Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Once More, With Feeling (But No Birds)

Greetings to all, it's me, Maggie!  Remember on Sunday I told you we took a real long walk somewhere we'd never been before?  Mom saw all kinds of great birds that got real close and struck poses for her and stuff -- most likely because her camera battery was totally out of gas.  We went back the next day - same time of day and everything - with a charged up camera battery, so Mom could get the bird shots she was after.  Want to see how it went?  Let's get walking!

Cammie checked out the sign for the shops we go by:

"We should stop by that little restaurant on the way home for a beverage.  And a flatbread.  And pears."

Mom said she didn't have any money on her.  She needs to start tucking her credit card into her pocket, don't you think?

We kept walking and walking:

"BIRDIE!"

That's my "I See a Robin" posture. Just trying to be helpful to my mom. She said we weren't after Robins. Whatever. Let's keep going!

"Let's go, Mags!"

"Right behind you, Cammie!"

When we got to the place with the caulking gun, I jumped up on the platform.  Mom said we should all sit and let her take a group picture.

Dad, Cammie, and me

I know!  Dad's not sitting!  Someone needs to brush up on his training, don't you think?

We got going again and before we knew it, we were at the new road where Mom had seen all the birdies. On this day? With the camera ready to go? No birdies. Well, I take that back - look behind me in this shot:

Can you see the guys between me and that house? Those are golfers out playing Colbert Hills Golf Course. There's a chance one of them got a birdie. Ha roo roo roo. A little golf humor.

We walked a little further, then we posed for this picture:

Me, Dad, and Cam

Once again, Dad did not "sit" when Mom said to. Hmm. Well, he didn't get any of the Zukes in Mom's pocket, either, so there you have it.

We went a bit further and found the End Of The Road.

"OOooh, check this out, Dad!!!"

Cammie and I thought we should strike a pose at The End of The Road, too:

Me and Cam at The End of The Road

Dad didn't get to be in that one. Probably because of his refusal to sit and all.

OK, let's head home!

I hope you enjoyed coming with us. I wonder how all the birdies knew Mom had her camera all set to go this time? One of life's great mysteries.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Weekend Recap

Hello, everyone, it's me, Cammie.  Over the weekend, Maggie and I did tremendous amounts of this:

And then a bit of this:

We anticipate a lot more of both to come.

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  This week, Cam and I thought we'd share some scenes from one of the walks we took yesterday with you.  We wove around up in the hills on a path we'd never been on - and a new road that even Mom and Dad hadn't been on!  It was great - besides the incredible vistas, Mom saw all kinds of birds that let all of us get really, really close:  lots of Killdeers and both Western and Eastern Kingbirds.  She even had the camera, not just the iPhone!  Oh.  And something called a "totally dead battery" in the camera.  Well, sometimes just SEEING them is enough, right, Mom?  Mom?  We'd best get walking; that'll make Mom feel more serene.

Here's Cammie shortly after we got up on the path:

Isn't that a great area?!!? We were in the middle of NOWHERE! Or at least it looks like it, right? Pan over and take a look at me:

OK, not the middle of nowhere quite yet! But let's keep going!

Here's a cool view of the roundabout we can just see off our deck:

We kept going up and up and up and around, weaving through the hills. We eventually got to a little rest spot. I put my feety-feet up on a bench and struck a pose:

"Hello!"

Mom said that's guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face!

Since we were taking a little break, I decided to make myself comfy.

Me and Dad

We have no idea what that caulking gun is doing there, but I made sure to leave it alone.

OK, let's get going!

We walked a lot more and found a brand new road. We thought we should try it out.

We could see forever up there!  Cam and I were having such a great time!

So were Mom and Dad!

"Right, Mom?"

Mom said it was great.  Especially because "someone" seemed to be getting tired.

"Isn't this great, Cam?!?!"
"Hmm... 'someone' is getting a bit tired!  I didn't think of that!"

"Yeah!  This is great!"
"You betcha, Mom!"

Mom said all of us benefit from the long family walks:  it's quality time together, we see beautiful things, and we all get good exercise.  And Dad said the good news was that since the way out had been almost all uphill, the way home was going to be a lot easier!

"Let's head back!"

Cam and I are great personal trainers, aren't we?

I hope our Kansas scenery helped you feel more serene! Mom charged her camera battery full up when we got home, so we'll head back up there with her soon. I wonder if the birds will still be there?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Armed Forces Day 2014

Greetings to all and hello - it's both of us today, Mags and Cammie.

Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, is a day to honor those who have fallen in the service of our country - our war dead.

Veterans Day, the 11th day of November, is when we honor those who served or who are serving in combat.

Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May, is a day we celebrate and thank all those who served or who are serving in our military.

And so we would like to take this day, this Armed Forces Day, to thank everyone who honorably served or is currently serving in our nation's military.  We know we have you to thank for the freedoms we enjoy today and every day.

Here at Ao4 Headquarters we are so grateful to the brave men and women of our Armed Services!   Army!  Navy!  Air Force!  Marines!  Coast Guard!  We appreciate you, we honor you, and we love you. Especially our daddy ... our favorite soldier of all time!

To all of our troops, past and present - we thank you, we honor you, and we ask for God's continued blessing on each and every one of you.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher and Cammie!

Photo Finish Friday

Hello, everyone.  It's me - Cammie!  As most of you know by now, my little Maggie likes to watch TV.  She's quite discriminating, though - it's not like she'll watch just anything.  I thought I'd show you what she does when Dad puts something on that is of not interest whatsoever to her.  With this being Photo Finish Friday, let me say it with picture -- and captions.  Ready?

"Whatcha doing, CamCam?"
"Just sitting with Mom, getting my ears rubbed... watching a little HGTV..."

~ insert the theme music from Jaws here ~

"I don't like HGTV!"
"But it's House Hunters International.  They're in Belize."

"Help me.  Please."
"There are fleas in Belize!"

"Seriously, Mom.  Please ask Dad to change the channel!"

"I'm putting this on the blog, Mom.  Really."

"Change the channel, Dad!"
"Fleas in Belize!  Ha roo roo roo!!!"

"Dad's putting something else on, Mags."
"Really?  You're not just saying that, are y--"

"Oooooh, this show has dragons in it!  Now we're talkin'!"

And ... that's a Photo Finish Friday look inside what happens when there's something Maggie doesn't like on the TV.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Cammie!

The Path Less Traveled

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  As you saw yesterday, we were out on one of our walks and came to a fork in the road.  Ha roo woo roo!  But seriously, we've been out walking a lot lately - and have been coming to all kinds of different forks in the roads.  Yesterday, we took the path less traveled.  In fact, it was a path Maggie and I had never been on!

We headed up the big hill on the big road - we do that a lot.  But then we turned in by Westbank, where Mom tried taking us girls once before.  This time, there were no loose dogs, so we kept going. And going.  And going.  We eventually got to another area where the road was wide and open.  Here's a shot of me:

"I'm pretty sure we've walked all the way to Connecticut."

It seemed like it, anyway.

Here is a look at Mags and Dad, rounding the bend.  I had stopped to mark our trail:

"Hang on, you two!  I was just leaving a message!"

We caught back up with them, and I retook the lead.

It was a pretty area, with very comfy grass!

My little Maggie

Mom and Dad were talking about where they used to walk a long time ago and which route we should take when we stumbled onto what looked like the perfect course!

"Look!  A cool trail!"

Doesn't that look perfect?!!?

"Ooooh, can we, Mom and Dad?"
"Yeah, come on!  Let's go this way!"

Mom couldn't remember why they didn't go this way too often and Dad said we should go for it - so we did! It was GREAT!

Before too long at all, we came to this bridge:

Steps leading down to a bridge; much steeper than it appears.

Mom thought it looked scary, especially due to a couple huge, gaping holes in it, but Dad said it was fine. I had no problems with it whatsoever. And Maggie?

"C'mon, Dad!  Let's go, go, go!"

She fears nothing! (Plus she was tracking a squirrel who had been teasing us!)

It was great taking the path less traveled yesterday! I can't wait to go that way again. Oh. Which apparently will happen some time after Mom forgets about the big holes in the bridge.

Cammie!

PS: Mom took a few shots of the full moon last night. If you'd like to see them, please click here.

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Photo Assistant

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  When we go on long all-family walks, I'm usually the one who walks with Mom, so she can take her camera and not have to concentrate on "training".  With me as her Photo Assistant, we can stop and take pictures like this:

Western Meadowlark in a tree

Or this:

Western Meadowlark having brunch

That makes Mom really happy. Now, the problem with being the photo assistant is you also get this:

Dad and Mags - way out ahead!

"Are you two coming?!?!"

I put that in purple, Maggie's signature text color, but there's a good chance Dad was thinking the same thing.

"Let's catch up, Mom!"

Being Mom's Photo Assistant is tough work, but I'm up for the job.  Of course, sometimes she has treats in her pocket, so there are a few perks, too!

Cammie!

Deadliest Catch: Kansas

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  As many of you know, I really enjoy watching TV.  I like the Vikings show on History Channel, British detective shows, and some other action thriller type things.   I also enjoy watching Deadliest Catch from time to time.

"Reel it on in, Edgar!"

It's very exciting to see them hauling in the crab pots.

"The Cape Caution might be heading into bad weather!"

The weather conditions on the Bering Sea can get mighty fearsome!

That's pretty cool that they do a show following these guys on their boats. They could do one on my mom and dad and their boat, too! Oooh... wouldn't that be something! I can just picture it ...

"Look!  There goes my dad, captain of the Chaika!  Watch out for those Cormorants, Dad!"

Talk about wild conditions!

Looks like he gave them the slip:

Close call!  Let's see what Mom had to deal with  that day  on that episode!

"Look out, Mom!  There's a vulture overhead!!!"

Check out 12 o'clock high!

I don't like the way he was looking at Mom! She and Dad should stick together! Fortunately, the kayak converts to hold them both, like so:

Safety in numbers!

In the latest episode, Mom got gutsy and took the older, it's OK if it sinks to the bottom of the River Pond if they tip over camera   Nikon out in the Chaika. Either she really needs to improve her skills of focusing from the front of a moving kayak/can't see the camera screen with sunglasses on or they had adventures too wild for our G-rated blog, but whatever the case, this was the best shot she offered up:

Hmm. Nice feety-feet, Mom!

Anyway, I think this would make a cool action-adventure show - don't you?  Be sure to stay tuned for the next episode!

The End

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

PS: Mom did photograph some really cool birdies on a recent outing, to include a very rare-to-Kansas Brown Pelican, Wilson's Phalaropes, a Spotted Sandpiper, Willets, and a Bald Eagle and her baby. If you'd like to see them, please click here.