When The Fog Clears

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cammie!  We had a really interesting walk with Mom this morning and I thought I should tell you all about it!  Mom took photos along the way with her iPhone - so let me walk you through it, OK?  Ready to go?

It started out like any other morning.  Actually, not really.  This was the view out back:

Fog! It cast a bit of mystery to the day; we knew it wouldn't be just an "ordinary" walk!

As we progressed, though, the fog started to clear.

"Look!  To quote the Beatles, 'Here comes the sun!'"
"Yum!  Beetles!  Right up there with cicadas!  Oh.  Oh, the BEATLES.  Right.  Gotcha."

What can I say?

Anyway, we were walking so nicely that by the time we got to the Hudson Trail, Mom said we could take the long route!

"I love going this way!"
"Me, too!  Something cool always happens!!!"

We walked and walked - and took some turns Mags and I had never taken!  It was very exciting!

We saw a large building and Mom let us go over to do some exploring.  I noticed a sign and went over to check it out.

"Hello?!?  I'd like to order a dolphin to go, please.  And extra horseradish sauce."

I was fairly certain it was a fast-food restaurant; I hoped my order wouldn't take too long.

"I don't see anyone else in line, Peeps.  This shouldn't take long at all."
"Too bad they don't have tunas; I'd get an extra one to send my mentor, Mr. Teddy Westlife.  He loves tunas!"

Mom suggested we walk on down a little bit.  She must have heard them call our order number - because look at what was there!!!

"WOWZERS!  That was fast!"
"Look at the tail on that thing!"

It pays to go when they aren't real busy.  They brought our order out so fast, I didn't even see them!

Maggie went over to check it out:

"Nice and fresh!  It still has water drops on it!"  
"They must have caught it in the Kansas Ocean!"

Nothing like locally-caught fish!  Pretty good service at this place, though they forgot my horseradish sauce.

I'd say that when the fog cleared, we certainly found something interesting!

I hope you're all enjoying the weekend!

Cammie!

Photo Finish Friday

Greetings to all, it's me - Margaret Thatcher.  For this week's Photo Finish Friday, I finally have some actions shots of me that Mom took with the new camera!  Ready to take a look?  Let's go!

We went out back to play with my squeaky red football. Here I am, bringing it back after Mom threw it:

"Got it, got it, got it!!!"

We played a bunch of rounds of Fetch, then I settled down to squeak my football for a minute.

"Wait!  What's that?!?"

I thought I heard something.  It landed up in that tree!

"CICADA!"

It was a cicada, those ever-so-tasty, buzzing, crunchy treats!  I mean "bugs"! Oh, to be able to fly up into that tree and nail that thing!  Oh, well; there are more where that one came from.

Speaking of flying ...

"Wheeeeeee!"

Yeah, I know. I forgot my football. No problem; Mom will police it up.

Mom says I get more and more Siberian every day.  Isn't that great?!!?  Cam is very proud.

Have a great weekend!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

September 11th

September 11, 2001.

The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

The Pentagon.

Flight 93 over Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

We will never forget these acts of war.

From all of us here at Ao4 Headquarters ~ God bless the heroes who rose that day and those who continue to fight on behalf of our great nation. And may God Bless the United States of America.

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

and Cammie!

Herb Guard Duty

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Us girls were out on the deck this morning, relaxing after our walk and some zoomie-playtime in the yard.  Mom asked me to keep an eye on the herb garden while she took a couple photos in the yard.  I assured Mom I had it handled.

"I've got it all under control, Mom.  No worries."
"Ha roo roo roo!"

I mean, seriously. I was on the job. What could happen?  Who on Earth would mess with the herbs with me right there?!?!

"Oh!  Does that ever smell good ..."
"Zzz..."

Oh. Right.

"Quick, Mags!  Do a cute pose!  And you don't have to answer that - it's a rhetorical question."
"Well, Mom ... my snooter smells like basil because ... um ..."

Have a great day, everyone! I better get back to Guard Duty.

Cammie!

Hanging Out

Greetings to all, it's me, Maggie!  Did everyone have a nice weekend?  We sure did!  We went on a bazillion walks, so this morning, after our morning walk, we tried something new.

"Hello."

It's called "just hanging out".  It's kind of ... different, but I sort of like it.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all, it's me, Maggie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday!  Yesterday was such a great day! I went on an early morning walk with my dad before breakfast, then another one with Cam and Mom after we ate.  In the afternoon, it was still cool enough for a walk - so we all went again!!!  It was wonderful!  Mom took her camera along, so I thought I'd share the beauty of what we saw with you!  Ready?

The first cool thing we saw was fishies!  In Little Kitten Creek!  Take a look:

Fishies!!!

No wonder we sometimes see a Great Blue Heron in there! (Not yesterday, though. The birds put the word out that Mom had the Canon with us. I don't think we saw one single birdie!)

We saw a lot of sunflowers:

"Look!  Sunflowers!"
"Wait!  I thought I heard a cicada!"

Here's a close-up:

Sunflower

It was breezy out; can you tell?

We saw lots of other wildflowers, too!

This might be Prairie Verbena

Blue Sage

Lady's Thumb

This might be White Prairie Clover

Since Mom was going in for close-ups, I thought I would, too:

"Oooh!  Nice!"

Dad took both of our leashes for a bit, so Mom could get some pix of us looking at the camera.

We were more interested in the scenery!

Just when she was about to give up, Mom got this shot:

Me and Cam, soaking in all the beauty!

Mom took individual portraits at this point!  Here's a very happy, beautiful Cammie:

"I love going on family outings!"

And here I am:

"I love family adventures, too!"

On the way home, we stopped a few times - once for a water break, then up near the roundabout for a quick pose:

Cam, Dad, and me.  Dad's the tall one.

We also stopped in the shade by the Grand Mère Village sign and posed quite nicely:

Dad and us girls

Mom said these pix remind her of a photo she took of Dad with Lucky and Jesse, our great sisters, when they were in France.  (Click here to see.)

OK - one more shot, then let's get going!

Cam, Dad, and me

It was a great walk!  We hope you enjoyed coming with us and seeing all the beautiful things!!!  Have a wonderful Sunday.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Decked Out!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Now that it's starting to cool down a bit here, we've been spending even more time out on the deck with Mom.  It's so relaxing out there! Here are some shots of us from the other day.

As soon as we got out there, we took a good look around!

Neighborhood Watch

We might have been staring at the neighbors.

Sometimes Maggie gets distracted:

"Birdie!"

Mississippi Kite

Clearly Maggie isn't the only one of us distracted by birdies!

Anyway, after Mags and Mom were done looking at that big birdie, Mags came over to relax with me:

"OK, it's over-under, under-over..."
"OK... I think I've got this!"

We played footsie with each other for a while:

Playing footsie

... then just hung out.

"Hello!"

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Cammie!

Photo Finish Friday

Greetings to all - it's me, Maggie!  For Photo Finish Friday, I thought I'd share some miscellaneous photos of me and Cam from earlier in the week.  Ready?

"Let's take a look!"

Oh.  Right.  For those who might be wondering, I'm still not allowed on the ottoman.  Thanks for asking.  Let's see what Cammie's doing!

"She's going to pounce me... I just know it!"

She looks a little worried with those ears pinned back, doesn't she?  I should cheer her up!

"Hey, Cammie!  Let's play!  Hey, Cammie!  Let's play!  Hey, Cammie!  Let's play!"
"Sigh."

I helped in the kitchen a lot this week.

"Kitchen work is exhausting!"

I need to see about a pay raise.  Mom is wearing me out!

Cam and I worked on some artistic poses.  We call this one "Goughnut As Still Life".

Cammie, our Goughnut, and me.
"Goughnut As Still Life"

We held still for treats while Mom played with her new camera, of course.  She wanted to do close ups.  I mean SUPER close ups!  Here is Cam:

My beautiful sister Cam!

Doesn't she have just the most gorgeous dark chocolate eyes?!?

And here I am:

Me!

Mom likes how she was able to capture the green/amber in my blue eye!

That's a wrap for this week!  We hope you have an excellent weekend!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Look Closely

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with a question for you.  Take a look at the photo we posted yesterday for Wordless Wednesday.  That was taken with the new camera.  Now compare that with this shot, via the iPhone:

Me and Cam.  Being VERY good.

Notice any difference?  I mean other than the fact that I'm gazing longingly at the counter where the treat containers are instead of looking at Mom.  

Give up?  They're pretty similar, and the iPhone shot isn't bad!  I must say, though, I like the one taken with the camera better!  Why?  Is it because there is more detail in our fur on the other one, and the focal point is such that the background is sort of blurred out?  No, not really.  That's nice, but not why I like it better.

With the camera, Mom has to back up way more (she left her 55-250mm lens on) and make all kinds of crazy adjustments --  so it takes longer!  And when it takes longer ... what does that mean?  MORE TREATS for Mom's favorite models!!!  Thaaaaaaat's right!  This new camera might not be so bad after all!

What's up with all of you today?  I think my mom should do another photo shoot with me and Cam -- don't you?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher and Cammie!

Hey ... Wait A Minute!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  I need to tell you something startling that happened on our walk yesterday morning.  It started out just like always ...

Me, on the move

I had the lead for a while, then Mom wanted a shot of us girls together, so I let Mags catch up with me.  We discussed important things as we walked.

"Any cicadas in sight, Cam?"
"No, but I see some dropped tree fruit coming up."

Anyway, it was just not long after that shot that I saw it!!!  Mom must not have seen it, because I had lots of slack in my leash.  I was able to stealthily sneak up on it ...

Me, tip-toeing through the ivy.

A BUNNY!!!  And clearly he was oblivious that he's about to be DINNER!  I got as close as I thought I should ... and pounced!  Then I backed up ... because ...

"Hey ... wait a minute!  What in the ..."

He didn't run or anything!!!  Can you believe that?!?  It was amazing!!!

Cammie!

Delay Of Game

Greetings to all - it's me, Maggie!  Yesterday morning, instead of going on a walk before breakfast, we decided to eat first - then walk.  Sounded good to me - we do that sometimes when all four of us can go together!  Yea!

So ... we ate, then Mom looked out back, squealed a bit, grabbed the camera and the iPhone, and ran out onto the deck.  That's pretty normal around here at sunset time or if we have a storm rolling through.  But this time ... well, here's what we had:

Yep. A whole rainbow! It was trying to make a double rainbow; you can see that if you look closely. Anyway - Mom shot that using the panorama thingie on the iPhone!

After that, Mom and Dad had a short discussion about how strange it was to see a rainbow, since it hadn't rained, then got our harnesses out so we could get our walk in. As Dad opened the garage door ...

"Hang on there, Dad."

"I think I know where that missing rain is."

I guess it was raining out front - but not out back.  And since the sun rises out front, that rain out there was enough to refract the light to make the rainbow.  Or maybe there was more rain out over the hills.  I'm a puppy - I don't really know.  Anyway ...

There was no lightning, so we waited a few minutes for the heavier rain to pass, then headed out.

"Delay of game is OVER!"
"Let's go, go, GO!!!"

One side benefit of the rain (beyond helping out with the whole drought thing) is that Mom doesn't want to get the new camera wet, so there was no standing around while she took photos!

I hope you all have enjoyed the long weekend!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher