Brace Yourselves!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Brace yourselves, readers - I have startling news.  The Great Remodel of 2018 is done!  Well, not so much "done" as "all of the inside stuff is done".  The Painters need to come back and do some stuff outside, but we didn't think we'd ever get here!  They started our "30-day project" back in July, and now it's (mostly) DONE!

"We're as shocked as you are!"
"Seriously!"

We know everyone is anxious for some "before and after" pix, so let's get to it.  The first big change is the door and doorway - they enlarged the entry (it had been very narrow) and did a barn-type of door to save space!

"Rustic, but not overly so!  And the frosted window lets lots of light in."
"Why don't we go have a look around!  No worries -- I know how to open the door already."

Let's go on in.

Over here, this whole side is the shower!

"One huge shower - no door, no glass to clean!"

That wall used to look like this:

BEFORE

And now ...

AFTER!

The window that replaced the glass block window is frosted, so like the door, it lets light in, but gives privacy.

One wall of the shower has all the water-makers:

Shower heads, niche, grab bars, and a little corner bench

And opposite of that is a nice, big bench:

Big bench, another grab bar, and towel hooks

That all was ripped out and redone since last I showed you.  Please don't ask; Mom's head is given to exploding.

Across from the shower entrance is the vanity.

"Mom's favorite part of this is the floor.  I just thought I'd point that out now."

The floor is a textured porcelain tile.  Mom really likes it and the texturing is enough so that it's not slippery, even when you have wet feety-feet.  Getting back to the vanity ...

Here's what it used to look like:

BEFORE

And here it is now:

AFTER

The new vanity is higher, which means less bending.  The whole idea of this, other than getting rid of the tub that was never used and making a big shower, was to "age-proof" the bathroom, so Mom and Dad can enjoy it for decades to come -- hence the higher vanity, grab bars in the shower, and a higher toilet!

Quite tall!

You may notice, too, that the little "pony wall" between the vanity and the toilet area was removed.  That's another "little" change that Mom really likes.

"Hey, Cam!  Did you know there used to be a pony in here?"
Off-camera:  "Oh, Maggie!"

Something like that, anyway.

Well, there you have it.  We hope you enjoyed our "before and after" pix.  We ALL enjoy having the house all to ourselves again!!!  And Mom and Dad are enjoying the new bathroom!

Have a great weekend!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Photo Finish Friday: The Birds!

Hello, everyone. It's me, Cammie! Today, Maggie and I thought we'd show you some of the birds we saw on our   escape   trip down to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.  Settle in ...

"Get comfy, Mags!  There are a lot of birdies!"
"Got it!"

The first birdie we saw was this guy, right smack in the middle of the road!

"Mmm, tasty!"

I'm not sure what he found, but he was having a good hunting spree.  We waited for him to leave before we drove any further - we don't want to scare any-birdie!

There were still some Yellowlegs around!

Greater Yellowlegs

Mom almost missed this Bald Eagle:

Bald Eagle, camouflaged by the leaves

Some nice men stopped their vehicles and pointed him out to her.  In case you're thinking, "How could she miss such a big bird?" -- you can see how far away she was in the iPhone shot at this link.

Mom saw her very favorite ducks!

❤ Northern Shovelers!!! ❤

❤ Female Northern Shoveler!!! ❤

Obviously, the hearts and exclamation points were put in by our mom, who helps edit the blog.

We also saw Mom's second-favorite duck!

Ruddy Duck

They are very small ducks and Mom always wants to scoop them up and hug them.  ... that's how she is.  Don't ask.

Also in the "scoop up a tiny duck" category is this little girl:

Female Bufflehead

We didn't see any male Buffleheads, just that one female!

This Grebe was swimming out with some of the ducks:

Eared Grebe 

Grebes aren't ducks, but they like to hang out with them.  Same goes for Coots:

American Coot

The Cranes are migrating through now; we had hoped to see the very rare Whooping Cranes, but had no luck there.  We did see some Sandhill Cranes, though!

Sandhill Cranes in flight 

Mom and Dad just love listening to their calls!

One more bird before we wrap this up!

Northern Harrier

It was a great trip down and we hope to go again before Fall migration comes to a close.  If you'd like to see more photos from our trip, please visit our FlickR album at this link.

Thanks for coming down to Quivira NWR with us!

Cammie!

Adventure!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  This past weekend, we really needed to   get away from the torn up house stuff for a while   have a little adventure!  Mom and Dad decided we could take a break and drive down to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge to do some birding!  We'll show you the bird highlights soon, but today we thought we'd show you some of the cool shots Mom took on her iPhone.

We usually stop at a rest stop on I70 on our way down.  It has very clean facilities for all of us, plus a cool network of sidewalks, so we can all stretch our legs.  Mom had not noticed this sign before:

Blue Star Memorial Highway

We thought it was really awesome!

"At least it's nice and quiet in the HR-V!  Zzz ..."
"Let's see what else is out there!!!"

Outside of Salina we've noticed something you wouldn't think you'd find in the middle of Kansas - a lighthouse!  Mom took a quick shot out of the window as Dad drove down I70:

The Landlocked Lighthouse

It's called the Landlocked Lighthouse. It was part of a par 3 golf course, but it's closed now.  We should have featured it for National Lighthouse Day, but I like our pretend one at the Kansas Ocean just fine.

The next three shots are the scenery on the way into the refuge - just driving down one of the roads we take to get there.  Let's enjoy the colorful leaves and that beautiful blue sky!

Isn't that a great approach?!?

They've had a lot more rain down at Quivira than we've had, so the marshes were nice and full.  Here's a shot at what the marshland looks like:

Quivira NWR

And here is some of the grassland area:

It was a picture-perfect day, just great for exploring!

"Heeeeeere, birdie, birdie, birdie!!!"

Tomorrow, we'll share some of the bird pix with you!  Thanks for coming along with us!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Cam and Mags

Good News!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Good news to report from Ao4 Headquarters!  Oh, no ... they aren't done with all the remodeling yet.  Puh-leez.  BUT they had most of the things done in the bathroom on Friday, so over the weekend Mom and Dad installed the new blinds in the walk-in closet.  See ... the remodel guys had to bring some large things in through the closet windows then into the bathroom.  They took the blinds down and stuck them on a shelf in there and the first guy stored a bunch of his stuff in there ... and let's just say they got a bit beat up.  Broken.  Ka-put.  SO ... the good news is -- check out the new blinds Mom put up!

"What the ... ?  Hey ... didn't I have those blinds shut?"

Aren't they great?!?! They're those cordless cellulars I was telling you about!!!

Previously, at Ao4 Headquarters ...

"Awesome!  Cordless cellulars!  Oooh!  I can see the whole front street from here!"

I've never been able to check the view from those windows before!  How cool is that?!?!  Isn't this great news?!!?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Did We Hear ...

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cam.  The other afternoon, Maggie and I were in the living room, when we thought we heard ... out of the kitchen ...

"Excuse me.  Did we hear a banana?!?"
"She's got fruit, Cam!  Swarm!  Swarm!  Swarm!!!"
"I just ... weren't you two in the other room?"

... as if we wouldn't have heard her peeling it!  Ha!

You're never alone in this house if you have a piece of fruit!  

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  This week, we thought you might get a big dose of serenity just looking through a few photos from this morning's walk.  Are you ready to come with us?

Look at all this great Fall color!

We hope you enjoyed our walk through the colorful, crispy leaves!

"New England's got nothin' on us!"
"I don't know why they don't do leaf tours of Kansas!"

There's nothing quite like Fall foliage to make us feel nice and serene!  (... except maybe for a foot of snow ...)

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Cammie!

SATURDAY!

Greetings to all! It's me, Maggie. Today is Saturday, and I think we ALL deserve a bit of a break!

"Whew, what a week!"

Don't you?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Boxing AND Crinkly Paper!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Did the title get the attention of all of my kit-cat friends?  Yesterday was such a great day - I wish you all could have been here!

After the remodel guys left, the guy in the brown truck rang our doorbell. He brought me a BOX with lots of crinkly paper! It was so awesome!

"It fits PERFECTLY, Mom!  Thanks!  Can I play with the paper, too?!?"
"Cam, do you want to play with the paper, too?"
"Is she getting treats?"

How great is that?!?  I knew Cam wouldn't want to box with me, but I thought she'd have fun with the crinkly paper!

"This is so great!  Take our picture, Mom!"
"I better get some tasty treats out of this!" 

Cam didn't seem too ... comfortable with the whole "playing in the crinkly paper" thing for some reason, but I'm proud of her for trying!

"It's ... touching me!!!"
"I know!  Isn't it cool!?!?"

I'm not sure she enjoyed it as much as I did, but at least she did get a couple of those crunchy Zuke's!

If any of my fellow Boxers or kit-cat pals want to come over, the box and paper are mine through the weekend!  Come on over!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

The Blinds

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  The other day, I told you about The Painters being here and Cam mentioned that I know how to open the blinds.  Our friends Kiki and Nala wondered how to do it, so I thought I'd put together a little tutorial.

Mom tried to shoot a video of me in action, but (1) I'm fast and (2) I'm sneaky.  Here's the gist of it!

First, you need those cellular cordless blinds.  Ours happen to be bottom up and top down, but I can't really reach the top, so that part doesn't matter.  There is a little tab at the bottom for the bipeds to grasp when they open them -- you don't really need that, but you can use it if you need to. Press your ear tips gently against the blind to hold it in place, then scoop the blind up with your snooter!

"Annnnd .... I'm in.  Hey.  Somebody left the gate open!"

Note the ear tip.  Don't press so hard that you damage the blinds, just enough to hold them steady.  That comes in handy for the "sneaky" part -- you don't want the blinds rattling around, making noise if you're trying to be sneaky.  You know -- like if your Dad doesn't really know that you know how to open the blinds.  Ahem, Dad.

Before you know it, you'll be in business.

"What the ..."
"Yeah.  I see you, Mr. The Painter!!!"

Kiki and Nala - and anyone else out there who was curious - I hope you'll give this a try.  There's really nothing to it.  It's really a great skill to have.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Cam and Mags

Snowball Effect

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  As part of the bathroom remodel, they changed out a window in there, which meant they had to replace siding, which meant the whole house needs to be repainted. I'm not sure how that works, but that's how it goes.  Anyway ... Mom and Dad thought while they were at it, they'd replace the outdoor lighting and house numbers.  They thought doing that part themselves would be better.  And faster.  Much faster.

The Painters haven't done the trim yet, but over the weekend, Mom and Dad put the new fixtures up!  Once darkness fell, I went out to have a look!

"Oooh!  I can see everything out here now!"

They're super happy with the lights and the numbers, and are really happy with the paint color.  The Painters should get the trim done this week, weather depending.

"Any coyotes sneaking around?"

The lights are nice and bright, and are LED -- they'll burn cooler and last for decades!

It seems like every part of the house is getting some work done!  Mom says it's like a snowball rolling downhill, gathering snow.  I'm not sure what she means, but I'm all in favor of snowballs!

Cammie!

Oh. Yeah.

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Thank you for your kind words on our Serene Scenery Sunday post!  We were super-cooperative, weren't we?!?

"See?  Super-cooperative!  Right, Mags?  ... Mags?"
"Uh ... yeah, Cam.  Whatever."

Oh.  Yeah.  Well ... there may have been a few outtakes. Like remember that blue sky?

"It's gorgeous!  Look at all that blue!"
"Oh, VERY pretty!"

We also tried a couple shots up in the Friendship Garden.

"I think I see the neighbors."
"I can't see them ..."

That didn't go so well. EXCEPT for this lovely portrait:

Me!  D'Azul's Girl From Ipanema - Cameron!

See? Isn't that nice? Errrr ... don't ask why Maggie isn't in the shot. You reeeeeeally don't want to know.

Have a great Monday!

Cammie!