Video Star

I now star in my very own video on You Tube. My Dad made the video. It is inspirational, as well as very good because, well, because I am the star.

Freestyle and Shorts

Sunday I went to Freestyle with Mommy and learned to “touch.”

See that orange cone thingy behind me? Miss Julia stuck a treat inside it and then gave me a different treat every time I touched the cone with my nose. I really, really liked that game. I always keep an eye on everything going on there.

Other than Freestyle class, not too much has been happening this week, so me and Lucy, we thought you might like to see some short little videos of us. (He, he, I bet you thought you were going to get to see us in shorts – like clothes – right?)

While I was gone having fun with Mommy, Lucy was in the back yard eating all the meat off of a raw deer rib…and some of the bone, too.

Most days, Mommy says, “Who wants to get their teeth brushed?” and we both come running. I always go first. Our “toothpaste” is coconut oil with Neem essential oil in it. Sometimes we get Lavender essential oil in it too for flavor, but we like it either way.

Then it’s Lucy’s turn. Mommy got a red finger brush for Lucy, but Lucy kept trying to bite down on it. So, to keep her finger safe, Mommy went back to using a regular toothbrush. Did you notice me walking under Lucy? I do that all the time!

I’m still woofing at Daddy to fix the video of me and Lucy howling, and he keeps saying he is too busy right now. Grrrr. Hey, wait, maybe that’s what he’ll do for me for my birthday next week! Yeah, I bet that’s it! And lots of belly rubs and chair naps, too.

I am Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with clean teeth

 

 

Time with My Daddy

I’ve been thinking about my birthday coming up on the first official day of summer – June 21. I know boxes have been delivered from Amazon that Mommy has whisked away without letting me see what’s in them. I think it’s going to be a good birthday.

I’ll be two years old. But I’ve also been wondering if that means I’m all grown up and what changes I need to make. Should I stop saying “Mommy” and “Daddy” and instead say “Mom” and “Dad”? Do I still get to spend time in Dad(dy)’s lap?

And sleeping between Mommy and Daddy at night?

 

Mom said that me at the table reminded her a lot of Angel Lexi.

I wonder how old I will have to be to get my own seat at the table like Angel Lexi. There’s just so many things to think about now that I’m almost two.

Relax, Xena, you’ll know what to do. Everything will come in it’s own time. You will make new friends like I did with Spike here. You still have a lot to learn, and lots more treats to eat. And it doesn’t really matter what you call our folks, they will always love you, until the end of the world. 

Wow, it’s so wonderful to have a Guardian Angel as great as Lexi. She helps me a lot. Now I’m thinking about last week when it was just me and Daddy -well, and Lucy -at home alone. I saw a little white moth flying over my head, like it was saying “Hello.” I looked up at it and watched it go past, like the schnauzer in the picture on the yard flag Mommy got.

Then the little white moth flew over Lucy to say hello, and Lucy looked up too – and ate it! So far the score is Lucy-2, lizard – 0, moth – 0.

And now I’m thinking about the times lately that Lucy and I have been watching out the window and started howling together. We stop, look at each other to decide whether to continue, and usually let out one more good howl. Daddy might have recorded the last one. I’ll ask him to give it to me to show you soon. So maybe I don’t have to change anything. Maybe new things will just come while other things stay the same, just like my Angel Lexi said. I think I will just relax and go on to Freestyle practice with Mommy.

I am Xena the almost two-year-old Schnauzer Warrior Princess

 

 

Nature Friday in Indiana

 

We are joining Rosy for Nature Friday!

Brownie Bear and the Bully Horn

 

Lucy: My Easter Bully Horn is all chewed up – more like shredded – at the big end. I can’t figure out what happened.
I wonder if my sister did this… I’m going to find out.

Xena, stop right there.
‘Fess up, Xena. Did you shred the end  of my bully horn?

Xena: I didn’t mess up your stupid bully horn. You probably did it yourself. Or it was Brownie Bear. You know he was trying to get it. Yeah, that’s it. You wait here for a minute and I’ll prove to you it was Brownie.

OK, Lucy, come on in. Here’s the proof.

Brownie Bear: *yawn* Where did this come from?

Lucy: Grrr. You chewed up my horn!

Brownie: I need to stay up here with you for a while, Ludwig.

Late that night, in bed…

Mommy, Lucy thought I chewed up her Bully Horn and I didn’t and I didn’t know how to make her believe me so I blamed Brownie Bear ’cause he really might have and then I might have put the horn by him while he was asleep and I was a bad girl for maybe doing that, wasn’t I? And do you believe me that I didn’t chew it up?Mommy: I love you so much, baby girl. Yes, I believe you, and you are still going to have to tell Lucy the truth about Brownie Bear and tell Brownie you’re sorry.

*yawn* I will Mommy, I promise, as soon as I wake up tomorrow.

And no more making up things that gets others in trouble, you hear?

I *yawn* promise I wo…zzzzzzzzzz

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

 

World Parrot Day

Today we are celebrating World Parrot Day with Kismet.  She’s hosting a party and everyone is invited!

We asked Mr. Google about parrots, and here’s some of what we found:

World Parrot Day was started on May 31^st 2004 by the World Parrot Trust. Its aims are to highlight the threats to captive and wild Parrots around the world. At the very first World Parrot Day the World Parrot Trust handed in a petition calling for the EU to ban the trade of wild birds in Europe. This has since come into force in 2006/2007.

What makes a parrot a parrot? The most defining and recognizable feature is a thick, hooked beak, which most species use to crack open their preferred food of nuts and seeds. They also have feet that are known as zygodactyl, meaning they are arranged in sort of an X-shape, with two toes pointing forward, and two pointing backward. This helps them hold on to tree branches, and also lets them manipulate food and other items with their claws.

A Cockatoo, but NOT Sidney

A Sidney the Cockatoo story by Lucy: Many of our lifetimes ago, Mom worked as the office /clinic manager at a veterinarian hospital. A big cockatoo named Sidney came in regularly to board, and he and Mom developed a bond. He would sit on her shoulder and they would chat while she worked at the front desk. One day he kept trying to bite her necklace. After repeatedly telling Sidney, “No!” (she was good with that word way back then, too) she said, “If you do that again you are going back in your cage.” When he laid his huge beak against her cheek she thought she was going to get bitten for sure. Instead, Sidney said, in a low voice, “Sawry,” meaning he was sorry and didn’t want to go in his cage. One time, his owner’s adult daughter brought in her dog to be boarded while Sidney was there, sitting on Mom’s shoulder. Upon asking how Sid was doing, Mom told her that he had been talking up a storm. The daughter looked more closely at him and asked, “Are you sure that’s Sidney? Sid doesn’t talk. No one in the family has ever heard him talk.” That’s when everyone realized that Mom was his favorite person. She hoped they would offer to give him to her, but that didn’t happen.

A Blue and Gold Macaw but NOT Mary Lou.

A Mary Lou the Blue and Gold Macaw story by Xena: At the same vet’s there lived a blue and gold macaw in a humungous cage. That cage was bigger than my kennel. It took at least two people to roll it up front every day. It was a trick to get that cage moved without getting bitten. Mary Lou was not a nice bird. (Unlike Kismet who invited us to her party today.) So one person would push, causing M.L. to run over to that end of the cage to try to bite the person’s fingers. That person would let go and the person at the other end would pull, causing M.L. to turn and run to that side for the same reason. They would keep doing that until that cage was moved to the front near Mommy. Mommy tried to make friends with that bird, but Mary Lou didn’t like anyone! 

I think that’s all we’ve got, but before we go I want to remind Kissie that I hung out with a bird named Pirate Pete  on Talk Like a Pirate Day and I didn’t eat him! 

Your friends, Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Nature Friday, Mortie has a Waddle and Other Non-News

Xena: Not too much happening around here. Mommy and Daddy have been super busy doing things NOT with us and it’s been a bit boring.

Lucy: We still get our after-lunch walks every day except on Tuesdays and Thursdays when they are both gone to work so that they can afford to feed us “better than they eat”. That’s what they say. And we still get our after supper walks except for the one day last week that it was so late that the sun was going down. Oh, and the one day last weekend that we ate supper early and then they left. OK, I guess it really has been a boring week or two.

We did find out something interesting, though. Mortie has a waddle, BOL. You can see it in this picture. Aunty Jen told us that this kind of pig is originally from New Zealand where there are lots of poisonous snakes. (Our friends from http://www.jaspersdoggyworld just let us know there are no poisonous – or other -snakes in New Zealand.)The snakes bite the waddle and the poison doesn’t spread.  So now we don’t know where Mortie is from or what the waddle is for!

Xena: It’s been 87 days since I went to Freestyle class. My Big Girl time is finally over and I want to go dancing. Sometimes I sit on Mommy’s lap and watch what the other dogs are doing in their dance routines. If I like it, I try out the moves when we get home. That way, Mommy thinks I’m good at making up new dance steps. She laughs and tells me what a clever girl I am.Our next set of classes begins this weekend, but I. Can’t. Go. My folks are going far, far away to Indiana to celebrate Daddy’s aunt’s 95th birthday and our sitter, Miss Christy, is staying with us. I think she should take me to Freestyle, and I could show her what to do.

We’re joining Rosy and the Gang for Nature Friday.

We got something called a Yard Flag. It looks a lot like me when I was a puppy. It makes Mommy smile every time she sees it.

Lucy: What doesn’t make Mom smile is our not-a-year-old azalea bush. She took a picture of it to the garden center where she got it and asked if it should look like this.

They said that’s what it’s supposed to do, and will bloom again in the summer and in the fall. And they gave her a one-half refund on the “organic” fertilizer she bought in March to use with the fescue grass seed in the dog lot. She found out the tiny little pebbles are made out of people poop. Ewwww! Xena and I ate a little tiny bit of it before we heard, “No!” We both had the squirts and puked on and off for three weeks. We weren’t allowed back out there for 87 days. So she figured half her money back was better than none, since she would have just thrown it away.

Xena: We’ve been watching this grow in front of the house. I heard that a boy named Jack might be coming to visit and we might get a golden egg or even a harp. Mommy wants to know if anyone has a guess what this plant is. I still think it is a magic beanstalk.

Do you remember Mommy’s hostages that she planted after the Hated Bush got gone? This time, it really wasn’t me who chewed something up. Mommy mixed up some essential oils and stuff and sprayed everything. It did seem to kill the tiny red and black bugs crawling all over the giant beanstalk.

That’s all on our news around home. Love and wiggles, Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

 

Bully Horn Stalking

Mommy got me and Lucy  new bully horns for Easter.

As usual, Lucy got the big horn and I got the tiny one.  And, as usual,  we both want the big one. The difference this time is there is someone else after the little one.Hey Brownie Bear, get your own bully horn!

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Mortie’s First Day Home

Lucy: We haven’t met our new cousin yet, but we got lots of pictures and some stories. Aunty Jen got home safely to Nashville after picking up Sir Mortimer aka Mortie from Indiana. Turns out that Mortie is half mini kheune and mini-Juliana. He got to ride in her lap on the way home. This was all new for him, and we kinda understand how scared he must have been, and how being tucked in Aunty’s arm and listening to her heartbeat must have helped.

Once they got home, she had to introduce Mortie to Ella and Achilles, without a clue as to how they would react.

Xena: I mean, they might have been thinking that their Mommy just brought home the bacon, why isn’t she frying it up in a pan, right?

Lucy: Xena!

Xena: *hangs head* Sorry. I know, I know, Cousins don’t eat Cousins. And Siblings don’t eat Siblings.

Lucy: Where was I? Oh yes. So Aunty Jen still has the playpen that Angel Cousin Piper used to sleep in last year. New Cousin Mortie was happy to take a nap in it, all snuggled down in his blankie. Ella quickly showed her maternal instincts.

Xena: I’m telling Ella you said she is matted and stinks, Lucy.

Lucy: I’m ignoring that. So, Ella laid by the pen and growled at Achilles every time he came near. We don’t know if she was protecting him or claiming him. Mom thinks it might have something to do with her remembering Piper in that pen. Ella and Piper were very close and she grieved a lot – along with everyone else – when he left to cross the rainbow bridge. Now she’s got little Mortie to watch over.

Turns out, Achilles loves Mortie, too.They even napped together. 

Xena: We can’t wait to hear more, and especially we can’t wait to meet Cousin Mortie. 

Lucy: We’ll be back soon with more stories.

Love and wags, Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

 

 

Upside Down World

Hi friends, this is Lucy and Xena, and boy have we got news for you!Lucy: You remember our Aunty Jen, right? Here’s a picture of her with Achilles from this spring.

This has nothing to do with Achilles. At least not yet. And we hope not later, either. This has to do with one of our Aunty Jen’s dreams for the last five years. That’s longer than either of us has been alive! She’s been following a particular breeder up in Indiana.

Xena: For a schnauzer, right?

Lucy: No! For a …Pig!

Can you believe it? We are going to have a cousin who is a six-week-old Mini Juliana piglet. His name is (probably) going to be Sir Mortimer Hamington. We’re all going to call him Mortie.

Xena: I might call him Hammie, he, he.

Lucy: Aunty Jen and Uncle Bill are driving north this week to adopt him. Mom and Aunty Jen agreed that we have to get together every other weekend so that we can all get used to each other. 

Xena: Is he good to eat?

Lucy: NO!!! He’s going to be our COUSIN! NOT our SUPPER! And I may have to pig sit sometime! My world is turning upside down!

Xena: A pig, and no bacon or pork chops. I think my world is turning upside down, too!

Xena: Uh, what do pigs eat….

This is Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess, waiting to meet our new cousin Mortie (or Hammie)

Thankful Thursday with Pittie Puppy

We are thankful for all the good-hearted people in the world who make a difference in dogs’ lives.

We are joining Brian for the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

Love and wages, Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Almost Wordless Wednesday

We have no idea why Mom keeps changing the sheets.

We are joining Comedy Plus for Wordless Wednesday.

Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Modeling, Woofs, and a Surprise

It’s been a beautiful day, an outside kind of day. It ‘s been sunny with temperatures  in the low 80’s F (26 C).  I was enjoying getting my picture taken, and I was especially enjoying being allowed out back in the dog lot. It had been “off limits” for a couple of months because Mom spread grass seed and a natural fertilizer. Boy, was that natural good to eat, but it sure did make us sick! Most of the new grass has grown in and there is still straw over the parts that are still bald, he, he, bald yard, he, he.Xena was running all over the lot and sniffing along the perimeter. She was really happy because she doesn’t have to wear her Big Girl Panties when she’s outside. Before long, Xe ran up and gave me a play bow to get me to chase her. She led me up to the side fence facing the woods, where I turned around to give Mom another good camera shot. (That’s a technical term in the modeling business.) I have really started to enjoy posing for pictures. I’m thinking maybe I could make a career out of modeling. Although I really do like my job as a reporter. Wait, I’m getting off-subject. (That’s a technical reporter term.)

XeXe was really intent on something outside of the fence.  She kept woofing something at me while I was trying to give Mom a good shot. Anyhow, I finally got Xena turned around to face the camera phone. I didn’t want to be known as a camera hog (another technical term).I was shocked when Xena said, “OK, OK, are you happy? Now leave me alone, Lucy! I’m doing something important out here. I brought you over to help, but all you want to do is get your picture taken.” She kept her mouth closed the whole time she said that so that the picture would be over with fast.  I don’t know how she woofed at me with her mouth closed; maybe it was the beard. Anyhow, I have never known my sister to be a serious type of girl, so I didn’t quite know how to take it.

Offended, I went back to my original spot and casually kept an eye on her. Next thing I knew, she was barking her fool head off at something. Her bark sounded different than usual, maybe a bit less sure, but still insistent.

Mom was following Xena’s stare, trying to figure out what she was barking at. I also went over to check it out, but stopped several feet away when I saw what it was. Yep, a four-foot long snake on our side of the fence! Once we all backed away — at Mom’s urging — it wove its way back and forth through the chain link fence and into the woods from where it came. I guess I owe XeXe an apology…nah. But I am going to tell her how stupid brave she was.

Lucy, Ace Reporter and Model in Training *wags and wiggles*

Note from the Mom: Xena was very brave, indeed. I am very thankful it was a non-poisonous garter snake!

Big Girl Time

My Big Girl Time is here again. That means I have to wear my Big Girl Panties. I do not like my Big Girl Panties, and I’ve decided I do not really like clothes., period. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the mail person delivered an Amazon package that had my new Thunder Shirt in it.

                                 Seriously?

Of course Mommy had to try it one me. It’s for when I ride in the car.

At bedtime I made a bit of a show, as Mommy called it.

I also got her up a couple of times during the night. I don’t know what she’s complaining about. At least I didn’t jump on her head like I did to Lucy who was laying in the bedroom chair where I wanted to be. Anyhoo, I don’t think Mommy’s eyes were quite open the second time, cause she forgot I had on my Big Girl Panties and I went pee pee in them out in the yard. This is why she’s awake and doing something on her ‘puter in the front room at 2:30 in the morning. I wish she would at least open the bedroom door so I can get back in bed. A Big Girl has to have her beauty sleep, you know.

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess in the Big Girl Panties

This One’s for You, Angel Lexi

I know you liked squirrels, Angel Lexi, and that you even had a back yard living arrangement with them when you were young. It didn’t make you too popular with the other dogs, but you couldn’t have cared less.

Yesterday, Angel Lexi, I was walking down the street with our Mommy and Daddy and saw a squirrel laying in the street. I wondered if it was bathing in a sun puddle, or maybe had gotten tired and fallen asleep. I tugged on my leash, wanting to go over and greet her, and when I reached her, she didn’t move. I don’t know what I expected, but it sure wasn’t what I found. I sniffed her body and could smell some blood under her head. I gently nudged her head, asking if she was ok, but she still didn’t move. Before we continued on our neighborhood walk, Mommy reached down, picked up the squirrel and laid her in the grass by the road.

On the way back home I wanted to check on the squirrel again. I could tell that something very important was missing, and looked to Mommy for help on what it was. She explained that the squirrel’s soul had left her body because she was dead. This was my first time staring death in the face. The poor little girl’s eyes were still open, and they were brown, like mine. I was starting to feel really sad about this whole thing. I just stood there staring at the dead squirrel and thinking about what to do. Finally, I said a silent prayer for Angel Lexi to find her and take her to meet the Big Guy. Then I tried to nudge her eyes closed with my nose, but they came back open, so I left her in peace.

This video is In honor of the little friend I will never know, and of my Guardian Angel Lexi.

Squirrel asks to be adopted.

With love,

Your sister Xena

Grooming with Mom: Art Imitating Groom

Lucy, Ace Reporter on the Groom Beat, here. Today I have a bit of a different report. You have already met Maggie the schnauzer and Dora the shih tzu. They have been coming to Mom to be groomed for six years. Their mom’s sister-in-law is an artist. Can you see the pictures she is painting? On the left is the picture their mom took, and on the right is the painted portrait.

In other news, most of the folks wanting their pups groomed before Easter came by the weekend before. Our friend Pete the Chorkie lives in the neighborhood and his mom goes to church with our folks, so Petey came Easter Saturday and got lots of special attention. He’s been having some health problems, including a collapsing trachea and he coughs when he’s nervous.

I stayed with him to help him be calm, and we were glad to report to his mom that he only coughed once while he was here. He’s also had to get sub-q fluids every week. His mom said that he hates it so much that he runs and hides when he sees her getting things ready to do that. So she has decided to stop and hope and pray for the best. Maybe you could send him some POTP too. It sure has helped some of our other friends who sit on Mom’s table.

This is Lucy Ace Reporter signing off. *wags*

Hostages and Peeing Eels

Xena: After the Demise of the Hated Bush as well as the removal of all the other bushes by our brother Andrew, the front of the house looked bare. Mommy had decided on some plants called hostages because they are peeing eels and she doesn’t have to keep planting them every year. I promised to help pee on them, but Mommy assured me the plants would be better off without my help.

Lucy: Uh, Xena, they aren’t hostages. They are hostas. And I don’t think eels pee on them. The word is something else.

Xena: I know Mommy didn’t call them Something Else! 

Lucy: No, no, I meant…oh never mind.

Xena: Yesterday we drove almost an hour to pick up my older brother Adam, and then drove almost another hour back to our Freestyle dance class (Adam came with us). The little farmer’s market that is in that area was open, and we got some hostages.

Brother Adam helped carry the heavy stuff and dig and plant.

First they raked all the old stuff off to the side. Then they found bare spots and put down new landscape cloth. Isn’t that cool? It’s like they wanted to dress the ground! Then they cut holes in the cloth and planted the hostages. Next they raked the old stuff back over it. Brother Adam carried a bunch of bags of black mulch from where Daddy had unloaded them out back. Adam and Mommy, they cut the bags open and covered everything but the new hostages and the few bushes that were left – and, of course, us. I know all this because me and Lucy, we snoopervised. Where are you going, Lucy? Lucy: The work is done, nothing more to do here. Let’s skeedadle before Mom catches us for a free photo shoot. Besides, the sun is in my eyes.Lucy: I told you to run, Xena.  Xena: Where’s the cookies? Lucy: We’re working for free, just like brother Adam.  Xena: Where’s brother Adam? Lucy: Mom sent him to mow the grass.

Love, and Happy Easter and Happy Passover from Lucy and Xena and the Mom, and the Hostages with Peeing Eels

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Freestyle Demo, Here I Come

We are joining Brian for the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

 

 

I AM THANKFUL FOR FREESTYLE! Last Sunday was supposed to be our 6th and final Freestyle lesson in this set. We were asked to demonstrate a short Freestyle routine (more of a phrase, I am told) for the Obedience Club of Chattanooga on the first Friday night of May. It will be during their regular monthly meeting. The class had dwindled to just me, Duke the Dobie , and my new friend Meg the Powder Puff Chinese Crested. This is my buddy Meg:

She was kinda scared of me at first, but now we are happy to see each other. Anyhoo, our teacher asked if we all felt ready to do our demo (NO) and if we wanted to come in again this past Sunday (YES!).

Me and Mommy have been playing working really hard on our dancing. We take time every day to practice our under leg weaves (I go under Mommy’s legs cause she’s too tall to go under mine), and my backs, and our beginning and ending shapes and tons of other stuff and it is so much fun! Last Sunday we got to do our dance for our class and I we I was the best! In fact, I was so much the best that we get to go last at the demo so that we don’t outshine everyone else before they have a chance to do their dance. My teacher said it will all build up from the less experienced students to us. We have to have an intent. I intend to win. Mommy says, no, (yes!) our intent is fun! So here is what we did.

First was our Entrance. Then we Honored the invisible judges. Then we went into Opening Shape (I was supposed to sit, but Mommy miscued me). Then we did a Leg Weave, then a Serpentine across the floor. Then, after another bad cue, we did a Yahtzee turn and a half circle down to the middle of the floor, where we executed our Closing Shape. I bounced a lot to show how much fun I was having.

Mommy said we need a lot more practice. The teacher said come back on Saturday and we will all work on our dances some more. Yay!

I am Xena the Dancing Schnauzer Warrior Princess

 

Grooming with Mom: Bath Time Fiasco

Lucy, Ace Reporter here, with news on the Groom Beat. Not too long ago I reported about Mom’s record setting six hour groom. If you missed that one, you can read about it here. Aoife (pronounced eefah), the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, came back on Monday for her second professional groom. I will add kudos here to her mom and dad for keeping all the mats brushed out of her fine, thick coat. After all the preliminary stuff – you know, cutting toenails, pulling hair from ears, combing through her hair – it was time for her bath before getting her haircut. Aoifa’s almost too big for the bathing sink, and didn’t want to be bathed. Mom wrestled with her to keep her in the sink,  but Aoifa was determined. She climbed up on the top ledge of the sink! That was another first. We can’t wait to see what happens in six weeks when she comes back for her third professional groom. Oh, and it only took three hours, this time. Maybe next time will be even shorter, ya think?

Lucy, Ace Reporter, signing off with wags and kisses

Nature Friday with Competing Sisters

It’s Nature Friday over at my friend Rosy’s place. (Click here to join the hop.)

We got our first bloom of the season. It is a tall purple iris. When Mommy was growing up, her folks also called it a flag. It looked pretty lonely so Lucy and me, we decided to involve it in a contest with us.

So here is how it works. We both posed in front of Miss Iris and want all of you to vote on who did best. The only problem is that it was kinda hot out and we went for a walk first. Even so, I’m pretty sure I will win. I’m even going to let Lucy go first. Lucy said she is featuring three quarter and side poses, in a thoughtful mode. She picked a purple border to match the flower.

Now it’s my turn. Hmm, I guess I needed my beard washed after supper.I decided to do a side pose of just my face and a two thirds pose. I chose a pretty pink border to match my collar. I mean, who wants to look at some stupid flower, anyhow, right?

OK, so now it’s your turn to vote (for me).

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess in a pretty pink border

My Stuffie Friends Left

No sooner did my Clan Bears return than Rudy and Winter Bear said they needed to go to “The Great North” for the summer. They said there are places where it snows all year and the temperature barely gets above freezing. At first I thought they were going to Finland to visit Kosmo the cat. Then I learned that the snow is mostly gone in that part of the world and it is warming up. Then I thought about The Canadian Cats, but it’s the same story there.  Without involving me, they had been planning what they wanted to do over the summer until it got cold here – well, as cold as it ever gets. Neither one has a port to pass, or could pass the port, or something like that, so they had to stay in the United States. I wanted to help, so I offered Rudy my special blankie to keep warm on his travels.He tried it out and got so comfy he fell asleep for the rest of the day. The next day I offered Rudy my special Blue Bone. I thought he could chew on it if he got hungry, or use it as a pillow. When I took Rudy over to it, he licked it for a while, then laid his head down  and fell asleep again.

When that silly reindeer finally woke up, he said he was always sleepy cause it’s already too hot here. Meanwhile, Winter Bear was snoozing in the toy basket. I guess it is too warm here for him, too. 

I got them both awake long enough to pack up some supplies and head out the door. That was a few days ago. Once in a while I get word from someone that they gave the two travelers a ride or fed them or just spotted them in the woods to the side of the highway. The last report was of them resting near McKinley Mountain in Alaska.

Hey, I should have sent a list with them to give to Santa! I sure am going to miss those two rascals, especially Rudy. His red nose is hard, and Mommy could always hear me dragging him all over the house. I didn’t want  him to miss anything that was happening. I sure hope they can find their way back home before Christmas and bring me some pressies from Santa.

*yawn* I think it’s time for a nap. Maybe it’s too warm in here…

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess