Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  We had typical Kansas roller coaster weather this week - everything from arctic-type of temps with snow and ice (heavenly!) to over 70 degrees Fahrenheit (not what Maggie and I prefer, but Mom and Dad seem to like it).  Something for everyone!  Up and down, up and down!  Because of this, we saw all kinds of wonderful things and can't wait to show you!  Let's start in the neighborhood!

Here is a shot of me and Mags heading down the Hudson Trail:

"I hear birdies!"
"I see squirrels!"

We heard all kinds of birdies and saw squirrels - and bunny prints! We didn't see the bunnies, but we sure did a lot of snoofing through the snow where they left their tracks! When we got home, we saw these guys in our trees:

Cedar Waxwing

Another Cedar Waxwing

The Waxwings are among Mom's favorite birds, so she was really happy!  

We also did some walking out at Tuttle Creek State Park this week!  Dad and Mags took the lead for a while, as Mom and I looked for little birdies.

"Oh!  Over there, Mom!  Tiny birdie!"

We saw this tiny Nuthatch:

White Breasted Nuthatch

And this Cardinal was trying to hide in the brush, but we spotted him!

"How did you find me?"

We stayed on the road instead of doing the trail that we like. Something about mud. That sounded good to me and Mags, but we didn't get a vote.

Once we got over to the River Pond, we saw our very favorite bird!

Juvenile Bald Eagle

There were several Bald Eagles out fishing and chasing each other! This young eagle was doing some ice fishing:

"Here, fishie, fishie, fishie!!!"

Because of the freeze-thaw, freeze-thaw phenomenon that we have, the shad (a kind of fishie) come up to the top of the pond and offer up great dining opportunities for the eagles, herons, gulls, and other fish-eaters.

We weren't with Mom when she took this photo, but here is an adult Bald Eagle doing some fishing:

Action shot!

Beautiful!

Unless you're a fishie.

Anyway, remember when you're out on your walks to look all around you! There is so much beauty out there - it's sure to make you feel nice and serene!

"Isn't this beautiful, Mags?"
"It sure is, Cammie!"

If you'd like to see more of our mom's wildlife photos, please visit our Flickr site!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Cammie!

Blue Bones!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  As Maggie mentioned yesterday, in addition to receiving an order from Chewy.com that Mom placed, we also received our product to review this month!

This can only mean good news!

We couldn't wait to see what product we'd be reviewing! Mom let me see first, then I called Maggie over.

"Mags!  You've gotta see this!"

We got to try Blue Bones Natural Dental Chew Bones by Blue Buffalo! What a great way to celebrate Dental Health Month! These chews come in different sizes (Mom selected "regular" for us, which seemed  not nearly big enough, if you ask me and Mags  about right!), are easy to digest, and help clean our teeth! They contain berries and veggies for an anti-oxidant boost, oat bran for ... well, you know, and glucosamine and chondroitin for good joint health! For more benefits, see this link. One more important thing about these Blue Bones - show everyone, Mags!

"They're made in the US of A!!!"

I think we really need to open the bag up to learn more ...

"Yes!!!  Nice easy open, with a zip-lock style close to keep them fresh!"

Our "regular" sized Blue Bones were just under 4" long and oh, my, did they smell good! Mom said we couldn't have one until after dinner, though we tried our best to convince her otherwise.

"But Mom ..."

"Yeah.  What Cam said."

Unfortunately, our fantastic execution of The Sad Eyes Look didn't sway Mom to giving them to us earlier. She can be so stubborn sometimes! She thought they'd be good treats for us to have during TV time. So ... after dinner and the dishes and everything ... the taste test!!!

"That's what I'M talking about!"
"Yes, please!"

We loved them!  We were dancing around and everything - we knew they were something special!  They lasted close to 10 minutes, which is pretty long for us.  We each took one to one of our beds to chew it and they didn't stain; Mom was worried that they might, but nope!  We had them a couple evenings ago now and no bad residual effects on our g.i. systems (you all know what I mean here - right?).  

We give Blue Buffalo Blue Bones 5 stars out of 5!  Healthy ingredients, made in the US, and a nice chew.  We try very hard to keep our teeth clean, and these paired with frequent brushing can certainly help!  No staining the carpet or bed, no g.i. problems, and they last more than 2 minutes.  

Mom took some photos of us chewing our Blue Bones, but the living room was too dark; they didn't come out well.  She did catch me at her iPad, though ...

"OK, Mags.  I'm into the Chewy.com site.  Found the Blue Bones ... uh ... oh, hi, Mom."

It's not like I was trying to order more or anything.  Really.  Trust me, I'm a Siberian Husky!

Thank you, Sydney at Chewy.com!  We loved trying this new-to-us treat!

Cammie!

DISCLAIMER: We received no payment for this post, but did receive the product free of charge - in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are our own. And mom's.  Especially the part about choosing "regular" instead of "large".

Guess What I Got?!?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  So there I was, playing with my GoughNuts toy in the living room, when Mom said she had something for me -- check it out!

"For ME, Mom?!?"

That's right -- a box!!!  You all know how much I love a good box!  This was a great one, so I jumped right in!

"I forgot my GoughNut."

"I don't suppose you'd hand me my GoughNut, would you?"

The other good part about my box -- other than it being a BOX! -- is that it was from Chewy.com!  Mom ordered some stuff for Cam and me!  AND yesterday we also got our product to review for Chewy for Dental Health Month.  What a great day!

We'll post our review tomorrow.  In the meantime, I've got a box calling my name.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Toy Time!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  The other day, Mom wanted to spend some time in her Studio, and invited Cam and me to join her.  She brought out some of our special "under supervision only" toys and said we could play with them while she sewed.

"Look, Cam!  It's our cool virtually indestructible Fire Hose toys!"
"Whatever."

Don't let her nonchalant demeanor fool you - she loves playing with those toys as much as I do!  She just likes to hold hers for a while, then she eases into chewing -- like so:

Cam, playing with her Fire Hose toy

Me? I'm a straight-up chewer!

"Ha!  'Virtually indestructible'!  We'll see about that!"

It really didn't take long before ...

"Maggie?"
"Well, Mom, as the other Margaret Thatcher most likely said a time or two,
'I have no comment at this time'."

I mean, everyone in politics uses that line, don't they?

Mom and I admired my handiwork for a minute or two ...

"Oh, yeah, Mom!  I DO put the 'virtually' into 'virtually indestructible', don't I?  Go, me!"
"La la la la la la la..."

... and then ...

"Mom said I'm done with my toy.  Can I use yours now?"
"Umm..."

"I'm still playing with mine, Maggie."

Mom said I was a good girl, and encouraged me to leave Cammie alone. We got another toy for me instead. Mom says as long as I do this to toys and not to other things, she's very happy! I think she might like my toys as much as I do!

Do you like spending time with your toys as much as I do?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Cammie and Mags!

Hanging Out On The Deck

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Last week when our weather was horrible (no snow, plenty of sun, and temps in the 70s), in addition to all the walks, adventures, and playtime in the yard, we also just "hung out" on the deck.  Apparently, in addition to running around playing on the deck, you can also just "hang out".  Interesting.  I had to study Cam a bit to see how this is done.

"Interesting.  A Siberian Honey Bun, with a leg dangle."
"You could try it, Little One."

"I could ... but I don't think there's room for two Siberian Honey Buns here."
"I think dangling is the key.  You could dangle something else."

"Brilliant, Cam!"
"Thanks, Mags."
"Good girls."

That's right - I did a snooter dangle -- or as Zimmie used to call it, a snooter rest!  I think he'd be proud!

I think I like this "hanging out" thing!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Squeaky Red Football

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  I hope all of you had a good weekend.  We certainly did - our temps have dropped even more, and yesterday we had ice and a sprinkling of snow.  It's in the single digits Fahrenheit today -- how delightful!  The photos for today are from a few days ago, when it was in the 70s.  For some reason, Mom likes to spend more time outside when it's like that.  Go figure.

Anyway, Mom asked me if I'd like to go play in the yard (YES!), then let me chose what toy we'd play with.  I chose my Squeaky Red Football.  It's one of those "only under supervision" toys and I really like it.  It squishes and squeaks really LOUD when I chomp down on it! Here's an action shot of me pouncing on it when Mom threw it:

Action shot!

Mom says I'm very fast!  She asked if I wanted to play Fetch for a while, and I said I was game!

"Throw it!  Throw it!  Throw it!!!"

I ran after it and brought it back:

"Here I come, Mom!"

And brought it back:

"Wheeeeee!"

And brought it back some more:

"Got it!"

We did that for a while ... then I decided it was time to play Siberian Rules Fetch! (You know ... Mom throws it, then I run in the general direction of the ball, then run off and do my own thing. Mom calls me for a while, then runs after me, then she throws the ball again and we start the process all over again.  It's REALLY fun!)

"Oh, hey.  What's this over here?"

Very fun. We played that until Mom got tired. (See? Bipeds get a better workout playing Siberian Rules Fetch than regular Fetch! We are a very helpful breed!) I waited for her to catch up with me on one of our big chunks of limestone ...

"You seem out of breath, Mom.  Are you OK?"

... then we decided to go inside to get a drink.

"Come on, Mom!  Drinks are on me!"

I hope we can go outside and play Siberian Rules Fetch again today.  My Squeaky Red Football should show up really well in the snow!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  The other morning, Mom and Dad got suited up for a walk, put our harnesses on Maggie and me, and we headed out.

Me and Mom!

Where to?  Into the RAV4 - and on to Tuttle Creek!

On our first stop, we saw a few of these:

Great Blue Heron

Looks like a nice day for fishing, doesn't it? Most of the water has thawed now, so that makes it easier for the birdies.

A little further out in the water, we saw two juvenile Bald Eagles, some Common Mergansers, and a Ring-Billed Gull!

"I have dibs on that slow one ..."
"Mmm.... ducks."

Moving right along ...

Me, heading down Eagle Pass Trail!

We saw a few Bald Eagles along the trail, but either the tree branches were in Mom's way or she wasn't fast enough on the draw to get good shots of them. We were all still thrilled to see them.

Dad often sees the birdies before Mom does and spots them for her. Because of him, Mom was able to get a few shots of this little guy:

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Good spotting, Dad!

We circled around back to the RAV4 by way of the road:

Mags and me, putting in some road work

You can tell that we are also trying to find birdies, can't you?

Once we got back to our start-point, we looked for the juvenile Bald Eagles on those dead trees sticking out of the water, but they weren't there. Look at who was!

Adult Bald Eagle on the dead tree, two juveniles in flight!
(From bottom to top, they are lined up oldest to youngest!)

Mom was all kinds of thrilled about that, and couldn't believe how blessed we were to see so many Bald Eagles in one day!

We wove our way through the park a bit, then stopped for Mom to get a shot of an eagle across the water.  When she got down to the waterline, she surprised this duck!

Mallard in flight

She said he surprised her, too! At least she remembered to take his picture!  And didn't drop the camera in the water.

We all piled back into the RAV4 to head home and were tooling down the road when Mom spotted another eagle! Dad stopped the vehicle a distance away, and Mom proceeded on foot.  As if she wasn't feeling giddy enough from her other encounters ... well ... let me just post a couple of the shots she got of this Bald Eagle!

Bald Eagle, striking a pose

Good thing Mom isn't a mouse.  Or a fish.  Or a duck.

Ready to take off!

Isn't she gorgeous?!?

In Mom's words - we are so very blessed to be able to see these magnificent birds and to be able to share them with all of you!

Isaiah 40:31 
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles..."

I hope your Sunday is a little more serene now!

Cammie!

PS:  If you'd like to see more photos from that day, please click here to view our Flickr album!