Rodeo Time!

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cameron.  Guess where I got to go last week?  Oh.  Right.  Did my blog post title give it away?  The Kaw Valley Rodeo is in town!  Zim told me he had a blast last year, and that he met some really nice horses and bulls.  He said I should go if I got the chance - so when it was time for our one-on-one time the other day, Mom said we could hit the park!

Mom wasn't sure how I'd react to everything, since she'd never taken me to a rodeo before. We walked past where a bunch of the horses were relaxing - this one was Mom's favorite:

Mom wanted to get some more pix of the horses, all the while carefully gauging my reaction.

"Yeah, whatever.  Horses."

"What do you mean, 'Yeah, whatever.  Horses.'?  We're HORSES!"

Mom was surprised.  I was very calm around the horses and really didn't think they were a big deal at all!  My friend Lisa back at Polargold Siberians reminded her later that they have horses back where I was born and raised.  Mom said that explained a lot. 

"Sorry, you guys!  No offense or anything!"

But then!  Do you see it?  In that photo directly above, under my leash!  Yes, we can all see that it's a stick!  But Mom sort of tripped over it while trying to shoot a picture, it MOVED, "someone" got a case of the heebie-jeebies because of what she thought it was for a second there and jumped.  (You know -- click here.)  I reacted swiftly, in an attempt to save my mom!

"I've got it, Mom!  I've got it!!!"

HA!  No sneaky-snake is going to scare my mom and get away with it!  Or any sticks, either!  Mom said I was very brave!

Those are the highlights from my adventures at the rodeo.  I hope you liked coming with us!

Camo!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  For this week's dose of serenity, we thought we'd share some of the photos Mom took yesterday out on her birding walk.  She took about half a million shots, but I chose the ones I like best to share.  Are you ready?  Let's get serene!

Here's a pretty wildflower!

It's called a Trumpet Vine, but I really don't think you can play a tune on it or anything.

Here are some cool logs:

Here's the marsh they walked around:

I don't know if you can tell, but it was raining. Mom had a plastic bag for her camera and there wasn't any lightning, so it was all good.

Another wildflower!

It's a Tall American Bellflower.

This one made me smile a LOT, so I'm including it:

Do you know why? It's a GOOSEberry Bush! It made me think of my very sweet and handsome friend Goose, and so I think it's beautiful!

Mom and her friend also saw this cool nook in an old tree:

There's water in there! (For a look using the flash on the camera, click here.)  Can't you just imagine little woodland faeries swimming in there when no humans are around?

Mom also saw one of our very favorite wildflowers, Snow On The Mountain!

If only there was real snow involved!

Aren't the raindrops pretty? We really need the rain, so it really helps a lot with that whole "serene" thing.

These were the biggest Snow On The Mountain plants Mom had ever seen. Can you tell how big they are? Let's pan out a little.

Oooooh! It's those handsome Border Collie boys, Moss and Seamus! Hi, boys! I hope you had as much fun as my mom did!

Where was I? Oh, right. You can see the Snow On The Mountain behind Seamus - he's a pretty tall puppy, so that should give you a good idea of how big the wildflowers were!

Mom heard a lot of birds out there, but didn't see most of them. They must have been sheltering from the rain in the leafy trees. She did see a Great Blue Heron on the opposite bank of some water:

Can you see him over there? He was pretty well camouflaged!

Mom and her friend had been totally focused on something else, then looked up and were surprised by this:

A vortex of vultures!

At one point, there were 10 Turkey Vultures up there watching them! Mom said given the gloomy, rainy day, it was sort of spooky!

At the same time, very beautiful!

Mom said they watched each other for a good, long time before moving on.

One last photo, as Mom drove out of the park:

That's very Kansasy, isn't it?

If you'd like to see more pix from their walk, please click here.

I hope you have a wonderfully serene Sunday!

Camo!

Saturday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  Mom is off to cavort with Beth, Border Collies, and birds this morning.  Now that we've been walked and fed, it's up to us to find our own entertainment.

"Ha roo!"
"RooWooRoo!"

I don't think it'll be a problem.

Oh.  What I meant to say was that Cam and I will be on Guard Duty.  Yeah ... that's it.  Have a good time, Mom, and don't worry about anything back here at Ao4 HQs!  We've got it covered.

Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Play bows,
Zim

Photo Finish Friday

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie, here with Photo Finish Friday.  A quick update for you, before I get started.  Remember yesterday's post about Mom putting that bone-shaped mat in my favorite napping spot?  What on earth was she thinking?!?  Well, by the end of the day yesterday, she was ready to move it out of there, since the most I had done was use is as a pillow.  Just as she was coming in there to get it ...

"♫♩♩♫♩♩♩♫♬♬"

Zimmie said my timing was perfect. Mom doesn't know what to think now. Ha roowooroo.

In other news this week, Zim and I have been helping Mom in her Studio. (She has started her blog back up, if anyone is interested. There are pix of Zim and me in it. I especially like the collar Mom made me and the watchband she made Dad!) Anyway, there are all kinds of interesting things down there, to include a dog who always seems to have a cookie in his mouth. It doesn't seem quite fair; he won't share and he seems like a real stiff. I found another guy down there.

"You don't have a cookie, either, do you?  Is that why you look so sad?"

 He's a bit of a stiff, too, but at least he isn't flaunting a cookie in my face.

Zimmie's been real helpful down there, too.  He makes sure Mom takes frequent breaks and also stands Guard Duty on the stairs.

SGT Zim on Guard Duty

He's really good at it.  No one's gotten down to the Studio except for Dad, and he's authorized!

Other than that, Zim and I have been spending a lot of time playing really sweetly and gently with each other.

"Hi, Zimmie!   Want to know a secret?"

BOOM!

"What?!!?"

We're Siberian Huskies.  That IS playing nice!  No one got hurt, we didn't knock into any furniture or bipeds holding the iPhone, and we had FUN!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Camo!

What Was She Thinking?

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cammie.  I have this one spot in the living room where I like to lay - it's right at the corner of the living room and the foyer, at the top of the stairs.  I can see both of those rooms AND into the kitchen and breakfast room from there, not to mention perfect top-of-the-stairs positioning.  It's ideal.

So what did my mom do?  She put one of those bone-shaped mats there.

You might think that sounds like a good idea.  I mean, yes, they're comfy!  I really like them.  She even washed it for me and it smells all Downey-fresh and all.  I'm laying on one right now, as a matter of fact, as I dictate this -- look:

Me.  Right now.  Doing the blog post.

But remember - I AM A SIBERIAN HUSKY!  This was my reaction to the one in my spot:

I can't help it.  It's in the Sibe manual, right there between "Don't Be Overly Cooperative" and "Keep Them Guessing".  Really.  Page 392 in the hard-cover.

I have to show a little interest, though - so she won't know whether to leave it or move it somewhere else.  Voilà -

She doesn't know what to make of the situation.  That was last night.  This morning, I took a different tack.

I was going to caption that photo, but I'll leave it to your imagination.  I was staring intensely at my mom.  Zim came over to lend support.

"Cam, you poor kid.  What were you thinking, Mom?!?"

He's really good, isn't he?  He totally gets it.

I didn't really know where to go from there; Zim suggested I turn my back on the whole thing for a while.  Sounded like a good idea to me.

"Ha-rumph!"

Seriously.  What was she thinking?

Camo!

Wordless Wednesday

Camo!

Check This Out!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim!  You know, having a little sister is just a blast, as you can imagine!  I especially like having Cam around when it's time to zoom.  I've got some crazy moves, the likes of which she's never seen!

Now, you may be thinking, "Zim.  She's 5, you're 13.5, and you have a bad back.  Surely she out-maneuvers you."  Ha!  Au contraire, mes amis!   The following pix are pretty blurry, but I thought I'd share them anyway.  Let's take a look at our session from the other day!

We had been zooming for a good while, and bouncing around at each other, when Cammie threw down the gauntlet.

"See if you can get away from me, Zimmie!"

Sort of like our game of See If You Can Get Past Me, only it goes in all directions.  A little more complex.  I was totally game!

"OK, Cam.  Are you ready for this?"
"I'm TOTALLY  ready, Zim!"

I asked her if she was sure, and she said she was.  I made a few preliminary moves and was amazed by her speed and agility.  I knew I had to use one of my extra-special maneuvers on her.  Are you ready for this?

"Seriously, readers.  Brace yourselves."

Don't say I didn't warn you.  GO!

"HA ROOOOOO!"
"What in the ..."

"How in the ... what in the ... Zimmie?  How did you ..."
"My work here's done."

That's right.  A ninja summersault move.  I've still got it, folks.

Play bows,

Zim

PS:  I am a professional.  Do not try this at home.

Mentoring

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cammie.  Now that I've been here 15 whole weeks, Zimmie and I have been having some very interesting conversations lately - more like mentoring sessions.

"Oh, yeah, Cam!  And that whole 'coming when you're called' thing?  You don't really have to do that!"
"Really, Zimmie?"

He's so smart!  And is really helping me fit in around here!

Camo!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats.  It's me, Zim.  Ready to slip into the Zen of Zim Zone by way of some gorgeous scenery?  How about we head up to the Top of the World!?!

There's always something beautiful up here; that's where my Wordless Wednesday photo was taken, by the way! And my portrait from Friday. (Mom says the best pix of me are always of me doing something I love to do; in that case, exploring at the Top of the World!) Anyway, let's get hiking!

We didn't stop to take my seat belt harness off; I couldn't wait to get out and start our adventure!

We walked along, enjoying the quiet, the wide open vistas, and each other's company.

I helped Mom spot some wildflowers...

Verbena

... then looked around to see what else we could see.

"I see something up there!"

I was pretty sure I spotted another wildflower.  Or something.

"It was right up here!"

Here's what I found:

Thistle

If Mom was quicker on the ol' trigger, she would have gotten the butterfly that was floating around there, too. Sorry, Mom - I tried to tell you!

I suggested that rather than head back home, we walk down the road a bit - just to see what we could see down there!

"Follow me, Mom!"

We found lots more of that Verbena stuff!

And here's a real Kansasy shot - Verbena by a fence post:

I think Mom liked that one best.

Those are our highlights from our adventure.  I hope you enjoyed coming with us - I feel all kinds of serene now.  And thirsty; it was toasty out there!  Time to hit the water bowl, then kick back in the Zone.  Have a great Sunday!

Play bows,
Zim