Bowser is ever-changing in his behaviour, it seems.
Lately he doesn’t want to cuddle that much with me or any other members of his pack. He prefers to hang out in his dog bed, which he has ignored for many months now.
I need my space.Can’t you see I need to chill out, Oma?You and your camera! Sheesh!I still love you, though.
My daughter thinks that because he has gotten quite shaggy, he gets too hot when he is cuddled up with one (or more) of us. The weather has warmed up at lot so Bowser is going to the spa groomers’ next week. We shall see.
This past weekend was a holiday one in our part of the world: Family Day. So as a family we went to the west coast of the island, to enjoy its beauty. I had booked us a dog-friendly 2 bedroom suite in a place I have stayed at multiple times already – the Tofino Resort and Marina.
Bowser has his own car seat, which he doesn’t mind. It’s a 3 hour drive from our property to our destination.
Alas, the weather (amongst other things) was not in our favour this past weekend. It was grey, wet, and cold for the most part. But we made the best of it, regardless. Even when all of our snacks froze solid in the hotel room’s mini-fridge. Even when some takeout from a formerly great restaurant turned out to be a disappointment. Even when I couldn’t make the pour-over coffee I had brought taste good. Even when we couldn’t escape the drizzle and rain.
Keeping Bowsie warm while waiting for our tacos at Tacofino (which never disappoints!).Doncha just hate it when all the seats and tables are taken? 😂 At the Tofitian Coffee shop. Get the hot chocolate there – trust me!Fueled by tacos and hot drinks, we headed to our home for the weekend.No rest for our resident guard dog, always keeping an eye on things going on at the resort.The skies were mostly like this, for the duration of our stay.Crow friend, just outside my bedroom window.We didn’t let that stop us from enjoying the beautiful west coast trails and views.
High waves in winter bring a lot of visitors to the west coast of the island. This day the waves were marked as “considerable” according to the roadside signage. You can hear Bowser bark in this video. At the Amphirite Lighthouse on the Wild Pacific Trail.When the rain really started coming down we retreated to our suite, piled on the king bed and watched movies. Bowser enjoyed a doggy massage courtesy of Mommy.What a life, eh Bowsie?On departure day, we woke up to blue skies (naturally). 😉We hit the Rainforest Trail on the way out of town, to go back to the place where the kids got married.Bowser didn’t understand why we had to stop here but he was a good sport about it, anyways.Bowser has turned out to be quite a good little traveller.
We hope you enjoyed the recap of our little winter getaway.
At the time of writing this post, there is still snow on the ground although the incoming rain and warmer temps will probably have melted it all by the time this post goes live.
In the meantime we have been enjoying our daily walks on the snowy terrain.And enjoying Mother Nature’s frosty designs on the foliage.And seeing signs of overnight carnage – not as enjoyable but this too is life. A bunny did not make it through the night.Bowser has started kicking the snow/soil after he does his business. This is something all dogs will do but is new for him. I read somewhere that it is a power move. Can anybody fill me in on why dogs do this?Why now Bowsie? Are you feeling very powerful these days?
Here’s something else new. We’ve had a hot tub installed on the property – a big endeavour as it also involved an electrical upgrade. But so worth it, especially after these chilly walks.
Enjoying the new family spa (especially fun when it is snowy out!). Bowser is completely uninterested.
This week we finally received a shit ton of some snow here on Vancouver Island.
A winter wonderland once more!Off we went en famille, to enjoy!Going off roading, Bowser-style.Racing with Daddy!Snow hair, don’t care!Snow makes for a good snack.Those snowy chaps mean a hosing off with warm water once Bowser gets back inside.
Stay tuned for next week when we will return to our regular programming (+5C, and rain). 😁
Here are some photos of Bowser, sleeping the sleep of a dog who cares not that he almost undid hours of knitting while chewing up one of my knitting tools….
Meanwhile, I can lay awake in the middle of night agonizing over something stupid I said or did 30 years ago.
I have decided once again, after a decades-long hiatus, to try my hand at sock knitting. My maternal Oma was a fabulous sock knitter and my dad refused to wear any socks not made by her – they were THAT good. I loved the ones she had made for me as well, when I was a teenager. Those socks are all long gone – naturally – except for one last very worn pair that I presciently squirreled away, for some-day inspiration.
Here is my work-in-progress.
But this is Sunday Schnauzer, you are saying to yourself right now – not a knitting blog. What gives?
This.
I was at my daughter’s house (house-sitting with my knitting left on the arm of the couch) when I went into the kitchen to empty the dishwasher. Bowser was snoozing (OR SO I THOUGHT). I returned to the living room to see Bowser, sitting sphinx-like, with something in his front paws.
Bowser, in sphinx-mode – photo for reference. Imagine my knitting between his paws instead of his squeaky octopus.
Then I heard him go “crunch, crunch” at the same time that I realized he was holding my half-finished sock.
Dog-shaming needed to be done.
Luckily the needle set I was using came with a spare (for just this reason?) so I was able to save the sock and continue on with it. I also found the chomped-off pieces of the wooden needle, so no need to worry that this criminal mastermind scamp was going to have digestive difficulties later on.
As my friend (who I am currently vacationing in Barbados with) likes to say about HER dog – IT’S A GOOD THING YOU’RE CUTE!
My daughter got a “galaxy projector” as one of her Christmas gifts. Of course, we had to pile onto her bed after dinner and try it out. This is how Bowser reacted:
He was mesmerized!Totally engrossed in the light show.Definitely watching, and not snoozing.Did the gummy kick in, Bowsie? 🤣 (JK, I would never give Bowser a gummy!)He was like this the whole time the projector was on!
Was it the aurora moving across the ceiling? Was it the stars blinking in and out? Was it the soothing ocean sounds coming from the projector? Was it all of the above? What had entranced Bowser?
We hope you find your bliss* this weekend.
Rock on,
The WB
*speaking of bliss, when this post goes live I will be traveling once again to Barbados. Fingers crossed, all goes well and I don’t have a repeat of last year’s unfortunate travel experience!
We have had an awful lot of rain lately. So much that our formerly placid creek is now a raging river (again – this is a cyclical and natural process). So we have altered some of our routes to avoid any crossings, until things settle down once more. But we still like to walk up to the creek and observe, from a safe distance.
There is one viewpoint that seems to bother Bowser and he has to stare and bark while I take in the scene. And I couldn’t figure out what he was barking at it. Several times we have been there lately, and each time he (usually completely silent on our walks) has to pause, look, and bark. Every time I scan the creek and the opposite bank to see what he is barking at – an animal, another human – what is it?!?!
Note the tail is down. A worrisome tell.Bowser is clearly bothered.
After the 2nd walk (and barking session) to this particular viewpoint, I think I have it figured out.
It’s this cedar (I think) stump in the middle of the creek, deposited there by the high water flows. It wasn’t there before and, according to Bowz, it shouldn’t be there now.
Third time visiting this spot. Still barking at the stump in the creek. Begone, Stump!
I guess he will be barking at it until another high water flow dislodges it and pushes it further down the creek.
Well, my friends – all goodmediocrejust OK things must come to an end and my co-host/partner-in-crime/good friend Donna and I have agreed that this will be the final WOYPBC post that we will do. Hard to believe that we have kept this going for almost 4 years now, but Donna has the stats detailed on her post and you can’t argue with that! It’s been an enjoyable ride and I have so loved seeing all of your posts, reading your comments, and getting so much inspiration (and hunger pangs!) from them.
For my last post on this subject, I humbly submit a Holiday Tale of Two Trifles:
My daughter started the trifle tradition at Chez Badass. Actually, my late mother started it when she brought a fruit trifle to my daughter’s 1st birthday celebration and we watched in amusement as my infant daughter gleefully chowed down on the dessert. Flash forward ~ 30 years later to when my daughter offhandedly remarked “What about a trifle instead of a birthday cake, for my birthday?” And we have been a trifle household ever since. To the point that my daughter (who, may I remind you, started all of this) says “I’m over trifle at Christmas. Let’s have tiramisu instead.” Then she sends me an Instagram reel detailing something called a Tiramisu Trifle, probably thinking it will quell the disappoint of her trifle-obsessedmad convert mate. I won’t share the recipe here because dear readers, I did make it – and although tasty – it was OVERKILL. Trust me – I think this recipe was designed just to sell product from a shop, and not because it was in any way better than a well-made tiramisu.
Layers of dulce de leche between layers of tiramisu plus grated dark and white chocolate.Don’t get me wrong. It was delicious. But this lily did not need all the extra gilding. I couldn’t make out what made this special or different from a regular tiramisu except for that it was super sweet. And the layering (with the heavy and thick dulce de leche) meant that the bottom-most layer got very soggy and squished.
We had decided that it was too decadent – even for us – and it will not grace the table again. Luckily, the grandson’s birthday falls 2 days after Christmas, and I had a chance to redeem myself with my regular trifle. Like father, like son…my grandson is also a trifle-obsessedmad convert.
Blueberry (this time) trifle – made with the berries we picked last summer. Chilling on top of my tool box in my unheated entryway. I had to put it into my bread making bowl as the trifle bowl was still at my daughter’s, probably still holding the remains of the tiramisu trifle. (Wrong – they had polished the first trifle off and the bowl was in the dishwasher by the time I brought over the birthday trifle!)Happy 17th birthday to my trifle-loving grandson!Lesson learned. Don’t mess with perfection! Come to think of it, the last time I veered from my “regular” trifle, things didn’t go as well then either!
I can’t post a recipe for this trifle either. It’s cake spread with jam and cut up into cubes, layered between fruit, and also layers of vanilla custard. Topped with real whipped cream. Oh, and don’t forget the sherry! I usually put it in with the fruit. You can also soak the cake with sherry but mostly I don’t anymore because minors will be eating it and I don’t want to be THAT grandma (the one that boozed up the grandkids). Cough*black forest trifle of 2020*cough!
Trifle is a centuries-old dessert. I don’t know who invented it, but to me it seems like a good way to use up stale cake and I wonder if some thrifty cook in a medieval castle concocted it for that purpose. Like bread pudding, you know?
Anyways, that’s a wrap! I’d love to see what’s been cooking at your house, in the Comments.
Anyone is welcome to pick up our torch and continue to run with it or some variation thereof. If you feel so inclined...