Who We Are

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

4 From the iPhone 4

Tail wags, dear readers, it's me - Stormy. The other evening, Mom asked me to help her with the new iPhone 4 - more specifically, to test out the camera. We all know how helpful I can be with photos, so I was more than happy to give it a test run and help her learn things.

Here's the first shot she took of me:

IMG_0001 Stormy
Me. Stormy.

See the little vignette thing she put around that shot? That was lesson one. The old iPhone cover partially covers the lens on the back camera. Oops. Mom had a blue (she has a blue cover for the "old" iPhone) ring around the left hand part of the photo. She attempted to cover it with the vignette. Look closely - you can still see blue. Good try, though!

Here's the next shot:

IMG_0005 Storm

I actually like that one.
Ammy said I look pensive. Oh, sure, Mom wanted a "head on" shot, but I didn't feel like obliging her. Besides, I think it shows off my blue eye really well. This did show us the iPhone 4 captures colors nicely.

Here's another shot:

IMG_0006 Stormy

Do I look like I'm getting a tad bored? Seriously. Standing around, holding still, having Mom block my view... how much am I supposed to put up with? We must have been out there ... I don't know ... 5 or 6 minutes! Horribly long time! Oh. And look at the left side of the photo - about half way up. That's the tip of Mom's shoe. Now... if she's holding the camera out in front of me, don't you have to wonder how her foot is back there? Odd. Very odd. But at least she was getting some stretches in. The lesson there would be to stay agile and be quick. Mom got one out of two there.

Here's the last one I'll share with you:

IMG_0007 Stormy

Yes, I was rolling my eyes. I'd had enough and needed to come in for a treat. I mean - grab this and shake it around - she was trying to take my picture without any treats in her hand!!! You'd
think she'd learn, wouldn't you? Treats are a must! Oh - and that's Ammy over where Mom's foot had been. I think Am herded her out of the way or something.

Anyway, Mom learned to take the cover off, that colors are lovely off the iPhone, how to be agile (needed to be quicker), and really that there is no photographing someone who'd rather be doing something else -- unless there are treats involved! I think I taught her a lot! I hope you've taught your bipeds something today! Constant training is very important!

Tail wags,
Stormy

Monday, June 28, 2010

Making Friends at the Kansas Ocean

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me - Zim! I thought Mom should get a little fresh air the other evening, so I sent her a mind-meld message that we should go on a special outing -- just the two of us. Oh, sure, to hear her tell the tale, you'd think I needed to burn off some excess energy, but whose version are you going to believe!? Ha. That's what I thought.

I decided we should take a little trip to the Kansas Ocean to see what was cooking over there. The first thing that caught my eye was a bunch of geese! Here I am, checking them out!

IMG_0038
"Hey Gooses! I'm Zim! Come on over!"

I got down (so to speak) on their level (oh, seriously - I hope Ammy sees that line -- I'm trying to meet geese and I said I "got down". Ha roo roo roo!) so they wouldn't feel threatened and drew them over near me. You've seen me use my charms on geese before!

Here's a little collage of them swimming over to meet me.

iPhoneGeeseCollage
New goose friends

I should add here that all of the photos on this post were taken with Mom's iPhone 4.

They got fairly close, but didn't come all the way over. I think Mr. and Mrs. Goose were sheltering their little ones - probably wary of Mom. Hey! I wonder if they're the same family Dad saw not too long ago! Remember them? Could be. The Kansas Ocean is very close to that golf course!

Anyway, I stayed there communing with them for quite a while, trying to win their trust.

iPhoneZimGeeseCollage
"Trust me, Gooses!"

While I worked on them, I saw another new friend! Remember on a recent trip to the ocean, I told you about hearing tons of little froggies singing?!? Well, they were chirping away this time, too, and THEN everyone got quiet and Mom and I heard this big "BBBBBROPPPPP! BBBRRRRRRROP!" or something like that! It was fascinating! I looked in the water, between me and the goose family and look at who I saw:

IMG_0030 Bullfrog!
Bullfrog!!!

He was HUGE! Mom estimated him to be about a 5 by 7 inch froggie! How cool is that!?! I found him quite mesmerizing!

Can you see him OK up there? Sorry I don't have a better photo of him to show you. Next trip over there, I'll remind Mom to take the Nikon. I also hope to get better acquainted with him and the goose family! I love making new friends!

Play bows,
Zim

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me, Ammy, here with Serene Scenery Sunday. As many of you know, I am the Chief Meteorologist at Ao4 Headquarters. I'm coming to you today from my office, here in the weather lab.

IMG_0017 Ammy
Me. Ammy. Chief Meteorologist, Ao4 HQs.

Not that kind of Lab. Sorry.

Anyway, as
the boys mentioned yesterday, we had front-row seats at quite the spectacular event this weekend -- a partial lunar eclipse! It was very exciting and beautiful! Instead of going into a technical explanation of the whole thing (though if you'd like to study up on it, please click here!) I thought I'd show you the whole thing, start to finish! We all just loved this and it gave us great serenity and everything -- so let's go!

It all started for us with Friday's sunset...

DSCN5805 25 JUN 10 sunset
Sunset over the Flint Hills

Aren't the colors warm and wonderful? Then eventually the moon rose. It looked like this:

DSCN5809 25 JUN 10
The moon. Pre-eclipse.

That was at about 2130. Umm... 9:30 p.m. AKA almost bedtime for Siberians. Actually, we didn't get to bed until much later, but that's another story. As Zimmie told you yesterday, he knew how excited Mom was about following along with the eclipse, so he woke her up every hour. Isn't he sweet?!? And sure enough, by about 0520, this is what Mom saw off our deck:

DSCN5810 26 JUN 10 Lunar Eclipse
The start of the eclipse!

See how the Earth is starting to cast its shadow on the "top" of the moon?!?

Here's what was happening by 0540:

DSCN5817 26 JUN 10 Lunar Eclipse

Ten minutes later:

DSCN5824 26 JUN 10 Lunar Eclipse

(Mom says sorry about the power line, but that's the way it goes.)

You can tell the sun was coming up in the opposite sky! It was getting light out and hard to capture the moon's image. See how HUGE it looks, though?!?! It's that "Moon Illusion" phenomenon!!! (Read
more here and see some awesome photos by entering "moon illusion" in your search engine, and hitting "images"! Really!)

OK... so back to Ao4 HQs... here's what the sky looked like at 0555:

DSCN5828 26 JUN 10 Lunar Eclipse

And just a couple minutes later, the moon had almost vanished:

DSCN5831 26 JUN 10 Lunar Eclipse Lunar Eclipse

And it was red like that and everything! Oh, how I wish you could have seen it! I just had to show you!

Also as Zim said, we had a full moon! Here's what that looked like last night:

DSCN5838 26 JUN 10 Full Moon
Full moon on 26 June 2010

Isn't it glorious?!!? That was at about 2200 hours. It was huge and oh, so beautiful!

That's about it for Serene Scenery Sunday. I hope you enjoyed this week's edition.

IMG_0018 Ammy
"Yes, Davy. I'm done. You can go back to howling now!"

He really does have such a nice voice!

Love,
Ammy

PS: We have lots more pictures of the eclipse and full moon in our FlickR
Sunsets and Sky Shots set; you are welcome to visit to see more!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Feeling Kinda Lune-y

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me - Zim. Dave's here with me, too. Oh. And Ammy came up with the title of the post. Hey, did any of you or your bipeds catch the lunar eclipse this morning? It was only a partial eclipse, but there's a full one coming in December. Our mom was really stoked about it and wanted to make sure she was up in time to see it and photograph it. It started at about 0515 our time. I woke Mom up about every hour last night - just to make sure she wouldn't miss it.

DSCN5773 Zim and Dave
Dave's all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but I could sure stand a nap!

I think she really appreciated my help, but wowzers, a nap sounds mighty good. Mom got some cool pix that we'll share with you tomorrow.

DSCN5774 Zim and Dave
"What, Ammy?"

Ammy said it's also a full moon. You know what this means!

DSCN5772 Zim and Dave
"Wooooooooo!"

Ahhh, that's so nice. Nobody sings it like Dave!

Enjoy some lune-acy today and make sure to check back tomorrow for our eclipse pix!

Play bows,
Zim
(And luv and woooooooos from Dave!)

Friday, June 25, 2010

Photo Finish Friday - The Watermelon Edition

Woo, everypup and everycat. It's me, Dave. It's that time of the year! My favorite time! (Aside from snowy and cold and stuff.) It's ... watermelon season!!!

DSCN5796fr Dave
"MOM! Is that what I think it is?!!?"

That's right, a nice, juicy, ripe watermelon! It's one of my very favorite things in the world!!! I've even written one of my Haik-woos about it! (You can see it here if you'd like!) And there's a rumor going around that the spots on my snooter are actually watermelon seeds. (I think Ammy might have started that one...) Anyway, it's the BEST and we have one all cut up and ready to eat!

So...

DSCN5797fr Dave

...who wants to come over for some watermelon!?!?

Luv,
Dave

PS: I just get small bites, seeds and rind removed.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Kicking Back

Ha roo, pups and cool cats. It's me, Zim! You know, after I take Dad for some early morning exercise, there's nothing I like better than to get a nice drink of water, then kick back and relax. The key at this time of the year is to find some place cool. Our kitchen/breakfast room floor is really cool, but kind of busy. I like my own space sometimes, so I head here:

DSCN5532 Zim

Yep, the Master Bathroom! Cool floor, privacy, and an air conditioning vent nearby. Oh, it's right beyond my head. Try this look:

DSCN5533 Zim

Can you see it now? Yeah. Nice and cool. And private.

DSCN5534 Zim

Seriously, Mom. What's a guy got to do to get a little privacy around here?

Stay cool, everypup and everykitty. And all kidding aside, for many of us the hot, hot summer weather is upon us and it's nothing to mess around with! One of our favorite veterinarians at KSU Vet Med Teaching Hospital wrote a great article about it; we encourage you to read it here! Safety first!!!

Play bows,
Zim

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hot and Steamy!

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me - Ammy - here with a hot and steamy post! Check this out:

DSCN5775 Ammy
Me - Ammy. Hot and steamy!

See what I mean? It was so hot and steamy Mom's lens fogged up.

I meant the
weather was hot and steamy. What did you think I meant?!?!

DSCN5776 Ammy

Hee hee h--- no, wait. I'm in Meteorologist mode; I need to be serious. Mom asked me for a weather report.

DSCN5780 Ammy
"Hmm..."

I studied the skies and it really didn't take too long - more severe thunderstorms heading our way.

DSCN5782 Ammy
"Yep. I'm sure."

I just predict the weather; I don't choose it.

Love,
Ammy

Monday, June 21, 2010

The After-Bath Aftermath

Woo, everypup and everycat. It's me - Dave! As Ammy showed you yesterday, we've been having a LOT of small "s" storms here lately. We'll have really, really hot, sticky weather, then BOOM! A big thunderstorm rolls in! Now, storms aren't nearly as fun as Storms, but there is one benefit -- in the aftermath, there is usually some really nice weather. It only lasts for an hour or so, but we have 70-something degree weather afterwards which beats the close-to-the-century-mark temps beforehand!

So ... Saturday, we had one of those powerful storms barrel through and Mom said, "Oh, DAVY!" and called me into the bathroom. And then ... that's right -- I got to have a bath!

Oh, I know what you're thinking! Or at least I know what Ammy was thinking from under the dining room table. "Baths are evil." Well... yeah... but they also kinda feel good. And afterwards, you get to go hang out on the deck to dry off!

IMG_6302 Dave
"Wait ... Is this a good thing?"

It's great! Mom brought fluffy towels out and her iPhone (so she could take my picture!) and the birds were singing and it was cool & breezy and everything!

IMG_6303 Dave
Me. Dave. Drying off on the deck.

Do I look fluffy? Mom kept calling me "Count Fluffula". And here's the best part of the fluff cycle:

CollageDaveBath
The After-bath aftermath.

While Mom fluffs and dries me, I get to snuggle! If you look closely, you'll note I'm laying on top of Mom's leg. That's the BEST!

Zim and the girls haven't had baths yet. By the time I was dry, it was really too hot for deck-drying time, so they didn't get to have turns. They seem happy about that... and Storm keeps calling me "LabraDave" under her breath. Ha woo. I know she's just kidding and loves me. And she doesn't have to worry -- Mom said the rest of the pack will get turns REAL soon! I wonder if I'll get to go again?

Luv,
Dave

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Stormy Sunday

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me, Ammy, Chief Meteorologist at Ao4 HQs, here with Stormy Sunday! Our weather has been a mix of blisteringly hot with high humidity to severe storms which cool things down... then it all fires back up again! Mom has shot some pretty cool pix of all the storms, so I thought I'd share them with you instead of doing Serene Scenery Sunday. OK? Let's get started!

Oh - I should add, she only has photos of the storms that swept through during the day, not the ones at night. She said that would make sense to you.

Here's a shelf cloud that rolled in on Wednesday.

DSCN5733

Isn't it beautiful!?! Mom pieced some pix together to get more of a panoramic view. Here's what that looked like:

16JUN10pan1222pm
Click here for a larger view.

I should add that if our neighbors would move their house, we'd have even better pix to share with you!

Here's that same cloud a minute later:

16JUN10pan1223
Click here for a larger view.

There were really cool bolts of lightning that went with that, but Mom wasn't fast enough on the trigger to get them. She did shoot three short videos that you are welcome to view over on FlickR. One is the
calm before the storm, the next is the wind kicking up, and the third was taken out front (instead of out back on our deck) just as the rain was coming in.

We had a series of powerful storms that rolled through yesterday. Here's a look at the start of the first one:

DSCN5761 19 JUN 10

Doesn't it look like a giant spaceship hovering over us? But it wasn't! Here's another photo, taken just a few minutes later!

DSCN5762 19 JUN 10

You can see the rain out there, can't you? We really didn't need any more.

Here's a look at everything out front:

DSCN5765 19 JUN 10

So that happened a couple of times yesterday and again during the night and this morning. OH! And here are a couple shots Mom took this morning of the most powerful, the most awesome, the most beautiful storm of all!

DSCN5769 Stormy
Storm!

Well.... isn't she?!?! Ohhhhh, I should have said, "...the most powerful, the most awesome, the most beautiful Storm (with a capital S) of all!"

DSCN5767 Stormy
Storm says, "Oh, Ammy, you're so sweet!"

I love my big sister! She's my favorite Storm (or storm) of all! Happy Stormy Sunday!

Love,
Ammy

PS: A very happy Father's Day to our dad!!!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Spinach

Hi everypuppy and everycat! It's me, Ammy! There were some really great guesses on yesterday's post - you know, about what Stormy and the boys were doing! Some of you got it right on the nose! They were waiting for the punch line of one of my jokes!

Mom needed to pan out just a little bit. I was responding to the question some of you have about me eating spinach. (Yes, I do love it!) And I was telling my pack-mates...

DSCN5754cap

... about why I eat my spinach ...

DSCN5753fX
"Mmm!"

...and I explained to them ...

(There's a hyperlink right up there, under the photo ...)

All of you knew a joke was coming, didn't you? What can I say? I yam what I yam!

DSCN5759fX

Or I Yam what I Yam in my case. Hee hee hee!

And that's what everysibe was doing yesterday! :)

Love,
Ammy

Friday, June 18, 2010

Photo Finish Friday

Tail wags, dear readers. It's Stormy, here with my brothers, for Photo Finish Friday. Mom took this shot of the three of us yesterday:

DSCN5757fr
Dave, Zim and me (Storms)

The question is ... what do you think we were doing?

We'll fill you in tomorrow!

Tail wags,
Storms

Thursday, June 17, 2010

New Fabric!

Woo, everypup and everycat! It's me, Dave, Guide Dog for the Color Blind. Did you catch in our post from Tuesday that Mom and I said we got new fabrics in?!? I was so excited! Two packages in one day! Mom got the one the mailman brought first and took it out back to take some pix of it. WHAT?!? Without me?!?!? I stood at the door in total disbelief!

DaveDoorCollage
"Mom?!? What are you doing?"

I couldn't even look. How could she do that without me? I think my Sad Eyes Look got to her, and she brought it in and let me go through it.

DSCN5662 Dave
"You know how fond I am of blue!"

It was blue batiks... Mom and I both love blue. I was all over them. Before I knew it, she popped them into the washing machine and said, "Just wait 'til you see our other order, Davy!" And then... just when I thought it couldn't get any better... the FedEx man showed up with these:

DSCN5669 Dave
"Look! It's like a pickle nose fabric!"

I went crazy for the purple camo - as did Mom. She's been looking everywhere for purple camo! But check that black and white print! It's like ... camo for my snooter!

DaveBWfabCollage
Snooter camo!

See what I mean? Can you even see me there?

The really cool part is that Mom didn't even order the black and white fabric, but she loves it. The people at that store sent it to her as a goodwill gesture. I'd say that's mighty nice! Anyway, so then Mom said she wanted to see "how the black and white looked on the purple camo". Those were her exact words. And so ...

DavePurpleCamoCollage
The black and white on purple camo

... I obliged! I think I look mighty good there, don't you?

DSCN5692 Dave
"I think this Black and White looks perfect on the purple camo, Mom!"

As her Guide Dog for the Color Blind, I know Mom cherishes my guidance. Oddly, she said I wasn't exactly the black and white she meant; she was talking about the black and white fabric. Oh. I think she should have been more specific, don't you?

DaveBWonCamoCollage
"How about double Black and White on purple camo?"

I think I look rather dashing, don't you?

DSCN5683 Dave
"Great combo, Mom - really!"

I think I see a Davy bed or a pillow for me in this deal! I'll keep you posted!

Luv,
Dave
Guide Dog for the Color Blind