Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Beans

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Every morning in our breakfast, Cammie and I get to have a bean. They're special beans called "EicosaCaps" - and we just crunch right through them.  Usually.  They're yummy.  I think.  I don't really pay attention when I eat.  Here - let me show you what they look like:

Me, eating breakfast

Oh. Right. That's my bean sitting over there on the left side of the photo.

"Yep.  That's my bean.  Right here."

Let's go in for a close up.

My EicosaCap bean

See ... usually I crunch right through them, but sometimes, I like to take my bean into the living room to eat it or ...

"Hey,  Cam.  Do you want my bean?"
"No, I'm full.  Thanks, though."

Mom always watches us closely when we eat, so we don't switch or give each other our bowls or something.  I thought sharing was good?

Anyway, my bean is saved until lunchtime, when apparently it will make a reappearance in my lunch.  Does that make it a refried bean?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Great Walk!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Yesterday, our temp officially hit 71℉.  This morning when it was time for our walk, I'm happy to report it was back to being a balmy windchill of 14℉.  Much better!

To celebrate, we decided to take our favorite part of the Hudson Trail.  It was awesome - the wind was blowing leaves all around, squirrels were dancing all over the place, and there were new smells everywhere!  Just when I didn't think it could get any better ...

"Great Dane in the morning!  CAM!  Do you see him?!!?"
"I can't believe it!"

We got all excited and started pulling a bit ... and then ...

"MURPHY!!!"
"Hi, girls!"
"Hello, Murphy!!!"

It was our friend Murphy!  We haven't seen him for quite a while, but we all instantly remembered each other like old friends!

"Ha roo!"
"It sure is good to see you two!"
"We've missed you, Murphy!"

Now THAT was a great walk!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Porch-Posing Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  It's another messy, wet day in Kansas - with temps in the 60s!  We had an awesome, long walk this morning, then Cam got another shower, then Mom and Dad did a few things, then Mom said we should head out front and do some porch posing!

Since this involves treats, Cam and I were all for it.

"I'm not looking!"
"Yeah.  Me, neither!"
"C'mon, girls!  I have the crunchy Zuke's!"

"I'm still a bit upset about the whole 'shower' thing."
"Yeah, but you are nice and clean now!  You smell nice, too."
"Please?!?"

And then, this thing called "the sun" finally came out!  WOW!  It was crazy!  Cam and I needed our sunglasses!

"How's this?"
"How cool do we look?"
"Totally cool!  A little slouchy there, Mags, but very cool."

Well, she had a point.  But I didn't want my shades to slip!

"How's this, Mom?  Cookie-worthy?"
"Totally."

It was a lot of fun.  Cam and I did zoomies when we got in the house, then slipped right into a round of Crazed River Otter Games.  It's been an awesome morning!

I hope your day is going just as well!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Messy Day!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Our temps have warmed WAY up now -- it's in the upper 40s!  AND it's misting out there.  That means one really nice thing -- MUD!

We went on a great all-family walk this morning ...

"What a great day, huh, Cam?"
"It's LOVELY!  Look at all the mud!" 

... and I thoroughly enjoyed splashing in puddles, stepping in mud, and the feel of the light rain on my fur. Maggie? She had lots of fun, too, but for some reason, she avoids mud and jumps over puddles. I just don't understand that!

When we got home, Mom spent a lot of time toweling Maggie off. She doesn't usually go first - I do!  That was a bit surprising.  When Mom was finally finished with her, she did a quick wipe of my feet, then hooked me back up to a leash! What?!? That was really strange. And then ... I knew.

"Sigh."

I now have the distinct honor of being the first Siberian to actually use the new shower.  I'm not sure I'm real happy about that ... but I will say it's nice and roomy, and I have pretty good traction!

Are you having a messy day where you are?

Cammie!

Getting Lots Done!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Our mom has been getting a lot done in her Studio lately.  Maggie has made her blog a couple of times recently, but trust me -- Maggie doesn't get to the "helpful" stage until I put some work in!  Take yesterday, for example ...

"I think someone needs to work off a bit of excess energy!"
"I dunno, Cam.  You don't seem that crazy to me!  Ha roo roo roo!"

"I didn't mean me, you crazed River Otter, you!"
"So ... you must mean Mom, then?"

"I mean you!  BOOM!"
"UMPH!"

We had a good, long round of CROG (Crazed River Otter Games), then ...

"I think my work here is done!"
"Thanks, Cammie!  Where did Mags go?"

I found her on the other side of Mom's sewing table.

"Zzz ..."
"I'll just lay here with her for a couple minutes, then I'm heading upstairs."

Mom said I was a huge help and that she got LOTS done!  All I know is Maggie and I had an awful lot of fun!

Cammie!

It's Here!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  I keep hearing about this Polar Vortex thing.  You know - what we used to call a cold air mass coming down from the north?  Yeah.  Anyway, we were out on a quick trip to the corner when ...

"Ooooh!  I can smell Siberia!  ... or at least Nebraska."

It's here!  And it's a cold one.  The good news, as per our mom, is that given that this is Kansas, our "real feel" temps are supposed to shift about 80 degrees by the weekend and we could see 60℉.

How cold has it gotten where you are?  I hope you're all staying warm!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Spaceship Time!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Yesterday afternoon, Maggie and I got to spend some quality time with a couple of our "under supervision only" toys!  I played with my Pink Spaceship!

"Look!  It's my Pink Spaceship!!!"

It had flown its way to the bottom of our toy box, so I hadn't played with it for a while.

"You didn't fly off to another galaxy or anything, did you, Pink Spaceship?"

I mean, I think it was at the bottom of the toy box, but I'm just not sure!

Cammie!

Do You Think ...

Hello, everyone! It's me, Cammie! Do you think if we ignore Monday, it'll go away?

"Hello!"

Nah. I don't think so, either. We might as well make it a good one!

Cammie!

Can You See Us?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags!  Hey, guess what?  Our mom made us new collars and leashes yesterday!  Here we are in the living room, showing them off:

Can you see our new threads?!?

Maybe not.  They're camouflage.  Camouflage! How cool is that?

We wore them on our walk this morning. Can you see them?

Me and Cam, out for a frozen stroll

Of course you can't. They're CAMOUFLAGE!!!!  How fun is this going to be?!?!

OK, here are some better shots of us out in front of Ao4 Headquarters.

"Hey, Cam.  We're totally like matching bookends now!"
"I wish you hadn't said that, Mags ..."
"Oooh, yeah! ♫ 'One pair of matching bookends, different as night and day!...' ♫"

Mom's got the theme to The Patty Duke Show stuck in her head now.  It's not like we'd try to slip one over on her or anything.

"This is so cool.  We should totally do the Patty-Cathy thing, Cam.  I get to be Patty.  She was into rock 'n roll."
"Fine.  Cathy was the smart, sophisticated one."

Yep.  Matching collars and leashes.  This is going to be SO much fun!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

That Funny Feeling ...

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Do you ever get that feeling that you're being watched?

"You know, that sort of funny feeling?"

"You don't quite know ... wait!  She's right behind me, isn't she?!?"

"Hello, Cameron."

And NOW I have a funny feeling I'm about to get "BOOM"ed!

Have a great Saturday!

Cammie!

The Great And Mighty Hunter!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  As many of you know, the Siberian Husky is known to have a high prey drive. It's in our DNA - it's a behavior learned over hundreds of generations in harsh arctic conditions -- much like Kansas right now. Our forefathers had to hunt to survive! Maggie and I like to keep our hunting skills sharp - you know, just in case dinner is late or something!  So ... the other morning ... there I was ...

"Ah!  Animal tracks across the frozen tundra!"

Tracks in the snow!  How exciting!  I silently followed them, ready to pounce on my prey when --

"BOOM!  Wolf attack!"
"ARGH!!!"

I couldn't believe it!

"You've gotta be ready for anything out here!  I'm the hunter now, and you're my prey!!!"
"You better pray you don't become my prey first!"

Anyway ... things seemed to evolve into a round of Crazed River Otter Games instead of hunter and prey, but it was REALLY fun!!!

Cammie!

Slip 'N Slide

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  We had another ice storm, then about 3 inches of snow on top of that.  The ice made it impossible to go anywhere, but once the snow fell, it actually gave us all some traction.  Yesterday morning, we all suited up and headed out on a walk:

"It's good to get out!"
"This is great!"

No one had shoveled except for our Dad and our next-door neighbor, so we walked in the street. The City hadn't plowed or put down chemicals yet, so it was safe.

We did some uphill walking:

"Follow me, everybody!"

It was a bit slippery, so we took it slowly.

"Engage your four-wheel drive, Cam!"

"Is that 'four-wheel' or 'fur-wheel'?"
"Ha roo roo roo!  Good one."

The path by the water tower had been scraped, so we went up to check that out.

"Oh, does this look like a mess!"
"A slippery mess!"

Mom says during ice and snow events, she prefers to go uphill instead of down.  Something about "gravity".  We decided to turn back around.  Of course, that was downhill, too ... but whatever.  We did need to get home!

I went off-trail on the way down; it was less slippery:

Me, prancing through the snow

All four of us did a little slipping, but no one fell, so it was a success!  Are you able to get out on your walks?  Stay safe!

Cammie!

Wordless Wednesday

Cam and Mags

Day 792

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Here we are at what?  Day 792 of ice and single digit temps?  Something close to that.  We weren't able to walk yesterday, as everything was iced back up.  Mom has been trying to get creative to encourage Cam and me to get "indoor exercise".  I thought she meant like more rounds of CROG (Crazed River Otter Games), perhaps some Siberian Rules Fetch, practice my aircraft carrier landings ... stuff like that. But yesterday, she came up with a super-crazy idea.  Check it out:

"Fine.  Happy now, Mom?"

Seriously.  I don't know how me getting on the treadmill is going to accomplish anything.  I think the cold and ice are getting to Mom.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Quick!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cam.  Maggie and I were just hanging out together this morning, not walking because it's a million degrees below zero out there, when Mom came in and accused us of being "up to something".  Us!  Can you believe that?!?!

"Quick, Maggie!  Do your best Innocent Look!"
"On it, Cam!  Tossing in a Head Tilt for added effect!"

I mean ... look at those faces!!!  Who could accuse us of being up to ANYthing?!?

Have a great day, everyone!  And remember, keep a good Innocent Look tucked into your repertoire "just in case".

Cammie!

Day Off??!!??

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.

"Hello!"

That photo is from yesterday - our Day Off. Oh. From walking. See ... we normally walk every day, but yesterday, when it was time to go, it looked like this outside:

Out front

I know - beautiful, right? Only that was hard-packed snow and ice, and the windchill was 5℉ below zero or less.   That's right, -5℉. (For our international readers, that's -20.5℃.) Since the temps weren't supposed to change much, Mom and Dad thought it safest if we took the day off from walking. Maggie and I don't really like changes to our routine, but ... yes. For pups who are used to being in the house, and given the lack of fur on my tummy still, that was way too cold. Instead of walking, we did a LOT of this:

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

And I do mean a lot!  So much that Mom couldn't even get photos, because we were so fast and pumped up. We had a race course that went from the main level, down the stairs to the Studio, around the Studio and through Mom's sewing table, then back up the stairs. It was AWESOME!

Today, it's still very icy and slippery, but the temp at walking time was about 9℉.  A little better!  Given yesterday's activities, Mom and Dad opted for us to do this:

"How's your belly, Cam?"
"A little cold, but I'll be OK!"

It was a very short one, but at least it was a walk!  We're going to try again after lunch!

I guess the day off reinforced to Mom and Dad how  crazy we get if we don't get enough exercise in  how much we love our walks!   For the many of you who have snowy/icy conditions -- please be careful out there!

Cammie!

Saturday Snoozing

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Saturday is a good day to kick back and relax.

"Zzz ... "

Thank goodness our chairs have built-in chin rests just for times like these!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Photo Finish Friday: The Week In Review

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  In addition to everything else we showed you this week, we've done a lot of other things.

We took lots of walks in the snow:

"Hello!"

We made a new friend:

"Hello!  Mind if we do sniffies?"
"Your arms are like sticks, man!  You really need a sammich or something!"
"❄❄❄❄"

Dad tried to strangle Maggie:

"ARGH!  Dad's got me!  ARGH!"
"Right, Maggie.  Funny."

Just kidding!

Our snow began to melt and we had fog and drizzle:

"Sing it with me, Cam!  'A-woo, werewolves of London!!' "
"I like that 'Gonna get a big bowl of beef Chow Mein' part!!"

And with the melting, came re-freezing and more drizzle.  We have still been able to go on our walks, though!

"Safety first, everyone!"
"Maggie and I will keep you safe!"

No one has fallen yet, so I think we're doing well!

We also posed by the fireplace, just for kicks:

"Ha roo, everyone!"
"That's a wrap for today!"

We hope your week has been as good as ours!

Cammie!