The Little Apple

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Has everyone heard about our friend Ludo's birthday bash?  He is celebrating being EIGHT!  He said that because his blog is not just about him, but it's also about the place they live - Cumbria (in the UK) - he wants us all to send him pictures of us appreciating where we live or something our area is famous for.

Our city (Manhattan, Kansas) and our area (the Flint Hills) are known for all kinds of cool stuff, so it was hard to decide!  There's Kansas State University, Fort Riley is nearby, the Flint Hills themselves are so scenic, there's Tuttle Creek Lake and the big park ... and I mean who doesn't know the Kansas Ocean --- right?!?!  We thought we'd go with something that would represent everything, though, and came up with this on our walk with Mom the other day:

Me and Mags in the Little Apple
(You know ... because the "other" Manhattan is the Big Apple)

The city logo on our water tower.  What do you think?  Or should we keep trying?

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Mom's gone out on quite a few photo shoots this week that have resulted in some very serene scenery photos:  our morning walks, our garden, a tulip shoot, and birding at Tuttle Creek State Park.  It was hard to decide which to post, so we did the "one potato - two potato" thing.  The tulips won.  We'll fit the rest in eventually!

One of the small towns here in Kansas has an annual Tulip Festival.  Since the tulips in our neighborhood are almost done, Mom didn't want to wait for the festival itself to go see them, so she conned Dad into driving out with her.  (More on how she managed that at the end of the post!)

The festival is in Wamego:

Mom leaned out the window to take that, while Dad stopped for a traffic light.

Let's tour the park! Here's the Old Dutch Mill:

The Old Dutch Mill was built by a Dutch immigrant back in 1879, 12 miles north of the town.  It was used to grind grain into flour and cornmeal.  In 1925, it was disassembled, each stone numbered, then was transported to its current site at the park, and rebuilt.  It serves as a monument to Kansas pioneers!

Let's look at those tulips in front of the mill!

Near the windmill, there is a handful of old buildings that also represent the early settlers out here!

The Wamego Historical Museum contains artifacts dating back to the founding of Wamego in 1866! Other buildings in the park were moved there from other locations within the county. Mom really liked this one:

White Chapel School, built in 1882

Here is the Louisville (KS) County Jail:

This was the first jail in Pottawatomie County, KS, built in 1872

Oh!  See the dead tree to the left of the jail?  Someone carved raccoons in it!  Click here for a close up!

Near the buildings, Mom saw this bush:

Fluffy!

She has no idea what kind it is, but liked the fluffy things on it!

How about some more tulips?

Cool, jagged edges on this type!

So ... in case you're wondering how Mom conned Dad into going to see the tulips, here's the story!  It has to do with this quaint, old house:

The Friendship House

That's The Friendship House -- a restaurant and bakery!  They have the best old-fashioned, from scratch food there you could imagine.  And the VERY BEST Cinnamon Rolls ever:

The best Cinnamon Rolls on the planet

Actually, everything Mom and Dad have ever had from there is incredible, but the Cinnamon Rolls are their favorites!  And they're a great way to lure Dad to Wamego!

We hope you feel nice and serene now!  Enjoy your Sunday!

Cammie!

PS:  If you'd like to see more from Mom and Dad's trip to Wamego, please click here!

Paparazzi

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Do you ever get just a wee bit tired of the paparazzi?

"Talk to the paw, Mom!"

Me.  Too.

Cammie!

Now ...

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Thank you so much for all the compliments on my latest objet d'art in yesterday's post!  I truly appreciate the kind words, and it's so nice to know there are so many fine art aficionados out there!

Oddly enough, some of you also commented on how calm and still I was.  (Odder still, they came from Siberian bloggers.  Hmm.)  Well, now that my Tough Toy Tower has mysteriously been knocked over and is laying in pieces on the floor ...

"Chase me!!!"

... who wants to play?!?!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Another Still Life

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  A few weeks ago, I showed you a lovely still life I created, entitled "Life On the Edge".  It was pretty profound, if I do say so myself.  All kinds of symbolism.  But alas, I needed to do something before too long.  Important things.  Like chewing my Jive Ball.

Anyway, I do have a new work of art, involving the same ball.  Check it out:

"Perfect!"

What do you think?  I was going to call it "GoughNut And Jive Ball", but that didn't seem sufficient.  I laid there for quite a while, pondering my art.  Then it hit me.

"GoughNut And Jive Ball:  Tough Toy Tower"
Still Life by Polargold's Margaret Thatcher

I think that's better.  I hope you like it.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Cammie!

Does Anyone Else Need A Nap?

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie!  So there I was the other day, just relaxing a bit, when ...

"Hey, Cam!  Whatcha doing?  Wanna see something cool?!?"
"Well ... umm ..."

I should have known it was coming. Brace yourselves:

To view on YouTube, please click here

And no, no special effects/hyperspeed enhancement used in the filming or processing.

Is it just me ...

"Oh, my!"

... or does anyone else need a nap after that?

Cammie!

We're Off To See The ...

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  So there I was - in search of something exciting to do over the weekend.  I stopped in the living room to see what Dad was doing.

"Hey, Dad.  Whatcha doing?  I thought the Masters was on."

I thought he was watching golf.  I like watching golf - you can usually hear birdies and stuff.  Apparently, they were at commercial, so Dad was doing the "surfing around" thing.

"Oh, yeah.  I know this movie."

We ALL know the movie - don't we?

"Does this shot make it a bit clearer?  Or should I ask, 'Do you FOLLOW me now?'"

Ha roo.  Get it?  "Follow me"?  Ha roo ro----OH!  Wait a sec!  This is one of the best parts!

"I don't think the closed captioning quite has it right."

Could you see it?  They put Toto's words down as "ARF ARF ARF."  They were a little late on the draw and put them on a shot of Dorothy, but I don't think she speaks Terrier.  Anyway, I think they really over-simplified things.  Obviously, the biped who wrote the closed captioning doesn't quite understand the nuances in Toto's delivery.

"You don't really need a brain to figure that one out."

Then it hit me ...

"Isn't it a bit cliché for us to watch The Wizard of Oz, what with us living in Kansas and all?"

Anyway, Dad put it back on the tournament before that Wicked Witch showed up.

Did you watch any cool TV or movies over the weekend?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  There's really nothing new out in our gardens this week, so we thought instead of a Serene Scenery Sunday post about our garden, we'd just take you along on our walk this morning.  Ready to go?  Grab your harness and leash and get a sip of water -- and let's go!

Today, it was just us girls and Mom.  We headed up the hill by the big road first:

"This is going to be photo-heavy, isn't it, Cam?"
"Yes.  Yes, it is.  I'll keep the chit-chat to a minimum."

At the shopping center, we did a little window shopping:

"We should totally take flying lessons!"
"What could possibly go wrong!?"

We didn't buy any flying lessons.  Or windows.

We looked over at the Fire House:

"Hello!"
"Ha roo, fire peeps!"

They've been very busy this year with wild fires!

We went past our favorite meadow:

And into the woods:

And then past the Great Wall of Kansas:

Maggie stalked robins by the Kansas Ocean:

"Heeeeeeere, birdie, birdie, b--almost!!!"

"Don't worry; Mom never lets her get close enough to catch one."
"So close ... yet so far!"

We had time for a little art project along the way:

"Awesome, girls."

Mom really liked it!

We went the flatter, more boring way that we told you about the other day.

"Ho hum."
"I know - right?!?"

Only it wasn't boring, because we got to cut across the big field behind our house and head into our backyard instead of staying on the sidewalks!  That made it more fun!  We rewarded Mom by posing on one of our retaining walls:

"Thanks for a great walk!"
"Yeah!  And for having treats stashed in your pocket!"

Mom had to take about 87 shots of us, because our neighbor was in his yard and we kept staring at him, but hey!  We eventually gave her a decent (if not backlit) shot!

I hope you enjoyed coming on our walk!  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Cammie!

Sun-Day

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  The other day, Cam and I were hanging out on the deck together, doing some supervisory-type of work, while Mom frolicked in the garden.  Or pulled weeds.  Whatever.  Anyway, after a bit, we all got a nice drink of water, then went back out onto the deck to relax.  Mom plunked right down on the deck with us, and I went over to see what she was doing.

"Hey, Mom.  Whatcha doing?"
"Soaking up some Vitamin D; trying to get some color on my feety-feet."

First off, let me just say that I have white feet and don't think that's a problem - you know?  But on a 70 degree day, when the winds aren't as crazy as they've been ...

"That sun sure does feel good!"

Yep.  I could have stayed there forever!  Mom eventually suggested I not sit right on her feety-feet like that, though.  Something about extra sun-block.  Whatever.   

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Special Delivery!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Great news, pups and especially my kit-cat friends - my dad got some really big package delivered a couple days ago.  I can't remember what it was; that doesn't matter.  What DOES matter is ... it came in a BOX!!!

"Oh, Dad!  It's beautiful!  May I?"

Dad is a manly-man - a rough, tough, hard-charging (retired) soldier.  Having said that, he's putty in my paws.  There is no way he'd say "no" to me!

"It's AWESOME!  Hey, Mom.  Can I have the crinkly paper back, please?"

It's been so long since I've had a good box! Well, OK, maybe only a couple of weeks, but it feels like forever!

"Best.  Box.  Ever!"

Now ... as many of you know, Cam doesn't share my love of boxes, so there is plenty of room in my new box.  I mean PLENTY!  Here - let me stand aside a bit and show you:

"See?  Lots of room!  And lots of crinkly paper!"

So -- who'd like to come over and box with me?  Anyone?

"I'll wait right here!"

I've got all the time in the world.  Whenever you can get here.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Honorary Kit-Cat

Cam-Aversary!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Today is my three-year Cam-Aversary!  My Gotcha Day!  My Homecoming!  The anniversary of me joining the Army!!!  (Click here for a recap on that!)

We went on the best anniversary walk with Mom this morning, covering just about everywhere I like to go!  First, we went up some streets we haven't been up in a while, so it was all new smells!

"We haven't been down this road in quite a while!"
"There's all kinds of cool stuff to snarf, Cam!  ... I mean sniff."

Then we got to one of the entrances to Hudson Trail and Mom had TREATS, so we struck a nice pose:

"What kind do you have?"
"I think it's those tiny ones, Mags."

We got to walk not one, but TWO parts of the trail!

"Awesome!"
"I'm having so much fun!"

After that, Mom let me choose which way to go, so I chose the long way - which coincidentally took us down my favorite hill to go up!

"Oooh!  That's one of those trees that drops crunchy treats all over the place!"
"Mom?  Your shadow!"
"Oops.  Sorry."

Then, Mom was going to take the relatively flatter, more boring way home, but there was a Labrador walking his lady that way and we didn't want to disturb them ... so we went up the Water Tower Trail!

"This beats that other way!  It's way more exciting!"
"It does!  We should send that Lab a thank-you note!"

What a great way to celebrate my day!  I hear there are other plans - to include playing on the deck, doing house zoomies, and having some apple slices!!!

"Really?!?  You wouldn't kid me about apples, would you, Mom?!?"

If you're in the neighborhood, swing by to help us celebrate!  I can't wait to see what the rest of the day holds!  

Cammie!