Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's Cammie here!  This week, we have a little bit of everything for you to help you get serene!  Are you ready to take a look around?

My brothers have taught me to look all around when you're out on walkies, because you never know what you'll see!

"Look over there, Cammie!"
"Oh, Davy!  It's beautiful!"

We saw this birdie:

Robin

The way the setting sun was hitting his feathers really made him sparkle!  (Mom took a million pix of him; to see more, please click here.)  Speaking of the setting sun ...

Isn't it beautiful?  Our birdie friend enjoyed it, too!

I think that was him, anyway; it was hard to tell!

Here's another look at the sunset, from a different vantage point:

There are quite a few things blooming in our gardens now!  I've been working hard, learning all their names!

Eskimo Viburnum

Old Fashioned Lilacs

Texas Quince

And some of the sedum are starting to grow!  My mom planted this little one, off to my left (to your right...) last year at the end of the season:

It's called a Dazzleberry Sedum.  Given my full name (D'Azul's Girl From Ipanema), don't you think it should be renamed the D'Azulberry Sedum?!?  Me, too!

The Lavender plants Mom planted last year are also looking good!



Our yard makes me feel serene!  I get to run and play and play and run and do all kinds of fun things!

Back up top, in the front yard, the Mohican Viburnum is blooming now, too:



The boys both really like the sedum called "Dragon's Blood Sedum".  Here's Zimmie with the ones out front:

"They're looking mighty good, Cam!"

Here's a close-up of those:

That's all we have for you this week!  I hope our walks around the neighborhood and in our gardens helped you relax and find some serenity!

Camo!

The Finer Points of Making Honey Buns

Or is it Cinnamon Buns?  I'm not sure.

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam.  I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend.  To help out, I thought I'd post some honey bun pix.  They're complex, but really worth trying out!

First up is one you've seen before - the Relaxed Honey Bun.

Relaxed Honey Bun

Or Cinnamon Bun. Whatever you'd like to call it!  Please note the position of my front legs - one tuck, one out.  That's what separates this pose from the Traditional Honey Bun!

Traditional Honey Bun

You can also do a nose tuck under your tail, to change that up a bit.  Like so:

Traditional Honey Bun with Nose Tuck

Next up is a Relaxed Honey Bun with Feet Gathering:

Relaxed Honey Bun with Feet Gathering

You may never have heard of that one, because it's quite complicated and very tough to hold.  It's not for the novice!  Let's go in for a close-up on that one:

"Must ... hold ... position!"

Do you like my front feety-feet all curled up?  Yes.  Yes, it is quite difficult, but remember - I'm a member of the Working Breed class.  

Go slowly as you try out these Honey Bun positions and I'm sure you'll be able to master them in no time at all!  Good luck!

Camo!

Photo Finish Friday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, here with Photo Finish Friday!  Let's take a look at a few pix Mom snapped just yesterday.

First up is Dave!

That's a mud garden by a neighbor's house.  Dave tries to step in that mud every time we go by - but for some reason Mom won't let him.  We don't understand that at all!  Dave thought you'd like at least seeing a picture of the mud.

Here's an action shot of me and Cam!

Me and Cam!
And Dad

Mom really likes that photo, even though it's not real crisp or in focus.  But Cam and I are totally focused!  Ha rooo!

Next up is Cammie!

And kind of me.  We had just gotten home from a walk and my friend Fluffy Black Cat was in our driveway.  I'm ... sure Cam just wanted to say "hello" to her ... right?

...

Moving right along ...

"Be safe, FBK!"

That's me!  I was looking for Fluffy Black, making sure she got home safely.

Here I am again, with Cammie:

"I hope she got home OK, Cam!"
"Why don't you invite her back over here?  Just ... a ... little closer ..."

I think I need to work on Cam's cat-skills a bit more.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Play bows,

Zim

Walking With The Redheads

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me - Dave!  You know I love my brother and sister, right?  And they love me, and they love each other, and we all just love each other.  Right?  But sometimes ... just sometimes certain members of the family get a little silly when we're out on patrol.  I know Cameron said not to believe anything you might hear ... so instead of telling you, I put a little video together that might clue you in on things.  It's short.  Let's take a look!

If that doesn't play, you can watch it here on YouTube.

Now, you might think, after watching the video, that it's all like this:

"Hey, Zimmie!  Let's play!  Hey, Zimmie!  Let's play!  Hey, Zimmie!  Let's play!"

But trust me, there's an awful lot of this that goes on, too:

"Ha roo, Camo! Let's play!"

There's really never a dull moment with those two around.  Oh.  And we're very well-protected, thanks to Cam.

"I just didn't like the way that trash can was looking at us, Zim!  Not at all!"
"I'm pretty sure you put it in its place!"
"Well, you just never know!  And it wasn't there last time we walked here and ..."

They do keep things fun, though, and OK, they aren't ALWAYS like that!

Me, being very good!

Luv,

Dave

Wordless Wednesday

Luv,

Dave

On The Record

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  You know, the well-behaved, sweet, innocent retired show puppy?  Yes ... it's me.  Here I am with my big brother Zim:

Zim and me

I just wanted to post today that despite what you might hear later this week, Zim and I are really, really good puppies.  Especially when we're out on our walks.

"I love you, Zimmie!"
"Right back atcha, kid."

Really.

Camo!

Where's The Phone?

Ha roo, pups and cool cats, it's me, Zim!  Mom was getting our dinner ready the other evening and when she reached for the bottle of my zinc supplement, I couldn't help but notice a new label!

"Whoa!  Hold on a minute, Mom!"

Clearly my most wonderful veterinarian had changed the prescription a bit!  Check it out:

The label most definitely indicates that she wants me to have a cheeseburger every 12 hours with my zinc.  Am I right here?  Of course I am!

"Hrumph!"

My mom seems to be the only person on the planet who doesn't see things my way.  I need to put a call in to my vet; she'll back me, I just know it!

Play bows,

Zim

Serene Scenery Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  I thought I'd show you some pix from a few of the walks Camo and I have gone on recently and take a quick look into our gardens here at Ao4 Headquarters.  We see beautiful things everywhere we go, so let's slip into the Zen of Zim Zone and get walking, shall we?

It's important to look ALL around you when you go on walks!  We looked up and saw this little Bluebird struggling in the Kansas wind:

"Oooomph!"

Hang on, little fella!  You can pull through it!

"Whew!  Uh, I mean ♫♩♫♩♩♫!"

What a trooper!  Never give up, right!?!

"Thanks, Zim; I'm OK now.  Have a great walk!"

Cam noticed the little stream down in this little area for the first time.

"Oooh, Zim, look!"

It's a real pretty area and it's been a long, long time since there has been water in that stream!

When we were out of the housing development areas and into a more meadow-y area, we saw lots of Barn Swallows like this guy:

Most of them were busy swooping back and forth, catching tasty bugs to eat, but this guy was taking a break.  Mom found it easier to get a picture of him than the ones hunting!

Speaking of hunting ...

Yep.  A Turkey Vulture looking for his next meal!

We ran into the state bird of Kansas again, the Western Meadowlark!

"Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam ..."

Yes, our state bird sings our state song.  What would you expect?

We also saw this kit-cat on one of our walks!

I wanted to stop and make friends!  Cam ... not so much.  But she wasn't aggressive!  Don't worry, kit-cat pals!  I'll turn her into a cat-o-phile in no time!

Back closer to home, this Robin was hoping around in our garden:

He's a sure sign of Spring!  (And no, Mom.  Today is NOT the 94th day of February and there is nothing wrong with having snow in May!)

Moving right along ... here's a look into the pot of flowers on the front porch:



Our Redbud trees are in bloom:



They didn't seem to mind the snow too much.

Out back, just one of our lilac bushes is blooming so far - the Skidmore Lilacs:

I wish you could stick your snooters in there!  They smell incredible!

Even sweeter are the Juddi Viburnum:

They have an amazing fragrance!

That's all I've got for you this week.  I hope you're feeling nice and serene now!  If you'd like to see more bird photos, Mom has uploaded a whole bunch to our FlickR account, in our set called Birds!  Just click here to visit!

Have a wonderful Sunday and remember that beauty and serenity are all around you!

Play bows,
Zim

Morning Patrol

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Zim and I usually do PT with our dad first thing in the morning, then we go on Morning Patrol with Dave and Mom.  Dad came with us yesterday, too, and so Mom took the iPhone so we could share some pix with you.

Here we all are, at the end of our driveway:

"Let's go right!"
"Let's go left!"
"Let's go straight!"

We did the one potato - two potato thing and Dave won.  We headed down the hill, to go around the block.  

We had barely left Ao4 Headquarters and were into the neighbors' driveway when I saw it!

"CAT!!!  CAT!!  No, really - CAT!!!"
"Oh, Cammie!  Ha roo roo roo!  That's one of my friends!"

I needed to sound the alarm - but for some reason, Zim reacts way differently to cats than I do!

"G'morning, Fluffy Black!"
"Hey, Zim!  What's your new sister all spun up about?"

Zim's like that with ducks, too, and bunnies.  And a possum we saw this morning.  And everything.

"I don't get it, Zim.  I just don't get it!"
"Everybody needs friends, Cam!"
"Gotta love my kid brother!"

Anyway, that was the big excitement during Morning Patrol.  I still have SO much to learn about life in the Ao4!

Camo!

Photo Finish Friday

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  I've worked really hard trying to decide what to post for Photo Finish Friday:

"Hmm.... lemme see..."

After much thought, a lot of work, and a nap, I put together a little collection of some of our favorite photos from the week.

One afternoon, Mom asked who wanted to go on an adventure.  We had already been on about 87 walks, but you know who wanted to go!

"Oh, boy, Mom!  Let's do it!"

That's right - Zim!  He's always up for adventure.  I was a bit tired and so was Cam, so we opted to stay home and guard the house.  Here's a shot of us hard at work:

Cam and me.  On Guard Duty.

Yes, yes, it WAS hard work, but there were two of us.  Teamwork helps lighten the load.

After one of our walks, I called a meeting:

"OK, listen up, you guys!"
"About to kiss Davy on the muzzle in 5.... 4.... 3...."
"About to Zimstigate some play with Camo in 3.... 2...."

It was ... um ... a pretty productive meeting.  From a Siberian standpoint.

Even though there's a new member of the family, as you can see Zim still gets to go on special adventures - and me?  I still get to do a lot of this:

"Mom?  Hi, Mom.  Mommmmm...."

(Cammie is still growing her tummy fur back in after her spay operation.  It's a tough time of year for coat re-growth, but it'll come back in!)

Mom is thrilled that things like this are happening:

"Who, US?"
"Yeah.  Who, US?"

Not exactly that the redheads are getting into mischief together ... but sort of.  It's yet another sign of a really good pack fit with Camo.  In many ways, it's like she's been here forever - but we're just this weekend going to have her 4-week anniversary!  Speaking on behalf of me and Zim, we're really happy that she's our sister.  And we're pretty sure that even though she had a good home before, she's really happy here.  

So, yes, Mom loves that Cam and Zim are playing and hanging out together.  She knew that would happen eventually, but she and Dad were concerned about my quality of life if we adopted.  Mom thinks this next picture speaks volumes about the relationship between me and Cammie.

"❤❤❤"
"❤❤❤"

Yeah.  It's like that.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Luv,

Dave

Après Zoomies

Ha roo, pups and cool cats, it's me, Zim.  Did you like my photo yesterday?  Mom snapped that after a round of zoomies Cam and I were engaged in!

Yep, that's right - zoomies with Cammie!  It was great fun!  I looked at her, she looked at me, then we took off!  We zoomed and wove and flew and play bowed - and we were FAST!  (Mom didn't have the camera or iPhone on her, so sorry, no films or photos.)  We were careful and graceful and - did I mention fast?  I was the fastest Sibe of all!

Dave was cheering us on; I think he enjoyed watching the show as much as Cammie and I enjoyed putting it on! Mom and Dad were mesmerized by us.  Mom didn't even want to get up and get the camera, for fear she'd interrupt us.  She did have the iPad, though ... and took a few fuzzy photos after the fact.

Here's a look at Dave and Cam:

"You don't know where he went?  Really?  Hmm... maybe you should just take a nap then."
"He zoomed and zoomed and went right past me ... and I don't know where he is!"

"He disappeared...  Zzz...."
(whispering from above)  "Oh... Cammmmm-o!!!"

The kid's still getting used to the pace around here.  And even though she has been up on the catwalk, she kind of forgot about it.

Here's yesterday's photo again, captioned:

Who's the fastest Sibe of all time?!?!  Ha roooooo!

Play bows,
Zim

Wordless Wednesday

Play bows,
Zim