Serene Scenery Sunday

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar! We've had a VERY serene Sunday - and Saturday was, too! "Why," you may ask. It all comes down to who was at CiCo Park!  No piggies this week, but ...

 

"Mags!  Look!  HORSES!!!"
"WOW!!!"

"Hello, new friends!"
"Welcome to Manhattan!!!"

Oh, what a treat!  We just love horses!  Aren't they wonderful?!? Mom didn't get any really good pix of us together, but here are some shots she took of our new friends:

We just LOVED seeing them -- and seeing them two days in a row was AWESOME! It made us very serene; we hope seeing them will do the same for you.

Sköl!

Ragnar

Saturday Garden Tour

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. I thought we could walk around the gardens a little bit today. Lots of the stuff that's blooming right now is where Mags and I can't reach, but I can show you a few things of note. Ready to look around?

A quick stop out front by the mailbox first, to check on the Superbells.

 

"Pretty, Mom!  They're like mini-Petunias!"

OK - to the backyard! This is my favorite spot to stop and take it all in:

 

"Hi, Mom!"
"❤❤ Raggi!!!  C'mon, buddy! ❤❤"

Also I usually get a cookie when I do that. Just to be honest here.

Mom planted some new ornamental grasses this year.

 

Me checking out the Little Miss Eulalia Grass

Mags MAY have told me they're tasty, but you didn't hear me say that. I don't want anyone to get in trouble. We aren't supposed to eat the plants. Of course the BUNNIES can eat the -- Oh! That reminds me!

 

"Any bunny out here?!?"

Have to make sure, right?!? Oh. And those are the Magic Carpet Spirea.

I usually get a cookie if I do this, too:

 

"Hi!"
"❤❤❤❤"

Usually.

And here I am, sniffing the Crape Myrtle:

 

"Mmm!"

For the record, I haven't tasted them, but Mags said they're a bit sour. Or she WOULD have said that if she's ever tried them, which I'm sure she hasn't.  ... I think I'd best end the tour for now. Thanks for joining me!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Rainy Day

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Yesterday it was raining at walk time. As the thunder and lightning had passed, we decided to head out in the rain. Why not, right?!?

Not many people out, but we did see a mama deer and her baby (the baby actually came running down the trail right AT us!), a Brown Thrasher and her baby, and, when we were heading up the water tower trail ...

 

"Look!  A baby bun!"

Here's a close up Mom took as we passed by:

 

"Hi."

Is that sweet enough!?!  I got about a couple feet away from her.

"I hope her mama's nearby!"
"Right?!?  Hop on back to your den, little one! And don't be so trusting of other pups!"
"❤❤ GOOD PUPPIES!!!  ❤❤"

I wonder if she had to be toweled off when she got in, too?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Empty!

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. I'm not sure what authorities to get involved in this travesty, but I need to report that our mom has allowed the left-hand water bowl to be empty!

 

"Can you believe this?!?"

Oh, sure. The right-hand one is full, but we don't drink out of that one -- unless Mom decides maybe having one bowl down would suffice, and is about to pick it up. THEN we'll drink out of that one.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret I'm Parched! Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Mags and Ragnar

Garden Duty

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. As you know, Mags and I are Working Breed pups and as such, we have duties all over Ao4 Headquarters. We even help out in the garden. I had an assignment the other morning to go out on patrol while Mom walked around the backyard gardens. She asked me to pose up in the Friendship Garden at one point, so ...

 

"Good boy, Raggi!  Sit and ... Ragnar?!?"
"How's this, M---HEY!  What's that?!?"

If you're not one of Mom's FaceBook friends (and if you aren't, you should be!), you may be wondering what I was staring at.  Check this out:

"Oh, hi."

A bunny!  In OUR yard!  The nerve.

Oh.  And I'm supposed to point out that in the pots behind me are some miniature sunflowers.  The Orange Hobbits are ready to pop open:

Orange Hobbit Sunflowers, ready to burst!

Whatever. As for me, I was ready to bust, too, but in a different way.

"Must not chase the bunny.  Must ... not ... chase ... the bunny.  Must.  Not.  Ch---"
"You're being a VERY good boy!!!"

It was VERY hard work!  VERY hard!  It took all my strength to resist giving chase to that bun -- but I also have a very strong desire to make my mom happy.

I kept my eye on that lil' bunny while I finished Garden Patrol  ...

"Yeah, and I KNOW you're the one who ate the sunflowers in the Wildflower Garden!!!"

The nerve of some bunnies!!!  Mags and I really have our work cut out for us!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Independence Day

From all of us here and Ao4 Headquarters ...

 

"Have a safe and happy Independence Day!"
"Emphasis on the 'safe' part!"

Mags & Ragnar

Serene Smiles Sundays

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. Instead of Serene Scenery Sunday, we thought we'd bring you some smiles from yesterday's walk to see the PIGGIES!!! We were going to do serious poses at the trailhead, but since our readers were in agreement that they liked our smiling pix best and we were really stoked about having seen the PIGGIES ... here you go!!!

 

"Smiles, Ragnar!!!"
"Here's my BIGGEST, 'I got to see PIGGIES' smile!"
"Perfect, puppies!!!"

AND, speaking of our wonderful readers, "tammy j" said she likes profile shots, too, so ...

 

"This one's for you, Tammy!"
"Profiles AND smiles!"

We hope that puts some smiles on all of your faces!!!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

PIGGIES!!!!!!!

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. We had to wait between rain systems to go on our walk this morning. We almost didn't go, but Mom and Dad kept hearing something way off in the distance -- the PA system from the park. They thought we should check it out. To say we were glad we did is a gross understatement!

When we got to the park ...

 

"Trailers!  That can only mean ..."
"New friends!"

He was right.  Only not the kind of friends we were expecting!  Here's a hint on one of the trailers:

Not quite what we were thinking!  We thought maybe a cattle event, but PIGGIES?!?!?  We hadn't seen piggies in a long time!  

The owner of this trailer is all set for Independence Day!

Anyway -- let's move along to the PIGGIES!!!!!

"Look at the pink piggie!!!"
"Hallooooo, pink piggie!!!"

We kept a bit of distance -- this was a pig show!  Like a dog show, only for piggies!  We didn't want to be a distraction for anyone!

"Hi, little girl!  I like your piggie!!!"

"Same here!  Good luck in the show ring!"

"I hope she wins!"
"They all look like winners to me!"

And we were winners, too.  Can you believe our luck, getting to see piggies?!?!?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Photo Finish Friday

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Mags said I should handle Photo Finish Friday - the best photos of the week. I thought I'd start with this shot of me out in the front garden by our "Hostas".

"Look, Mom!  They have flowers on them!"

I was leery of them at first, because I thought Mags said they were "hostiles". Apparently, I misheard. Even so, I'm not turning my back on them.

On yesterday's walk, we did a great pose on the wall at the shopping center:

Me and Mags, all smiles

We smiled and everything! Actually, a lady had just stopped on her way in to work to say how beautiful we are so ... yeah. Can't help but smile. Plus Mom had cookies.

We tried for a repeat performance this morning, but we thought we should do our Serious Look to match the kind of serious-looking sky behind us:

 

Me and Mags, the Serious Look

I think we look pretty cool in both shots! Which one is your favorite?

Have a great weekend!

Sköl!

Ragnar

"Very Expressive"

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. My mom is always saying that I am "very expressive".  I'm choosing to take that as a compliment (ahem) and thought I'd show you two different expressions. 

The first thing you need to understand is now that we're on Summer Walking Schedule, we don't get to have breakfast until we get home and cool down. So ... as soon as we do get home from a walk, before zoomies, snooter jousting, or anything else on our agenda, we get a cookie. You know - to tide us over until breakfast.  One of the special ones in the freezer.  Ready to take a look?

OK. This is my expression when Mom goes straight over to the freezer to get us a cookie:

And here's my expression when she stops to do something frivolous first, like start the coffee:

I don't know where her priorities are sometimes!

Anyway, just two of the many expressions of ME!

Yours sincerely,

 Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Ragnar & Mags

Inner Studio Guard Duty

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Yesterday afternoon, I drew Guard Duty for the inner room of the Studio. I got to my post as soon as Mags made the assignments:

 

"No action on the western front, Mags!"

It's a HUGE assignment, right!??!  But don't worry -- I'm a Working Breed Dog. This is part of who I am.  Mags checked in on me from her post (she was on Stairs/Library Guard Duty) from time to time.

"How about now, Raggi?"
"Umm ... yeah, still nothing."

Mom said I was a big help.

Sköl!

Ragnar

The Last Kingdom

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. Ragnar Jimmyson. You know - Polargold's Einherjar. I'm kind of feeling my Viking roots. Why? We started watching the latest season of The Last Kingdom last night.

 

"Ohhh!  VIKINGS!  This is great!"

"Shield wall!"

Mags tried to fill me in on everything, as she's seen all the older episodes.  

"OK, so our hero is Uhtred, right?  Uhtred Ragnarson!!!"

Ragnarson.  How cool is that?!?!

Anyway, I got a little bit lost after the opening credits, as I hadn't seen the earlier seasons. Mom was a tad confused, too. Dad said we are going to put a hold on Season 5 and go back and repeat Season 4. It's a great show, but I think I need a better recap or something!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Stand-Off Sunday

It's a Stand-Off.

 

(Insert wild-west sounding audio clip here.)  A Siberian Stand-Off. 

Mags and Ragnar

Saturday

Hi everybody! It's me, Ragnar. It's Saturday -- that means it's time to kick back and relax!

 

"This is the life!"

Sköl!

Ragnar

PS:  Mags didn't get my spot this time!  🐺

Photo Finish Friday

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags. I thought I'd do another Photo Finish Friday this week - the best pic or pix from the week. Hands down, it has to be this one of me and Ragnar out on our morning walk:

 

"Check out that sunrise, Raggi!"
"Wow!"
"Spectacular!"

... unless you want to count this one from later that afternoon:

 

"Spectacular!"
(Mom's a weather geek.)

For some reason, Mom didn't want us out there helping with that shot. Go figure!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Imitation

Greetings to all! It's me, Mags.

 

"Oh, hey!  Glad you're here!"

"Want to see an imitation?  Gimme a sec; I've got to get into character."

...

OK, get ready!

"Check it out.  I'm a fox."

Pretty good, huh?  

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Ragnar & Mags