Spring Is Trying!

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Not much exciting stuff is going on here, but because it's been unseasonably chilly, we've had some GREAT walks! Spring is trying to come through, though -- you can see in this photo that the Redbud Trees are in bloom in the neighborhood!!

We know the heat will be here soon.  In the meantime, Mags and I LOVE this cool Spring!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. We had another great walk this morning - in the 40s, the winds had died down to about 27 mph (we have been having VERY Kansas-y winds lately, so 27 seemed calm!), and lots of sun.  Perfect walking weather for all of us!  When we reached our turn-around point, Ragnar and I posed for a cookie.

It was quite the serene moment!  You know ... given the cookie part of the occasion!

Yours sincerely, 

Margaret Thatcher

While I'm Waiting

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. It was all rainy and super Kansas windy this morning, so our walk was delayed a bit. While I waited, I did this:

 

"Check out the crossed paws, Mom."
"❤❤❤❤!!!"

Sköl!

Ragnar

If You're Happy And You Know It ...

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. We had a particularly great walk this morning - it was pretty hot (in the 70s) but a lovely breeze was blowing (43mph gusts), so that helped us stay cool. It also meant there were all kinds of hazards that I had to pounce on to keep us safe - leaves, weeds, the occasional bag, etc. I love having an important job like that!  We changed up the route a bit, which meant different smells and scenery. It's always fun switching things around! And we met a very nice lady who wanted to meet us. She gave us all kinds of great ear rubs and said how sweet we are. I was so happy that I gave Mom this look when we got home:

 

"Great walk, Mom!"
"❤❤  Maggie!!!  ❤❤"

What a great day so far!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Showing Some Love

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! This morning on our walk, I turned around and gave my mom a hug - like this:

 

"Hi, Mom!"
"❤❤  Ragnar!!! ❤❤"

It's good to show some love. It's also good when Mom gives me (and Mags - you can sort of see her behind me) a cookie afterwards. Not that I'm in it for the cookies; it's all about the love.

No, really.

Sköl!

Ragnar

Wordless Wednesday

Sköl!

Ragnar

Carrier Landings

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags!

 

"HEY!  Who wants to play!?!"
"Margaret Thatcher!  You aren't doing aircraft carrier landings on the quilt I made, are you?"

"Me?!?  How could you even THINK such a thing?!?"
"What a good girl!!!"

Attention:  Carrier landing practice has been delayed until Mom changes the bedding.  Stay tuned.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

The Bat Signal

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Yesterday, Ragnar and I posed out on the lower deck by some super-cool metal art our aunt sent us for Christmas. Check it out:

 

"Can you see it up above us?"
"This is so cool!"

It's a BAT! Mom and Dad hung it near where Bart the Bat lives - sort of like a "Welcome Home" sign for him. He's already here, leaving his guano for Mom to deal with (so we don't), but she hasn't gotten a good photo of him yet.

We think it's great; Mom and Dad hung it where we can see it from the deck and from the Studio, plus Bart can see it from his hangout - so it's like he's got a buddy to hang out with!  So awesome!  Thanks again to Aunt Janet!  We'll post new pix of Bart eventually!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Easter 2022

From all of us here at Ao4 Headquarters ...

 

"Happy Easter!"
"We hope your Easter baskets are full of great stuff!"

"I wonder if we could eat anything that's in here ...?"
"The pysanky are wooden, so they'd take a while, but we could do a quick number on these stuffed bunnies!"
"But you won't -- right, Mags?"

In keeping with our pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs) we give you the traditional Ukrainian Easter greetings: 

"Христос воскрес! Christ has risen!"

"Воістину воскрес! Truly He is risen!"

Have a wonderful Easter!

Mags, Ragnar, and our mom & dad 

The Race Is On!

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. In the afternoons, when we have time, Mom will announce that it's time to head down to the Studio. Ragnar and I wait for her to grab her iPhone and some treats to stuff in our Pickles, then we race down the stairs!

 

"I win!"
"You remembered the cookies, right?!?"
"Yep!  Ready to play with your Pickles?"

We take turns winning. Well, more or less. Mom is always the last one down - she says something about the stairs not being a race track, not knocking her over, blah, blah, and blah. I'm not sure. I just know we have fun down there!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

She Caught Me!

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! So, there I was, relaxing before lunch, when ...

 

"❤❤ Ragnar!  You're doing that cute pose again!!! ❤❤"
"Oh ... uh ..."

"❤❤ You're just the cutest boy-puppy on Earth!!! ❤❤"
"Really?!?  Whoa.  Must ... hold ... pose!"

"❤❤ Such a handsome puppy!!! ❤❤"
"And ... relax.  Ahhh.....!"

It was that "cutest boy puppy on Earth" comment.  I HAD to let her fire off a few shots!

Sköl!

Ragnar 

Gotta Be Quick!

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Yesterday I did a super cute pose with my paw AND my snooter on Dad's chair.

 

"Hi, Mom."

Maggie said it's important to do speed-training with Mom ... who wasn't quite fast enough to get the snooter action.  Ha woo.

Sköl!

Ragnar

Fox Quilt Finale

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! A couple weeks ago, I gave you an update on the Fox Quilt we've been helping my mom make. Today, I'm happy to announce that not only is the quilt done, but it's now hanging up! Dad picked where he wanted it to go, and ...

 

"We get to hang our quilt in the living room?!?"
"This is so cool, Dad!"

Here's a better look.

 

"We're happy to pose with our quilt, Mom!"
"Yeah!  And oh, hey, are those cookies in your hand by chance?"

Well, yes, the cookies made a big difference, but we were still happy to pose with our Fox Quilt!  And you know ... if you use your imagination, they look an awful lot like Siberian Huskies, don't they?!?

Sköl!

Ragnar

Wordless Tuesday

Ragnar & Mags

Anneberg Walk

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! We sure had a GREAT walk this morning! Mags and I took Mom and Dad on the Anneberg Park route - we did the Perimeter Trail, plus ...

That's what I'M talking about!!!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. We had a GREAT walk this morning - it was warm and windy and wild! We decided to go up to Victory Drive, where they're just starting to develop the land. Mom calls this the "Glutes Workout Route" -- something about a whole lot of hills. We just know it's fun!

Here's the view at one end of the road:

 

Me and Ragnar at the east end of Victory Drive

And here's the view at the other end:

 

Me and Raggi at the west end of Victory Drive!

You can see forever up there! Totally worth the climb to get up!  Some members of the family seem to like the way down much better ... right, Mom?  Ahem.

Here's a shot of me and Dad on the way back down:

 

Dad & me.  Dad's the tall one.

What a great walk - and such beautiful scenery!!!  Have a great Sunday, everyone!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

I ❤ KC

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Ragnar and I made another trip to Kansas City yesterday. While our dad was in at his appointment, we took our mom on a nice walk. Did I mention it was trying to snow? SO nice! Here are some scenes from our walk; unfortunately you can't see the flurries.

"Ragnar?  Do you feel like we're being watched?"
"Yeah.  Creepy."

Apparently, the thing up ahead of us is called "artwork".  Still ... I see Raggi's point!

On the way back to the vehicle, we posed by the other side of the piece.

 

"Can you read it, Ragnar?"
"I think it says, 'I love Kansas City'."

"Yeah.  Still creepy, though.  That eye follows you everywhere!"
"Definitely creepy."

Creepy eye aside, it was a very nice walk.  Did I mention it was flurrying?  So nice!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wait! Is That ...

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Ragnar and I wanted to ... WAIT!

 

"Did I just hear you open some cheese?!!?"
"It's cheddar, Mags.  I can tell."
"I ... umm ..."

Sorry. I lost my train of thought. Have a great weekend!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Snuggle With Your Biped

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Today is national Snuggle With Your Biped Day! I'm currently celebrating thusly:

 

Me and my mom's foot.

Yeah, OK. It's not an official holiday, but if Hallmark can make things up, so can I! Tell the others ... and snuggle up!

Yours sincerely, 

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Mags & Ragnar

Check This One Out!

Hi everybody. It's me, Ragnar. I'm working on some cute poses over here.

 

"Lemme see ... cross my paws (that always gets Mom!) and ... "

I was going to toss in resting my chin on the table leg thingy, but Mags came in, complimented me on my cute pose, then wanted to play.  We never say "no" to each other!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Showtime!

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! Mom and Dad have been watching some Finnish show lately called Shadow Lines. It's super suspenseful with lots of twists and turns. It's mostly in Finnish, though, so Mags and I aren't that into it. So when it's announced that it's "showtime", Mags and I have something else altogether in mind.

 

"OK, you two!  It's showtime!"
"Oh, good.  Watch this!"
"Uh oh ..."

"You heard her, Raggi!  It's showtime!"
"OK, Mags!  Here goes!"

"BOOM!"
"Argh!  You got me!!!"

"I know she let me win that round, but it's all just for show anyway!"

Mom asked if we were finished - and in keeping with the show, we said no, we aren't Finnish at all, we're Siberians.  We do know a very nice Finnish Lapphund back at Polargold HQs named Emmitt, though.  Ha woo.

At least our show is easier to follow than Shadow Lines.  Maybe I should ask Emmitt to translate for us!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Someone

Greetings to all, it's ... someone.  Ragnar and an anonymous Siberian had a major league grooming session yesterday.  By all accounts, both pups were extremely cooperative.

"That really wasn't bad; I had a ton of loose floof.  I liked Mom using the blower on me."
"I refuse to let my floof fly.  Yet."

"Yeah, but Mag--oh, rats."
"I'm ANONYMOUS, Raggi!!!"
"Well, now that your identity has been revealed, can we lose the glasses?"

"Smile, puppies!!!"
"How's this, Mom?"
"That's going way too far."

How am I supposed to maintain my reputation around here if it's let out that I'm being cooperative?!? 

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Anonymous Thatcher

Showdown!

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags! Wow, did we have a GREAT walk this morning! Here's a shot of us on the way home:

 

Me and Ragnar!!!

Do we look happy or WHAT?!? You might be curious as to what made us so happy, so let's back up a bit. The excitement started when we entered CiCo Park:

 

"COWS!!!"
"COWS!!!"

They were ALL over the park -- it was AWESOME! We got a bit further in, when ...

 

"You all can go on without me.  I'm not budging!"

We have a "one for all and all for one" thing, so I decided to join him.

"Looks like you've got a front-row seat, Raggi!"
"Yeah.  They're all going down there to the right."

"There are more cows coming!"
"Good luck, every-cow!"

They're all here for a big cattle show called the Aggieville Showdown.  We went to the downtown part last year and it was fun - but we really get more quality time with the cows when they're in the park, so I don't think we'll hit Aggieville tonight.

We walked all over the place, admiring all the cows and wishing them all good luck in the show.  We went on the rest of our walk, then got to come back through the park on our way home -- Mom and Dad are pretty good about important stuff like letting us see moo cows!

These guys weren't cows, but they were mighty friendly. We decided to pose together, but I proposed that we all give my mom our best Bored Look:

Me and my new Corgi friends

Pretty good, huh?

Anyway ... AWESOME walk! The big finale is tonight, so I'm not sure if any-cow will still be there tomorrow, but we are CERTAINLY going to check. Trust me!

Yours sincerley, 

Margaret Thatcher

What All We Do In The Studio

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! As you know, Mags and I do a lot of hard, hard work downstairs in our mom's Studio. Sometimes we amuse her by Snooter Jousting or zoomies, sometimes we lend advice, sometimes we stand guard:

 

"No intruders out back!"

... and sometimes Mom needs her quilts held up, instead of using the "design floor". Due to lack of opposable thumbs, Mags and I can't do that, so Dad lends a hand. Here's a photo of him:

 

Dad.  And Björn Bear in BDUs.

Oh. And that's a quilt, not his real head. Ha woo!

Sköl! 

Ragnar

Movie Night(s)

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! Over the course of two nights, we watched a REALLY great movie! It was called The Sacketts.  Good story, plenty of action, pretty scenery ... but do you know what made it such a great movie?

 

"HORSES!!!"

Mags may love her mystery shows, and I enjoy them, too, but this was a WESTERN!!!

"I wonder if that's a chuck wagon?!?  They might have snacks in there!"

It was originally a mini-series, so we only watched half of it the first night!  Here's a photo from our walk the next morning as intermission:

"Check out the sunrise, Ragnar!"
"I hope we get to watch the rest of the movie tonight, Mags!"

And we did get right back to it!!!

"Cool!  Horses and now cattle?!?  Could this movie get any better?!?"

It was an awesome movie and I heartily recommend it.  Mom also recommends the books.  But you can't see and hear the horses and cows in the book, so ...

Sköl!

Ragnar

Wordless Wednesday

Sköl!

Ragnar

Guard Duty

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Ragnar and I have been working mighty hard lately - making sure our mom and dad get a good, long walk every morning, working in the Studio, advising Dad in his office, keeping the house safe when they're out doing yard work, etc. We also stand Guard Duty in different areas of the house, like this:

 

"See anything, Mags?"
"Nah, nothing exciting."

OK, maybe it's not exactly "standing" Guard Duty, but we were ON THE JOB!!!! Trust me, I'm a Siberian Husky!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher