The Sunday Schnauzer – Frost and Flowers

On March 15, 2026March 14, 2026 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer16 Comments

Some scenes from one of our early morning walks this week:

Frost outlining some Oregon Grape leaves.

We hope you are noticing some signs of spring where you are this weekend!

Rock on, and Elbows Up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Handsome Again…That Is All

On March 8, 2026March 7, 2026 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer17 Comments

Nothing too fascinating happened this week. Bowser got groomed. He was not happy about it (but clearly survived), and we were pleased he got cleaned up and “descruffed”.

Patiently (??) waiting for me to get dressed so Mommy and I can take him for a walk.

Trying to capture his “glory” before he gets all mucky again.

Bribing him with a treat in order to get him to face me and sit still.

We hope you had a more exciting (in only good ways) week than we did, and that you are having a restorative weekend!

Rock on, and Elbows Up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Winter Finally Happened

On March 1, 2026February 28, 2026 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer13 Comments

But it only stayed about a week…we were met with snow in the mountains as we were driving back from Tofino. It felt like it followed us home 🤭.

We got out to enjoy the snow while it lasted.

It was hard to get him to sit still but the promise of a treat always helps him to focus.

This is a more typical capture…Bowser flying down the trail as evidenced by the airborne ears!

Once within the Witchy Woods, there was very little snow to be found.

But when we emerged creekside, the landscape changed back into a wintry wonderland.

Afterwards, this soggy dog needed some serious *burrito time.*

A wet Bowser enjoys being a doggo burrito almost as much as he enjoys the snow.

We hope you are enjoying a delightful last weekend in February/first weekend in March, no matter what your weather is.

Rock on and Elbows Up!

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Tofino in February

On February 22, 2026February 21, 2026 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer, Roadtripping, See the Beauty17 Comments

Just like last year, Mommy and Daddy and Oma took me away on a long, windy drive to a place far away. They called it Tofino. I remember this room and the very, very, big dog bed.

Oma has her own ~~dog~~ bed in a separate room (that I get to visit), but we will let her hang out with us sometimes.

Is Daddy mocking me? I can’t help it if I’m comfortable this way.

Oma was taking pictures of the view and I was catching up on the local dog gossip left on the rocks.

There were other walks too, on long sandy beaches.

All this leisure time sure takes a lot out of a doggo.

I was so tired after all this fun, I didn’t want to leave the car once we got home again. I got taken out this way, doggo car seat and all. (I kinda liked it.)

What a life! Everybody should aspire to being a doggo.

Rock on, and elbows up!

The Bowz 🐾

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

On February 15, 2026February 12, 2026 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer12 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.

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 February 8, 2026February 7, 2026 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 January 18, 2026January 12, 2026 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 January 11, 2026January 2, 2026 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!

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 January 4, 2026January 2, 2026 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.

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 December 28, 2025December 27, 2025 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!