Serene Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave, here with another round of Serene Scenery Sunday.  Many of the plants in our garden are still in full bloom, so let's take a spin around the yard and not do too much chit-chatting, OK?

Let's start with some Tomato Soup!

Tomato Soup Echinacea

I don't have a grilled cheese sandwich to go with that for you, but I do have a Flame Thrower Echinacea:

Flame Thrower Echinacea

They aren't as full as they had been, but they're still cool-looking!

The Butterfly Weed is going strong:

Butterfly Weed

Nearby are the Lavender plants:

Blue Fragrant Lavender

...and just over the wall from them, on the very bottom tier, are the Crape Myrtle:

Crape Myrtle

Let's pan out a bit, so you can get the full effect:

Just beyond the Crape Myrtle are the three Rose of Sharon bushes with the white blooms; here are a few close-ups for you:

Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon

We just love the crisp white against our blue Kansas sky!

The other Rose of Sharon bush is still in bloom, too:

Rose of Sharon

I hope the walk through our gardens helped you find a bit of serenity.  I'll leave you with perhaps the most serene pic of them all ... me, in my most peaceful state of mind:

Me and my mom.  Total bliss.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Luv,

Dave

Prey Drive

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  As many of you know, we Siberian Huskies have a high prey drive.  It's true.  We were born with it and just can't help ourselves.  So it will come as no surprise to you that the other evening ...

... right in our own front yard ...

... I spotted some prey and did what came naturally!

Careful.  The following photos might not be for the faint-hearted!  Proceed with caution.

Me.  Stalking my prey!

I stalked it, silently and patiently.  Then when the prey least expected it - I leapt into action!

"Gotcha, you little...."

Then those high prey drive instincts died down a bit, and it hit me.

"Squee-Kee Moose ... is that you?"

Squee-Kee Moose?!?

"Ha woo.  Silly moose!"

Good thing I realized it was him - or he'd have been a goner!  And any other prey that might be out in our yard - BEWARE!  I am a fierce and mighty hunter!  Woooo!

Luv,

Dave

Photo Finish Friday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me - Zim!  Before I get to today's post, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for the Zimaversary wishes the other day!  I had a ton of fun - an early morning walk with Dad, splashing through the sprinklers on a later but (according to Mom) still early morning walk with Dave and Mom, Stinky Goodness Treats galore, and I got to go for a car ride!  What a great life!

So - on to Photo Finish Friday!  FaceBook friends of my mom's have already seen this, but it's worth posting here.  See... my dad went to Fort Leavenworth to golf with a buddy of his and came home with a really cool hat...

I mean ... it has to be for me, don't you think?!?  Thanks, Dad!

Oh, today's post doesn't end here, though.  You may be wondering how Photo Finish Friday could get any better than this -- am I right?  Well, check out Dave:

"Woo."

He chose to ride in the backseat during one of our car rides, and rested his little heady-head on the center console.  It's a favorite cute pose of his - isn't it the best?!!?  [For the record, the day Mom and Dad brought him home from the shelter (to "foster" him -- ha roo roo roo!) he did that pose and totally won over Dad's heart.  Oh.  Let's face it - he already had Mom's!]

That's the best in photos from the week!  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!  Stay cool, drink lots of water, and keep your bipeds entertained!

Play bows,

Zim

Wordless Thursday

Luv,
Dave

Don't Wish Me A Happy Birthday ...

... because that's in January!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats, it's me, Zim!  Today is NOT my birthday, but it is Adopt-a-Zim Day!!!  My Zimaversary!  My Gotcha Day!  Yep!  Eleven years ago today, Mom and Dad sprang me from the shelter and I came home!

Here's what I looked like:

Me.  Zim.  18 July 2001.

Here's the story of me, as we know it.  I had been chained to a tree for a year and a half, not much food, not much water.  No social interaction, no walks, no house, no car rides.  Someone tried to shave me (please see this post for more info on shaving) and I made my escape about half-way through.

I'm not sure how long I had been on the road when a "Good Samaritan" found me.  He was a neighbor of Mom and Dad's and a day or two after he found me, we ran into Dad and my sisters.  Dad told the guy that I was a "beautiful Siberian Husky"; the guy didn't know much about us Siberians.  Mom and Dad made a point of running into that guy a couple times over the course of the next few days, encouraging him and telling him if he needed ANYTHING at all to please call them.  I had been with him for a week or so, when he gave up on me and dumped me at the shelter.  Mom and Dad ran into him just after he got back.  "Oh, no!" they said.  "We would have taken him in!" and off they flew to try to spring me.

Since I wasn't that guy's pup to begin with, the rules of the shelter were I had to stay there for 5 days in case my "owners" wanted to claim me.  Mom and Dad weren't happy, but they understood completely. Me?  I didn't care.  I'm sorry to say that I really didn't care about anything.  I had given up.

Mom came to see me every day and read to me from a book called Starship Troopers.  There was a cool Drill Sergeant in the book who saved the universe from the evil bugs and was a real hero.  His name was ... Zim.

She also came in with my sisters' smells all over her - and brought some of their fuzzies so I could get familiar with their scents.  I just laid there, taking it all in.

18 July 2001 came - and Mom and Dad came and got me and took me home.  I still didn't care about much - yet here were these bipeds being nice to me!  They were patient and calm and gentle.  And there were the two Siberian girls who were the most remarkable pups I had ever met!

Stormy taught me the rules of the house.  I had never been in one.  I had to learn that the dining room table is different from a hill (who knew?) and that lifting your leg on the centerpiece on said table is not a good idea.  I was REALLY shy of people, and Mom was trying to build the trust between us - so she didn't want to do too much discipline.  Stormy could do it in her own way, though - and in a way I understood.  Stormy taught me some rules - then Mom "redirected" me.  It didn't take long for me to learn at all!

Amber, my sweet sister Ammy, taught me about love and trust and that there is good in the world.  I was clinically anorexic when I got there (according to my vets); my tummy was so tiny it was a major accomplishment for me to eat 5 pieces of kibble.  As much as Ammy loved her food, what did she do?  She took food out of her own bowl during dinner and brought it over to me to eat.  She stuck by me all the time, comforting me and helping me trust my new environment and people.

Here's a pic of us from a day or two later:

Notice how Ammy is watching over me, making sure I'm OK?  I'm still umbilical corded, as you can see by the leash in dad's hand, but I was starting to relax a little.  And there's Stormy.  Doesn't she look happy?!?  And proud?  She treated Ammy and I like we were her very own puppies!

So - those were the early days!  All of that sad/bad stuff is over and done with.  Today, I am a happy-go-lucky guy who loves to explore, loves to play, and loves all of God's creatures (though I'm still wary of some bipeds...).

"Ha roo, world!"

So - who's up to help celebrate my Zimaversary with me?!?  Meet me at Sonic for Happy Hour - the Cherry-Limeades are on me!

I really don't have red eyeshadow on; it must be the reflection off the cup!

Let's get this party started!

Play bows,

Zim

Spacing is Everything

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  The other morning, the bug guy came to do our quarterly maintenance so we don't get bugs in our house.  We aren't allowed to help him (I'm sure it would go much smoother if we could supervise!) but we usually get a nice, long walk out of the deal, so that makes up for it.

"Cool!  It's the bug guy!"
"Shouldn't we stay here and help?"

Dad stayed and took on our normal role of Supervisor while we walked Mom.  Here's an inside look at our walk:

"Hey, Zimmie!  Seeing the bug guy reminds me ... wanna hear a joke?!?"

Do you guys want to hear my joke, too?  A termite walks into a bar and asks, "Is the bar tender here?"

"Ha woo.  'Is the bar tender here?'  Get it, Zimmie?"

You know ... "bar tender" as opposed to "bartender".

....

....

"Ha!  I get it now!  Ha roo roo roo!"

I hope you guys got it quicker than Zim and Mom did.  Ha woo!

Luv,

Dave

They Really Don't Taste Like Chicken...

Woo, everypup and everycat, it's me, Dave!  It's been so hot here lately that Mom really hasn't done any baking for her and Dad.  Fortunately, she doesn't mind heating the house up to make my special Pumpkin Oat Cookies!

I got all excited the other morning when I saw her gather all the ingredients:

Everything you need to make Pumpkin Oat Cookies!

I kept myself busy during the prep stages by guarding the dining room.   When I woke up  Before I knew it, I found myself under attack!

"A sneaky snake?!?"

A sneaky snake!?!?  Right there, in the dining room?!!?  It came closer!

"Don't even think about it, Sneaky Snake!"

It tried to attack me!  I reacted out of instinct alone!  Here's an action shot:

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

He had it coming!  And then ... I realized the sneaky snake tasted like ... like Pumpkin Oat Cookies!  What?!?  Then Mom explained - she made the regular cookies AND some cookies shaped like sneaky snakes for me!

Pumpkin Oat Cookies - and Pumpkin Oat Sneaky Snakes!

Look at all that goldeny goodness!

The link to the recipe is in our sidebar - or click here.  Sometimes, instead of rolling out the dough and using cookie cutters, Mom uses one of her cookie scoops to form a little ball of dough, then presses them flat with a fork or with the bottom of a cup (like this batch).  She thought having sneaky snake shaped cookies would be a fun treat for me!  She also usually makes a double batch, to use the whole can of pumpkin.  We store ours in the freezer, in a Ziploc - I love them frozen!  Thanks, Mom!

Oh ... I know what you might be thinking.  What about Zim, who is on a restricted diet?

"Yeah.  What about Zim, who is on a restricted diet?"

It only took one round of the Sad Eyes Look from my kid brother to send Mom into the kitchen to come up with ...

"Another Sneaky Snake?!?!  And it's got Mom by the fingers!
I'll save you, Mom!"

How cool is that?!!?  Zim saved Mom from that dark brown sneaky snake - and oddly enough, he said that one tasted like Stinky Goodness!  Crazy, don't you think?  Pumpkin Oat Sneaky Snakes, Stinky Goodness Sneaky Snakes ... I always thought they were supposed to taste like chicken.

"How about another Sneaky Snake, Mom?"

Ha woo.  Like chicken.

I hope you give your mom or dad the Sad Eyes Look so you can have your own batch of Sneaky Snakes!

Luv,
Dave

Serene Scenery Sunday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave, here with this week's attempt to add a little serenity to the blogosphere.  Let's start with a look around our gardens, OK?

Here's a look at the bed alongside our driveway:

Remember when Mom first put the stuff in?!?  It's one of the areas that seems happy in our drought.

How about a closer look at the Dragon's Blood Sedum?

One of the nice things about this is that the neighbor pups can stomp on it and leave us cool messages and it really doesn't hurt it much!

Those are among Mom's favorite rocks.  She's done a lot of rock stuff lately, as Zim mentioned the other day.  I won't bore you with it all, but check out this one:

"Pass the BBQ sauce, please!"

Is it just me, or does it look like a boneless, skinless chicken breast?  Mom hasn't found the perfect spot for that one yet.  It's not a problem - it's not too big, so she's just moving it around until it looks right.  Oh... how big is it?  About the size of ... a boneless, skinless chicken breast ...

Moving right along -

We haven't shared a sunset picture with you for quite a while!  How about we remedy that!  Here's one from Monday:

Sunset over the Flint Hills

Nice, isn't it?  It was good to see some clouds even if we didn't get any rain.

Speaking of which - here's a photo Mom took of one of our lavender plants against a stormy sky:

Those clouds didn't bring us any rain, either, but we were under 100℉ for a few days (37.7℃) which was much appreciated!

While we're out back, the Butterfly Weed is going through another bloom cycle!  Check it out:

Mom thinks the little bit of green in the rocks, just to the right of the plant might be a Butterfly Weed starter - so she's all kinds of excited about that!

On the other side of that retaining wall, down and to the left, is where Mom put the Plume Grass.  Check it out!

It's very happy down there and has tons of room!  (Click here to see how it looked just two weeks earlier!)  That puts Mom right into her serenity zone.  Know what else does?  The last variety of Echinacea is blooming!

Tomato Soup Echinacea

Isn't it cool!?!?

That's all the shots we have for you of our garden this week.  We do have one last photo for you, though.  Mom is trying to ID these grasses outside our KSU Veterinary Health Center:

I was just there for a check up or something.  I'm not sure.  I just remember getting tummy rubs and my vet squirting cheese on a cookie for me.  Talk about serenity!

Anyway - any ideas?  It gets a sort of rust color to it, too, and very delicate flower head thingies.  Mom's thinking Switchgrass, but isn't sure.  She'd like to add some to our gardens!

I hope you enjoyed today's post.  Are you feeling more serene now than you were before?  Woo!

Luv,
Dave

Hold On To Your Hats!

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me - Zim!  Like so many of you, I just LOVE to go for car rides!  Of course, at this time of the year, I only get to go if we're going somewhere that I can go in - or if we aren't getting out of the car and can keep the air conditioning going.  You're used to seeing me like this:

"OK... now turn this way out of the driveway..."

Yep.  Me, navigating for my mom.  (She's got some LOVELY nose art on her dashboard, doesn't she?)  Mom and I go all kinds of cool places together.  So imagine my surprise the other day when my dad said he was going for a quick spin - and invited me to ride along!!!  WOWZERS!

We went out to the garage and I jumped up into the SUV.  Dad's Tilley hat was on the front seat, so I assumed he wanted me to put it on.

"Let's hit the road, Dad!"

How do I look? 

Wait ... I think it's slipping ...

"Who turned out the lights?"

By the time we got all the way to the end of the driveway, I had it sorted out.

"OK, Dad!  I'm good to go!
Now... do you know which way to turn out of the driveway,
or are your navigation skills better than Mom's?  Ha roo roo roo!"

I had a blast tooling around town with Dad!  We didn't go anywhere special, but it was special just going!

Play bows,
Zim

Photo Finish Friday

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me - Dave!  For Photo Finish Friday, I thought I'd show you some pix of the great fun Mr. Squee-Kee Moose and I had the other evening!

 When we first got outside, I asked Squee-Kee if he wanted to try something new.

"Whatcha think, Squee-Kee?"

He's always up for whatever I feel like doing!  What a good friend!

"Hold on tight, Squee-Kee!  Here we go!!!!"

I waited for Mom to get ready ... then OFF we went!!!

"SQUEEEEEEEKKKK!!!!"

Round and around and around!  I was flying!  It was great!  Mom said she was dizzy, so I thought I'd take a short break.

"Uh-oh... wait a minute!  Has anyone seen Mr. Squee-Kee Moose?"

Maybe Mom wasn't the only one who got a bit dizzy!

"Ha!  There you are, you silly moose!"

I thought he needed a rest.

"You stay right here, Mr. Moose!"
"Squeeeeeeeek!!"

 What a blast we had!  I hope you have fun with your friends today!

Luv,
Dave