has a secret weapon now.

"I think it's our turn in game #2, Mom."

Our drawings might not be perfect, but they're colorful!  Woo.

Luv,

Dave

Serene (and Not-So-Serene) Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  I've got some serene pictures to show you today ... and some that really aren't too serene, but Mom went outside to take them anyway.  Let's start with the pleasant ones!

Our rose bush is blooming!

Also in bloom is our Yorktown Snowflower Tree:

Here's a close-up of the "snow":

It is whiter than that today, but we have 45 mph wind gusts and Mom can't get a good picture of it right now. Oh... and see how it's sort of overcast in the picture of the whole tree? As you may have heard, we had lots of dangerous storms in our area yesterday. Things started getting exciting for us around sunset. Let's take a look at the skies at around seven thirty:

That was a huge, tornado-bearing storm that had just left Salina and was skirting west of us. Here it is, closer, but going past us:

It was a wild, dangerous, crazy storm. Look at what it started doing about half an hour later:

Mom had never seen a cloud formation quite like that, and was out there on the deck a long time studying it! (At least that's what I heard; Zim and I were napping guarding the living room.) Here's a close-up:

Don't worry - Mom and Dad were following the storms very closely on radar, and were tuned in to the local meteorology teams' reports.  Mom would not have gone out if a tornado was heading our way.  Safety first!

There were about 100 tornadoes reported across the Midwest yesterday and overnight, with lots of hail and high winds.  While we are very thankful that we were spared the brunt of the storms, our prayers go out to those who were hit and mourn the loss of lives in Oklahoma.

Things are back to normal for us today - just a mighty brisk wind out there.

"Good day for a short walk, huh, Zim?!!?"

Have a serene Sunday, everyone!  And please know that we appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers for us during the stormy weather!

Luv,

Dave

Hey, You!

... or should that be, "Hey, Ewe!"?

"Yes?"

Ha roo roo roo!  Just kidding!

"Bleee-hee-hee!  Zimmie's funny!"

Oh, ha roo roo roo!  I crack myself up!

Play bows,

Zim

PS:  No offense to my new friends!  Just having some fun!

Photo Finish Friday!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  Oh, wowzers, did I ever have a cool adventure the other day!  I thought I'd show you the best pix today for Photo Finish Friday.  Are you ready!?!?

Long-time readers of the Ao4 Digest may remember that just over two years ago, I was helping Mom run some errands all over town, when I spotted a field full of goats!  They were right by the KSU football stadium and I got to get out of the car and commune with them for a while.  They were very nice goats!  ANYWAY, so the other day, we were tooling around and I thought I saw them again!

I got Mom to pull over so I could go see my old friends.  (She's easy like that, especially when she has the camera on hand.)  We got out and walked over to say ha roo!

"Hey, Goat Friends!  It's me - Zim!  Remember me?!?"

Not only did they seem to remember me, but they wanted me to meet the kids!

"Zim!  Hello, old friend!"
"Blllleeeeahhhhh, Zim!!!"

They look like a very happy Goat Family, don't they?  Their kids were mighty cute; what I wouldn't give to get inside that fence and play with them!  After the introductions, they said they had some other friends they wanted me to meet!  Mom said I had to stay outside the fence, but my Goat friends walked over to them.

"I'll wait here, you guys!"

They walked over to their friends and pointed me out to them.

"That's Zim?  Oooh... hello and baaaaaaaaa!"

(Is it me, or is the one in the upper right-hand corner doing Malamute ears?)

They seemed like very nice Sheeps and wowzers, their  kids  lambs were as cute as can be!  They were doing zoomies and stuff!  They looked every bit as fun to play with as the Goat's kids!

The Sheeps and the Goats mingled for a bit ...



... while I communed with them.

I am one with the Goats and the Sheeps...

Before I knew it, one of the Goats announced, "Oh no, we're late!" and they all headed off somewhere together!

"Come see us again soon, Zim!"
"Nice to meet you... baaaaaa!"

They must all be taking a class together or something at K State.  I hope I get to go visit again soon!

Play bows, bleats and baas (I'm working on my foreign language skills!),
Zim

Green Grass and Green Light

Hi everypup and everycat!  It's me - Dave.  Oh... excuse me for a minute...

Stretch and roll, stretch and roll...

Ah! That's better! Now ...

...where was I?

Oh, yeah.  My vet gave me the green light to start doing walks and jumping on the bed and stuff again!  YEA!  (She said something about building up slowly ... but I wasn't really paying attention to that part...)  YEA!  This means some very fun adventures in my immediate future - I just know it!  

Luv,

Dave

PS:  Zim and Mom slipped off on a secret adventure yesterday when I was napping -- wait 'til you see what  Zim got to see!!!  He'll post the pix tomorrow; be sure to tune in!

Wordless Wednesday

Luv and play bows,

Dave and Zim

Two-fer Tuesday

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me again - Dave!  Remember yesterday I said me and my kid brother Zim would show you more of those Korean Dwarf Lilacs?  Well, let's go on out and take another look, OK?

"Oh, cool!  Look at all the bugs in here!"

I didn't think Mom wanted us to get that close of a look, so I gently suggested to Zim that he get his snooter out of there.

"Don't make me do it, Zim!"

About then, Mom started her "NoNoDavyNO!" thing, saying it's too early for me to start playing and stuff.  Hey!  I wasn't playing, I was serious!  (Ha woo.)  

Anyway, Zim  got bored with it all  decided to cooperate and do a nice "down" pose by the lilacs.  

"Hey, Mom!"

Mom asked me if I'd like to lay down or at the very least look at the camera.

"You didn't really think we'd both cooperate, did you?"

I declined either one.  I mean ... I can't make it too easy for her, can I?  Besides, she didn't have any cookies.  And really, if she's taking pix of both of us ... and wants us both to look at her ... she needs to come prepared.

She did get this nice profile shot of me, with the lilacs as the backdrop:

Me, Dave, still not looking at the camera

I think that's plenty of cooperating for one day, don't you?

Luv,
Dave

PS:  We did get cookies once we got inside!  Woo!

Blooming on a Monday

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  Zim and I thought we'd show you a bit of what's blooming today - sort of bumping a Serene Scenery Sunday type of thing to Monday.  Are you with me?

Anyway - the big lilacs right by the door to the garage, the Korean Dwarf Lilacs, are in bloom now!  Let's start with a look at them!

Dwarf Korean Lilacs

Can you smell them? They're our third lilac type to bloom each year. We see and smell these every time we go outside, so we really look forward to them! Some of them are at least 4 feet tall, so that whole "dwarf variety" thing might be a mislabel!

We aren't the only ones who like them! Check out these guys:

There have been butterflies all over them for the past couple of days!

Mom said they're doing their pollen dance. Or something like that.

Aren't they pretty? And colorful!?! These guys and their friends were all over our lilacs!

Speaking of friends, guess what else is in bloom? The PINK Lily of the Valley that our buddy Mitch and his sweet angel sister Maggie sent us!

M&M Pink Lily of the Valley

We always think of them and their parents when we see them! What wonderful friends!

The "regular" Lily of the Valley are in bloom now, too:

Mom just loves both varieties! Lily of the Valley are toxic to both dogs and kit-cats, though, so Mom planted them out front, where we are always on lead, and makes sure we keep a good distance!

Those are the new blooms in our yard this week.  Zim and I will show you more of the lilacs tomorrow!  Happy Monday!

Luv,
Dave

Easter 2012

And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
Mark 16:6

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:8-11

Those two verses sum up what Easter is truly about.  We hope you will take time out to reflect on the true meaning of this most blessed day.

Zim here - In addition to real Easter traditions, there is (unfortunately) another custom here at Ao4 Headquarters of making us pose with decorations.  Hmm.  Fine.  As long as there are treats involved.  How 'bout Dave goes first?

"Relax, Zim!  It's just a basket full of bunnies and pysanky!" 

He's right.  Just a basket full of Ukrainian Easter eggs and stuffed bunnies.  Not like there are any quilts around for mom to hang from our snooters or anything!

"Thanks for reminding her, Zim!"

Oops.  Well, nowhere but to go up from this photo-shoot, huh, Dave?

"Oh.  My.  Bunny..."

Yikes.  Sorry, Dave.  Maybe I'd better take a turn.

"Just pose nicely by the Easter decorations - right, Mom?"

She knows not to push the envelope with me.  I mean, we all have our limits and mine are WAY different than the LabraDave's!

"The bunny is TOUCHING me, Mom!  It's TOUCHING me!!!"

Fortunately, Mom is well enough trained to know my limits.

"That's better.  But I AM keeping an eye on you, Bunny."

All of us here at Ao4 Headquarters would like to wish all of you a most joyous Easter!

«Христос Воскрес»  “Christ has risen.”

«Воїстено Воскрес!»  "Indeed He has risen!"

(Traditional Ukrainian Easter greetings)

With play bows, luv, and Easter blessings,
Zim, Dave and our mom and dad