Sunday was the last day of Rocktoberfest 2018 and it was my turn to go! It was a different band, and they were fun to listen to. Come on, Mommy, let’s go ‘sploring!
So Mommy helped me off with my sweater, since the day was warming up, and I went on a long walk through the Fat Man’s Squeeze and caverns and magical places. (And I wasn’t a-scared at all!) We didn’t see any fairies this time, even though I checked in all the places they might hide.
Nope, nothing up there but my shadow. Hi, shadow!
These rocks were much too slippery to try to explore.
Oooh, it looks like jewels up on the rocks. Maybe there are fairies here!
Are we lost, Mommy? I heard something behind us. Oh look, directions, sorta’. 
Now let’s see if we can find any gnomes.
We only found Ik, and he’s not a gnome. I turned and headed back to the pavilion to find my Daddy. I could hear him teaching polka, so I followed the sound of his voice. When we got back, I got my very own sauerkraut, and then I ate half a nice lady’s sauerkraut, too. (She said it was ok, she was done with it.) A few minutes later I gave them back their sauerkraut, as well as a bonus of some of chicken innards from my breakfast, too. Mommy had to find someone to help clean up the mess.
Before the day was over Daddy grabbed Mommy to dance a swing and a foxtrot. The guy who played the elk horn and the ringy dingy bells came over to make me stop barking pet me while I watched, tied to a bench. I just wanted to dance, too!
So that was the end of the fun at Rocktoberfest 2018. We all hope you enjoyed hearing about it. Goodbye, dear October. We’ll enjoy you again next year.
Xena the Rocktoberfest Barfing Schnauzer Warrior Princess
I told her to quick, get some pictures, ’cause we all know what happens to most of the stuff she plants, BOL! Don’t you think the color goes pretty with my furs? 
It was nice to sit in the orange chair and…
smell the 
Be sure to drop by 
He found my vibrating dog – the one I hate – and tried to make me jealous (I’m not) by carrying it all over the house, like it was his girlfriend or something. Doesn’t it look just like him? Twinsies! Mommy said he could keep the doggie, ’cause Lucy and I don’t like it anyhow. 
Once they got home from Octoberfest Saturday afternoon, Achilles totally ignored Lucy. There she is in the chair behind him, mooning over the big lunk. 
At least I still had the tin schnauzer my Auntie and Uncle gave us. They said tin is the correct gift for wedding anniversary number ten. (He, he, that’s funny — tin for ten.) Now, if I can just get to the wine bottle inside of it… I know that always makes Mommy feel better.
Then we had a great time together!
We watched Mom and Dad polka and we watched Auntie Jen and Dad polka and we watched Mom and Uncle Bill try to polka, BOL! Talk about a total failure!
Mom and Dad doing the polka.
We listened to the band and watched peeps learn to do the Chicken Dance. Of course the peeps had to have their fun with us, too.
I found out that this was his first time to go anywhere away from home (he’s 4, but was recently adopted by my Uncle and Auntie), so he was a bit freaked. I think that’s why he snapped at me every time I sneaked a kiss on his mouth.
She said we could all be BFF’s, though. I said I was good with that(he, he, yeah, sure, right).
Achilles was so into me that he laid with his back right up against me until his folks took him to the other end of the pavilion.
Ella, stop giving your Dad the stink eye. They’re just getting a funny picture drawn…they’ll be back, and Mom’s here with us.
Look, there’s the nice man who was petting us earlier. Doesn’t he look silly doing the Chicken Dance?
I stayed with Uncle Bill and Dad until Dad got off work. I guess it doesn’t take guys as long to get ready as it does the ladies, BOL!
I don’t know if these ferns count, since they don’t have flowers on them.
Daddy said, “No, I’m here, little girl. You sit with your Mom and I’ll get you both there safe.” 
So Daddy drove up Lookout Mountain to Rocktoberfest at Rock City. On our way in, we passed by some pretty flowers, but we are going to save those pictures for Flower Friday. I also got to check out some pumpkins. I tried to carry it so Mommy could make us pumpkin pie, but she said it is easier to buy the kind growing in the can in the store.
So that I didn’t get scared by the band like last year when I was only 4 months old, we found a seat down below the pavilion. This year, it didn’t scare me at all!
Hey Mommy, where’s that polka music coming from? Can we go see? I think my Daddy’s up there. After we went to the pavilion and listened to the music for a while, we went ‘sploring. There are lots of trails and I found some interesting pee mail to read.
It felt chilly outside, so I wore my nice sweater from last year. I hear the styles haven’t changed much, but I’m still asking Santa to bring me some new clothes this Christmas.
Mommy discovered that I’m not afraid of heights. In fact I jumped up on a great big rock and started to climb it before anyone could stop me. No wonder the place is called Rock City!
There was a steep drop off into a raving vine or something like that, so I turned around and went back to the trail. It was not because Mommy was coaxing me back to her. See, I’m not a-scared at all!
Then we went into these dark caverns. Soon, I came upon a gnome making moonshine. Can you see him back there behind me?
I found out that moonshine isn’t light from the moon. Noooo, it’s illegal whiskey, like what Daddy drinks, only his is legal. I don’t really understand the difference. But maybe that’s why the gnome is behind bars, right?
You still there, Mommy? It’s getting pretty dark in here.
There was sparkly, purple light coming from the rocks. I thought maybe it was fairy dust, especially since we had just met a great big fairy person. I looked up and just about jumped out of my skin! A real, live fairy person! The fairy was real sweet to me and we got to be friends right away. She and Mommy knew each other. Before she was a fairy, she was a Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Yep, that Angel Lexi thing again. We kept walking and finally came to the end of the cave (or light at the end of the tunnel?)
The danger – er, I mean fun – wasn’t over yet! Mommy insisted I take a selfie under a boulder (that’s a great big rock) that was balancing on another boulder. I said if I got smooshed, it would be all her fault.
I don’t look scared at all, do I?
Look, I even found my accordion from last year and couldn’t wait to play it. I hear that Lucy gets to go back this coming weekend, so maybe I can go again the last weekend of the month. We all love 
They didn’t have beer floats this year, so I didn’t get a chance to do that!
Every time I got a little nervous, I scooted between her legs and she helped me to calm down. I didn’t even mind sitting with her while Mom and Dad did the polka.
That was ok, ’cause there were lots of people walking around who wanted to pet me. I would look at everyone with my friendliest expression and wag my tail so hard that my whole body wagged. There were other dogs there, too. Some of them gave me a friend request, and I always answered with a yes!
I wanted to try to help teach like Angel Lexi used to do with the ballroom dancers, but I wasn’t allowed to. I still made friends with one of the students.
One lady even came out of the lesson just to meet me!
She pet me and we got to be friends.
Sunday is sometimes me and Xena’s day to not eat breakfast. Mom calls it fasting, but like Xena is quick to point out, there is nothing fast about those days! So, when Mom bought me my very own basket of Rocktoberfest sauerkraut to eat at lunchtime, she made me promise not to tell my sister. I convinced her to give me some of hers before I promised.
But wouldn’t you know, the first thing that little schnauzer did when I got home was smell my breath…and she knew! At least I didn’t break my promise, right?
The picture on the left was taken in 1908 and is Mommy’s aunt (her Mom’s sister). She helped raise Mommy, so they were very close. Mommy called her Nan-Nan and, later, Nan, and other people called her Anna May. The picture on the right is of Mommy’s Mom in 1918. Some people called her “Marion” and she loved Angel Lexi very much. I hope they found each other in heaven. There’s just one thing I don’t understand…how can babies be Mommy’s aunt and mom?
Really, Mommy? You said it was a gift to Angel Lexi from a cast member, but her head was too big? 
Did you get your picture? Can I take it off now? I. Don’t. Like. Hats.
Hey Xena, whatcha’ got? Cool hat!
Oh, Mo-o-ommy, Lucy wants my hat. Tell her it’s mine and she can’t have it.
before after
“Hey Lucy, I think that’s my Momma coming up the road!”
“Nope. I sure wish she would get here. I like you and Miss Amy, but I need to go home and take a nap.”
This is not our house or mailbox or address or flowers. Proof is that there are live flowers, BOL! We do not even know what kind of flowers these are, but they are pretty and still blooming in October. And you can see how bright the sun is by how I had to squint my eyes to try to look into the camera.
The Krill oil is good because it doesn’t have any bad mercury in it like a lot of fish, and it’s in a vacuum bottle so it doesn’t spoil. I love my kefir, too. It is full of problematics, er, probies, or something like that, and Mommy mixes my new powdered colostrum into it. The information about my colostrum says, 
Sometimes, when the itching got too bad, I was taking a benny pill, too. But we’re trying not to do that, ’cause it can mess up all the stuff we’re trying to make healthy. We learned that if we just cover up the problem with drugs, it will come back even worse next time.
I just got sprayed with sea salt mixed into organic apple cider vinegar. I feel better already, and am ready to take a nap in Mommy’s arm. I hope the itchy season is over soon.
Hi Friends, and welcome to another episode of Grooming with Mom. Our pup this week is a 10-week-old cockapoo and this was his first groom. Here is Benny after his bath. 
He’s just a baby, and he got scared, so Mom brought in the big dog to help calm him (me). I was real sweet and told him everything would be ok, and that I would be laying on the floor right next to the table in case he needed anything. That did seem to help a lot. Benny’s granddad brought a picture that Benny’s Mom sent for how she wanted him groomed. 
NOTE: This is NOT Benny. This is an actor.
His ears are crazy fuzzy ’cause the hair is still growing in on them. Mom isn’t super happy with the results. Benny didn’t care. He was so exhausted that he laid down on the table and fell asleep while he waited for his peeps to come get him. I stayed there as I promised until the car pulled into the drive, then I went upstairs to check on Xena.
Lucy: Uh, I was just playing with Monkey. He’s nice and I like him.
Don’t worry, Monkey, I’ll take care of you.
In your honor, Madi, I am taking a nap in my red chair with my red blankie. Your BFF, Xena the Schnauzer Warrior Princess
This is from a couple of years ago when Riley was still my boyfriend and living with us. We were “boxing.” Please notice I am wearing my red collar (this was before I ran away from home and lost my collar.)
This box is for you, Diva Madi. Your BFF, Lucy
It was only $4 to go inside to see the pretty pictures because they got the “senior” discount, BOL! On the second floor they even got to visit the Goddess Athena.
There was even a diver cleaning it like Mom cleans the house.
Lucy: She will be home soon, little sister. I can’t wait for her to open the card we got her:
This is Lucy and Xena waiting for 
Is everyone ready for my song? Here goes.
The mate was fixed by the bos’n’s pike
Presented to you by Lucy the Pirate Dog, Xena the Pirate Warrior Princess and Pirate Pete
So, I was sitting there, wishing she would hurry up, when suddenly, outof the corner of my eye, I saw…
MONSTERS behind me!
Please Mommy, enough of the picture-taking. 
I think I hear them coming!
Overnight, my big girl time came to visit. I got some yicky blood on Mommy’s bed sheets, but she’s not mad. She said everything comes out in the wash. I feel all “off” today. I thought it might make me feel better to hug my blankie for a while.
It did help a little bit. For a little while.
Oh, that’s where my blue bone went!
Isn’t this ever going to end?
She held me and loved on me every time I asked for the rest of the day. Those were the best parts of the day – other than food time. Oh, and our walk was good, too. I sure hope this is all over by tomorrow.
Goodnight, everyone. I am Xena the Schnauzer wearing my Big Girl Panties.
Lucy: This is our first time to join in the Flower Friday blog hop. First, we want to thank Rosy from
After reading all the pee mail and leaving some, too, we went home and ran, ran, ran in the front yard. The grass is long and still wet from the dew and high humidity, so Xena’s legs got soaked.
Hi friends, and welcome to today’s edition of Grooming with Mom. Today I want to introduce Max the bishon frise. Here’ an 
Mom forgot to take a “before” picture, so here are two “after” pics. Mom spent the first 40 minutes of this groom working mats out of Max’s ears, and from under his ears and his head. I guess she could have just shaved them *shrug* but she’s smarter than that. She just did the work and charged more, BOL! His dad didn’t mind paying more, and even gave her a tip. It’s going to take time to grow out his face and tail to how they should look, but he’s only 8 years old…there’s time.
You groomed my dog how?!
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy and Chia 