Veterans Day 2018

Veterans Day, the 11th day of November, is traditionally when we pay tribute to those who served or who are serving in combat. It has become a day to salute all who have served honorably in our military. Here at Army of Four Headquarters, we wish to thank our veterans for their selfless service, dedication to duty, and their courage. It is because of these men and women that we enjoy the great freedoms we have today. They are the strength of America.

"God bless our combat veterans!"
"Especially our dad.  Today and every day!"

Veterans - past and present - we thank God for you and pray for His blessing on each and every one of you.

Mags, Cam, and our bipeds

Backing Up

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Oh, I don't mean "backing up" as in "always back up your computer" -- though you really should.  I mean today we're backing up to our Thursday morning walk -- that's when the lovely snow Cam told you about started to fall!

We were just reaching the "it's all downhill from here" point on our walk, when Mom wanted to get some shots of us posing on some limestone chunks.  We climbed up and ...

"I think it's starting to snow, Mags!"
"Really?"
"Umm ... girls?"

Mom's comment on that one was something about it showing off our harnesses nicely.  See?  It's a great shot!

"You don't have treats, do you, Mom?  Can you smell it coming, Mags?"
"Oooh, I can!"
"No, I ... Maggie?"

Then Mom decided to do individual portraits.  The fact that I had jumped down might have had something to do with that idea.  Here's Cam:

D'Azul's Girl From Ipanema -- Cameron!

And here I am, once I jumped back up:

Polargold's Margaret Thatcher -- me!

I was watching the snow start to fall -- can you tell?!?

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

We [Heart] Autumn!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Remember a couple weeks ago we got snow?  Well, yesterday, we were out on our morning walk and it was so cold!  It was great!  And then ... it started to flurry!  By the time we got home, it was coming down pretty well, then by the next potty break ...

"What a great Autumn day this is shaping up to be!!!" 

Mom said something under her breath about thinking the painters probably wouldn't be finishing up the outside of the house any time real soon ... but here's how the new paint color looks in snow!

Ao4 HQS

I think it's lovely!

Maggie and I went downstairs to the Studio to help Mom with her latest quilt project for a while.

"Round of CROG, Cam?"
"You're on, you little Crazed River Otter!"

Mom's sewing scraps to phone book pages that she'll later remove. Something about "foundation piecing" using phone books.  I'm not sure how the whole thing goes, but she was amused by this page:

Woo!

That happened once before; it must mean that we Siberians are a strong influence in the Studio!

Anyway, we let her work for a while, then ...

"You ask, Mags.  I asked last time."
"Hey, Mom.  We really need to go play in the snow.  I mean 'use the yard'!"
"Riiiiiiight.  Weren't you two just out 30 minutes ago?"

She fell for it a couple times, then she accused us of bamboozling.  Us!  Bamboozling!  Can you believe that?!?!

Anyway, what a lovely, lovely Autumn this has turned into!

Cammie!

Working Out Well!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Remember a couple weeks ago, I told you about being "on base" in the Studio?  When I'm on base, Maggie can't get me.  It's the rule.  It's working out really well!

"See?  I'm on base, and she can't get me!"
"I wonder if I could eat 'base'?"

Sometimes we all just need a quick breather -- you know?

"Mom?  Cam's on base.  Would you chase me around the Studio for a while?"

Well, maybe not "all" of us ... but some of us sure do!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Oops

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.

"Hey, is this thing on?!?"

Oops.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Time Change

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Apparently "Daylight Savings Time" is over and we're back to regular time.  I have no idea why bipeds insist on messing with the time, but I do know one thing!

"My breakfast is an hour late, Mom."
"Yeah.  What Cam said."

Oh.  The other thing I know is that our mom will be confused about what time it is for about a week.  Why can't they just go by their internal clocks?

Cammie!

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Like many of you, we've been thoroughly enjoying the Fall colors!  We love seeing all the pretty leaves out on our walks ...

"This one is my fave, Cam!"
"Orange and yellow and - oh, so pretty!!!"

... and we also love some of the colors in our gardens! Take a look at our mum's Mums!

Mum's Mums

The yellow ones are a surprise; Mom doesn't remember them ever being in there. Speaking of "in there", here is a shot of Maggie and me, in the garden, looking totally serene:

"Do your best Serene Look, Maggie."
"Got it, Cam."

And here we are, posing very nicely for some treats.  In front of said Mums.

Me and Maggie!

If the Mums didn't make us feel totally serene, the treats sure did!

Have a wonderful Sunday, and remember to keep it serene!

Cammie!

Brace Yourselves!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Brace yourselves, readers - I have startling news.  The Great Remodel of 2018 is done!  Well, not so much "done" as "all of the inside stuff is done".  The Painters need to come back and do some stuff outside, but we didn't think we'd ever get here!  They started our "30-day project" back in July, and now it's (mostly) DONE!

"We're as shocked as you are!"
"Seriously!"

We know everyone is anxious for some "before and after" pix, so let's get to it.  The first big change is the door and doorway - they enlarged the entry (it had been very narrow) and did a barn-type of door to save space!

"Rustic, but not overly so!  And the frosted window lets lots of light in."
"Why don't we go have a look around!  No worries -- I know how to open the door already."

Let's go on in.

Over here, this whole side is the shower!

"One huge shower - no door, no glass to clean!"

That wall used to look like this:

BEFORE

And now ...

AFTER!

The window that replaced the glass block window is frosted, so like the door, it lets light in, but gives privacy.

One wall of the shower has all the water-makers:

Shower heads, niche, grab bars, and a little corner bench

And opposite of that is a nice, big bench:

Big bench, another grab bar, and towel hooks

That all was ripped out and redone since last I showed you.  Please don't ask; Mom's head is given to exploding.

Across from the shower entrance is the vanity.

"Mom's favorite part of this is the floor.  I just thought I'd point that out now."

The floor is a textured porcelain tile.  Mom really likes it and the texturing is enough so that it's not slippery, even when you have wet feety-feet.  Getting back to the vanity ...

Here's what it used to look like:

BEFORE

And here it is now:

AFTER

The new vanity is higher, which means less bending.  The whole idea of this, other than getting rid of the tub that was never used and making a big shower, was to "age-proof" the bathroom, so Mom and Dad can enjoy it for decades to come -- hence the higher vanity, grab bars in the shower, and a higher toilet!

Quite tall!

You may notice, too, that the little "pony wall" between the vanity and the toilet area was removed.  That's another "little" change that Mom really likes.

"Hey, Cam!  Did you know there used to be a pony in here?"
Off-camera:  "Oh, Maggie!"

Something like that, anyway.

Well, there you have it.  We hope you enjoyed our "before and after" pix.  We ALL enjoy having the house all to ourselves again!!!  And Mom and Dad are enjoying the new bathroom!

Have a great weekend!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Photo Finish Friday: The Birds!

Hello, everyone. It's me, Cammie! Today, Maggie and I thought we'd show you some of the birds we saw on our   escape   trip down to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.  Settle in ...

"Get comfy, Mags!  There are a lot of birdies!"
"Got it!"

The first birdie we saw was this guy, right smack in the middle of the road!

"Mmm, tasty!"

I'm not sure what he found, but he was having a good hunting spree.  We waited for him to leave before we drove any further - we don't want to scare any-birdie!

There were still some Yellowlegs around!

Greater Yellowlegs

Mom almost missed this Bald Eagle:

Bald Eagle, camouflaged by the leaves

Some nice men stopped their vehicles and pointed him out to her.  In case you're thinking, "How could she miss such a big bird?" -- you can see how far away she was in the iPhone shot at this link.

Mom saw her very favorite ducks!

❤ Northern Shovelers!!! ❤

❤ Female Northern Shoveler!!! ❤

Obviously, the hearts and exclamation points were put in by our mom, who helps edit the blog.

We also saw Mom's second-favorite duck!

Ruddy Duck

They are very small ducks and Mom always wants to scoop them up and hug them.  ... that's how she is.  Don't ask.

Also in the "scoop up a tiny duck" category is this little girl:

Female Bufflehead

We didn't see any male Buffleheads, just that one female!

This Grebe was swimming out with some of the ducks:

Eared Grebe 

Grebes aren't ducks, but they like to hang out with them.  Same goes for Coots:

American Coot

The Cranes are migrating through now; we had hoped to see the very rare Whooping Cranes, but had no luck there.  We did see some Sandhill Cranes, though!

Sandhill Cranes in flight 

Mom and Dad just love listening to their calls!

One more bird before we wrap this up!

Northern Harrier

It was a great trip down and we hope to go again before Fall migration comes to a close.  If you'd like to see more photos from our trip, please visit our FlickR album at this link.

Thanks for coming down to Quivira NWR with us!

Cammie!

Adventure!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  This past weekend, we really needed to   get away from the torn up house stuff for a while   have a little adventure!  Mom and Dad decided we could take a break and drive down to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge to do some birding!  We'll show you the bird highlights soon, but today we thought we'd show you some of the cool shots Mom took on her iPhone.

We usually stop at a rest stop on I70 on our way down.  It has very clean facilities for all of us, plus a cool network of sidewalks, so we can all stretch our legs.  Mom had not noticed this sign before:

Blue Star Memorial Highway

We thought it was really awesome!

"At least it's nice and quiet in the HR-V!  Zzz ..."
"Let's see what else is out there!!!"

Outside of Salina we've noticed something you wouldn't think you'd find in the middle of Kansas - a lighthouse!  Mom took a quick shot out of the window as Dad drove down I70:

The Landlocked Lighthouse

It's called the Landlocked Lighthouse. It was part of a par 3 golf course, but it's closed now.  We should have featured it for National Lighthouse Day, but I like our pretend one at the Kansas Ocean just fine.

The next three shots are the scenery on the way into the refuge - just driving down one of the roads we take to get there.  Let's enjoy the colorful leaves and that beautiful blue sky!

Isn't that a great approach?!?

They've had a lot more rain down at Quivira than we've had, so the marshes were nice and full.  Here's a shot at what the marshland looks like:

Quivira NWR

And here is some of the grassland area:

It was a picture-perfect day, just great for exploring!

"Heeeeeere, birdie, birdie, birdie!!!"

Tomorrow, we'll share some of the bird pix with you!  Thanks for coming along with us!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher