Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. This morning, we stopped by the Kansas Ocean on our walk.
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| Ragnar and me, on the boardwalk at the KSO! |
We also stopped for a couple water breaks -- just a reminder that it's getting hot out now, so remember to stay hydrated!
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
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| "Oh, wow, is this ever nice." "It makes me feel totally serene." "Umm... I was going to get some ... yeah, never mind. Do you guys like it?!!?" |
Greetings to all! It's me, Maggie. As many of you know, our mom is an avid quilter. She recently made a very special quilt using scraps from quilts and bags she's made for friends and family over the years. It turned out much bigger than she'd planned, hence the name "The World's Largest Quilt". It's really not THAT big, but definitely is of a size that she didn't want to quilt it herself. She sent it to the pros at Missouri Star Quilt Company. It came back the other day, and Mom wanted to lay it out to get a look at the whole thing.
She re-vacuumed the living room, then spread the quilt out ...
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| "Oh, yeah, Mom. Nice and roomy!" "It's for us, right?!?" |
Mom said she hasn't sewn the binding on it yet and just wanted to look at it - both front and back. We were happy to accommodate her!
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| "Yeah, that's good, Ragnar! Just give it a flip with your snooter!" "Like this, Mags?" "Um, you guys?!? Would you please ... yeah, OK, never mind." |
I mean, c'mon. We wanted to check our new quilt out, too!
We helped her fold it up and carry it down to the Studio. Or perhaps we played NASCAR up and down the stairs while she was going down ... something. Mom decided instead of putting it on the floor down there to "audition" fabric for the binding, she'd just set it on her sewing table, so we could run and play. "Run and play"?! We'd been working hard!
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| "Our work here's done, Raggi!" "That was exhausting, Mags!" |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Guess what we saw on our walk this morning?!? No, really. Try to guess.
Give up?!? Check it out!!!
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| "Mags! Look!!! It's ..." "COW PUPPIES!!!!!" |
We tried to convince Mom and Dad that one or two little ones like that wouldn't take up too much room in the bed -- I mean, they're so tiny, no one would even notice. Right?!?
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| "Moo!" "Moo!" |
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. So there I was yesterday, minding my own, when Mom offered me a treat. Not just any treat, but the ones Ragnar and I refer to as the "high test" treats. Trust me when I say they're mighty tasty.
In payment for said treat, Mom had both Ragnar and me step on the scale. No sweat. Then Ragnar left and Mom shut the door to the bathroom. What the fluff?!? I can't open it from the inside - only from the outside! That's when it hit me -- it was shower time for yours truly.
The water actually felt pretty good. Mom got a bit confused at one point (I think it was when Raggi opened the door to the bathroom and joined us in the shower) and instead of my shampoo, she grabbed the Olay by mistake. My chest smells like strawberries and mint now, which isn't too bad!
Anyway -- on to the deck for the fluff cycle!
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| "Is Maggie having spa day? Can I have spa day again?" "He can have my turn. Really." "You're pretty good to go right now, Ragnar! Let's fire up the Master Blaster, Mags!" |
Can't blame a girl for trying.
Mom used the Master Blaster on me for about half an hour, then deemed me "dry enough". When I'm in coat-blowing mode, she usually goes a lot longer than that, so YAY! (Ragnar's almost done with his Spring Blow, then I'll start. I want Mom to enjoy the coat-blowing season as long as possible.)
Ragnar and I posed for a quick shot on the deck before we went in:
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| Me and Ragnar - and some cool clouds |
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| "❤️❤️ Oooh, Maggie, you look so pretty!!!❤️❤️" "Yeah, thank----oh, hey! Ragnar! The neighbors are out!" "Oh! Let's stare!" |
I mean ... I had been cooperative all during the shower and Master Blaster session. That's long enough - right?
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Saturday morning, we headed out on our walk, just like normal. We had gone less than a mile when Ragnar and I smelled them. And sensed them. And heard them. And so we pulled Mom and Dad toward CiCo Park. We don't normally pull, but we were so excited! And what surprise was waiting there for us?!?
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| "COWS!!!" "COWS EVERYWHERE!" |
It was so exciting! Ragnar and I LOVE farm animals! We stood there communing with everyone for a while, then got a little closer to this group:
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| "Hey! I'm Maggie, this is my brother Ragnar. Where are you all from? " "Mags. Check out the guy on the far right." |
Mom got a close-up of the guy Ragnar was looking at:
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| "Check out my cool nose ring." |
I guess he was like a Punk Rocker Cow or something. I'm not sure -- I don't know my cow breeds, I just know I like them.
Sunday, Mom and Dad thought we were going to go on a different walk, but once again, Ragnar and I caught a whiff of our new farm friends and asked if we could go back to CiCo. How could they refuse?!?
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| "Hey! How did you guys do in the show?" "Where's the Punk Rocker Cow? Is he still here?" |
He must have been out getting breakfast or a shower. There were lots of cowboys and cowgirls giving their cows showers, so that could well have been where he was. Sorry we didn't get to see him again, but at least we got to see our other friends! What an awesome surprise!!!
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
On this Memorial Day, please join us in honoring those who died or were killed while serving on Active Duty in our US Armed Forces.
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| Photo courtesy of the the US Army Flags in Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery |
In the words of Former President Ronald Reagan:
“The willingness of some to give their lives so that others might live never fails to evoke in us a sense of wonder and mystery. . . . let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation.”
May God bless our fallen veterans.
Mags and Ragnar
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Our mom and dad have been working like crazy out in our gardens this year - especially out back - so Ragnar and I thought we should have a look around. Want to come with us? It's very serene back there!
Here we are, striking a pose on the upper retaining wall:
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| "Must not jump off the retaining wall. Must not jump off the ... is that a lizard down there?!?" "C'mon, Ragnar. Feel the serenity!" |
Mom decided we should move down a bit.
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| "I know that lizard's out there!" "Yeah, I can sense it, too!" "Let's move on, pups!" |
So we went a bit further down that retaining wall and struck a pose while Mom checked on her new Coneflowers. They're the bright orange ones -- Kismet Intense Orange, or Echinacea Tnechkio. What a mouthful! Speaking of mouthfuls ...
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| "Hey! Somebody's been eating my new Coneflowers!!!" "It wasn't us!" "We're totally innocent." |
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| "Oh, hi. Thanks for the new salad bar. My friends and I are thoroughly enjoying it!" |
Ahem.
Let's just leave that there, for serenity's sake!
Here's our proposal for garden statues in the Friendship Garden:
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| Me and Ragnar - posing perfectly! |
Here's a look at the Succulent Garden, where the bun was grazing.
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| "He could be hiding under the deck, Ragnar." "We should run under there and check, Mags!" "Stay! Good puppies! Oooh, look at you looking at the garden flag!!!" |
Right. The garden flag. Right.
Here's our last shot, all full of serenity, sitting on the limestone by the gate, waiting to go up to the top!
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| "One more pose, then we go in and do zoomies in the living room. 'K, Raggi?" "Sounds great, Mags. I'll even throw in a Head Tilt." "❤️❤️Look at you two!!! ❤️❤️" |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! Check out this new pose:
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| Far Away Look, Chin Rest, And Crossed Paws |
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| "Hi, Mom." "❤️❤️❤️ Ragnar!!! ❤️❤️❤️" |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! Today, I have a brief collection of some of the better poses we did during the week. Before I get started, though, Mags wanted me to let you know that we saw the water tower on our walk today - so whoever took it yesterday brought it back. Whew. That was a big relief! Anyway, let's take a look those photos!
In this shot, we're up at the top of a hill in a place called Heartland.
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| Me and Mags - all smiles! |
I'm fairly certain Mags jumped me right after Mom took that shot, but it was a mighty nice pose, wasn't it?
Here we are at the top of another hill:
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| Mags and me! |
Interesting. Mom seems to think we might be more cooperative if we've just climbed a hill. She could be on to something.
Here we are on the Kansas State University campus, outside the Recreation Center:
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| Me and Mags! |
There wasn't a hill involved, but we had already gone about 4.5 miles. And Mom had treats.
And ... here we are on another hilltop:
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| Polargold's Einherjar and Polargold's Margaret Thatcher |
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| "Check out those succulents, Raggi. Let me know if I should come give them a good snoofing." "OK, Mags." "Umm... sit?!? Stay?!? Look this way?!? Any-puppy?!?" |
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| SOMEONE STOLE THE WATER TOWER!!! |
I swear it was there when we walked past it! Then I realized we were in a mighty heavy fog. It was so totally cool. Then, to make things even cooler, the sun came out!
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| "This is so beautiful! Are you getting this, Mom?" "Hey, Mags - she tried to get a shot of the fog earlier, but she mist. Ha woo." |
I'm just going to leave Ragnar's comment right there. It was REALLY cool-looking, though. Here's another of Mom's shots:
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| Sunrise and fog! |
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Our mom says Ragnar and I do everything alike.
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| Mentor and mentee, me and Ragnar |
I don't quite see it, do you?
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
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| "Hiya, Mom!" "❤️❤️Maggie!!!!!❤️❤️" |
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| "That's enough looking at the camera for me." "Hi, Mom! I'm happy, too!" "❤️❤️ Ragnar!!!! ❤️❤️" |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! What a great day this has been so far! Right after our breakfast, Mags and I took our mom and dad on a nice, long (6.9 miles) walk. After that, we let them have breakfast & coffee while we drank lots of water. THEN, Mom said she had special plans for me! WOW! How exciting - I got to have "spa day"!
First, I got to take a shower. Now, I spend a lot of time in the shower anyway; I especially like to go in while Mom's showering. She uses all kinds of stuff that smells really good. I don't normally get soaked in there, though. Today, I got to get TOTALLY wet, then soaped up. Unfortunately, I don't get to use the Olay shower soap that's in there, but the shampoo with the Doberman on the bottle smells mighty nice, too.
After that, we spent some time with some nice, fluffy towels. They still smelled like Bounce. I like Bounce sheets!
Eventually, Mom walked me very quickly through the house, not letting me do the "shake-shake" in the living room like I wanted to, and whisked me out onto the deck! There, I saw a bunch more fluffy, clean towels and the Master Blaster!
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| "Oh, yeah, Mom! Right there!" "You're such a good puppy!!!" |
I was kind of tired after our walk and all, so after about 20 minutes of fluffing, I laid down. Mom said that was fine, since she'd already dried my undercarriage pretty well.
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| "Still not dry, Mom?" "Sorry, Count Fluff-ula. Not yet." |
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| "How do I look?!?" "❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️" |
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Even though we've gotten a good amount of rain lately, last night after dinner, Mom needed to go out and water her new plants - give them a little TLC. Dad, Ragnar, and I thought we should help.
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| "Almost done?" "I still have to go out back." "Yyyyyaaaawwwwnnnn...." "You can say that again, Raggi!" |
Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! Thanks for all the nice birthday wishes yesterday! I've never been FIVE before, and so far it's really cool!
One of the special surprises Mom had for me was a pup-cake! Check it out!
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| "❤️Happy birthday, Ragnar!!!❤️" "Aw, thanks, M--oh, great Balto! Is that one of those apple chick-hen treats?!!?" |
I mean, seriously. We had already tasted those and they are out of this WORLD!!! They have two of my most favorite things, apples and chick-hen, all in one crunchy, tasty treat! I am crazy for those cookies! And then Mom stuck one in my pup-cake!!!!
Mom said we could have them down in the Studio (she had one for Mags, too!), so I raced downstairs and jumped aboard my Viking ship.
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| "You don't have to play with it in there, Ragnar!" "I know, Mom, but I love it in here." |
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| "I'm watching you, pup-cake!" |
She stared at it until Mom came over and got the rest of the treat out for her. Truth be told, I needed help with mine, too.
Thanks again for the good wishes - I sure had a fun day!
Sköl!
Ragnar
Greetings to all! It's me, Mags! Guess whose birthday it is today?!? Here's a hint:
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| Ragnar -- the birthday boy!!! |
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| "Happy birthday, Raggi! I've got something for you when we get home!" "Aw, shucks, Mags! Thanks! Wait ... is it about 39 pounds, super fast, and goes BOOM?!?" |
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| "Maybe ..." |
I couldn't believe he guessed! He's super smart. Anyway, Mom said there were other presents for him, too! Shortly after we got home, he got one of them!
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| "I still get to go BOOM! though, right?!?" "Of course, Mags! Happy birthday, sweet baby boy!!!" "For me, Mom? Can I share with Maggie?" |
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| "You heard him say he wants to share, right?" "Hey, this bag came right open! Lemme just stick my snooter in here ..." "❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️" |
