Serene Scenery Sunday

 Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar.  Maggie and I took Mom and Dad exploring on our walk yesterday and had an AMAZING time!  We thought we'd share a ton of the photos Mom took with you today.  Are you ready to get started?  

First, we headed up to the Water Tower Trail.

"Hey, Mom.  Get a shot of the view from here."
"Yeah.  But let's keep going.  Lots of territory to cover!"

Here's the view:

 

Be sure to note the water tower on the horizon - just right of center.  You'll see why in a bit.  Oh.  And check out the spooky fog, too!

We walked sort of our regular route, then headed up a hill we'd never gone up before!

"How cool is this?!?"
"Very cool!  Oooh!  Sunflowers, Mom!"

I do like to help Mom find stuff.  Plus, there was something I wanted to try to snarf over there.  But I digress ...

After that, we wanted to see what was up on the ridge!  Now, I don't know why Mom didn't take any photos, let alone shoot video of this, but Dad proposed we head straight up hill -- up a huge, steep dirt and gravel hill.  It.  Was.  Awesome!

"Now THAT was fun!"
"It sure was!  How are your shoes, Mom?"

Mom was wearing new shoes.  No time like the present to break them in, huh?

"Well, we're on roads now.  I wonder how they get the big trucks up here?"
"Good question, Mags!"

We kept going and going!  And before we knew it - check out this view!

Remember the water tower we saw from the Water Tower Trail?!?  That's where we are!  Or were!

Here's another view - this one's VERY Kansas-y!

Can you see them out there?!?  COWS!!!  I mean ... COWS!!!

"Oh... great... Thor, do those cows smell amazing!!!"

I wish you could smell them -- now THAT would be a Serene Scenery Sunday bonus!  Seriously, I don't know why those Yankee Candle or Bath and Body Works people don't make cow-scented candles.  Mags and I would buy them up! 

We noticed this area (and view!) as we walked:

 

Apparently, we could have come up this gravel road instead of scaling that dirt hill. Oh, well. The dirt hill was SO FUN!  OH!  And see out on the horizon, just to the right of those cell towers?  That's the water tower at the Water Tower Trail!  Cool, huh?  OK, back to dirt and stuff...

"It was crazy-fun, Raggi!"
"I thought so, too!"

Here's another Kansas shot:

It's starting to get very colorful around here!

"Are you having as much fun as I am, Mags?"
"You know it, bro!"

We went all the way to where this gate is ...

...then turned around.  That was someone's private ranch up there!

We re-traced, and decided to go down the gravel road instead of the steep dirt hill.

"This is a little easier on your shoes, huh, Mom?"
"Ha roo roo roo!"

Truth be told, Mom and Dad had every bit as much fun as Maggie and I did!  And how happy were we?  Check out our faces in this pose on our way back home:

"I feel so serene now!"
"Me, too!  ... and thirsty!"

It was such a cool adventure!  Thanks for coming with us - we hope it brought some serenity to your day!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Watching The Sunset

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  The other evening, Ragnar and I went out on the deck with Mom to enjoy the sunset.  Here's a shot:

Nice. I went over to check it out:

"Oooh!  Colorful!"

 

Ragnar was snuggling with Mom. I thought he should check the sunset out, too.

"Hey, Ragnar!  Come check out the sunset!"
"I'm kinda busy getting neck rubs ..."

He took a bit of convincing. 

"Neck rubs?!?  C'mon, Raggi!"

 

I can be very persuasive.

Of course, by the time I had convinced him, the sun had set -- BUT there were people walking by!

"This is even better, Mags!"
"It is!  Oooh!  They have a dog.  Do we know them??!"

There's something out there for everyone.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

 

We're Fit!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  As you know, Maggie and I have been working really hard, taking our Mom and Dad on really long road marches every day, helping them get fit.  Only guess what?!?  The American Kennel Club (AKC) decided me and Mags are fit!  Look at what they sent us!!!

Me - Polargold's Einherjar - and Mags - Polargold's Margaret Thatcher.  Fit Dogs!

How cool is that?!?  It's a magnet and we get to hang it on the fridge and everything!  It's nice to be rewarded for all of our hard work!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Trust Us!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Sometimes, Mom forgets about "keeping an eye on" me and Ragnar, then gets this crazy, "OMG what are they doing?!?!" sense about her and runs off to look for us.  That happened the other day and ... 

"Hi, Mom.  What's all the hubbub?"
"Seriously, Mom.  Trust us - we're Siberian Huskies!"

I mean, seriously.  Look at how innocent we look!  Nothing to see here, folks.  Move along!

Innocently and yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

 Ragnar and Mags

Pumpkin!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar.  On our walk yesterday, I made a very important yet confusing discovery.  We were walking down Hudson Trail when ...

"Mags!  I found a pumpkin!!!"

Now ... back at Polargold Headquarters, where Maggie and I were born, we had some pumpkins growing. I left before this year's crop were big enough to eat, but I do remember that pumpkins are big and round and orange.  But this one?  Something just wasn't right about it!  Mags moved in to check it out!

"It's a fake, Raggi.  These people seem thankful about it, though ..."

Fake pumpkins.  Is that confusing, or is it just me?  It also didn't smell like it would taste very good.  Hopefully the ones back at Polargold HQs fared better!

Have you seen fake pumpkins where you live?

Sköl!

Ragnar

A Few Questions And A Great Walk!

 Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags!  Mom and Dad let us wear our new harnesses on our walk today - Ragnar and I couldn't wait to get out there and show them off!  Before I share our walk pix with you, though, our very dear kit-cat friends Isabella and Angel asked a great question on our post yesterday!  

They wanted to know, "Can you show us the underside of those harnesses sometime too? Somedog here is curious."  Absolutely, kit-cat pals!  Please show this shot of Raggi modeling his harness to Lexi:

Harness detail shot

Can you see that? Our CTC Dog Gear harnesses have nice, thick padding, covered in a nylon fabric. They are com-fy!!! No rubbing or binding. And they dry fast if you get them wet.  Since you all live in the PNW, that's probably very important for Lexi!

OK!  For our walk today, we headed east on the big street then stopped to admire the sunrise at the trailhead:

"Oooh, look at the sunrise!"
"Uh huh.  Are we crossing the big street?"
"I thought we went that way yesterday..."

Dad said we could turn down Hudson Trail instead!  Yahoo!!!

"The trail is super dusty!"
"That's because Mom wore her new shoes."

Oops.  That part of the trail isn't very long anyway.  Before we knew it, we were on the paved part.

Me and Ragnar, on the trail!

At the end of the third leg of the trail, we turned up the road and headed uphill.

Me and Ragnar on Cammie Hill

That was always Cammie's favorite hill to go up, so now we call it "Cammie Hill" in her honor.  We all still miss her very much.  ❤

We walked past the Kansas Ocean next:

"Any sign of our heron friend?"
"No ... I don't see him!"

We had to check for him, though!

Next, we headed up into the hills!

"What a view!"
"Totally worth the climb!"

Oh!  Our friends Millie and Walter also asked a question yesterday!  They wanted to know, "Do you wear the same size? We were wondering since you have the same color how do you tell each other's apart?"  Great question!  We DO wear about the same size and since we don't have name tags on these harnesses yet (we do on our black/white camo ones!) it was a bit confusing this morning!  Mine is adjusted a little bit smaller than Raggi's, so once we figured out which harness was which, Mom slipped a tag holder on Ragnar's.  You can kind of see it on the shot above; Mom needs to order more name tags!

Here we are up in one of the golf course communities:

Ragnar and me!

Here's a nice shot of the back of our harnesses:

I thought you'd be able to see Ragnar's little tag holder thingy, but you really can't.

Anyway, here we are, on the descent homeward:

Happy pups, heading home!

What a great walk!  And a pretty day.  Thanks for coming along with us!  And thanks for the kind compliments and great questions about our harnesses!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Special Announcement!

 Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  Normally, Maggie and I would do a Serene Scenery Sunday post today, but we have a special announcement that made us feel all kinds of serene - so we thought we'd share!  Maggie and I are Ambassadors!  I mean, she's still a Prime Minister and all, but now we're Ambassadors, too!

The good people over at CTC Dog Gear, where we buy all of our really cool harnesses, asked us to be CTC Dog Gear Ambassadors!  How cool is that?!?  We have a special patch to wear on our harnesses -- like the NEW ONES Mom just got for us!

"Check these out!"
"Let's take these babies for a test drive!"

They just came yesterday and we couldn't wait to try them out. Mom made the matching leads!

"They feel really good!"
"Look good, feel good!"

After a short jaunt down the street, we posed for some shots back at Ao4 Headquarters.  Don't worry - Mom had treats!

"Get a good shot of the Ambassador patch, Mom!"
"You DO have treats ... right?!!?"

I got to do a solo shot.  I did my best to show off the harness!

"How's this, Mom?"
"Perfect, Ragnar!"

Mags and I both love blue.  Doesn't it look great on both of our coats?!?

Mags and me

We also went with black hardware.  We think it looks extra cool!  Mom even bought some for our leashes!

Mags and me, porch-posing

We're so happy with our new harnesses -- here's the money shot!

"My name is Polargold's Einherjar -- Ragnar to my friends -- and I'm proud to be a CTC Dog Gear Ambassador!"
"And I'm Polargold's Margaret Thatcher, also proud to be a CTC Dog Gear Ambassador.  But I'm still the Prime Minister."

"I don't think your Prime Ministership was ever in doubt, Maggie."
"I sure hope not.  Dang, you look great in blue, Raggi!"

We can't wait to show off our new harnesses on our long walks!  We went on a really messy route this morning, so we didn't wear them.  Even though they clean off really well, Mom didn't want to break them in quite that much just yet!

Do you get real happy about new harnesses, collars, and leashes?!?  We know they mean even more really cool adventures!

Sköl!

Ragnar

No Need For Thanks!

Greetings to all! It's me, Maggie.  Ragnar and I are working in the kitchen today.

"I need to get to the sink, you two ..."
"We're working, Mom.  You'll have to reach around and do a big stretch."
"No need to thank us."

 She claimed she couldn't reach the sink -- and yet, she KNOWS the importance of stretching!  It's like we're her personal trainers or something.  Get those stretches in!!!

Like Raggi said, no need to thank us.  We're Working Breed Dogs.  It's in our DNA.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Watch Dogs

 Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  As many of you know, one of the many things Maggie has taught me how to do is open the bathroom door.  I even did a tutorial involving opening the bathroom door to help your mom get ready in the mornings.  Apparently, our mom doesn't always want me and Mags in the bathroom with her.  I have no idea why not.  Fear not, though!  I've found a solution!

"Hi, Mom!"
"Don't worry.  I told him not to go in and help."

"Maggie said we're being watch dogs.  OK, Mom?"
"Yeah.  Watch dogs.  Ha roo roo roo!"

Mom said we're even more helpful this way than when we come into the room and do zoomies.  Can you believe that?!?

Sköl!

Ragnar

Question For You!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Ragnar and I just got back from one of our super-long road marches and now ...

"I have just one question for you!"

"Who's ready to play?!?"

"C'mon!  You know you want to!" 

I'll be waiting for you!  Come on over!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

PS:  What does "These long walks only seem to energize her" mean?