Category: Xena

Purrsuit of Flavors: Xena and Her Mom

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia26 Comments

Thanks to Shoko and Tyebe of the Canadian Cats and Nelly and Phenny of Easy Blog for hosting this yummy day.

Xena: Hiya friends. I get to post one of my favorites today, so I’m going to give you my favorite beverage recipe. I know it’s supposed to be fruits, but I already gave you my favorite fruit in a previous post: apples. I’m a rebel, a schnauzer without a cause, a..

Lucy: You’re off topic, Xe.

Oh, right. Beef bone broth. Can you believe it takes two whole days to make? Seriously! I promise I’m not egg-zagerating.

Lucy: She’s not.

I’m telling you how it is.

Xena: Like I woofed, my recipe is called Beef Bone Broth. I get it at lunch to help make my poopie softer.

Lucy: Please don’t talk about food and poopie in the same sentence.

Xena: I’m not! I’m talking about drinks and poopie. Sheesh!
So, do you know how good bone broth is for you? Here’s some of the things the recipe says about it:

Bone Broth

  • Builds and maintains the immune system
  • Is a great source of collagen , calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, sodium and zinc
  • Provides chondroitin, which is good for joint pain, arthritis and increases the body’s shock-absorbing properties (like when we jump of the bed or even the kitchen table)
  • Is high in amino acids, which means it’s anti-inflamatory. It helps prevent chronic illness

Here’s what some of the raw beef bones look like. You can use other kinds of bones, as long as they have lots of marrow and gelatin. You can even make turkey or lamb or goat bone broth!

Dump the bones into a crockpot. Cover them with filtered water, so the water comes 1 to 2 inches over the bones. Add raw organic apple cider vinegar. For a small batch, use 2-4 Tbsp, and for a big bath (which I guarantee you’ll want!) add 1/4-1/2 cup. You can add extra goodies such as garlic (it’s ok, really!), ginger, kelp, mushrooms, fennel, carrots, or dog-safe herbs. Mom doesn’t add anything cause I love it just like it is.
Turn your crockpot on low or around 300F degrees (150C) and leave to cook for about 48 hours. The longer it cooks, the more nutrients will extract from the bones.

After a couple of days – see, I told you I wasn’t egg-zagerating – strain the bones out of the broth and throw them away.

The bones will look like this.
It’s very, very, very important that you throw the bones away *sigh*. Cooked bones can splinter and are very dangerous for us to eat. If there’s any meat left on them, it can be pulled off and we’ll happily eat it!

Let the broth cool and scrape the fat off the top. Mommy waits to scrape off the fat until it cools good in the fridge. She thinks it’s easier that way. The fat is where animals hold their toxins, so you don’t wanna dump those toxins into us, right? Now, if you use bones from grass-fed, pasture-raised animals, go ahead and eat the fat!

Here’s the finished product, all packaged and labeled neatly in 12 ounce jars. We got four jars this time.

Hey Mommy, you labeled the jars wrong. It should say bone broth not beef broth. Sheesh, you can’t get good help these days. She re-uses jars, so ignore the almond butter label on the side of the jar.

Be sure to leave a coupla inches headspace if you use glass jars or they will break in the freezer. (Mommy can attest to that.) You can also use silicone molds.
Mmmm. I can’t wait for lunchtime!

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

We’re joining Wordless Wednesday at Comedy Plus. Thanks, Sandee

Now that Xena’s happy, let me (the Mom) give you my favorite fruit recipe. Tuscan Apple Cake.

Xena and Chia Playing

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia26 Comments

Wednesday, Lucy and Chia got the entire post. Today is my turn. I know at first I was pretty mean to Chia, but you’ve gotta understand, I had to teach her some boundaries and make sure she understands who is in charge. Lately, it’s been said around the house that Chia has brought out the puppy in me again. Well, I guess it’s possible to be a four-year-old puppy, right? However, I am secretly practicing pretend submission in case I ever need it, as well as honing up on my Warrior Schnauzer Princess skills.

Chia: OK, so here’s how we’re gonna play…

Riley: Hmm, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Xena: Bwahahahaha. So you think that you can set down the rules? Bwahahahahahaha.

Xena: That’s right, head over my shoulder, then step to the side. Be sure to cross your legs. This is how you dance.

Chia: I don’t wanna dance. I wanna wrestle! Gotcha! Now I’m gonna flip you on your back.

Xena: *thinking* That’s it. I’m playing dead.

Chia: OMD! Did I kill her? C’mon XeXe, wake up! Please don’t be dead.

Xena: I’m not dead, you fool. But come any closer and I might hurt you.

Chia: Can we play again?

Xena: Sure, let’s play “dance”.

And on it went. For an hour. Or maybe 87 minutes.

Xena’s 4th Birthday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia49 Comments

We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.

It’s my birthday and I’ll bark if I want to, bark if I want to, bark if I want to…
Two people for me to bark at already stopped by the house today. I wonder how many more I’ll get to bark at before we quietly go to bed at the end of my special day.

I started the morning with a nice bowl of cauliflower and cubed deer steak with a topping of finely ground eggshells (for calcium), a squirt of krill oil (to lube me all over), and a dollop of tumeric paste (for allergies). Yummmmmmy!

Then Mommy and Daddy took me for a cooler-than-later morning walk through the neighborhood. Well, Lucy and Chia went too, but I know it was specially for me today. (Riley was still in bed.) When we got back I got my legs and face rinsed off to help keep away the allergies, then played with Chia for awhile before we all settled into our post-brekkies naps. I woke up with all my stuffies wishing me a happy birthday!

Oscar the Schnauzer: We’ve been in hiding since Chia arrived. But our best friend Xena is worth taking a chance for. We love you, Xena! Happy Birthday!
That’s when I got a birthday present – a new member of the stuffie family.

I think he’s a lemer. He’s really soft and cuddly. I might call him Jim. Or Tom. Or Larry. Larry the Lemer. Has kind of a ring to it, doesn’t it?

Then Chia showed up again. She plowed her way through my stuffies like they were celebrating her! Her first victim, er, choice was Chippy, probably ’cause he was out front.

After tickling him and throwing him across the room, she played with Eleephont and dug out two balls and a bone and finally retrieved Chippy and settled down on the couch with me.

You’re disturbing my nap.

Later me and Mommy are going to work on our Freestyle. I’m learning to run over to a pole and touch it with my nose, and then get a treat tossed to me. Then I run back to Mommy and get another treat. This stuff is soooo easy, but I still insist on getting paid. I’m also learning to do pivots with Mommy – I mostly just march in place with my front feet and move around in a circle with my back feet. We do that until Mommy gets dizzy and almost falls over, BOL.

First, though, I get to chose which tuna steak I want for supper. That little blue sticker on the package says fresh caught.

Mmmm, I think I’ll take this one, and Lucy can have the other one. Chia eats kibble, so no sharing with her. Mommy, can we give her just a bite, do you think that’s ok? OK, we’ll offer it and if she doesn’t want it, well, it won’t go to waste.

I am the four-year-old Xena Schnauzer Princess Warrior *woof* *woof*

Happy Father’s Day, Dad(dy)

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia22 Comments

Xena: I love my Daddy soooo much. He is kind and sweet to me and calls me “Little One,” cause I’ll always be his puppy.

Lucy, Dad and Xena

Lucy: I love my Dad sooo much. He never raises his voice and is always my safe place when I get scared, and calls me “My Big Girl,” cause I’ll always be his best girl.

Happy Father’s Day, and we love you, Dad(dy).

Your girls, Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess (and now Chia, too)

We are happy to join The Cat on My Head for Sunday Selfies.

Someone Stole my Picture

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia30 Comments

There’s a picture thief out there, and we wouldn’t have known it if Mommy hadn’t randomly watched a You Tube video, “10 Facts about Miniature Schnauzers.” If you want to see my picture in this video, go to fact #8 where the timer is 5:53.

That person sure didn’t get all her “facts” right. She said we are all brave. Angel Lexi was fearless, and I really try, I really do, but….well. (I really try, I really do.) She also said we are great with kids. Mommy’s first schnauzer, Freda, was good with her peep siblings, but Lexi never liked kids much until she got her role as Toto and found out that the kids almost worshiped her. She was willing to take their adoration (and candy). She ended up being a fantastic therapy dog for the children’s hospital for 10 years. Frankly, I’m scared of kids. (See how that makes 2 of her “facts” totally wrong?)

You want some facts, lady? Here’s some facts.

Fact #1: We love our stuffies. It’s a fact I’ve only hurt one of my stuffies. Someone else hurt the others.

We love our stuffies.

Fact #2: We are dominant. Daddy always lets me dominate him before we cuddle up to go to sleep at night.

We are dominant.

Fact #3: We hate wearing clothes. And harnesses. And anything that restricts our freedom or hides our pretty hair.

We hate wearing clothes.

Fact #4: We love to cuddle.

We like to cuddle.

These are all facts specific to this schnauzer. Your schnauzer may be different. Just like people are all different, right?

Anyhoo, what do you think about someone using other’s pictures without permission on an “informative” video?

I am Xena Schnauzer Princess Warrior with a stolen picture.

Pee Ess: If you dont wanna watch that video, this is the picture she stole:

Our Trip and Chia on Wordy Wednesday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia33 Comments

Thanks to Comedy Plus 
for hosting Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.

Xena: Hi friends, we’re back! Did you miss us? Me and Lucy, we went away – way away. We rode in the car for 14 hours. Really! I know sometimes I egg zagerate a teeny bit, but I actually heard my folks say it was a 14 hour drive! Our supper was 87 hours late.

Riley: They went away and left me.

They even took that annoying Chia somewhere. I was just starting to like her – kinda.

Lucy: Our neighbor Mr. Ron was thinking about keeping Chia for good, so he got a “test drive” for four days.

Xena: We thought we would miss her…well, at least a little bit…but how could we miss her when it was like she was there with us at our Grandma’s house in Ill in noise? That’s our Aunt Jenny’s puppy, Jemma, bothering me on my Grandma’s deck. (Aunt Jenny is not to be confused with our Auntie Jen) I had to keep putting Jemma in her place. She doesn’t understand boundaries because she hasn’t had other dogs to play with and she’s only 11 months old like Chia. Those two would really hit it off.

Everyone left us alone and let us work it out. I was a good teacher. We played a little bit, too.

Lucy: We were at our Grandma’s house, and our Dad’s two sisters were there. They are our Aunt Jenny and Aunt Bobbi. The other pup behind Xena and Jemma is Aunt Bobbi’s dog Daisy. She’s a farm dog from Indiana. She was real nice, and pretty much left everyone alone.

We were way out in the country in an area called The Territories. Xena and I got to play outside in the big yard while Mom helped Aunt Bobbi and her husband Uncle Dennis pull weeds and make the area around the house look better. We ran and ran and chased each other. Then we saw a baby deer, so we chased it! We got called back before we could catch it, though.

Xena: I wasn’t sure about Aunt Bobbi at first, and wanted to go to my Uncle Dennis. But when Mommy handed me to Aunt Bobbi I could tell how much she wanted me to like her, so I did. I even let her baby hold me.

Early Monday we started on the 87, er, 14 hour ride home. No one was at our house when we got home that night exceptin’ for Riley. He was real happy to see us, too. Then Mommy disappeared for a little while the next morning and came back with…guess who. Yep, you probably guessed…it was Chia. She was over the moon excited to see us.

Lucy: She was moving so fast that she was a blur, not just in the picture, either. I was still a bit groggy from all the Sea Beady oil I took on the way home, so I hid from everyone the rest of the day.

Xena: The next morning I played with Chia for a while after Mommy told me to stop being so ugly to her. She finally wore out and slept most of the day close to where Mommy was working for the synagogue.

Chia

Later, I got to laugh at her, cause she had to wear my big girl panties! BOL, BOL, BOL! Can you see the look she’s giving Mommy?

Then Mommy forgot to take them off of her when she went out to potty. ROTFL (Roll On The Floor Laughing)! At least I never pooped my pants! For once in my life I’m glad we’ve got two more pair, a purple one and a green one. She’ll probably be wearing them for another week or two.

Lucy: At least she went out to potty, even if she did it in her diaper!
Mr. Ron said “he” was a very good girl the whole time “he” was there. “He” didn’t mess in the house at all and didn’t tear up anything. But “he” did try to take off when “he” saw a squirrel on their short walk, and “he” pulled Mr. Ron over a fence. Poor Mr. Ron has a lot of physical problems because of being in the service. We don’t know what all happened to him, but he’s not got a lot of strength and has had lots of operations on his back. Anyhow, Mr. Ron said he didn’t get hurt. Whew! About then Mom gently said, “You know Chia is a girl, right? She’s in heat.” Mr. Ron said he knew that, and had been thinking about a new name for “him”, like Rocky or a couple of other boy names that he said. Again, Mom gently reminded him that Chia is a girl. We think Chia may always be a boy to him.

Mr. Ron wants to keep Chia or Rocky or whoever. He fell in love with him, er, her, just like Mom figured he would. Chia cuddled up next to him all the time, or laid in the same “baby hold” that Xena does. But his son was coming with his German Shepherd that would have attacked and killed Chia. After that he has several trips planned. So Mom suggested that they share her. She would live with Mr. Ron when he was home and it was safe to do so. We would keep her the rest of time, even if Mr. Ron just needed a “time-out.” He had to think about that for a minute, and then decided he liked that idea.

Xena: I like that idea too. That way I can still be the baby most of the time. She will still come here and we can play and have fun and be a bigger family. And when she’s gone we can rest and play with each other and take trips and do Freestyle and, and, and…. maybe miss her, too.

Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess, Riley and Chia wishing you a happy Wordy Wednesdy.

Xena Reports on Chia

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia34 Comments

Many thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting Happy Tuesday.

Many of you have asked what’s been happening with Chia, the pup our brother Andrew brought home. Here’s a couple of videos. Watch part, watch all, you’ll see Lucy and Chia bonding. It gets pretty boring after a while.

https://videopress.com/v/RY7V9hFh?resizeToParent=true&preloadContent=metadata

That’s how Lucy used to play with me when I was a puppy. Now I’m a big girl and can run with the big dogs! I never stay on the porch — unless Mommy tells me to.

Right after a storm Lucy fell sound asleep while Chia sat on her and gave her raspberries. She can be a real brat.

This pink and purple shirt is way too long for me, as it was for Lexi. So Mom figured it would fit this little half doxie just right.

Seems she didn’t like wearing it any more than me or Lexi did.

I’ve started playing with Chia too. She likes to gently comb her teeth through my eyebrows and beard. That feels really nice and I stand still and let her do it. Except one day she grabbed my beard and started pulling! Mommy said if she had know I was going to attack Chia for so long, she would have caught it on video. Of course, this is a G-rated site, so there may have been too much violence to post it. Don’t worry, no one was hurt — except me where she pulled my beard. She sure hasn’t tried that again.

The house breaking is going pretty well. She had one accident first thing in the morning as she was coming out of her (my) kennel. She tried to hold it but had to go too bad to make it the few feet out the door. No one blamed her for that and it cleaned up ok. She has learned to go to the back door when she needs to potty. But she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of ringing the bell or barking or giving some noisy sign that she has to go out. Today she pee-peed on the little rug in front of the door while Mommy was in the other room (office) working. Chia knew she was in trouble, but she didn’t get scolded, cause she at least tried to go out.

Today she sniffed noses with Riley and he wagged his tail. Looks like he’s coming around, too.

Riley: I can be nice.

There’s a wonderful man who lives up the road who we love to visit when we go for walks. His wife died a few months ago after years of him taking care of her. He said he would like a dog, especially a rat terrier like he used to have. Since me and Lucy and our folks are driving up to visit our grandma in less than a week, Mr. Ron said he would keep Chia for us. And maybe forever. *wags* We could still visit with her when we go for walks, and we could dogsit her if Mr. Ron goes somewhere that he can’t take her but I’ll be Mommy’s baby again and won’t have to share the bed after breakfast and get my kennel back.

Chia: I’m not goin’ anywhere. I already proved that. I slipped out the front door without my new Mom seeing me, and guess what? I came right back and whined until Riley told her I was at the door and she ran and let me back in. I got lotsa treats for that one.

Chia’s future is still uncertain, but one thing is for sure. Wherever she lives, whether it’s here or somewhere else, we’ll do our best to make sure it’s her furever home.

Xena, Chia’s friend and boss Wait! I didn’t get my picture in this one…let’s fix that.

The Video You’ve All Been Waiting For

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia36 Comments

It’s finally before the end of the month, and my Freestyle video is ready, just like Daddy promised. Mommy wanted me to post this tomorrow morning, but that’s not Before the end of the month! Just to make Mommy happy, and so she stops nagging me about including this, let’s start off with a license plate at the Freestyle trials where I won my Freestyle Title for Level 3:

And this picture of me and Mommy on the Saturday we got our Freestyle Title for Level 3:

And now, with thanks to my Daddy for getting this to me sooner than to anybody else, and Before the end of the month, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for, the main event!

I am Xena Dancing Schnauzer Princess

Is It Before the End of the Month?

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia23 Comments

Lucy: Hey Xena, whatcha doing? Are you hunting lizards again?

Xena: Nope. Didn’t you hear what brother Andrew said?

While we were all gone, there was a giant anaconda in our yard. It was wrapped the whole way around the shed. I’m trying to find it.

Lucy: Xena, dear sister of mine, there are no anacondas in Tennessee. And the snake was wrapped around the 3 foot section of door under the shed, which means it was at least 6 feet long. He thought it might have been waiting for a rodent.

Xena: OK. smarty pants, so he said it looked like a copper head. That just doesn’t sound scary enough for a good story. He thought it might have been hunting rodents like I do. He used his hands to show us how big around it was, and I’m sure a can of peas would have fit. It was that big around! (OK, so maybe it was as scary as an anaconda.) He also said he ran screaming like a girl back to the house.

And you know what else? He ran around to the front of the house and the other bush out there where I hunt lizards was shaking and making groaning noises. Seriously! That’s what he said! I’m not making it up. And we all know it wasn’t me in that bush because I was in Ohio getting my Freestyle title with Mommy and Daddy.

Now, I’ve got something really important to ask you, Lucy.

Lucy: No, I haven’t heard the refrigerator open lately.

Xena: No, no, this is about when something is. Daddy said he would have my Freestyle video ready before the end of the month. Is it before the end of the month yet?

Lucy: Uh, it’s not the end of the month yet.

Xena: That’s not what I asked. I don’t know when Before the end of the month is. Does that mean the same thing as today?

Yes, I think that’s right.

Then it’s ready! Hurray!

Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, it’s Before the end of the month. That’s the day Daddy promised to have my Freestyle video done. Go get my video from Daddy! Please! Please! Please!

(Mommy under her breath) Oh boy, how do I even begin to explain this one to her.

When Your Son Comes Home with a Dog

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia43 Comments

6:30 a.m. today

Jeff: Amy, I was meditating downstairs and I started hearing a dog whine. It kept getting louder. Come down and see if you hear it.

Jeff and Amy standing downstairs while Amy tries to not tell her husband she thinks he’s hearing things.

Amy: I’ll take a look outside. Begins to walk through the groom room and sees a dog in the kennel. She walks upstairs and wakes up son.

Amy: Andrew, do you know anything about the dog that’s in my grooming kennel this morning?

Andrew: *yawn* I’m keeping her there until I can figure out what to do with her. She’s only 10 months old and she poops in the house and chews up things. Followed by long explanation.

Amy: No you’re not. I’m going to clean out Xena’s nice kennel upstairs for her. Then we’ll start working on housebreaking her and she can go out in the dog lot to play. When we can’t watch her closely she can stay in Xena’s kennel in the living room. I’ll get the stuffies out of it first.

Meet and Greet

Chica (orignally named Chico, but we changed it since she’s a girl) did her business outside and is ready to play!

The girls were still trying to sort out why this new pup is here and what to do about it. They all went back out a few minutes later and played in earnest. They haven’t had this much exercise in a while. Chica went into Xena’s open kennel and is taking a nap in her own bed. We are guessing she’s a jack russel terrier terrier/dachsund mix. Her body is way too long for just a terrier. She’s good natured, willing to submit to both Lucy and Xena, and full of energy.

Who knows where this will all end…in the meantime, we’re hoping for the best with her. (Stay in a little kennel by herself downstairs indeed! Not on my watch!!)

Awww Reindeer Stuffie Monday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia27 Comments

We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.

Xena: Why did Riley scoop Reindeer up in his cone before he got it off, then dump him on his bed, and just leave him there?

Lucy: I dunno. I don’t fool with stuffies, and I have no idea why Ri does half the stuff he does. I just try to be his friend.

Xena: Reindeer must be lonely. I’ll cuddle with him for a while.

I Titled!

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia28 Comments

Hi, it’s me, Xena! I know y’all were waiting to hear, so here I am, letting you know I got my Level 3 Canine Freestyle title. Here’s a picture of me with my ribbons. I can’t eat them, but I’ve been promised some steak for lunch. There’s also a bottle of Prosecca Champagne in the picture. Obviously, I’m not allowed to drink that, either. More about that in a bit.

Can you tell I’m still at the hotel? It’s much nicer than last time, when we went away for me to earn my Level 2B title and Mommy got mad and we changed hotels late at night. This is what happened. Now, before I go on, I want to tell you about my new friend.

On Saturday I met a nice Standard Poodle named Malachi. His Mommy is a dog groomer, just like my Mommy. He has sort of an Asian blend groom, which she did just for our get together in Ohio. He told me when he gets home that he’s getting his legs and body shaved so that he doesn’t have to get brushed all the time. Sounds like a plan.

Malachi was a Level 2. It was his and his Mommy’s first time to try to title. Level 1 is “on-leash” and we’re allowed to skip that level if we (we=the dog and the Mom or Dad) agree that the Mom or Dad can behave off-leash and stay with their dog. Even though Malachi’s Mommy was really nervous, he performed outstandingly with her and they got the equivalent of best in show on Saturday.

On Saturday, Mommy was really nervous and I picked up on that (of course) and I lagged behind and didn’t do everything we had rehearsed. Mommy was really surprised when we titled. We had to get at least 65 points to title, and we got 68.5 points. That is the first ribbon in the picture The second ribbon is for us coming in first in our class (Level 3). It didn’t matter that I was the only dog performing in Level 3. I was still #1! And everyone kept saying how cute I am. That should count for something, too, right? Especially since I had to put up with another bath that morning to be so cute.

Even though we got enough points to win the title, Mommy didn’t think we deserved it. We had a chance to perform again on Sunday to try to get a better score and a performance that didn’t embarrass us both. We knocked it out of the park on Sunday. (I heard Mommy say that, and I could tell it was a good thing.) I couldn’t get titled again, but I did get a score of 70.5 – two points higher – and another first place ribbon. All the other peeps were telling Mommy how great we looked out on the floor, what a great team we were, how we flowed together and gooey stuff like that. I even made up a new Freestyle figure toward the end. Mommy did real good following me, too! Now that’s teamwork.

Did you see that bottle of champagne in the first picture? My new friend Malachi won a bottle and wine glass just like that on Saturday. Mommy kept looking over at the one still there on Sunday, thinking, I sure would like to win that.

At the very end of every Freestyle event, one or two dogs and their people get called up to the front. Mommy was thinking Let is be us, let it be us. And it was!! It was us and Malachi!

I tied with Malachi for the award for High Artistic Achievement and the Joan Tennille award. (Joan Tennille and her husband Carl were the founders of the Canine Freestyle Federation.) I won that bottle of champagne and the glass for my Mommy! And Malachi’s name and my name will be engraved on the Joan Tennille plaque. I’m famous!

I am Xena the Title 3 Schnauzer Warrior with two titles, three new ribbons, and a half empty bottle of champagne.

Pee Ess: We’ll post my video as soon as my Daddy – who was the official videographer – gets it ready.

Guess Where We’re Going!

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia31 Comments

We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.

Lucy: This weekend I get to go stay with my friend Aoife (Eefa) and Aoife’s Mom and her brother. Her brother’s name is Rauiri (Rory). We haven’t met yet, but I am sure we’re going to be good friends too. This is Aoife.

Aoife is a sof-coated wheaten terrier.

Their Mom is so super nice, I’m wagging all over just thinking about visiting them for a few days. I’m so, so glad I don’t have to ride almost 10 hours in the car and then stay by myself all day Saturday and again on Sunday in a strange place. I can hardly wait to go on my own vacation to Aoife’s!

Xena: This weekend I get to ride in my car kennel a long, long way to Cleveland, Ohio to dance to my music and get my next Freestyle title! We’re going to stay in a nice hotel so we don’t have to get up in the middle of the night and move to a different hotel like last time. Me and Mommy have been practicing all our figures a lot in the basement, and I know just what to do. Daddy’s going to be the videographer – not just for me, but for all the dogs. I might even tell the other dogs that he’s my daddy! Do you remember when I got my first title? It was a year ago last November, before the pandemic thingie hit. If you missed it, or just want to smile again, you can see it by clicking here.

I have to decide which of my stuffies are going with me.

Mommy, I can’t choose. I don’t want to leave anyone behind now that Riley got his cone off. And they all are begging to go!

Mom: Dont’ worry, Xexe. I’ll help a couple of the smaller ones into your travel kennel and they will be waiting there for you when you hop in to go. And I’ll make sure everyone else is safe in your home kennel or up high where you-know-who can’t reach them.

Good! I’m going to go to sleep now so Friday comes faster!

We are Lucy and Xena, the visiting and traveling and performing girls!

Versatile Mexican Fajita Mix

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia30 Comments

Thanks to Shoko and Tyebe of the Canadian Cats and Nelly and Phenny of Easy Blog for hosting this yummy day.

Xena: Today we are presenting a typical recipe from our Mommy. It has no name. She has no recipe. She saw this on Allrecipes.com and winged it from there. When Daddy put it in one of his GF wraps and bit into it he swooned, re-devoted himself forever to Mommy, asked her what she was doing after lunch…

Lucy: Xena! You’re doing it again!

Xena: Fine. (paws) You tell it then, and let’s see how interesting it is (not).

Lucy: It’s not supposed to be interesting. It’s a recipe. It’s like reporting, and you know I’m the Ace Reporter in this pack.
Anyhoo, Mom didn’t take any pictures ’cause she didn’t know she would be sharing the recipe, but I’m sure Xena will come up with something to entertain you. This is basically how to make it.

Xena: So you’re honey will love you forever.

Lucy: *sigh* If you’re like our folks and are’nt eating lectins, put 3 colored bell peppers (you can use green too if you like them) in your Instantpot or other pressure cooker. Set the timer to 0 minutes and the setting to pressure cook normal. If you don’t care about lectins, then you can skip this step.

While that’s happening, peel and slice a small onion and begin to sautee it in olive oil (Mom uses that oil because it is good for you, but you can use whatever oil you want) in a large skillet.

Now, back to the peppers: When the pressure cooker gives that final beep, release the pressure and take out the peppers with a tong or something other than your fingers ’cause they will be hot. Remove the seeds and slice them into medium thin strips. Add to the pan with the onions.

Add a couple of chopped garlic sections, or more if you really love garlic.

After everything is cooked through and starting to carmelize, add a little bit (about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp) ground cumin.

If you have some cut up chicken or beef you want to add, now is the time. Mom had cooked a half pound of 100% grass-fed ground beef, and added that.

This is good over rice or in any type of wrap. We can’t tell you if the leftovers are good ’cause there weren’t any.

Xena: It smells so good, it will have you begging for some!

XOXOX from Lucy and Xena, wishing everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Nature Friday at Greenway (again)

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia17 Comments

We are joining Arty, Jakey, Rosy and Sunny of the LLB Gang with much thanks for hosting Nature Friday.

After our grand adventure at the Greenway last week, Mommy took us back the next day to try another trail off the main path. This trail started out with a sign saying the Boy Scouts had created it. That sounded promising, right? Well, sorta. Soon after we started along it, it started to climb. Not as steeply as the day before, but we were definitly going up.

The sun was shining in between the trees and everything was either green or brown. Once again, Mommy let go of our leashes and let us lead the way. Lucy didn’t want to get too far from Mom, so it was me who led. Before long, the path narrowed as the trees closed in.

We saw off to our left a huge tree that was uprooted. All the dirt was still on the roots, so we think it must not have fallen over too long ago.

The trail finally leveled out and me and Lucy, we both decided we wanted to be really close to Mommy. The problem was that she kept tripping over us or stepping on our leashes. You should have seen the nice little dances she did to avoid falling. Except once. She did fall once and her right ankle twisted just a little and she landed on the palms of her hands. We both were worried she got hurt and ran to her to see if she was ok. She said, “You know, girls, if I fall out here in the middle of nowhere and get hurt, it could be days before anyone found us.” (She wasn’t hurt.) So, thinking about all the meals we would miss in that time, we were much more careful — especially after Mommy said we would need to let her lead the way so we weren’t in her way.

We saw a lot of trees that had fallen over and were rotting, along with some that were rotting while still standing in place.

That one on the right scared Mommy and she hurried us past it.

There were a couple of signs with the word “Trail” and pointing which way to go. One was at a point where we could have gone kinda to the right and definitely up. As we started to go back down we got to a big downed log that had been cut in the middle to make a couple of steps.

That was nice. It was kinda like finding a present out in the middle of what seemed like nowhere.

The trail eventually led back down to the start of the trail we followed the day before. That explained the part of the trail where we could have turned to keep going up. We’re all getting to know the trails better, but there are a lot more to explore. We’ll save those for another day.

*wiggles and wags*

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Nature Friday at the Greenway

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia32 Comments

We are joining Arty, Jakey, Rosy and Sunny of the LLB Gang with much thanks for hosting Nature Friday.

We found some wild flowers–or maybe weeds–growing along our driveway. We are going to call them wild violets and wild daisies. We don’t know if that’s right, but it sounds good to us.

Mommy’s been trying to take us to the Greenway every day. Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and the afternoon temperatures in the low 60’s F. We love when Daddy comes too, but it’s really more fun when it’s just us and Mommy. She’s got an adventurous side that borders on dangerous, and that gets our blood running. Well, that, and she walks a lot faster when it’s just us. Yesterday’s adventure also got our heart rates up and our tongues hanging down. We took a side dirt trail going up. And up. And up. There were rocks and roots and downed trees to navigate. It was all woods on either side of us and not another soul in sight, dog or peep or squirrel or bear or coyote or…

Lucy: Xena, that’s enough. Just tell our story.

Xena: You’re no fun. Anyhoo. we passed some branch-offs and we asked to take the first one to the left, but Mommy said, “Let’s keep climbing and see where we end up.” She finally let go of our leashes and said we would all have to walk a little slower to get her heart rate down. So we did. Me and Lucy, we listen really good on our walks. We all kept thinking that around the next corner, the trail would start to go down again. Nope. Maybe around the next corner, and so on. It just kept climbing, and so did we. After we had climbed what felt like 87 miles we met a man coming down the trail and Mommy asked him where it went. He said it kept getting steeper and went to the top of Big Ridge. Now, I know you don’t know what Big Ridge is, but believe me, even the drive up it is steep and like a snake.

With that info, Mommy finally decided we would turn around and head back down. “Are we going home?” we both asked, and for emphasis, we both started coughing.

“Let’s keep walking the main trail loop around to the car. Then we’ll go home and I’ll fix your dinners,” she said.

All we heard was dinner, so we were definitely with that program.

We got to the giant tree that was laying across the path. On the way up the mountain big hill, I showed Lucy how to jump up on it to get across. This time Lucy went first. I jumped up behind her, but I wanted to see more, so I moved up.

I thought she was holding her tail up so I could walk under her. I didn’t realize it was because she saw something interesting. Then I saw Mommy had her phone camera pointing at us.

You want to take my picture ’cause I’m the cutest thing you ever saw?
OK, I’m saying “cheese!”

After Mommy managed to get over the big tree, she saw why she couldn’t get Lucy to look at the phone camera. There was another man with a big black lab coming up the mountain hill. The end.

Lucy: That wasn’t a good ending. You left everything hanging.

Xena: But…

Lucy: The guy detoured around us, we walked another 87 miles. On the way a couple stopped us so the lady could pet me *wags!* and asked what schnauzers were like. After Mom bored her half to death with long details, we finished the trail, drove home and had dinner. The end.

Xena: Well that was anti-climatic. I’ve gotta teach you how to tell a good story.

We wish you a happy Nature Friday! Xena and Lucy

Xena’s Thankful Thursday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia34 Comments


Today we are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday, with special thanks to Brian for hosting it!

First, I’m thankful I got Thankful Thursday instead of Lucy, BOL!

I am thankful for my chew bones. They’re best when they still have meat and marrow on them, but they’re still fun to chew on when they are bare, too.

There’s lots of these laying under the furniture and under the couch cushions and out on the porch. Sometimes I let Riley or Lucy chew on them, too.

I’m also very, very thankful for my Daddy.

Daddy gives me my pre-made by Mommy breakfast every morning. He holds me when I demand ask him to. And he calls me The Little One and Little Girl. He loves me a lot.

Did you see the new purple collar on me in that last picture? It’s a special collar that is made to work with my body to repel ticks and fleas for four months without the use of any harmful chemicals. We’re still waiting to see if it works.

Lucy: I just want to say…

Xena: Lucy, no! It’s supposed to be my Thankful Thursday!

Lucy

Lucy: I just want to say I am very Thankful for a wonderful little sister named Xena.

Xena: Oh, uh, OK. We can leave that in. Uh, thanks, Lucy. I love you too.

This is Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess thankful for my sister Lucy who loves me.

Happy Xena Tuesday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia31 Comments

Many thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting Happy Tuesday.

One day last week me and Lucy followed our peeps bro Andrew outside. Mommy didn’t miss me until she heard me out front barking at an interloper walking past our house. She started calling me, but couldn’t find me anywhere until she looked out the front door. I ran in when she called, and I got lots of “good girl’s.” I don’t know why I got good girls, but along with them came a super good treat, so I’m not going to ask why. Treats make me happy.

Today we were headed out for a walk, and I hadn’t gotten my hated harness on yet when I made a dash for the yucca plant. If there’s one thing I love (and there’s lots!) it’s hunting small critters. That makes me super happy! Here’s how it started:

And suddenly I, the mighty [lizard] hunter, sighted my prey:

Do you see my happy indicator going? Now y’all know what I was doing out front by myself last week! That sly lizard is still there, so I will have another go at him soon.

I am Xena the Mighty Hunter Schnauzer

Xena’s Sunday Selfie Poem

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia23 Comments

I once was a puppy in Jackson.
At three months I moved to my mansion.
And there I stood still
Looking out from my hill
While perched on my red leather stanchion.

I remember doing this when I was a puppy. I guess things haven’t changed much.

I remain Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

We are happy to join The Cat on My Head for Sunday Selfies.