Our Latest Excursion

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cam.  As Maggie told you, we made a trip down to the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday.  The highlight for us was getting a couple bites of Mom's sandwich; the highlight for Mom and Dad was birdies galore!  Let's take a look at the trip!

On the way down, it looked like this:

FOG!

We couldn't see anything, so Maggie and I opted to do this:

"Zzz..."
"Zzz..."

We were called "very good girls" for doing so.

When the fog started to clear, we saw lots of farm fields like this one:

A fresh crop of Snow Geese!

We also saw a whole lot of hawks on the way down, and at the wildlife refuge.

Red-Tailed Hawk on the hunt

While Mom was at the edge of a pond, trying to photograph some ducks, this guy kept hopping in front of her camera:

Red-Winged Blackbird

Mom does love a cooperative birdie!

Out on the pond, she spotted a "lifer" for her (a bird she's never seen/photographed before) -

Canvasback Ducks (the "lifer" -- with the thin, long bills) and Ring-Necked Ducks

She was quite excited!

The most abundant bird was the Sandhill Cranes. The Quivira NWR people estimated their numbers to be around 7-8,000!

A few of the Sandhill Cranes we saw!

Mom is working on her video skills (and says she still has a long way to go!) but did manage to capture a bit of the activity:

Please click here to view on YouTube or click here to view on FlickR.

We apologize for the Kansas wind noise.

At times, it was as though they were falling from the sky!

It's raining Sandhill Cranes!!!

The other "lifer" bird for Mom was Tundra Swans!

Tundra Swans, a Sandhill Crane, and a couple Northern Pintail Ducks

She was mighty excited!

Among Mom's favorite ducks are these tiny guys:

Bufflehead Ducks!

She wasn't able to get very close, but it's always fun to see them!

For more photos from our trip, we have a two-page album you can visit on FlickR at this link. We saw all kinds of stuff, to include an Armadillo!

Here's a shot of me waiting patiently at our rest stop on the way home:

"Seriously?  Would you just go?  So we can go?"

And here's Maggie:

"What?  I had to find the right spot!"

Anyway ... it was a wonderful trip - so many birdies, beautiful scenery, interesting wildlife, and the best thing of all -- time together as a family!

Thanks for coming with us; we hope you enjoyed our photos!

Cammie!

Sunday's Adventure

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  As Cam mentioned the other day, we had a weekend full of adventure!  We'll tell you all about Sunday's expedition soon.  In the meantime, here's one of our favorite photos from that day:

"I see you have a sandwich..."
"We like sandwiches..."

More to come once Mom finishes processing her ten million photos!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

PS: Because we know inquiring minds want to know: PBJ, and yes, we did.

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Putting The Schmoop in Schmoopy

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Most of you are aware of my rather energetic, playful, crazed River Otter side.  That's a big side of me.  But there's another part of me you might not be aware of.  Since my mom posted about it to FaceBook the other day, I thought I'd come clean here.  It's my schmoopy side.

We all have one, and the more I do that "growing up" thing, the more I'm revealing mine.  Lately, I like to show my schmoopiness on our walks.  We'll just be going along like normal ...

"Isn't it a great day, Mags?"
"It's AWESOME, Cam!"

... and then I pause. I walk over to Mom, gently put my paws on her chest ...

"Hey, Mom?"

... look her in the eyes ...

"Lean in closer; I want to tell you something."

... and then I give her a gentle kiss.

"I love you, Mom!"

Yeah.  Just like that.  It's important to let your bipeds know how you feel.  Let them see your schmoopy side!

Of course, I often jump Cam after that, to try to get her to play with me ... but not always!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

More Training!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  Maggie and I sure did!  My excitement kicked off Saturday morning, when I got to go out to Tuttle Creek State Park with Mom!  I thought we were going to do a little birding, but no!  We went out on another training mission with my Border Collie friends!

Mom and I went on a quick walk when we got there, then saw Beth pull up with the boys.  I showed the puppy Flynt the proper way to greet other dogs --

"Like this, little one!  Calm, quiet, and a bowed head."

His brother, Moss, didn't want to say "hello", so I didn't approach.  That's part of good manners, too.

We all went on a nice walk together - helping socialize Flynt and get him used to just ignoring other pups. Speaking of ignoring, Mom asked me to pose by Willow Lake, so I did this:

"Cam!  Cammie!  Cam?!?!"
"Does anyone hear anything?  Oooh, look - fishermen!"

After that, I posed with the boys.

Flynt:  "So you don't have to look at your mom when she's talking to you?"
Moss:  "How could you not listen?  I hang on my Beth's every WORD!"
"Ha roo woo roo.  So much to learn.  So very much to learn!"

Siberians and Border Collies have very different approaches in life! I think Maggie needs to go on the next training mission - she could REALLY show those guys how it's done!

Anyway ... we walked the length of Eagle Pass Trail, which was really fun! There are lots of good smells there, and lots to see and hear.

"Look, Mom!  Gooses out on the River Pond!"

The Border Collies did something called "heeling" on our walk -- they walked right by Beth's side. Moss always looks up at her like he's checking to see if he's doing it right or if there's something else she wants him to do.  Flynt is still learning the "heel".  As you can see, I took the point.  As a Siberian Husky, it is in my DNA to be out in front of my biped.  I don't pull, but think "sled dog".  That's in my blood.  Also, mom wants to see if I'm trying to snarf anything.  Actually not me so much in this case (cough, Maggie, cough), but that's just what we do.

Back out on the road, we did some more posing.

Me, Flynt, and Moss

As you can see, I was very happy. And the sun was in my eyes.

Mom did a closeup of little Flynt:

"Hello!"

Is he adorable enough?

I had such fun with him and Moss!

"What a fun morning!"
"Ooooh, gravel!"

Oh.  Flynt is still at the "everything goes in the mouth" stage.  I really think he and Maggie would get along splendidly!  She could teach him SO very much!  I should talk to Mom and Beth about this!

Another successful training mission in the bag!

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all! It's me, Maggie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday! This week, Mom and I thought we'd look around our own back yard to see that kind of serenity we could find. Ready to take a look? Let's head out!

"This looks like a serene spot, Mom!"

It was warm and sunny.  I decided to sit and enjoy the moment.

"This is great!  I see some serenity over there, too!"

We headed over to the area under the Purple Ash, by the top gate.  I had a seat ...

"Oh, yeah.  Nice.  I see some serenity over there, too!"

... and soaked it up for a while.  I spotted more serenity and went to check it out.

"Totally feeling it!"

I mean, there was serenity ALL AROUND US!  It was awesome!

"So much serenity ... so much beauty around us!  We are so blessed!"

It was so peaceful out there!

"Feels ... so ... good!!!"

I hope you get out and soak up some serenity today, too!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Support Where Needed

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam.  The other day, Maggie and I were out on the deck with Mom.  We had already played a good, hearty round of Crazed River Otter Games, so we decided to get down to work.  You know.  Guarding Ao4 Headquarters and all.  I went to my command post and Maggie joined me.

"Anybody out there, Cam?"
"No... all quiet so far."

She decided she should settle in to help me keep watch.

"We'd better keep our eyes peeled, just in case."
"Yep.  You never know when a birdie or a squirrel or something will show!"

It's so good to have Maggie's support like that!

And speaking of support ...

"It's nice that the deck comes with a built-in snooter rest!"

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Cammie!

On The Wild Side!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags!  It's been a while, but guess what!??!  Our mom is making us new collars and leashes!  She ordered us new harnesses from our favorite harness people, CTC Dog Gear, then she found webbing that will match them.  They're really wild prints this time!  Take a look:

"Mine will be this icy blue and purple combo!"
"And mine is a multi-colored tie-dye!"

Crazy, huh? We think the new prints are really cool! Our "old" harnesses haven't worn out or anything - they're still good to go. We just were ready for something new!!

Mom hasn't sewn anything in a while, so we made sure to be REALLY helpful in the Studio.

"Cam!  Don't just lay there playing with your Pickle!  Get up and help!"
"This IS helping.  Mom said so."

How can that be helping?  Anyway, since I was done with my Pickle, I thought I should see how Mom was doing.  Her sewing table has all these cool pass-through areas, so ...

"How's it coming, Mom?"

She said she had just finished my collar!

"Check it out, Mags!"
"Awesome!"

That was enough for Day One.  Yesterday, we went back down and worked on Cam's collar.  Here's an action shot:

Cam's collar being made

Mom had that baby all set in no time!

Cam and I put our new collars on and went outside for a quick pose.  Here we are:

Cam and me!

Pretty colorful, don't you think?!? You'll be able to see the colors better when we're in our new harnesses, once they get here.  In the meantime, we need to help Mom make the leashes!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Quick Clip

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  We've been having unseasonably warm weather lately.  For some reason, Mom is more likely to sit out on the deck with us when it's warm than when it's nice.  You know - like below freezing.  Go figure.  Anyway, the other day, Maggie and I were trying to decide what to do out there ...

"Do you know what I'm thinking?"
"Do you know what I'm thinking?"

We were both thinking the same thing:  Crazed River Otter Games!

"Get ready for some CROG action, Cam!"
"Bring it, Mags!"

We had the whole deck and landing, but we chose to play as close to Mom as possible - to make her feel part of the action.  Here's a quick clip:

Please click here to watch on YouTube.

It was very enjoyable!  I'm pretty sure our mom had as much fun as we did.  It's supposed to be close to 70 today, so I have a feeling we'll get in a bit more outside CROG time!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Valentine's Day Walk!

Hello, everyone! It's me, Cam. Maggie, Mom, Dad and I had a GREAT walk this morning.  And what could be more appropriate on Valentine's Day than to run into our friend MURPHY!!!

"Murphy!  Ha roo!"
"Happy Valentine's Day, Murphy!"
"Hi, girls!!!"

Running into Murphy inspired us to come up with the following poem:

We are white and reds,

Murphy's eyes are blue.

So is Maggie's left one,

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Our Valentine, Murphy!

Can you feel the love?  Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, too!

Cammie!

Yeah, But I Made Mom Laugh!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  So, yeah.  Cam showed you how her portrait sitting went yesterday -- is she a supermodel or WHAT?!?  Awesome talent.  But we all bring gifts to the party, right?  They're just ... different gifts!  Anyway ...

I had a photoshoot, too.  I gave Mom this great pose:

"I don't think you really HAVE treats, Mom."

... but she wanted more. Come ON! It was perfect! I sat. I looked at the camera. What more could she want?!?  She said I had that "skeptical look" on my face.  Ha.  "Skeptical"?!?  I'll give her "skeptical"!

"Oh, reeeeeeally?"

That was perfect, wasn't it?  Seriously.  I've been watching Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda, and I think I've got his skeptical look down-pat!

So apparently that wasn't the look Mom was after, so we moved over to another area of the yard.  Fine with me.

"Mmm... that breeze!  I smell ... pancakes!"

That's kind of supermodel-ish, isn't it?  Gazing off into the distance?  Right?  Mom kept shooting.

"Or wait!  Could be waffles..."

Mom said we weren't getting anywhere out front and thought we should try out back on the deck.  She mentioned the lighting might be better out there.

"Does this sunbeam make my snooter look big?"

Yeah.  Once Mom stopped laughing, she said maybe we'd have better luck if Cam got in the shot and showed me how it was done.  Great idea!

"You don't have any treats left, do you?"
"Yeah, this was a great idea.  Here's my imitation of Cam."

I mean - I did my best to study Cam and mimic her look.  That's what Mom wanted, right?  And then the breeze kicked back up and ...

"Sigh."
"No, wait.  It IS pancakes!"

That's pretty much how my session ended. After that, Cam and I decided to get in a little Crazed River Otter action. That was WAY better than posing for portraits! So maybe I'm not a supermodel like Cam ... but I did make my mom laugh.  A lot!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher