Selfie Saturday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  So ... Mom wanted to get a nice shot of me and Cam the other day.  You know, hanging out, being sweet, looking at the camera.  Ha.  Anyway, we all went out back onto the deck, where Mom proceeded to try and try.  At one point, she gave up and went in the house to get treats ( ... no comment), then gave it another go.

She showed us the treats and ...

"Are those Old Mother Hubbard's?"
"That Mother Hubbard bakes a mean cookie!!"

I think that's pretty good - don't you? She wanted to try again though, with us closer together.  Yeah.  Well, no sooner had she snapped that one shot when she heard a "BUZZZZZ" and saw Cammie pounce onto and eat a Cicada. We're talking faster that you can even THINK about saying "CammieNoNoNo!" It. Was. Awesome. I mean, WOW, can Cam fly when she wants to! I was totally impressed!

Anyway, since Mom had wanted another shot, I thought I'd grab Mom's iPhone and try for a selfie instead.

"I never quite know where to look when I do selfies!"

I was going to try a selfie with both me and Cam in it, but Mom seemed anxious to brush Cam's teeth for some reason.  Go figure.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Questions

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Today, I thought I'd take a couple minutes to answer some of the questions you all have posed in the last few days!  Nothing official like PMQs (Questions to the Prime Minister), just answering the "mail", so to speak.

Before I get started, perhaps we should re-start PMQs!  A weekly post where I (and Cam) attempt to answer any of the questions you might have for us.  What would you all think of that?  I only did a few sessions (click for 1, 2, and 3) but that was pretty cool.  Please let me know what you think in the comments!

Question 1!

OK, so yesterday, our friends Murphy and Stanley wanted to know why our mom was wearing a "glove".

She wasn't going for some kind of 1980s fingerless glove look!  Actually, she was wearing her soft splint instead of the hard one which she was supposed to be wearing.  Mom.  She has a couple more weeks in the hard splint for that thumb still.  Click here for longer explanation.  She usually covers the splints with a Buff or Vet Wrap because (1) they're black and are thereby Sibe floof magnets and (2) the Velcro straps are super sharp.

Question 2!

Many of you wanted to know how many treats my mom used to get the shot for Wordless Wednesday.

Oh, please!  Like I wouldn't sit and pose sweetly with Mom not even holding my leash without being bribed!  Please!  What do you take me for?  Some kind of Siberian Husk---oh.  Right.  Page 392 of the Siberian Husky Rule Book, if I remember correctly.  Yeah.  Well, OK.  Truthfully?  Two.  And they were mighty tasty ones.

Question 3!

Our BFF (Best Feline Friend) Madi and her mom wanted to know how normal is it for a Sibe who is bi-eyed to have the blue eye on the left!  All three of the bi-eyed Siberians they know (Misty, Lightning, and me) have the blue eye on the left!

Me!  Brown eye right, blue eye left!

Great question!  And yes, as Madi went on to say, being bi-eyed is totally normal!  Both eyes are 100% normal, have excellent vision, and if you're a show dog, it's perfectly acceptable -- not a pro or a con.  The blue can be on the right or the left!  Let's take a look at all of my great sisters and great brothers who came before me here at Ao4 Headquarters, for example!

Mom and Dad's first Siberians, Jesse and Lucky, were both bi-eyed.  Like me, they opted to go "blue eye left".  Here is a pic of them as wee puppies:

Jesse and Lucky

Mighty adorable, don't you think?  For lots more photos of them, you can enter their names into the search engine on our blog!  We've featured them quite a few times!

We don't want to leave our great brother Booter out; he had awesome eyes!  He was an honorary Sibe, but was actually a Lab/Australian Shepherd mix.  He had two coppery-brown eyes.

Booter!  Honorary Siberian

The original members of the Ao4 were Stormy, Amber, Zimmie, and Dave.  The girls and Zim were bi-eyed, and Davy had two beautiful blue eyes.  Here's a collage from a post they put up back in 2006:

Top to bottom:  Stormy, Amber, Zim, and Dave

As you can see, Storms and Ammy were "blue eye right"!  And look closely at Stormy's dark brown eye -- she was also parti-eyed -- there was a flash of blue in the inner corner!  Awesome!  If you look closely at the first photo I posted today, the one of me, you'll see that I also have a party-eye.  I mean "parti-eye".  In my blue eye, I have some amber coloring up in the top inside corner.

So of the bi-eyed Sibes in our family, the members of the "blue eye left" camp are Jesse, Lucky, Zimmie, and me.  Storm and Amber were "blue eye right".  4 to 2.  I think it's a coincidence that we outnumber the other campers.  

Davy was our only "two blue eyes" Sibe, and in addition to our "honorary Sibe" Booter, Cammie is a proud member of the "two brown eyes" club.

My beautiful sister Cam's chocolate-y brown eyes

So to wrap it up, "blue eye left", "blue eye right", or two of the same color -- it all happens.  And we love them all!!!

Thanks for some great questions, everyone!  Remember, if you'd like to see a return of PQMs, just let us know in the comments!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

We've Been Painted!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Maggie, Mom, Dad, and I got a delightful surprise in the mail this week -- thread-painted ornaments of us Siber-girls!  Check them out:

"Cam! Mags!  Look at how beautiful these are!"
"Oh, WOW!"
"Hey!  It's us!"

Mom's very creative friend, our Aunt Denise (some of you may know her as Genny and Chai's mom!) MADE these!  With thread!  Let's get a better look!

Thread painted ornaments!

Aunt Denise started up a business not long ago called "DogGone Memories" (website at that link, FaceBook page at this link).  Here's a quote from her website to help explain:

DogGone Memories uses fabric and thread to create artful memories of our beloved companions, past and present. Pet memorial quilts with photo images and thread painted portraits are my specialties. 25% of proceeds go to animal rescues.

Isn't that fabulous?!?  We love the part about animal rescue!  Mom has gifted a couple special friends larger thread paintings of their pups, and a while ago, Aunt Denise asked if she could use photos of us as models for prototype ornaments!  Wow!  We were honored.  As a surprise, she sent us the ornaments this week!!!

Here is the photo Mom sent her of me:

"Hello!"

... and here's a close up of the thread painting she did:

ME in thread!

Her colors are perfect and she captured my "look" perfectly!  Let's take a look at Maggie's!

Here's the photo Mom sent:

"Ha roo!"

... and here's Maggie's ornament:

The Peep!

Her attention to detail is remarkable - and to be able to do it on something this small is amazing!  Mom knows that is a huge challenge!  Aunt Denise is so creative, so skilled, and wow, so very generous, too!

If you're interested in her work, please check out her website!  She does all kinds of thread paintings and quilts, personalized just for you!  Fellow pups and kit-cats, maybe you'd like to be thread-painted -- or perhaps your people would like a memory of a past pet stitched into something special!  She will work with you, creating something unique and oh, so special!  

Thank you again, Aunt Denise!

Cammie!

(And Mags, Mom, and Dad!)

PS:  We were gifted these ornaments with no strings attached.  (Threads, yes, strings, no. 😁) We asked if we could blog about them because they are such lovely, one-of-a-kind keepsakes.  We know some of our readers would be very interested to know about DogGone Memories and wanted to share with you!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

New Food-Maker

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  So, yeah, there's a new food-maker in town.  Oh, I don't mean person-wise, it's still Mom. I mean machine-wise!  Check it out -- this is the first thing that it made:

Smoked and grilled burger with smoked onions!
Homegrown tomato courtesy of my favorite neighbor, Tao.

Doesn't that look great?!? Ah. I know what you're wondering.  The answer is no. No, I did not get to help. Why not? This is where I was:

"How am I supposed to help from in here?"

Seriously. Dad got to go out and help, but me? NO. Something about "NoNoMaggieHotHotHOT" or something equally trivial. Bummed me right out. Do people say that any more? Cam didn't get to help either - that's her   napping  standing guard duty behind me. Anyway ...

It's a super-duper wood pellet grill and Mom and Dad are all kinds of excited about it.  They even bought a pizza oven attachment that goes inside of it, so Mom can make wood-fired pizzas.  Today, an accessory for that came in the mail; I felt obligated to check it out.

"Check it out, Mags!  What do you think?"
"This is ... very appealing."

Ha!  Get it?  "Appealing"?!?  And it's a pizza peel?!?

"Oh, Mags.  Groannnn!"
"Hey.  Somebody had to say it!"

Anyway, pizza is next on the smoking agenda.  I can't wait!

Oh.  As per the second photo, the pellet grill gets to live by the back door, under the covered deck, but when Mom fires it up, it will go on the outer deck.  Mom and Dad don't want a visit from the Fire Department!  And the puppy food container really has extra wood pellets in it, not kibble.  Unfortunately.

I'll let you know if Mom makes anything really cool with it --- like treats for me and Cam!!!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Toy Tower Take Down

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Remember a while ago, I told you about how Mom builds towers with my toys, then I knock them down?  It's a very fun game. Near the end of playing Toy Tower, things get a bit more ... subdued. We shot a short vid and thought you might enjoy seeing me in action.

To view on YouTube, please click here.

As I said, that's the subdued version.  For some reason, it's hard to get the more active parts of Toy Tower Take Down captured on video or in still shots!

Have a great day, everyone!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  This week for Serene Scenery Sunday, we thought we'd send Mom out to the Butterfly Garden to see how things are going.  There was a whole lot of activity down there!  Mom shot a video and we thought we'd share that with you.  Grab a beverage, then sit back and enjoy!

To view on YouTube, please click here.

I don't know about you, but this is how serene I feel right now:

Have a great Sunday, everyone! Find some serenity!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Quality Time

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Maggie is out having Daddy-Daughter time this morning, and Mom and I are spending some quality time together.

"What'ssssss shaking, readersssssssss?"
"Oh.  And Mr. Snake is with us, too."

Maggie doesn't really need to know what we were up to, OK?

Have a great weekend!

Cammie!

Supervised Toy Time

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Mom let Cam and me play with my new birthday toys the other day - they aren't "leave down all the time" ones, so we have limited access.  We had been playing for just a little while when ...

"What's up, Cam?  Wanna switch?  If you're bored, we can swap out!"

I wasn't sure if she was taking a break, or if she was bored with Mr. Snake.

"Just taking a break, Mags."

Just trying to be helpful.

"OK.  No problem. I've got a hole started in this baby anyway.  Won't be long before the floof starts to fly ..."

"Stay right here with me, Mr. Snake!"
"Thanksssssss, Cam!"

I think my other Sneaky Snake may have filled Mr. Snake in on my chewing super powers. I might need to separate those two in the Magic Toy Closet.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Do I Hear ...

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  I was going to tell you about some quality time I spent with Maggie's new Snake yesterday, but then I got distracted.  "By what?" you might ask.  I heard someone calling my name.

"Come to Cammie, you juicy, cold chunk of yumminess!"
"Mmmm!!!!"

Well, right.  Not quite so much "someone" as "something".  It was a cantaloupe, Mom was slicing it open, and it was definitely calling my name!  Maggie's, too.

"Your turn, Mags."
"This is heavenly!"

We are really good about taking turns like that - and about taking food gently.  People are always impressed with that and go, "Aren't you sweet?  Here's another one!"  I mean, really.  It pays well!

Maggie's new Snake is really fun and all, but cantaloupe beats just about anything!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Cam and Mags

Birthday Highlights

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags!  Before I get to today's post, I would like to thank all of you for the birthday wishes, both here and on Mom's FaceBook account!  We did a lot to celebrate me turning FOUR yesterday, and I've got a few of the highlights for you now!

After a wonderful morning chock-full-o-fun, Cam and I had lunch, then I got some presents!!!

"Happy birthday, Maggie!"
"Happy birthday, Peep!"
"Oh, WOWZERS!"

Aren't they cool!?! I got to choose which one I wanted to play with first.  I made my selection and ran into the Living Room with it.

"This is so cool!"

Cam really likes the new sneaky snake, so I was happy to let her play with it!

"I really like th--what are you two doing?!?"

Mom and I were playing tuggy-tug with my new toy!

"Uhhh... Cam's right, Mom.  Should you be using that hand for this?"
"Oh.  Right.  I mean left.  I mean ..."

"Better choice, Mom!"
"Thanks, Mags!  Let's play!"

"Honestly.  I'd put Mom in a cone if I thought it would help!"

Anyway, we had great fun playing with my new toys, then Cam and I posed for a birthday photo!

"Do you really HAVE cheese, or are you just using that old cliché?"
"CHEESE!!!!!"

Cam was a bit more skeptical than I was.  I was on a bit of a birthday high!

Later that day, we got a new treat for us! We love bananas, but we'd never had ...

"Frozen bananas?!?!"
"How about another slice, Mom?!!?"

They. Were. Incredible!

What an awesome birthday! Thanks for being a part of it!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

It's My Birthday!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, and guess what?!?!  Today, my sisters and I turn FOUR years old!!!

"Happy birthday to my sisters!!!"

That's right!  Four years ago today, my biological mama, Bebe (Dancing Winds Polargold Legacy) gave birth to me and my sisters!!!

After my walk, I'm going to be doing lots of my favorite things - like not posing with Cam:

"Girls?  Mags? CamCam?  Hello?"
"Don't look at her, Cam!"
"I'm on it!"

And some time with my "under supervision only" toys:

"How about your Planet Dog toy?"
"Awesome choice, Mom!"

I must say, that toy is holding up quite well!

"How about a pose from the birthday girl?"
"Since you asked so nicely..."

I hear there are a couple new toys that Mom snuck into the house somehow!  Cam and I will try them out this afternoon, then I'll report back on them tomorrow!

Hopefully, Mom will let me help with the vacuuming ...

"Let's fire this baby up, Mom!"

... then it will be time for a nice nap and snuggling session with my Cammie.

"No... plenty of room, Cam.  I can squeeze in here."
"OK.  I won't move over, then."

Oh!  Speaking of napping and stuff!  I came up with a new "Stretch-N-Snooze" pose over the weekend!  Check it out:

"And ... stretch and zzz ... "

Pretty cool, huh?

We'll most likely cap things off with some TV.  Here's a scene from the other night, while I watched The Tunnel:

"Huh?  'Good news for BB'?  Oh.  Oh, right.  'BB', not 'Bebe'.
I thought he meant my biological mama for a minute there!"

Well, he could have meant my bio-mama Bebe, the way this show is packed full of twists and turns!

Anyway, it's a great day here at Ao4 Headquarters!  Please help me and my sisters celebrate being FOUR by doing lots of your favorite things!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam.  Remember a couple days ago when Maggie told you that I saw FOUR bunnies in our backyard a while ago?  Well, it's true.  And I was still a very good girl about posing.  More or less.  I mean, we have some nice photos from the outing, so I must have been good!  I thought I'd share a couple of those photos with you today for Serene Scenery Sunday.

Here I am, checking out our Wildflower Garden:

"BUNNY!!!"

You can't see it in the photo, as it hopped away very fast, but one of those baby buns was in the Wildflower Garden!  I'm pretty sure he was eating some of Mom's plants.

Here I am, up on the top tier of the yard, surveying our yard:

"Ah, such serenity!"

Mom came around to get a nice portrait shot when I saw bunny number two or three.  Oddly, there is no photo for me to share with you of that.  The very next shot seems to be me down by the Crape Myrtle:

"And stop eating my mom's plants!"

Note my leash is being held again at that point.  Oh well.  Makes for a pretty shot, though, doesn't it?!?

Have a serene Sunday, everyone!

Cammie!

Umm...

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam.  Umm ...

"She's right behind me, isn't she?"
"Hello, Cam-o."

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

Cammie!

Garden Posing

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie, here with some garden poses!  OH, I know.  Cam is the ACE of garden posing, but really!  She's not the only one who can go out there and strike lovely poses!  Check this out:

Me.  Polargold's Margaret Thatcher

See?  Mighty good, don't you think?  And Mom wasn't even holding my leash.  And NO, I did not try to jump off that retaining wall.

"How could you even think that?!?"

Seriously.  Some of you have no faith in me whatsoever.  (... I'll include my mom in there.)

Anyway, I was doing so well, posing so very wonderfully, that we went down a tier and I struck a pose on that retaining wall.

Me, being a Very. Good. Girl

I think that shot is right up there with the one Mom got of Cam a bit ago right in that very spot!

Just down from there are some of our Rose of Sharon bushes. They're on the bottom tier, but you can enjoy the blooms from this retaining wall. Let me show you!

"Oh, nice!"

I have no idea why my mom decided to start holding onto my leash like that!  No idea whatsoev--

"HEY!  ANYBODY HOME?!?"

Oh. Did I mention that last week Cam saw FOUR baby bunnies in that area?  FOUR.  And that our new neighbors' kit-cat got out and decided to come over and nap under that bush?  Yeah.  You understand - I couldn't help myself.  Not that I'd hurt anything, especially since Mom seems to be wise to my ways and pre-leashes me.

"Yeah, yeah.  'On lead.'  I get it, Mom."

I DID give Mom some nice garden poses ... but then ... well, come on.  I have a reputation to maintain!  All work and no play makes for a dull Mags, right?!?  Good times.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher