Photo Finish Friday - Old Friends!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, and it is great to be back blogging!  We really missed all of you - but one of the cool things about this whole kitchen re-do was seeing some of my old friends!  I had no idea they knew the guys working on our kitchen, but they made QUITE the team!  I thought I'd take Photo Finish Friday to show you some of those old friends!

The first guy I caught up with was Adrill!

"Adrill!!??!!  Is that you up there on the counter?!!?"

It was great to see him!  And to hear him again!  He had a lot to say - he got right to work the first day and really didn't rest until the whole thing was over and done with.  What a great work ethic.  He must be a Working Breed like me.

He had lots of other guys with him -- check this out!

I had such fun snoofing them!  I saw lots of familiar friends in there! Asaw... Ahammer... it was great!

"Oh, don't worry!  I know to be careful around all these guys!"

One of the bipeds from the crew was standing right there, so I assured him I'd be real careful with everything.  Safety first! as we say around Ao4 Headquarters!

"Oooh, anything interesting in here?!?"

Not that I'd get into the trash.  Puh-lease.  I was just ... checking it out.  Really.  Moving right along...

Outside, I saw yet another friend also named Asaw!!!

"Asaw!"

I didn't know Asaw worked outside!  Mom said he was helping with the tile work and there was lots of water involved; it was warm out, so it's nice that he got to splash around a bit!

I thought it was pretty cool seeing two old friends both named Asaw, don't you?

Dave and I got to eat lunch out on the deck while everyone was here.  It was pretty nice.  Mom said we were dining alfresco, but I never saw anyone named Al so I have no idea what she was talking about.  Anyway, right after lunch one day, Dave looked into the kitchen ...

"What the ... Asaw?!?  Zim!  You aren't going to believe who else is in there!!!"

Can you imagine THREE friends with the same name?!?  And all of them showing up to help with the remodel!?!  How crazy is that!??!

More pix of the remodel to come, as Mom downloads and processes them!  I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my old friends!

Play bows,

Zim

Wrapping It Up!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me, Zim! Dave and I sure have missed all of you! We've been working really hard on the kitchen remodel that we told you about - but everything is just about wrapped up now.

"Let's haul this baby outta here, Dave!"
"All set, Zimmie!"

Yep.  We just have a couple more things to take care of, then we'll be back to the blogosphere!  Thanks for bearing with us!

Play bows,
Zim

Special Announcement

Ha roo, pups and cool cats - it's me, Zim.  I'm here with Dave today to make a special announcement.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, i.e., the kitchen renovation, we are taking a short blog break.  Hopefully, the  big mess  delightful changes will be all finished soon (or at least our iMac will be back up and running) and we'll get back to the blog.  In the meantime, we will try to visit your blogs and hopefully will be able to comment!

Catch all of you on the flip side!

Play bows,
Zim
(and luv from Davy!)

Serene Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  This week, I have a lot of ultra-colorful sunsets for you!  Are you ready to "ooh" and "ahh" your way into a state of relaxed bliss?  Check this out:

That's a spiffy panoramic shot of our sunset from the 24th.  Here's another one:

The second shot was an automatic panoramic thingie Mom did using an iPhone app; the top one are some iPhone shots Mom stitched together using PhotoShop Elements.  Here's just a "regular" photo of the sunset that night:

Pretty spectacular, don't you think?  I was out there helping!

"Woo, everybody!"

I think that was one of the days where we had our record-breaking heat (mid-90s in April!), so pardon my panting!

Speaking of heat, though, check out how hot the sunset looks from the 26th!

And the next shot:

It's like the sun melted into the Flint Hills!  The sky was packed full of bold colors!!!

Also in the "bold color department", our rose bush is in full bloom! Here's a special effects shot of that:

I hope our pix helped you find a little bit of serenity today!  Have a wonderful, colorful Sunday.

Luv,

Dave

Working on the Weekend

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  Yes, it's the weekend, but it looks like it's going to be all work for me and Dave.  The next phase of our kitchen remodel is set to kick off early this week, so we'll be busy supervising Mom and Dad as they empty the kitchen of ... well, just about everything.  It'll be hard work for us, as you can imagine.

In addition to that, we plan to take Mom and Dad on some nice walks:

"Zim, I heard Mom say she'd have to go up and down the stairs 2.3 million times to get the kitchen stuff out of the way!"
"No sweat, Dave.  I have a plan to help her!"

You don't think I'd abandon Mom when she needs my help the most, do you?!?

"Let's go, let's go!  Is that all the faster you can move?!?!"

Hey, she's the one who named me after a Drill Sergeant!  She shouldn't expect any less from me!  I'm a hands-on kind of guy!  I'm sure she appreciates my guidance.

In the evenings, we'll help Mom and Dad kick back a bit - maybe have a movie night or something.

"...'But I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along' ...
No, wait.  That was in Part One..."

Nothing like watching a good movie to get the bipeds nice and relaxed!  Of course, I still will have plenty of work to do!

 Now executing cute pose #457

Have a great weekend, everyone!  And try not to over-do!

Play bows,

Zim

Fun With Photos on Photo Finish Friday!

Woo, everypup and everycat - it's me, Dave!  We have a miscellaneous assortment of pix that Mom took throughout the week; I thought I'd share them today for Photo Finish Friday.  Ready to take a look?

Here I am, hanging out in the dining room:

I'm not sure what I was doing there; if I had to guess, I'd say that I had just realized Mom vacuumed the dining room floor before Zim and I could check it for dropped treasures.

Here's Zimmie, up on the catwalk:

Is it just me, or does he look like he's doing this:

I should get him to help me and Mom with "Draw Something"!  Ha woo.

I got to have some quiet alone time with Mom yesterday evening, out in the front yard.  We had a wonderful time together and I decided to pose on the porch for her.

It's only a matter of time before she plants a pot of some kind of flowers, sticks it on the porch, and makes us guys pose by it.  This pose was free; subsequent porch pix must be funded with treats.  Woo!

Oh - she liked my pose so well, she did some special effects on it and posted the photo to FaceBook.  Want to see it?

I think I like it better than the original!

Zim got to have some alone time with Mom, too.  Here's a pic she snapped of him:

He looks totally cool there, doesn't he?  I think this shot calls for some special effects, too.  How about a pencil drawing?!!?

Very cool, Zim!  Very cool indeed!

That's all I've got for you today!  Thanks for dropping by - have a wonderful weekend!!

Luv,

Dave

Earning Our Keep

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  We've had an out-of-town visitor here for the past few days and Dave and I thought we'd show you just how very hard we work to earn our keep around here.  It all started days in advance of the visit, of course ...

First we cleaned the upstairs and got the guest rooms ready.  The next day, we went after the downstairs.  The odd part was that on both days, Mom either put up a barrier or closed the door, confining us boys to the main floor of the house.  We took that as a sign that we should  take a nap  stand Guard Duty.  Sure it's hard work, but we're up to it!

The day our visitor was due to arrive, we got busy sprucing up the main floor.  First, I helped with the dusting.

"Hey, Mom.  You missed a spot."

I did a bang-up job, as you can imagine.  

Next, it was on to the vacuuming, as you saw yesterday.

"I want this floor so clean, I can eat off of it!  
Oh... wait... I guess I already do..."

Even though I was  all comfy  being tremendously helpful, Mom suggested I move.  Fine.  I went to join Dave in other pursuits.  We got very busy deciding how else we could be of assistance, when ...

"Yeah... so after that, we'll put on a zoomies show..."

..."Vacula", as many of you know it, found us.  I decided to leave, but Dave ... there's one place Dave likes to be when Mom vacuums.  Check it out:

This is Dave.  Not a Hostess Cupcake.

I hope he didn't over-do it in there.

I got busy in the dining room, putting some Sibe fluff back on the carpet where it belongs, and arranging the chairs.

 

I reminded Mom that I could see the sawed down part of the drywall and counters from the dining room (we're in the midst of a kitchen renovation - Mom's posting pix over on her blog, if you're interested -- part 1, part 2). I suggested she might want to do something to dress that area up a bit. Flowers, perhaps?

Nice touch, Mom!

   

Much better! No one will ever notice that the kitchen is ripped up. 

During dinner time, Dave and I took turns policing up any food that might drop.

Davy.  Working hard to keep the dining room clean.

Dave's really good at that.  Notice how he's combining that task with snuggling with Dad's feety-feet?  He's a multi-tasker!  (Remember, we are trained professional Working Breed dogs; don't try this at home!)

Once dinner was almost finished, Dave and I put on a show for everyone!  Nothing like dinner and a show - right?  The one photo Mom got isn't very good, but you get the general idea:

 

It's showtime!

That had some added excitement, since Mom is still babying Dave and doesn't want him to play all the great husky games we were BORN to play.  It was great, trust me!

Apparently, the Zim and Dave Show wasn't enough for the bipeds, and they decided to watch a movie.  Please.  A movie?  When you have us around?!?  Not part of our agenda!  Since Dave has such an outstanding singing voice, we thought it would be a great idea to have him perform a bit.  Hit it, Davy!

"WooOOooOO!"

Notice how he planted himself right in front of the TV!  What a pro!  Well done, Davy!  Well done!

As I said, we are professionals, so we're used to this kind of work.  We're Siberian Huskies, it's what we do ... and it's truly how we earn our keep.  I'm sure we'll be well-rewarded after the visit is over!  Ha roo!

Play bows,

Zim

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Play bows,
Zim

PS:  To our friends and allies in Australia and New Zealand - on this ANZAC Day, we give thanks and offer prayers for the fighting men of Australia and New Zealand ... with special gratitude to my bestest friend Huffle Mawson's grandfather for his service!!!

Exploring!

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave!  I had a really good weekend - my back & neck felt pretty good, it was sunny and cool, and guess what?!?  I got to go exploring! Check out the look on my face in this photo:

Do I look happy enough?!?  Oh, sure, I've been down to the corner, around the corner into the cul-de-sac, and even around the block ... but I hadn't been up the hill by the water tower in quite a while!

Check out what Zimmie and his shadow did once we hit the crest of the hill:



I don't know how he does it - but his shadow seems to be looking to our left ... and Zim is facing straight ahead.  It takes a special talent to do that!

Zim and I took a good look around up there:

I tried to get my shadow to do fun stuff, too, but mine seemed to follow me pretty close and do everything I did.  Go figure.

Here's Zim, heading back down toward home:



I think he had as much fun as I did!  We had such a blast exploring together!

Mom had fun, too, and took lots of flower shots during our walk.  She did some cool special effects on a few of them - check out these wildflowers:

Some people call them weeds, but Mom said if they're as pretty as these are, they should be called wildflowers.  Woo.  If you'd like to see a few more flower pix, you're welcome to visit our special effects set on FlickR.

Time for me to get a quick nap in!  I hope you enjoyed exploring as much as I did!

Luv,
Dave

Test Drive

Ha roo and happy Monday, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  Remember on Saturday I showed you the cushion Mom usually sits on at night for TV time?  Well, she left it out again yesterday, and I thought I'd take it for a little test drive!  Here's how it went!

At first, I tried it facing this direction:

"Hmm... not quite right..."

It was a little tricky to get comfy, as you can see.  I turned around and had a go of it from the other direction ... like so:

"Oh... nice!  Pretty nice!"

That struck me as mighty close to perfect ... just a little tweaking in order!

"AHHHHH!!!!  Now THIS is comfy!!!"

OH, yeah! Now we're talking! Stay tuned, friends. I may just claim this cushion for the Zim Zone!

Play bows,
Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  Just a couple of things to show you in the way of new blooms in our garden this week.  First up - the last of our lilac varieties is blooming! Here's a look at them from off the upper deck:

Miss Kim Lilacs

 They surround the Purple Ash tree, along with some Purple Emperor Sedum and a Fountain Grass. Want another look at them? I'll stay up here on the deck and send Mom down the stairs; I've already had a lot of exercise today!

"I'll wait here, Mom; you run down the bazillion steps to the yard, OK?"

  

I'm sure she doesn't mind.    

Here's a more "normal" view of the lilacs, taken from down in the yard:

 

Aren't they pretty?

Oh!  And it's a relatively calm day, so let's have another go at the Yorktown Snowflower Tree!

Can you see the "snow" this time?  Cool, isn't it?

And while Mom is down there, here is a special effects photo of her favorite part of the garden:

There's not much in bloom up there right now, but the Zebra grasses are coming in, and so is the sedum.  Can you see Mom's watering can?  She just put in some Purple Coneflowers, so hopefully they'll come in this summer!

That's all I've got for you!  I hope our tour of the gardens gave you a little bit of serenity!

Luv,

Dave

Kickin' Back on a Saturday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  So there I was ... I slept in until 0330 (it is the weekend, and even I like to get in a little extra shut-eye!), took my dad on an extra-long walk, did zoomies, had a great sing-along with Dave, ate a little chow ... and then it was time for a nap.  I think you all have seen that for TV time, Mom sits on a cushion on the floor and Dave has one of our quilts right beside it so he can snuggle up for tummy rubs?  Yeah.  Well, last night, Mom left the cushion out and it's still there ... so ...

"Oh... yeah.  Comfy!"

I have to tell you, it was mighty comfy!  

I enjoyed it for a while, then Mom came over and I told her about a great idea I came up with!

"What if Davy laid on the cushion and then you could sit over there on the poufy quilt?"

See?  Dave could lay up here on the nice cushion and Mom could sit on the quilt!  Great, huh?  Yeah, well, that didn't seem to go over well and Mom decided to put  Dave's  her cushion away before I came up with any other ideas.  Fine.  Just trying to think of Dave's back and all.

I'll be in the bedroom in my sun puddle if anyone needs me.  It's only 0900; I have plenty of time for a nap, then I can think up some more great ideas!  I hope you're getting the most out of your Saturday!

Play bows,

Zim

Photo Finish Friday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  Mom and I decided to go out front yesterday evening and do a little walking around, look at the gardens, just sort of relax and unwind after a long day.  She went to take a picture of me and ... check it out!

 

I was photo bombed by my old friend Mr. Squee Kee Moose!  Ha woo!  What a fun friend!

Have a great weekend!

Luv, 

Dave