C'Mon, Cam!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with your Monday movie!  This was part of our Cam-aversary celebration!  Let's go!

To view on YouTube, please click here!

Anyone want to join us for another round?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie ...

"Ha roo!"

... here with Serene Scenery Sunday.  This week, we thought we'd share some pix from right here at Ao4 Headquarters that helped all of us feel nice and serene.

Let's start with this fellow redhead who stopped by:

Northern Cardinal

He had been staring in the door at Mom, then, when she grabbed the camera and ran out on the deck, he posed in the neighbors' tree. Nice of him to stop by, don't you think?

Rather than look through the screened-in deck and through the door, this tiny schputzie flew inside the screened-in part of the deck!

Female House Finch

It's like the birdies miss being stalked by Mom!

Some of her favorite things are blooming now! Down at the bottom of the yard are our Old Fashioned Lilacs:

Old Fashioned Lilacs

We aren't the only ones enjoying them -- check this out!

Up by the house, another variety of lilacs are blooming:

Skidmore Lilacs

They are a little paler in color, and are super fragrant!

Even paler still - actually they're white! - are our Beth Lilacs!!!!

THE BETH LILACS ARE BLOOMING!!!

Mom planted them from small cuttings a few years ago and these are the first blooms we've had. She is SUPER excited.

Probably our most fragrant flowering bush of all is in bloom, too:

Juddi Viburnum

It is right by our bottom deck, and we can smell it every time we're out there!!!

Lastly, we have another birdie who stopped by. He was actually peeking in the bedroom window at Mom while she was doing her hair.

Red-Tailed Hawk

She was thankful he stayed there while she grabbed the camera and ran out onto the deck. Even if he IS a Peeping Tom.

"I am not a Peeping Tom!"

Yeah, sure. (I think he needs to work on his innocent look!)

We hope our photos helped you feel more serene!  Have a lovely Sunday. 

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher 

Yesterday's Festivities

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Thank you to all of you for the me-aversary wishes yesterday!  I had a lovely day and wanted to share some more of the highlights with you!

Right before lunch, I got to do one of my very favorite things:

"Mmmm... cherry vanilla!!!!!"
"Our fave, Cam!!!"

Mom and I like AE Cherry Vanilla best!!!!!  It was great!

After lunch, we got to go on an all-family walk!

"Awesome, awesome, awesome!"
"I love it when we're all together!!!"

Later in the afternoon, Mom stuffed our Pickles for us again!

"I love Pickle time!!!"

... and you know what comes after Pickle time, right?

"Ready, Cam?  Wait. What's that?"
"Where?"

Maggie tried to distract me with the old "What's That" routine, but I was on to her!

"Going to get you, Mag---holy spin cycle!!!"
"Check this out!!!"

My little sister has some CRAZY moves, doesn't she?!?

"Pretty cool, huh, Cam?!?"
"Very impressive, little one. Very impressive!!"

Mom apologizes for the blurry pix, but that's how fast we were moving. She took some video; we'll share that in a couple days!

What a great Cam-aversary it was!  Thanks for joining us!

Cammie!

It's My Cam-aversary!!!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Four years ago today, I was adopted by my family!!!  You can read all the details here and here.

So far today, we had a nice walk with Dad (and hope to take one later with Dad AND Mom!), some exploring in the garden, and some Pickle time!!!

"Oh.  Excuse me a moment. Maggie wants to ask me something." 

"Hey, Cam!  How about a little anniversary Crazed River Otter action?!!?"
"Hmm..."

Needless to say, that sounded good to me!  Sorry - no photos this time.

We also did some early celebrating last night with Greenies!!!

"I LOVE Greenies!!"
"Me, too!   After you, anniversary girl!"
"Here you go, sweet girls!!"

Oh. Right. And in case you noticed the new Kansas State Wildcats purple cast ... Mom had her check up. They took the old cast off and took X-rays this week. How does that saying go?

"If the orthopedic surgeon sees his shadow, it's at least another 3 weeks in a cast."

Oh well.  She'll go in for another evaluation then. In the meantime, Dr. Mags and I will keep an eye on her. 

Anyway, please tell your bipeds that you all deserve treats today to help me celebrate my anniversary!  Big treats!  Not broken in half. Right, Mom?!!?

Cammie!

Two-Week Checkup

Greetings to all!  It's me, Dr. Maggie, here with an update on my mom's wrist situation. Tomorrow is her 2-week checkup at Orthopedics, but I figured I should have a look first.

"Lemme see that thing, Mom.  Mm-hmm, yep, yep, yep..."
"How's it look, Dr. Mags?"

Being the trained specialist that I am, I was able to give her an immediate diagnosis.

"Have you been sticking sharp objects down into your cast?!!?"
"Who, me?  Ah, c'mon, Dr. Maggie. How could you even think such a thing?"

... Previously, at Ao4 Headquarters ...

"Just ... like ... the blunt end ... !  Hey, Cam. This is our little secret, OK?  Not a word to Dr. Mags!"
"Zzzz..."

As if I didn't know!  (Note to self - talk to Nurse Cam about snoozing on the job!)  Notice Mom didn't deny doing it when I questioned her, she just was evasive. It's a page right out of the Siberian Husky playbook, actually. Maybe all of the Siberians in Mom's life have taught her a thing or two. 

I'll let you know what the other doctor has to say. Something tells me he'll know about the letter-opener, too. 

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher,

AKA Dr. Maggie

Like Normal

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Dad has been walking us girls every day since Mom's accident, which is really wonderful -- but we like it best when the whole family is together. Between getting tons of rain (and the need to keep her cast dry) and over-doing and needing to rest, Mom hasn't come with us as often as she'd (and we'd) like. She DID come yesterday, though, and it was great!

"I wonder if we should reward her by looking at the camera?"
"Nah. She appreciates being treated like normal."

Maggie had a good point there.

"Eyes left, Cam!"
"I'm on it!"

Mom said it helped her morale a lot to be able to go with us!  We're sure that us treating her like normal helped, too!!

Cammie!

First Flowers

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  The first of our garden flowers have finally bloomed!

"Look!  It's our Grecian Windflowers!"

"Mmm, tasty!"

Just kidding.  Not that I'd try to eat them. Besides ... Mom still has quick "NoNoMaggieNo" reflexes.  

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher 

Pamper Yourself!

Hello, everyone. It's me, Cam. Guess what?  Mom won a sample pack of lovely artisan soaps from a fellow blogger over at Raising Addie!

"Want us to help open it, Mom?"
"I could give it the ol' rippitty-rip!"

We were just trying to be helpful. With a broken wrist and sprained other wrist, it's challenging for Mom to do some things -- regardless of how much she wants to. Dad was right there, so Mom decided he might be a better choice for the task at hand. She did accept our offer to do the modeling part.

"I would have opened it carefully!"
"Look!  A note!"

There was a sweet handwritten note!

"It says to pamper yourself, Mom!"
"You should let Dad lather your sprained hand up with one of these babies!"

It will be one-handed pampering for a while yet. 

"Look at how beautiful these soaps are!"
"And they smell nice, too!"

Mom chose Sweet Orange, Lemon, and Rose.

"I like them all!"
"Oooh, I like the Rose!!!"

Mom had also just placed an order for Shady Dog Soaps and that came SUPER FAST!  She ordered the same scents, plus a little thing to go under the soap to keep it up and dry.

Texas-sized soaps from Texas!!!

How about one more pose, while the treats are flowing?

Me and Mags, who's still not allowed on the sitzbank. 

Mom loves the soaps - she's even considering taking a bar of it when she goes in to have her cast changed next week (hoping they let her scrub down!).  We thought you all might appreciate hearing about this unique hand-crafted soap. Everyone needs a little pampering from time to time -- right?!?

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

One Slight Problem

Greetings to all!  It's me, Dr. Mags.  Cam and I are trying our best to help our mom heal up, but there's one slight problem.

"Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Mom, you need to listen to Dr. Mags!"
"But... ooh, look!  I can use the iPhone camera now!"

 Yep. She won't listen.

"This is not the time to embrace your inner Siberian, Mom!"
"Yep. She listens about as well as we do."

I may have to crate her if she doesn't start listening better. 

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

AKA, Dr. Mags

Update

Greetings to all. It's me, Dr. Mags, here with an update on our mom.

When we last blogged, Mom had been to the Emergency Room at Fort Riley -- here's what that looked like:

Mom in the ER, waiting to be discharged

Nice still-life, Dad!

Diagnosis at that point was her left knee and wrists were bruised and sprained, and her right wrist may have a small fracture. They put in a referral to Orthopedics.

Cam and I have been working tirelessly, with Dad, to take good care of her.

"Let me take a look at that thing, Mom.  Trust me, I'm a doctor."

I thought she should get some rest.

"Stay right here, Mom.  This could be tricky. Maybe Nurse Cam should help out, too."

I put out the call, and the nurse came in and got busy. It's important to keep her wrist elevated, so ...

"Very good work, nurse. I'm going to go back to doing doctor things. Like looking out the window for birdies."
"That's it, Mom. Keep it elevated!"

Mom got in to see the Orthopedic doctor on Tuesday. The good news is her knee and left wrist are just sprained. The not so good news is ...

BROKEN!

Mom is less than thrilled about the break, but does feel very blessed, as she knows it could have been a lot worse. Nurse Cam and I are reportedly being extremely good, and Dad is a godsend; there is way too much Mom just can't do without him. She WAS able to tag along on this morning's walk, though, even if she couldn't unzip her jacket afterwards. 

That's our update. As this has taken Mom 87 hours to type, we aren't back to blogging yet. We miss all of you!

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Maggie

Spring Break

Greetings and hello, everyone!

We will be taking a short  break  pause for a bit.

"Don't say 'break'!"
"Oh my."

Mom had just finished with some gardening when she tripped and fell down in our driveway. She fell forward bruising one knee while catching her fall with her hands. Dad took her to the Emergency Room, where she was treated and had X-Rays taken of her knee and wrists. Her left knee and wrists were bruised and sprained. Her right wrist may have a small fracture. They put a splint on it and referred her to orthopedics. They will examine the X-Ray and probably call her Monday or so.

In the meantime, we will try to check in on your blogs, but with our typist down, we won't be able to comment.

Thanks for understanding, and have a nice Spring  Break  vacation, everyone!

Mags and Cam

Countdown To Fun

Ready to launch in 5... 4... 3...

Have a great weekend!

Mags and Cam

Back To Normal

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Cam would like to thank all of you for your kind comments yesterday - it was a routine check up and we are very pleased with everything the students and vet had to say!  Having said that, it was really awful being apart for  a whole hour and fifteen minutes  the very long time that she was gone and I missed her tons!

Oh, I know, you think I'm all about the ...

"Ufff!"
"BOOM!"

... and I am, but I also regard Cam not just as my big sister, playmate, and all around best friend, but like a mama. So after she got back and I sniffed her all over, I didn't leave her side.

After brunch, we did this for a long time:

"I'll be right here if you need anything, Cam."
"Thank you, Maggie."

Then Mom and Dad went out on the deck and we went with them. Cam got comfy, then I went over to check on her.

"Do you need anything?  How about a little kiss-kiss?"
"That helps a lot, Maggie.  I missed you, too, you know."

I wedged myself into the corner so I could keep a close eye on her.

"I'm right here, OK?"
"Thanks, little one.  Zzz..."

I stayed close all the rest of the day and night.

Of course, today we're back at the BOOM! and playing Crazed River Otter Games, but Mom sure kept commenting on how sweet we were yesterday!  Me?  I'm glad things are back to normal!  I'm sure Cam is, too.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Close

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  I had a routine check-up this morning.  Maggie missed me tons and tons while I was gone (a whole hour and 15 minutes), so now we're doing this:

Maggie and me

She's giving me my space, but staying close.

I missed her, too.  ... and my breakfast.

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Cam