Yes. Yes, I Am

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  My incredibly awesome mentor, Mr. Teddy (someone needs to start blogging again) Westlife, left a great comment on yesterday's post.  He wanted to know, "Are you up on the catwalk, Mags?"

"Why ... yes.  Yes, I am."

This new-found freedom to go up there is just awesome!

"I can see for miles!  Or at least almost to Chelsea the Border Collie's house."

It's great!  High windows on one side and a view of the main floor on the other.

"I believe I've found a new favorite hangout!"

Of course, being of the "social butterfly" persuasion, I limit my time up there -- I miss everyone too much!  But it is nice to go up there and keep watch on things.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Ready Or Not

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.

"Ha roo!"

I was just thinking.

"I'm sort of like Monday ..."

"... in a kind of 'Ready or not, here I come!' kinda way!"

Let's make it a good one!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Photo Lesson Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam, here with Maggie.  We have some miscellaneous photos for you this Sunday to help you feel serene.  Our mom has been continuing to try to fully understand her photo editing program (Affinity Photo) and instead of using the instructor's photos for the lessons, she uses her own.  Naturally, most of the are of us.  (Birds come in a close second.). Without further ado, let's get to the photos!

Here's a nice one of us girls out front:

Maggie and me!

After going through the workflow checklist on that, she followed a tutorial to learn how to convert to a pencil sketch:

Maggie and me in pencil!

After that, she figured out on her own how to bring a little color back in, to make it look like a colored pencil drawing:

Maggie and me in a colored pencil sketch!

I think she's starting to catch on!

I can't remember what she was learning how to do on this, but here's Maggie from a recent pool party:

"Filler up, Mom!"

Our mom started following a lesson on how to cut a subject with a lot of hair out of one scene and paste it into another. The instructor used a supermodel with long, flowing hair. Mom used us, of course. Affinity Photo is allowing her to get down to each strand of fur (unlike PhotoShop Elements) to make the selection look more realistic. She did great on that part of the lesson, but the pasting into another scene didn't work like in the lesson, so she improvised. If you follow her on FaceBook, you've already seen this, but we think it's cool, so here it is:

Maggie and me

We like her version better than the lesson!  It looks like album art for some kind of Celtic rock group or something.  Like maybe Blackmore's Night!!!  Don't you think?

That's about it for this week!

"I thought that was it!  What's this, Cam?"
"She learned how to do her own Orton Effect.  I thought this would be a good closer."

We hope you have a wonderfully serene Sunday!

Cammie!  (and Mags)

Ha-loooo?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Now that the weekend is here, how about a boxing match at Ao4 Headquarters?!?  Everyone is invited over!

"Ha-looooo?  Is anyone there?"

Kit-cat friends?  Fellow boxers?!?  I'm ready when you are!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

More Garden Fun!

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Yesterday, I started showing you around the backyard a bit. Let's walk around a bit and see if anything is in bloom.

Up in the Friendship Garden, there are still signs of life:

"Can you see the Sedum?"

The sedums are looking pretty good in our "extreme drought", but then they are succulents.  Or some of them are.  Or something like that.  Anyway, they like it hot and dry and sunny, and Kansas certainly delivers on those things!

Some of the Coneflowers are doing OK, after being treated for some pests.

"This Glowing Dream Echinacea looks OK!  OOH!  A Bumble Bee!  Hello, Mr. Bee!"

Don't worry.  I'm not the one who would try to get up close and personal with a bee.  That member of the family was in the house having daddy-daughter time.

Oh.

I don't mean my dad, in case you were wondering!

Anyway, our Lavender plants are alive, though they aren't really blooming.

"They still smell nice!"

It's getting a bit hot out here!

"Let's head for the shade!"

The Amur Maples are nice and thickly-leafed this year -- they provide the perfect canopy!

"This is a lovely spot to stop and contemplate important things.
You know ...
... important things like if I'll get a treat for this great tour,
how long until lunch time,
if Mags and I can get a nap in this afternoon ... stuff like that!"

I hope you had fun in our gardens and yard!  I sure did!  Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!

Cammie!

Garden Fun

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Yesterday morning, Mom and I had some fun out in the back gardens and yard.  I did a nice pose on the limestone chunks by the gate ...

"Hello!"

... then we did some exploring!

Me, off on a backyard adventure!

We had a very nice time!  I'll share more pix with you tomorrow, but here's the most interesting discovery we made:

"We better step it up, Mom.  We might have rain coming!"

As you can see by the grass in the foreground, we REALLY need the rain!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Rockin' It

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  On our walk the other morning, Cam and I did some posing for Mom.  She asked us to jump up on some limestone by the trailhead, so ...

"Is anybody coming, Cam?"
"I don't think so."

We were very obliging, if I do say so myself.

"This makes us rock stars!"
"Cool. I get to be the lead singer!"

We totally rocked it!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Weekend Walk

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!  We sure did - toy time, play time, time on the deck, long walks, and lots of peace and quiet.

Saturday morning, we got an early start on our walk.  We went up and up and up one of the big hills:

"I love these hills!"
"So do I, Maggie!"

Then it was down hill for a while ... and then we ended up at the park!

"We've got the place to ourselves!"

I thought that called for a celebration -- Siberian style, of course!

"What are you thinking, Cam?"
"You know what I'm thinking, you little crazed River Otter!"

"HA ROO!"
"HA ROO to you!"

I hope your weekend was just as fun!

Cammie!

Super Serene Sunday!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!

"Ha roo??!!??"

"In here!  Greetings!"

No sooner had I compared an area of the in-process bathroom remodel to a giant box, when what should appear on our doorstep?  An AWESOME box!!!  How wonderful - and how serene - is that?!?  Nothing beats a new box!

"Maggie isn't getting treats, is she?"
"No, Cam.  Just a box."
"How can you say 'just' a box?"

Seriously!?!  "Just" a box?  I think some people around here need to understand the true meaning of "serenity"!

"I don't get it, Mom."
"Whatever makes her happy, Cam.  Whatever makes her happy."
"How 'bout a little help over here?  My box is collapsing."

Have a wonderfully serene Sunday!  And if anyone wants to come over and box with me, there is plenty of room!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Honorary Kit-Cat

It's Almost Like A Giant Box

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  I thought I'd give you an update on The Great Remodel of '18.  Basically, the routine is walk early because they will be here any time after 0700, then Cam and I are on leads or in 10 Downing Street until they're done for the day.  Here's Cam, taking up temporary residence in 10 Downing:

"Oh.  I can come out now?  Nah ... I'm fine.  I'll be out in a bit."

I don't mind her borrowing 10 Downing for a little private time.  It's very comfy in there and see the pink camo layer?  That's one of those cool mat things.  It's awesome!

Anyway, where was I?  Oh, right.  In the evenings, things get back to semi-normal - other than stuff piled in bizarre places (Mom and Dad had to empty not only the master bath, but the walk-in-closet, and needed to take some things off walls) and they put a barrier up so we can't get into the master bath.

On the weekends, though -- we've got the place to ourselves again.  AND Mom has had time to make sure there aren't any "NoNoMaggieDon'tEatThats" in the master bath.  She let me check on the progress this morning!

"Greetings from the partially remodeled bathroom!"

The walls are all framed up and dry-walled, so things are really starting to take shape!  It's truly like a giant box in there!  Totally awesome.  And comfy, as you can tell.  Ken left a nice, comfy quilt on the floor.  He works very hard, so I don't think it's for taking a nap - I think it's to protect the floor from all the things that make a lot of noise during the week.

At one end are some capped off pipes that will look different once they finish that wall.  And on the other end ...

"A bench?!?"

A nice, sturdy bench!  I hadn't seen that until this morning!  How cool is that!?!  And you know what benches are for ...

"This is so awesome!"

It's like the sitzbank, only in a box!!!   Even better news - I'm allowed to jump up there whenever I want to!  How great is that?!?!

There are only two drawbacks so far that I can see:

     1.  That little niche that you see next to me isn't for a TV, it's for extra shampoo and stuff.  If anyone had asked me, I think it would be nice to sit on my new bench and watch some detective shows or something.

     2.  Apparently there will eventually be water involved in this new box of mine.  I might change my mind about thinking it's a swell place to hang out.  We'll see.

Anyway - that's how things are shaping up!  We'll eventually do a whole "before and after" post, but we thought you'd like an update.  So far, I just love our new giant box!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

A Good Day

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Do you know what today is?

"Let me see ..."

"Yes.  Yes, it is!"

Today is a good day for chewing on a favorite toy!  And it's just plain "a good day" -- it's FRIDAY!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cammie!

A Surprise For Us!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  So there we were last week, tethered to Mom, enduring Day 792 of the bathroom remodel, when one of the guys came into the kitchen and announced that our mom had a package.  As he handed it to her, we got VERY interested and thought it just might be for us!

It was from some friends!  Yeah!  So last week, a long-time friend of Mom's and his wife (let's call them Mr. and Mrs. A) were coming through our area.  They came to the house so we could all meet!  It was so nice of them to stop to see us -- we had a great visit!

As if the visit wasn't enough of a treat ... he followed up with this surprise!  A package!  And not just any package ... it was for Cam and me!

"How nice is this?!?  Our favorite treats and some Christmas scarves!!!"
"This is SO very thoughtful!!!"

The scarves are very festive and the treats!  They aren't just any treats -- they're our very favorite!  I had to wonder ... how did he know they're our faves?!?  I think the answer is in this note he enclosed. Check it out:

Close up!

Great Dane in the morning!  He's a close friend of Santa's?!?!  That's got to be how he knew!!!

"Wait ... I was good while they were here, wasn't I?"
"I'm pretty sure I was ..." 

I'm sure he'll send a good report in on Cam -- I mean he refers to her as "most saintly".  And I know I showed them a good time!  That's gotta count for something, right?!!?

Thank you for the wonderful surprise, Mr. and Mrs. A!!!  We enjoyed meeting you both so very much.  We're already enjoying the treats - and we'll be sure to pose VERY sweetly in the scarves nearer to Christmastime!  And if you're ever in Kansas again, our door is always open!  Figuratively speaking, of course!  I mean ... we ARE Siberian Huskies!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

National Lighthouse Day

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Did you know it's National Lighthouse Day?  Our friends Arty, Jakey, and Rosy are sponsoring a blog hop so everyone will come together and share their beautiful lighthouse photos.  Maggie and I didn't think we'd be able to participate in the hop, but there we were at the Kansas Ocean when lo and behold ...

"Look, Maggie!  Our very own KSO Lighthouse!"
"It looks awesome!"

Even if it is only in our imagination, it's a lovely lighthouse, isn't it?

Cammie!

Catwalk Privileges!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  I'm up here on the catwalk!

"Ha roo!"

Now that I'm a big girl and won't try to do  fun  dangerous things (at least not while Mom's watching), I have free access to the catwalk; Mom moved the gate to just block off the guest rooms!  This is so awesome!  I hope I have as much fun up there as my great-brother Zimmie used to!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serenity Now!

Hello, everyone. It's me, Cammie. While the workers are here, Maggie and I are usually in the kitchen & breakfast room with Mom, on lead. I mean we're on lead, not Mom ... though technically she is, too. Anyway, since there are lots of doors being opened and men going all over the place, it's just safest for us to be hooked up. Once they're gone, we are unhooked and have free run of the house again (except for the torn-up bathroom). So Friday, when we were unhooked for the whole weekend ...

"OK, girls!  You can go wherever you want now!"
"I dunno, I'm kind of comfy ..."
"OK, Mom.  Great.  Zzzzz..."

Oh, sure.  Eventually we explored the house, then erupted into a round of Crazed River Otter Games, but it was nice just to have some serene quiet for a while!  Mom and Dad keep saying how proud they are of us for being such very good girls.  We are trying our best!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Cammie!

Switch-O-Change-O

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Maggie and I followed Mom upstairs the other day to help her find something when ...

"Is it just me or are we usually on the other side of this gate?"
"I know.  It's strange."

Week one of the remodeling is in the bag.  Long live the weekend!

Cammie!

KSO Update

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Maggie and I thought you might appreciate an update on the Kansas Ocean.  We are happy to report that even though we have moved from being in "severe drought" to "extreme drought", the Kansas Ocean is still nicely filled up.

"I hear frogs, Cam!"
"The KSO is looking mighty good!"

We're hoping that once Fall bird migration kicks into high gear, some of the water fowl will stop by!

Happy Friday, everyone!!!

Cammie!

Break Time!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags. Cam and I wanted to fill you in on what we do when the guys doing our remodeling work go on break.  When they're here, Cam and I are on leashes -- too many open doors and according to our mom, "Someone wants to be too helpful".  Not sure what that means.  I think she doesn't want anyone to overdo.  Anyway, break time means we are free once again.  As you saw yesterday, the guys leave their  runways  tarps in place, so Cam and I are careful to leave them alone.  More or less.

"Hey.  How's it going?"
"Tarps?  What tarps?"

I mean ... if the workers are taking a break, we should, too.  Right?  Let's GO!

To view on YouTube, please click here.

So much better.

"What?  Can't I just lay here for a while?"

Break time is always over before we know it.  Time to get back to work!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

PS:  Thank you for all the nice happy birthday wishes!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher