This Memorial Day, We Remember

Lucy: Mom never met her Uncle Paul. He lost his life in England for our country shortly before the end of WWII.
Mom asked us to be quiet for a moment to honor all who have served our country and who have given their lives for this great nation. That was asking a lot of 4 dogs, especially a schnauzer, but we agreed it was a small price to pay. Mom also explained that this was one of the reasons I have the freedom to be a church dog. *silence*

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

Today we thank  The Cat on My Head for helping us to say Happy Mother’s Day with our Selfies! To settle the argument of who got to go first, then next, then next, Riley declared we shall go in age order, starting with the oldest. Here we go, and this one’s for you, Mom!

Mom Amy: Y’all make it a great Mother’s Day, my dear girls and sweet boy. I’m so happy everyone is healthy and happy. I love you too!

Xena: Why are you all dressed up in this picture, Mom? Are you going somewhere?
Mom: No, this is a picture from last night just before your Dad and I went out ballroom dancing.
Chia: You mean when you left us alone with no food or anyone to bug,umm, I mean, pet us?
Lucy: I was afraid you wouldn’t come back!
Riley: Happy Mother’s Day!

Awww Monday’s Birthday Boy!

Thanks to Miss Sandee at Comedy Plus for hosting Awww Monday!

Hi! It’s me, Riley! I’m RiBoy, the BDay boy today! And I’m 13 years young. Mom Amy’s got a special treat for all my friends…13 pictures of me! She’s gonna start with when I was just a whippersnapper, and work her way up to now. I hope you enjoy them!

Clockwise (Mom Amy told me how to do clockwise)
1. My first week in my new home, November 2010
2. My first birthday, May 1, 2011
3. Me with my girlfriend Maebe in 2012. We’d been working on our joint Freestyle routine. A few days later when we got to the venue where we were to perform, Maebe dumped me and wouldn’t even do our routine. (She found out I’d been making eyes at a gorgeous white standard poodle.)
4. Me with my boy. He and his Mom and my person Andrew lived with us for 2 years. I moved out with them when they left. I’ve been back to stay several time since then, and I’m pretty sure this is my real home again.

Here we go with years 2014 through 2017
1. Me and Lucy were great friends (and still are) and played together and sometimes even ran away together. Mom always found us.
2. That’s me and My Person Andrew up at Rock City for Rocktoberfest.
3. 2016 is the year Lexi crossed the bridge. We’re at My Person Andrew’s house. I was telling her everything was going to be ok.
4. Me and my Little Buddy Piper in 2017. He joined Lexi the next year.

1. Me, Lucy and Xena. I think Xena’s a bit afraid of me, so that would be why she doesn’t bother me much. Here, taken in 2020 we’re the 3 amigos!
2. Chia appeared on the scene, as they say, and brought out the puppy in all of us.
3. This is from Christmas last year (2022). I got my Racky D, and he’s only the second stuffie who I haven’t deadied. Right now he’s soaking up some sun in a lawn chair in the dog lot. I might go out and play with him.
4. Chia can be braver than she is smart. Earlier this year she slid off the top of the couch onto my back, pulled the blanket down to make a bed and settled in for a nap. On me! I decided to let this travesty go and save my energy for bigger fish, as they say.

I hope you enjoyed my meander down memory lane in pictures. I hear My Person Andrew is coming over after work today, and I think there may be an order in for pizza. I love my raw diet…I’ve never had such a good appetite as for that food. I come running every morning and evening when I hear it being prepared. But pizza…*drool*

Hoping to see you again in May 2024 and lots of times in between!

Big wags! Riley the Birthday Boy

Riley’s Selfie Sunday

Furst, thanks so much to The Cat on My Head, for hosting Sunday Selfies!

Hi Friends. Guess what tomorrow is…..it’s my birthday. And not just any birthday. I’ll be lucky number 13! Today I thought I’d celebrate by drinking some of Chia’s vodka. Oh yeh, she’ll tell you more about that on Tuesday.

I look kinda wet here cause I am. I just got a bath and a blow dry. But the blow dry wasn’t long enough to get me all dry. I got a nail trim, too. No nails were hurt in the dremelling process.

Anyhoo, Mom Amy promised to post 13 pictures of me tomorrow, on my birthday, so be sure and stop by and say hey! Now, to chew the top off this soft bottle…

*wags and little hops* Riley aka Ri Boy

Health Updates on Thankful Thursday

First, a big thanks to Brian for hosting Thankful Thursday!

Hey friends, this is Riley. My first thankful today is that I get to do a post a lot more since Xena took over the blog. Angel Lexi was very selfish with her blog, and only grudgingly let anyone else (me) post anything. So thanks, little sis.

My second thankful is even better. It has two parts.
Part one: My Person Andrew came with me and Mom Amy to the vet for me to get my diagnostic X-rays and an ultrasound on my tummy and chest. It was to see if I had a heart murmur or what was going on. Even though I was really high on some good sh*t Mom Amy gave me, I still knew he was there with me and it made me feel even more good than the drugs.

Part two: The tests showed no fluid in my abdomen or in my chest. It did show my heart is slightly enlarged, but all y’all already know I have a big heart, right? *grin* No heart drugs or anything else is needed. I’m feeling good and am eating all I can get ahold of and playing with Chia a little bit and also my stuffies. Hey, I’m gonna be 13 in just under a month, woohoo! Hope I get something good for my birthday!!

Xena: Thanks Riley. I’m glad you understand this is still my blog that I inherited from Angel Lexi. And you can use it anytime you want, since you inherited the position of alpha dog from her.

I’m gonna be real thankful when my right ear is back to normal. The culture the vet place did showed it’s full of yeast, but no bacteria. the new med that Mommy has to put in my ear every day hasn’t helped at all. So now — because we’re at the “end of our rope” — I have to take a half a pill called prednisone. I sure hope that works. I hear everyone gets extra hungry when they take that pill, but I’m a schnauzer, meaning I’m always extra hungry!

Those are our Thankfuls, so next up is our picture poem! Oh, and thanks to Angel Sammy for another great picture.

Angel Lexi the Schnauzer by Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

An empty slate, like an empty plate,
Always leaves you wanting more.
It’s so unfulfilling and makes you unwilling
To turn around and walk out the door.

Our Angel Lexi took steps whence she
Could fill the void on the wall
Our hearts still miss her, our wonderful sister,
But she still has the power to enthrall.

Thanks to  Angel Sammy for giving us a blank slate to work with today!

Grazing at Home on Nature Friday

First, big wags to Rosy and Sunny over at the LLB Gang for hosting Nature Friday! 

Riley: Mom Amy seems to love the wild violets we’re seeing everywhere. These are in our dog lot. It’s a wonder they survive what is always happening out there.

Xena: Hey there, totally changing the subject, we’ve got our very own grazing grass right here in our side/back yard. You see, Mommy left parts of a bale of straw sitting around after Halloween last fall, and they started to grow grass. Our side and backyard is losing dirt and grass, so that was a pleasant surprise! Riley found it first and we heard him say, “Mmmmmm, so goooood!” So of course, the next time we got out in the yard, we all had to check it out!

Chia walked through first to see what all the fuss was about and to sample it.

Chia’s like our Mikey from that cereal commercial. So if Chia liked it we knew to jump right in. Lucy and me, we staked out our claim.

Then, because Chia thinks she has to be close to Lucy at all times, she went and started grazing in Lucy’s area.

Lucy: I didn’t care, as long as she didn’t start her crap with me. I am just so over that. Thank goodness she was too interested in this new treat we’d found.

Meanwhile…

Riley: Hey, where’d everyone go?

Xena, Lucy and Chia wishing everyone a happy Friday. Hey, where’d Riley go?

Riley’s Selfie and No Exploding Heart

Riley: Xena what’s called in legaleze “the first right of refusal” for today’s selfie. She was sleepy after quickly devouring her breakfast, or brekkies, as she calls it, and refused on the basis of not wanting to go through getting “prettied up” to be presentable.

I, myself had just settled in for a long last-day-of-winter nap when asked if I wanted to do the Sunday Selfie. Since all I had to do was look at the camera, I said sure, why not? So here goes…

Besides I have news from going to the vet — my favorite vet place where I love going — on Friday. My belly has been really big, and I’ve been chewing on one side of it. Plus I’ve been hacking up clear, foamy liquid a couple of times a day. This all brought a big uh, oh from Mrs. Dr. Vet. Listening to my heart, she said my murmur had gotten decidedly worse, too. So I get to go back to visit with them again in two weeks for x-rays and stuff. And I get to take drugs before I go, but shhh, don’t tell anyone. Mom asked if Mrs. Dr. Vet couldn’t just put me on the heart medication she had talked about, and the answer was a bit scary. Something about if it was the other thing, like a growth or tumor or something like that, on or around my heart, the medicine for a heart murmur could make it – and my heart – explode! Eeeyikes! So Mom Amy and Dad Jeff decided to spend the money on diagnosis. Whew. I’ll let you know what happens. But at least I won’t be having an exploding heart…I think that would hurt a lot. Your buddy, Riley

Oh, and thanks so much to The Cat on My Head, for hosting Sunday Selfies!

Riley’s Topsy Turvy World

Angel Teddy of Two Spoiled Cats gave us a great picture to write a poem about. And boy, am I ever gonna do it!

I thought and I thought and I thought. Mom Amy went to work and came home and fed me and ate and went to a church meeting and came home and I said, “Mom Amy, I know it’s late, but I’m ready. “

She said, “OK, let’s do it, then.” So here goes.

Topsy Turvy World by Riley

Everything seems upside down
In this world and in this town.

Right is wrong and wrong is right.
Why do some folks always fight?

Hot in winter, cold right now;
Hey, does anyone have a plow?

Dogs who get the very best;
Kids who’re hungry, cold, and stressed.

So topsy turvy cars are weird?
To some the difference is revered.

The problem with this picture now:
The dog should drive, the man should meow!

This is Riley, saying thanks, Angel Teddy!

Riley’s Dr. Seussisms

Just a few years ago I ran with abandon. Now I follow this Dr. Seussism.

Well, all except when I run to the back chain link fence to have fun barking viciously at the neighbor dogs.

And I’ve decided this is a good one for me, too!

I bet I could take that black and white boxer mix on the other side of the fence. But I wouldn’t want to hurt him, so we’ll just have fun barking at each other.

I’m thankful that I live where I can run with abandon (under the watchful eyes of Mom Amy) or walk with care, and am loved for who I am, no matter what shape I’m in!

Happy Dr. Seuss Day, my friends! *wags* Riley

Thanks loads to my buddy Brian of Brian’s Home for hosting Thankful Thursday, and my little friends Macy and Maxwell, also of Brian’s Home, for hosting Dr. Seuss Day.

Friendly Fill-Ins by Us All

Xena: We want to thank  Four-Legged Furballs  and 15andmeowing for hosting. Just click the blue links to get the sentences, then fill in the blanks your OWN way and link up!!

Chia: This is so super cool we each get our own sentence. I just wish I could say lots of things!

Everyone to Chia: We know.

1. Lucy: I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Chia is now on CBD oil to calm her down.

2. Riley: I am disappointed with our lack of snacks this year for the Super Bowl.

3.Xena: I always come to the kitchen when I hear the refrigerator door open.

4. Chia: I didn’t believe Lucy would get mad when I was just trying to play with her until I saw it for myself.

Chia: I’ve got the last sentence, so I get to have my picture here. Arrr, arrr, arrr. (I talk like that a lot!)

We’re All Here on Awww Monday

Chia: It’s early and Mom’s taking pictures. It’s still cold out, so I pulled down my blanket – you know the one I got for Christmas and it’s all mine – off the back of the couch and wrapped it around me.

Now I’m warm and comfy.

Xena: So, my sissie Chia is happy on the couch, and I’ve claimed her place in her bed that’s in my kennel. Mommy says this is called an “on-going feud.”

Mommy has been letting my pretty hair grow out to keep me warm this winter. I got a bath, and she said to tell you this picture was taken before she got to brush my pretty hair.

Riley: Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Lucy: Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m trying to take a sunbath.

We all want to thank Miss Sandee at Comedy Plus for hosting Awww Monday!

A Peaceful Wordless Wednesday

It’s rare that Chia has nothing to say. We’re going to celebrate her quietness today on Wordless Wednesday, with a big thanks to  Comedy Plus for hosting Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

Chia’s Butterflies in the Rainbow on Awww Monday

Hey folks, this is Riley. I’m gonna help Chia get started on this one; you’ll soon find out why. First we want to thank Miss Sandee at Comedy Plus for hosting Awww Monday!

Some of you know how hard it is to cut or even dremel Chia’s nails. Mom Amy puts her in the sling and muzzles her about a half hour or so after giving her CBD oil and Valerian, and Dad Jeff holds onto her. Mom Amy still ends up getting all scratched while Dad Jeff struggles to just keep her from squirming out of the sling. OK, so I admit, I used to be a terror at nail cutting time too, but now I stand still in the slick tub and let Mom Amy use the dremel cause I know she won’t hurt me. Anyhoo, this time Chia ate the tramazone hidden in the almond butter, and swallowed the valerian that was squirted in her mouth. No CBD oil was involved in this “trip.”

Oooooo, pretty music.

Riley: Later Chia told me she heard a pretty song I have since learned was Monday, Monday by a group called the Mamas and the Papas, from back in the 60’s.

Ooo, rainbows with butterflies. I wanna catch those butterfl…zzzzzz.

Riley: No worries, folks. No butterflies were caught, and Chia chilled out the rest of the day, getting up the next morning with her usual bouncy energy.

It was nice while it lasted, but we were also glad to get our crazy dog Chia back. And we all discovered that as long as you’re not hurting anyone, it’s best to be yourself. Have a good week, my friends.

Chia: Bah dah, bad dah bah dah. Monday, Monday, so good to me…all I hoped it to be….mmm hmm, la, la la.

Sunday Selfie by Riley

Riley: Hi folks, and Happy New Year from us all. We had a good Christmas with lots of treats for gifts and no clothes. Yep, that’s a good Christmas. My Dad Andrew has been here with us too, and that makes me tail-wagging happy!

It’s my turn to do a Sunday Selfie, so first, a big thanks to The Cat on My Head, for hosting Sunday Selfies! Today I want to show off my new Benebone I got for Christmas. We all got one, and at first Chia was going around grabbing everyone’s and hiding them. Since she stopped that nonsense, we’ve all been going around picking up whichever one we come to, so I don’t think this is the one I chose, but hey, it’s still good!

Hope you’re still enjoying lots of treats and time with your folks. Love y’all! *wags* Riley

Saturday Potpourri

Xena: We’ve got a bunch of odds ‘n ends to show you today. I’ll start off, cause I’ve been bored, bored, bored.

Mommy’s been working almost full-time at a church, Daddy’s been sick in bed (but he seems better now), and Mommy’s also been working from home for the place where Daddy works. Then, after supper, when everyone settles into the living room before going to bed, I have to run into my kennel to protect it from Chia taking it over. That doesn’t leave any time for cuddling or petting or playing. But I hear we’re going to In Dee Anna, so maybe things will liven up soon.

Lucy: First, in case you were worried about me, I haven’t had to wear pj’s lately, but I see them being packed for our trip to the cold, white north in a couple of days. I also saw my new sweater from last Christmas being packed.

Mom had 2 grooms yesterday and 5 today, and she had to carry them down the hallway into the downstairs kitchen to wash them in that sink. Her hose watchamacallit for her grooming sink fell apart.

She tried a coupla places around town, but no one had the parts. Lowe’s didn’t even have that type of sink hose, and the other place told her how to take hers apart and fix it. Nope. So she’s waiting on Amazon to send the two she ordered – in hopes that at least one will fit and work – but they won’t be here until next Wednesday when we’re all gone to In Dee Anna, er Indiana.

This here’s Shaggy. She belongs to one of Mom and Dad’s friends from church, and he’s also our handyman.

Shaggy’s letting Mom know what she thinks of being here and being groomed!

Riley: I can hardly wait until everyone leaves for a few days. My heart person, Andrew, will be here with me and just me!

He’ll bring in any packages and maybe he’ll even fix the sink for Mom Amy. And I’ll get tons of petting and sleep in the bed with him. I hear Andrew’s coming Sunday night. I hope that’s really soon!

Chia: Hi, it’s me, Chia! I was supposed to be the one who told you my Dad’s been sick all week, but of course Xena had to do it first. Grrrrr.

I cuddled up with him to keep him warm and help him feel better. Uh, try not to look at my hair all over the sheet, OK? Anyhoo, it worked! He was up all day yesterday and even asked Mom to play one of their word dice games last night. Today he left to go play in his big band. You’d think that as good as I was to him, he’d of at least taken me with him, right?

Oh, and since Lucy showed you a picture of her in her new sweater from last Christmas, I’m gonna show you mine!

It’s getting packed, too! Well, gotta go now and make sure Mom packs all my stuff.

Love, Xena, Riley, Lucy and Chia

Thankful and Poetic Thursday

First, we want to thank Brian for hosting Brian’s Thankful Thursday!

That always reminds us to be thankful for our blogging friends. Y’all mean so much to us!

Xena: It’s almost time to pack our food – and warm clothes – and head up to In Dee Anna where all our relatives live. Not that we like to wear clothes, mind you, but it’s better than freezing in super cold weather that we’re none of us are used to, right? I’m thankful that all our relatives love us. OK, so they seem to love Lucy most, but me and Chia, we’re working on that. It’s just that Lucy doesn’t even have to try.

And we’re all thankful for the new food Mommy’s been giving us. It’s from someone named Ollie, and they go to all the trouble of mixing up veggies and fruit and raw meat and grinding it up and packaging it in just the right size portions for a meal (but mine could be bigger!) and freeze drying it and mailing it to us! We love it, and we get our food sooner cause Mommy doesn’t have to put it all together from scratch and weigh it and all that stuff. Mommy says she’s especially thankful for the time it puts back in her day. And she says if anyone wants to try it, she’ll send you a referral link for 90% off.

Riley: Thanks, Angel Sammy of TWO Spoiled Cats, for hosting Poetic Thursday. You’re doin’ a great job, Buddy.

My Very Own Baby by Riley

Watch that baby or the elves will get ‘im.
They’ll bring him to me, and I’ll never lose ‘im.
I love babies and kids of all ages.
One look is all and my heart engages.
I’ll never have my very own kid,
So could I have yours? May I have yours? Can I have your baby?

Finally, for anyone who didn’t get our Christmas card, please know this is for you!

Have a woofin’ and meowin’ great day! And a holly jolly Christmas!

Clothes! Oh No! by Riley and Lucy

Thanks (we think) to The Cat on My Head, for hosting Sunday Selfies.

Hi friends, it’s me, Riley with what should have been a better picture for Sunday selfie. I like to wear this sweater that my pal Lucy gave me for Christmas last year. But it has a tendency to slide down my back.

I really think Mom Amy should have taken better care to help me wear it properly before she took this picture. Oh well, sometimes you get what you get, right?

Uh, hi, this is Lucy. Y’all may know I don’t like to get my picture taken, not even under the best of circumstances. What if things went wrong and I ended up inside that phone thing? What if bad people who I used to live with recognized me and I had to go back there? (Although both Mom and Dad have assured me that as long as I want to live here in my furever home, they will never let anyone take me from them. But still…) Anyhoo here’s my unwilling picture for Selfie Sunday. Oh, and it was me who messed up the couch cover in hopes it would take the attention away from me.

I guess cause I gave my sweater to Riley, my folks thought that I needed something else to keep me warm. I am so humiliated. But Mom says my name is next to the word compliant in the dictionary, so I do what I’m asked. (Please don’t share.)

We love you, Mom, and don’t really blame you. We really hope Santa Paws still comes (and that he forgets to bring us clothes).

XOX Riley and Lucy

A Precarious Perch on Awww Monday

Many thanks to Miss Sandee at Comedy Plus for hosting Awww Monday!

Chia: Hi Mom, let’s sit here together on the couch while you watch your favorite Amazon show…like we always do!

Riley: Nope, my turn.

Chia: *thinking to self* There’s gotta be a way....

Riley: *thinking* Crazy little dog just doesn’t know any better. Hmmm, that massage felt good, and I do kinda like how cozy warm I feel with her and the blanket on me, and she really doesn’t weigh that much…

The Mom’ note: Chia pulled the blanket off the back of the couch onto Riley’s back, then did a lot of rearranging and digging at it before settling in. I fully expected Riley to growl, show his teeth, snap at her…something! Especially since he’s got arthritis in the area where she’s laying. Nope. They both slept like that for an hour.

Riley’s Poem: Exile

Hi friends, it’s me, Riley. It’s poetry Thursday and we’re joining Angel Sammy with another great picture deserving another great poem! Click on this picture to go to the blog of Two Spoiled Cats and you, too, can join in the fun.

Here’s today’s picture followed by my poem. Just like Xena, I jumped into the picture to better see what is going on. Of course, I had to roll in that snow, too! Stand back, I’m about to shake it off!

EXILE by RILEY

Where can we go that it’s colder, they say.
The sun has come up and we’re melting away.
From Greenland we move, to the Arctic we head.
The earth’s warming too fast, move faster they said.

Man, woman, child, dog, seal, they all plod,
Each one suffers from the same malade.
Snow Santa pauses, adjusting his sack.
Like Lot’s wife he wishes that he could go back.

Snow people in exile, snow animals too,
All praying they don’t melt ‘fore this day is through.
Like glaciers and icebergs, they’ll all slip away
It seems global warming has found it’s new prey.

Birds of Prey Selfies and Chia’s Confession

Hi friends, and a big woofin’ thanks to The Cat on My Head, for hosting Sunday Selfies.

Xena: Hi there everyone! October was a big month for company coming. During the last weekend of the month — actually, beginning that Thursday — Daddy’s sister and two cousins and their husbands came to visit from the IN state. And his other cousin and her husband came to visit from the NC state. That was a lot of people all at once! Chia couldn’t behave herself, something called “over stimulation”, so got put in her my kennel where she screamed for 40 minutes. We were all on the porch right outside the glass door and big window where the kennel was, so we got to listen to every bit of it!

Chia: You just wait Xena the squeala until there’s somethin’ I can tell on you! Umm, I mean, I’m innocent, Your Honor!

Xena: Ignore her. We all do. Anyhow, our folks and all the company spent the day at Rock City that Saturday, and they went to the Birds of Prey show. Oh, I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t go…you see, it’s cause they were all going out to eat at a restaurant afterwards, and we live in a backwards country that doesn’t let dogs inside restaurants, well, except for that time Angel Lexi got to go through a restaurant when she was advertising the Wizard of Oz for the Chattanooga Symphony who was playing the score thingie from it. She was able to check that off her bucket list. But the rest of us won’t be doing that so we all oughta move to France. Because in…

Lucy: Xena, could you please just tell the story about the birds of prey, or do you want me to take over?

Xena: It’s OK, I’m back on track now, Luce. Let’s see, where was I…oh yeah, the birds. These birds had all been rescued and are now unable to live in the wild. They seem to really like their new home, though. Mom got some neat pictures, so we decided we’d let them have the selfies today. We’re going to take turns introducing them. We drew treats to see who would go first, but everyone ate their treats before we could measure them so we are just going from oldest to youngest. Riley, you wanna go first?

Riley: Thanks, Xena. I want to feature Bob the Barn Owl. These owls are also known as Monkey Faced Owls.

I think they should be called Heart-Faced Owls. Look at those long wings, and them long nails! Mom thinks I used to be hard to do a nail trim on…I’d love to see her try to cut those!

Lucy: Thanks, Riley. I’ve got the colorful bird of prey to show you. The American Kestrel is small in size, but so pretty! I didn’t get his name. Oh, Mom just told me that she couldn’t get a picture of the one at Rock City, but this one from the internet looks just like him.

Hi, it’s me, Xena, again. I picked the Barred Owl, aka Hoot Owl to do her selfie today, cause she looks cuddly and cute, just like me!

Barred Owls aren’t usually all white like this. They said this one is an albino!

Hi hi hi!! It’s me, Chia, who Xena fibs about! I picked the fiercest and fastest bird of prey, just like me! This is the mighty Peragrin Falcon!

They didn’t walk around with this big girl, so the picture was taken from the bleachers. She even screams like I do! (Oh, wait, I think I just told on myself.)

Xena: With that great presentation and confession, we’re wrapping up Selfie Sunday!

Woofs and Wags from Riley, Lucy, Xena and Chia