Sunday Stare-Down

 Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar.  Maggie and I are doing this today:

 

Mom will figure out what we want shortly. 

Sköl! 

Ragnar

Finally!

 Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags!  FINALLY!  Finally this morning, we were able to go on one of our "normal" walks!  It was AWESOME!  We got to walk the whole Hudson Trail, then up to The Top Of The World.

Here we are, starting down the trail; it was still snowy there, which was lovely!

"Ah!  This is great, isn't it, Ragnar?!?"
"Perfect, Mags!"

It was in the low 20s when we headed out, but a lot of our snow disappeared yesterday.  Out on the open trail, there was even less snow:

"It feels so good to be out on a long walk again!"
"I wish there was more snow, though!"

I did, too, but whatcha gonna do?  We stepped in as much snow as we could.

Here we are up at The Top Of The World:

Raggi and me

Once back down on the lower trails, we opted to take one of the eastern legs of the trail.  There was a nice, shaded area there where the snow hadn't disappeared, which made Ragnar and me very happy!  AND ...

"Mags!  I see something up there!"

You can even tell by his ear radar that he had spotted something interesting, can't you?!?  

"What is it, Raggi!?!"
"Not sure yet!  It's something, though!"

Whatever it was (bunny?  deer?  coyote?  birdie?) ran off before we could find it.

"It's the leashes, Raggi.  Without the leashes, we would have had it!"
"What would we do with it if we caught it?"

He had a good point there.  I have no idea.  Play with it?  I have no idea!  We did meet two really handsome boys on the trail - a Great Pyrenees named Grover and a Great Pyrenees/Border Collie mix named Sam.  They were very nice and it was fun to make new friends!

Thanks for coming with us!  It was so great to finally get out on a "real" walk today!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Happy Friday!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar.  I just wanted to wish all of you a happy Friday!

... unless you're somewhere like Australia where Maggie's mentor Mr. Teddy Westlife lives and it's already Saturday. Then I wish you a happy Saturday!  This is making my head spin.  Maybe I should just say ...

"Sköl, everybody!"

Sköl! 
Ragnar

Nothing To See Here

 Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar.  Last night, I had another great lesson from Maggie.  It's a little something she calls the "Nothing To See Here Look".  It's a lot like the "Innocent Look", but a tad bit more involved.

See ... Dad was downstairs in the office doing a Zoom meeting and Mom ... well, she was just a little bit too interested in our after dinner plans ...

"And then ... oh.  Can I help you?"
"She's right behind me, isn't she, Mags?"
"Everything OK in here?"

"Just giving Raggi a singing lesson!  Ha roooooo!"
"..."

No, really.  I don't sing.  Except sometimes in my sleep or when Mom's been gone and I hear her come in.  I'm a very quiet guy.  (And don't tell her I said this, but Maggie talks enough for both of us.  Shh!)

We thought Mom went back in to fold laundry, so ...

"BOOM!"
"UGH!  You got me!"

Ha!  I had her!  But not for long!

"DOUBLE ZOOMIES, RAGNAR!  GO!!!"
"ZOOOOOM!!!"

Maggie may have run right into Mom's legs at one point -- that would be when we realized she had been standing there watching us and filming us (in really bad lighting; sorry for the poor quality).  THAT is when Maggie showed me her patented "Nothing To See Here Look".  Check it out:

"What?"

She encouraged me to try, so ...

"Yeah, Mom.  What Maggie said."

Maggie gave me extra points for throwing in a semi head tilt.  I couldn't resist.  Mom's a sucker for the head tilt!

"Nothing to see here, Mom."
"Nothing at all!"

I'm learning SO MUCH from Mags - and am having a ton of fun in the process!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Wordless Wednesday

 

Mags & Ragnar

 

Boredom Is Sinking In

 Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  This morning when we got up, the actual temperature here at Ice Station Ao4 Headquarters was -20℉  (-28.9℃).  Don't even ask about the windchill or "real feel".  Needless to say, it's "indoor games" again today.  Only I'm really starting to worry about Mom.  Is it the boredom of not going on walks?  Is the cold getting to her brain?  A crazy combo of the two?  You be the judge -- she thought it would be a good idea to play dress-up.  With me.

"Seriously?!?  Do you SEE what I have to put up with?!?  SEND HELP!"

And the next thing I knew ...

"Mom, we really need to talk about this ..."
"Hi, Maggie.  What are you and Mom doing?  Can I play?"

 It was great!!!  I needed help, and BOOM!  there was Ragnar!  What timing!  Only rather than turning the "game" over to Raggi ...

"Not what I had in mind, Mom."
"Oh, come on!  You look adorable!"
"I think blue's really my color, Mom.  Can I try a solo?"

"What do you think, Mom?  It's 'me', isn't it!?!?"
"❤️❤️Oh, Ragnar!❤️❤️"

Best.  Little.  Brother.  EVER!!!!!

But in case this continues, please send help.  Really.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Let It Snow!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  A few weeks ago, our wonderful Aunt Donna sent us this beautiful set of three embroidered mini quilts: 

" 'Let It Snow'.  Is that awesome, or what?!?!"

She has sent us others, too -- an Autumn set, a USA set, Christmas, and MORE!  All four of us just love them!  And since this "Let It Snow" one is new, we thought we should let Aunt Donna know ...

"It's working REALLY well!"
"Yeah!  We've got TONS of snow now!"

Now if it would just get above zero so we can go on our walks again!  Snow is GREAT; sub-zero temps aren't great for the non-Siberian members of the family.

Anyway, just a shout-out THANK YOU to Aunt Donna!  And if you'd like us to send our frigid temps and snow to you in Arizona, just say the word!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Valentine's Day

"Do you think Mom has cookies?"
"Would I be posing like this if she didn't?!?"

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Ragnar and Maggie 

Beans II

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  I'm titling this post "Beans II" because I've already blogged about our beans (you can read it here).  As I said before, usually I just crunch right through my "bean" (EicosaCap -- fish oil pill), but lately I've discovered that Ragnar likes them a lot more than I do.  I've been saving mine for him - I just put it on the brown side of my placemat, then when he comes over to see if I'm done, there's a little treat for him.  Like leaving a mint on a pillow, you know?  

Sometimes Mom catches us, but sometimes she's off doing frivolous things like moving the laundry around or something.  This morning, I kind of messed up.  I thought she was off getting the towels out of the dryer, so today I forgot to camouflage my bean ...

"Uh, Mags?  Did you forget something?"
"No ... I'm saving it."

Unfortunately, she had me save it until lunchtime instead of saving it for Ragnar.  I need to remember to put it on the brown part of the placemat henceforth.  Making a mental note.

 Remember - stay sneaky, or you'll get busted.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Anybody?

 Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar.

"Anybody want to join me in the shower?"

"I've got a new bottle of body wash and clean, fluffy towels!"

Hey.  Maggie has her boxes -- I like to spend time in the shower!  It's OK to have different hobbies - right?!?

Sköl!
Ragnar

Weighing In

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Since this polar vortex has hit us, we've cut back on our walks.  Oh, we're still out there, but we certainly aren't putting in the 4-7 miles per day that we normally do.  Since our activity levels have dropped, Mom was concerned that we might start putting on weight -- so she suggested a weigh-in.  No problem - we have our own scale here at Ao4 Headquarters.

"How about I hop on first, Mom?"
"Great, Mags!"
"I'll go next, OK?"

 I thought everything would be fine, but ...

"63.14 pounds?!?"
"Wait.  WHAT?!?"
"Heh heh heh ... Maybe you should give me Maggie's cookies for a while..."

Don't worry.  I got Ragnar back for his little prank!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

 

Sköl! 

Ragnar

What To Do On A Bitterly Cold Day

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Like most of you, we've been hit with this incredible cold air mass.  Polar vortex.  Cold front.  Whatever.  I'm doing what any Siberian Husky with common sense would do.

"Outside?  Nah, I'm good.  I'll let you know when I need to go out."

I'm nobody's fool. 

Yours sincerley, 
Margaret Thatcher

PS:  Yes, yes, I'm happy to go on our walks and I love the snow, but I also have a good amount of common sense.  And since if I'm outside, my Mom and/or Dad are outside, I need to watch out for their well-being!  Safety first!

Puppies?!?

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  This morning, we only took Mom and Dad on a short walk, because a) there are road chemicals all over the place and b) the "real feel" was -11℉.  That's -23.9℃ for our international readers.  Or as we like to say, "too cold for the non-Siberian members of the family".

Anyway, Dad was having a cup of coffee at the kitchen table and tried to show Mom something on his iPad ...

"DAD?!?  Whatcha got there?!?!"

    I heard PUPPIES!!!! Dad put his iPad a little lower for me ...

"I hear tiny Siberians!  Where are they??!??"

Mom shot video while I tried to find them:

 

To watch on YouTube, please click here.

I didn't find them, but I sure tried.  I'll let you know if I do!

Sköl!
Ragnar

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday!  We just wanted to share a few of our favorite pix from a walk we took to The Top Of The World the other morning.

Here we are, heading out on the trail:

Here we are, having a look around, up top:

 And lastly, here we are, heading back down:

"The snow's getting heavier, Mags!"
"I know, Ragnar -- SO serene!!!"

I hope all of you are having a serene Sunday!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

The MOST Eastern Trail!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  Yesterday, Maggie told you about us taking one of the eastern trails -- well, today, we took the MOST eastern trail out in Washington Marlatt Park!  We've only been this way once before, so it was super fun!  My first favorite part of the walk was right here: 

"Look, Mom!  It's that super cool Trippy-Trap Bridge!"
"Oh, 🤬!  I forgot about the bridge!"

It's the coolest, most rickety bridge! Doesn't it look so fun?!? All those slippery logs, coated with mud and frozen mud -- very enjoyable! At least Maggie and I thought so.  There's a chance Mom doesn't share our sentiment.  She's not quite as sure-footed as we are.

Here we are up at The Top Of The World:

"Lady with loose dog!"
"I see them, Mags!"

That's about when my next favorite part of the walk started. You can see it better in this shot of us back on Hudson Trail:

"Hey, Mags!  Let's let Mom get a shot of our snow-covered backs!"
"Rats.  I just did the shaky-shake!"

I mean, what could make our 8 degree temps even better?!?  SNOW!!!  Right?!?

"I don't think this walk could get any better, Mags!"
"Me, neither!"

 Such a great walk!

Thanks for coming with us! 

Sköl! 
Ragnar

The Eastern Trail!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags!  Today we hit The Top Of The World again, only we got to take different trails this time!  Heading out, we took one of the eastern trails. We hadn't been on that trail for a long, long time, so there were all kinds of new scents to check out. We took our exploration very seriously:

"Must sniff every blade of grass ..."
"And every stick, too!"

It was awesome!  Because we didn't start out until after 7:30, we ran into a lot of people and loose dogs. We don't want to disturb anyone, so we do our best to avoid them. Today, that meant taking the path into the woods! (YAY!!!). Here's Raggi, leading the way:

"The woods!  The woods!  The woo - wait ... someone's coming!"

We actually ran into a Siberian Husky!  How cool is that?  You just never know who you're going to meet on the trail!

We did climb up to the top, and no one was up there.  Here I am, heading down toward the turnaround point:

"What a great day!"

I think you can tell by the look on my face how happy I was!  We even got to do a video call with our grandma while we were up there!  Mom wanted her to see how pretty it is.

We're hoping for snow again tomorrow -- keep your paws crossed for us!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Snowsquall!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  Today we had a GREAT walk AND we learned a new term:  snowsquall.  The Wikipedia people define it as, "a sudden moderately heavy snow fall with blowing snow and strong, gusty surface winds. It is often referred to as a whiteout and is similar to a blizzard but is localized in time or in location and snow accumulations may or may not be significant." According to our local meteorologists, that what we had during our walk! All Maggie and I know is it means FUN!!! 

When we left the house, the winds were gusting at about 30 mph or so and the windchill was in the low 20s. We thought it would be a perfect day to go to The Top Of The World - right?!? Once we hit the trail, the snow really started coming down. It was so great! Mom shot some video during a calmer period - something about needing to take her glove off and frozen hands. I don't know. Check it out!

       

Please click here to watch on YouTube. 

Surprisingly, we were the only people out, except for one lady with a Chocolate Lab who looked very sweet and friendly. The Lab, not the lady. Anyway, we couldn't believe more people weren't out enjoying the day! Here we are, up at the very top, looking out over everything!

"Is this great or what, Raggi?!?!"
"I love this, Mags!"
"🥶"

What a great day!  Oddly, not only did the snow start when we left the house, but it stopped right before we got back. Seems like we were out at the exact right time to enjoy this beautiful day! And especially the snowsqualls!!! 

Sköl! 
Ragnar

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Ragnar

What Could Go Wrong?!?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  Yesterday, we took Mom and Dad on a great walk!  We kept changing the route and before we knew it, we had gone 7 miles.  Awe.  Some.  I did zoomies when we got home to celebrate.  We did sort of an extended "to the stadiums" walk.  If Mom had hit "outdoor walk" on her AppleWatch instead of "indoor walk", we'd actually have a map to share, but ... yeah.  Moving right along ... 

We walked past all kinds of interesting things, of course.  I thought we should go in here:

"Oh.  The Biosecurity Research Institute.  Yeah, Mags, great idea!"
"I know - right?!?"

I mean ... the Biosecurity Research Institute.  Sounds great, doesn't it?  Oddly enough, Mom said,  "No."

Not to worry -- almost right next door is the NBAF (National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility).  

"How about the NBAF then?!?"
"Even better, Ragnar!"

 

What could possibly go wrong?!?

Unfortunately, Mom nixed that idea, too.  I think her feety-feet were getting tired and she wanted to get home.  That must be it!  Maybe next time!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Foggy Walk

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  This morning it was super cold and frosty and FOGGY!  It was really great.  We went to The Top Of The World to celebrate.

"10-1 there are trolls under that Trippy-Trap Bridge today, Ragnar!"
"I'll bet you're right, Mags!"

We wanted to go check, but Mom said the bridge would be too slippery today because of the frozen fog.  We headed up to The Top Of The World itself instead!

"Gadzooks, Raggi!  The trail disappears up there!"
"Mom?  We might need to turn around!"

Mom said Maggie was just kidding and that we'd be OK to go to where the trail goes over the cliff.

"I think I see a werewolf, Mags!"
"I see it, too!"

"Ah.  No.  It was a birdie."
"Could have been a werewolf, though..."

It would have been pretty cool to see a werewolf up there.  Maggie said maybe next time.  You just never know.  Especially if it's foggy!

Sköl!

Ragnar