The Sunday Schnauzer – All By My-Se-eh-elf 🎶

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer9 Comments

The Sunday Schnauzer family is away at the moment gathering more content for our Canadian Family Day Long Weekend so I thought I’d share this video that my daughter sent me, while I was away on my Toronto/Barbados adventure.

As Bowser alluded to last week, he does not possess the “retriever” gene so throwing the ball with him presents a bit of a challenge.

It’s a Schnauzer thing, apparently.

However, Bowser seems to have the gene for self-amusement especially when he is given a “fresh” toy to play with. Behold Exhibit A:

Squeak, squeak, squeak!!!! The neighbours must hate us.

Apparently, this “game” went on for the better part of an hour!

Me, getting this video while away and having our Canadian queen singing this in my brain the whole time while watching it:

That’s the Oma guilt talking, I guess 🤣.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend, and are keeping yourselves well and truly amused.

Rock on, and Elbows Up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Back To The Routine!

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer, See the Beauty, Travel Badassery25 Comments

Oma is back!!!

She went away to see her friend Joanne (formerly of My Life Lived Full) in Toronto and then to meet her friend CJ and go to another island – Barbados – to read and relax in the sun and swim in the ocean. I don’t understand – she can do all these things RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. Well, except for seeing those friends.

Anyhow, she wants me to share some of her photos before we get to the star of this here show – ME!

Enjoying winter from the inside of Joanne’s sauna.
Enjoying winter from the outside of Joanne’s sauna too!

After experiencing a couple of snowstorms (just so she remembers what winter in Ontario can be like 😏), Oma said goodby to Joanne and boarded another plane to head down to the island of Barbados with CJ.

Are you even in Barbados if you are not enjoying a frosty Banks beer on your first night there? Oma thinks not.
Back to the morning routine of Oma walking the boardwalk and watching the sunrise.
If you get up early enough and there’s a full moon, you can watch it set.
Every night (just about), there’s a glorious sunset to enjoy.
Sometimes the colours are magnificent post-sundown.

Oma came back to wonderful weather here on Vancouver Island. Warm (13C) and sunny! Unusual for early February.

I convinced Oma to throw a ballie with me after our trail walk. But I don’t make it easy for her!
I stand guard over the ballie and grab it and run with it when she gets close. Oma is smart though, and throws other ballies so she can collect my favourite when I run after them.
I got hot and tired so I retreated to the cool ivy with my favourite ballie, to rest a bit before I convince Oma to keep playing this game.

Oma is back and all is right in Bowser World again!

Rock on, and keep your elbows up!

The Bowz 🐾

The Sunday Schnauzer – Rainy Dog, Sunny Dog

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer15 Comments

It’s been raining a lot lately – no surprise there – and our walks have been ending up like this.

But on the rare day of sun, we soak it up!

Speaking of soaking up some sun…shhhhhh! Don’t tell Bowser, but by the time this post goes live I’ll be gone from this island and starting my journey to another warmer, sunnier island. That’s right, the Sunday Schnauzer is going on hiatus until February 8, 2026 while the Widow Badass relaxes in Barbados once again.

Stay safe everybody, and keep those elbows up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – New Year, New Walk

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer18 Comments

I’ve been wanting to hike to “the lookout” for quite some time now. My neighbours told me about the place well over a year ago. It’s the opposite way to our usual walk down to the creek that has become so ingrained we practically do it on autopilot. It was definitely time to change things up as 2025 rolled to a close.

So we headed in the opposing direction and ran into a friendly fellow-dog walker who gave us very clear directions of which trail to take. A short while later…voila!

We made it!
Someone installed a lovely bench.
To the right you can see Ladysmith Harbour.
To the left there is a great view of Nanaimo Airport. I’ll bet the bench was put there by someone who likes to watch the planes come in.
Bowser was not impressed with either view, but I sure was.
Bowser was impressed by the treat on offer, however! Sitting very pretty, he was.

We hope you find some new things to discover, to bring new adventures and opportunities your way this year.

Rock on, and elbows up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Foggy Fung-y NYE

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer23 Comments

On the last day of 2025, Bowser and I enjoyed a foggy walk on the trails.

Eeek! I had no idea how close he was to the edge of the bank when I snapped the picture.
There are eagles hanging out by the water right now. We think it means there are fish migrating in this creek.
Found this jelly-like fungus growing on this stump.
iNaturalist is not very helpful in this instance. I can’t figure out which one this could be. My vote is for Witch’s Butter just because of the cool name.
I think this could be a white coral fungus.
All good explorations eventually come to an end. Time to head back home.
Later that night Bowser invited me to be his NYE date and hang out at his house until his mommy and daddy came home.
Jeez, it’s not even 9 pm Bowsie!

Well, at least I outlasted the dog although I didn’t make it to midnight.

Welcome 2026! We hope you had a lovely NYE and all the best for the coming year.

Rock on, and elbows up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – After the Flooding

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer15 Comments

In the lead-up to the holidays we had an awful lot of rain. This caused our little creek to escape its banks and cancelled out some of our walking routes.

This is what the same path looks like today ⬇️ . The creek has receded but it keeps raining so there are still puddles to avoid and slippery mud to deal with.

We’ve even been treated to some sun!

The sun is very low in the sky these days, which makes picture taking an “adventure” at times. With the sun blinding me, I point the camera at Bowser and hope for the best!

Sun-dappled Bowser

We hope you find some sun this weekend.

Rock on, and elbows up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Winter Dreams

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer25 Comments

This is what this time of year is looking and feeling like at Chez Badass.

The only snow we’ll be getting this year is whatever I can put on the TV screen. And that’s OK with me!
Bowser knows the best spot in the house is curled up in front of the fire.

We’ll be dreaming winter dreams and eagerly awaiting the return of the sun and the longer days ahead.

Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas, (and happy Summer Solstice to those south of the equator)! Stay safe and warm out there, wherever you are.

Rock on and Elbows Up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Dress For The Job You Want

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer23 Comments

My good friend Donna found the perfect holiday outfit for Bowser while she was out and about this week:

I know – I look cute!
I think I could be one of Santa’s little helpers.
You can trust this face. Um…except around food and squeaky toys. I still think I could be a helper to Santa, though. He can’t eat all those cookies by himself, you know!
If you can’t be good, you can always look good – right? Ho, ho ho!

We hope you are good this weekend. Remember, Santa always knows!

Rock on, and keep those elbows always up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Rainy Day Dog

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer13 Comments

We’ve been having lots of rain lately. So long as it’s not absolutely teeming out, Bowser and I will still hit the trails.

Things will tend to get a little soggy.
Not that Bowser minds.
So long as he gets a post-walk rub down with a soft towel and can dive into the blankets on Mommy and Daddy’s couch, afterwards!

We hope you can stay warm and dry this weekend and if not, that you have a comfortable place to snuggle afterwards!

Rock on, and elbows up…

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Mushrooms, Again

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer20 Comments

We saw a new-to-us type of mushroom on a recent walk.

I’m not certain but the closest identification I can find is that these are called Hare’s Foot Ink Caps.
An updated Palace of the Mushroom Fairy, in all its 2025 glory. These mushrooms are called Western Jumbo Gyms.
Closeup of one of the “balconies” in the Palace.
My favourite mushroom – the Salt and Pepper Schnauz Butt.
This particular type of mushroom can be found all over the forest and pops up wherever treats are on offer.

I hope my American friends and readers are having the most wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend. And that the rest of us are enjoying our run-of-the-mill weekends too, whilst keeping our elbows up.

Rock on,

The WB