Upcoming Dog Show

The list of judges to the Askersund dog show this summer is published. This is the show that our regional kennel club is arranging, and where Daniel and Paula are helping out. They are looking forward to the show. We all hope it will be a success again this year, just as it usually is. We believe it will be. 

Chocolate

Paula and Daniel had some chocolate for dessert, when they ate dinner tonight. We asked to taste some, but they refused. They said chocolate is poisonous for dogs. We have heard this before, but are not sure. Could it be, that the humans just want all of their chocolate for themselves?

If we had the chance to eat chocolate, would we dare to try? I am not sure about that. I probably would, butI might hesitate.

Paula and Daniel finished the chocolate. The good thing about this is that we donor need to wonder whether we should try or not. 

Late Last Night

Daniel came home late last night, almost at midnight. This caused us to stay awake until he arrived home. Thus, I forgot to write in my blog, because I usually do this when we have all gone to bed. Life turns out in unexpected ways some nights. 

Brush Up for Ring Stewards

Daniel was away at a brush up for ring stewards this afternoon. He has been an authorised ring steward for many years, but the rules say you have to go to a brush up once in a while to get to know new rules et cetera. We are proud of Daniel for being a ring steward, thisis an important job at dog shows. He told us the brush up was really good and that there were nice people there. Daniel had a good day. 

Totte Was in the Way

We have a low stool that is primarily used by Viola and Pepe to get up in the bed. Today, however, Viola could not use it. Totte had chosen to lazy downon the stool to rest, and there was not enough room for Viola to pass him. Viola was a little annoyed, but we all respect our cats and let them be, when they do not want to move. For my part, I am not like Viola, who often go down, then up, then down, then up. I stay where I am.

In a little while, Totte had made up other plans and went away. Thus, it all turned out well in the end. 

Cross Country Skiing

We watched a cross country skiing mixed relay competition on TV today. It went very well for the Swedish teams. They finished first and second, in fierce international competition. It was exciting to watch, and a great result.

Winter is nice, when you can stay in the warm rooms indoors and watch ski competitions on TV. 

Odd Felines

Daniel went to a meeting with people fromhis Odd Fellow lodge this evening. When Daniel got out, so did Totte and Malin. When Daniel came back home, so did Totte and Malin. 

Totte told me that he and Malin had also been to a meeting with their lodge. He said it is a lodge of Odd Felines. While this is a nice twist on the Odd Fellow name, I am not sure Totte tells the truth. I believe he is just a joke. A nice joke, but, nevertheless, a joke. When I said so to Totte, he just smiled. We will have to see if Totte keeps up with this joke. 

Sigh

Sigh! 

It was a boring day today. Nothing of importance happened. It is difficult to come up with anything to write about, on days like this. 

If you have ideal for me to write about in the blog, please let me know. I will consider every idea. 

Snow Sliding Down

We have thaw, and snow has been sliding down from the roof today. Sometimes, it has slid down with a rumble. 

While we like spring, it feels like it is too early. We are still in January. On the other paw, it may be more cold weather to come. We will have to see. It has been a winter with very changing weather so far, it may continue to change. 

Sport Awards

There was a gala on TV tonight, where people gave awards to sportsman and sportswomen for efforts during 2023. There were no dogs who got awards, despite all the dog competitions of different kinds that goes on each year. Sports can be fun to watch, the gala was not. Paula and Daniel thought it was more interesting than I did, but this is up to them. 

Ice Cream

One would think we would be tired of coldness now, in the middle of a winter which is colder than usual. Nevertheless, Daniel served ice cream for dessert to the Sunday dinner tonight. All of us dogs got a little serving of ice cream. This is something cold that I never get too tired of. Ice cream is good, even when you are tired of ice. 

Cold Show

Daniel was a ring steward at a dog show today. It was indoors, but he told us it was really cold there. Every human went around with their coats on.

We are happy we did not come along. We do not have very high temperatures at home, but it is still indoor temperatures, neither Daniel nor Paula feel the need to wear coats indoors. 

Appart form the temperature, it seems like the dog show went well. This is good. 

Litter Box

Cats have some odd habits. One of them is to do their "business" indoors. They do it in a certain litter box with scented sand, but it is still indoors.

The litter box was emptied, cleaned, and got new sand today. This was, apparently, just as Totte wanted to use the litter boz. He had to wait. It turned out well in the end for him. All's well that ends well. 

Mostly at Home

Paula and Daniel went away together in the early morning. We got the impression that they would be gone for a large part of the day, but they came back home before noon. This was good.

We all spent the afternoon together at home. Times like this are great. 

King Frederik X Cake

Denmark’s new King, Frederik X, has been honoured with a new type of cake at an old patisserie in Copenhagen. 

The cake has a lot of chocolate in it. Humans say dogs must not eat chocolate, that it contains a poisonous ingredient that dog bodies cannot digest (but human bodies can). Thus, we will probably not eat any Frederik X cakes. Nevertheless, I like the idea of getting a cake made and named for me. I wish this would happen to me some time. 

Chips

Paula had a late night snack with chips tonight. She gave some of the chips to us dogs.

Chips is my favourite form of potato. It was a good finish of the day. 

Even More Snow

When we got out this morning, there was a lot more snow. It was about a decimetre. This is a lot for us Chihuahuas. 

It was a lot of snow for Daniel as well. He spent an hour and three quarters of the next hour shoveling snow. We do not envy him this task. 

On the positive side, all of the snow fell during the night. There was no need to shovel more snow later in the day. 

New King

Denmark has a new king, Frederik X, after the abdication today of Reigning Queen Margrethe II. 

We wish all the humans and dogs in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland, good luck with your new Head of State. 

End of Christmas

On the twentieth day Canute,

Christmas is danced out,

If I may try to translate what we say about this day in Sweden. It is the name day of Knut, a name known in English as Canute, for Canute the Great, who ruled Denmark, England, and Norway. He has also given the name to this day. We count it as the last day of Christmas in Sweden. This is originally because Canute was celebrated on the Thirteenth Day of Christmas, which is the day seen as the last day of Christmas in most countries. However, when the festivity day for Canute was moved forward one week, centuriea ago, so was the end of Christmas. 

We have had a nice day at home with everyone in our family. This has been good. 

Still Snow

We have had a few hours in the middle of the last days, where there has been thaw. Snow has rumbled down from roofs and trees. There is still a lot of snow on the ground, but the layer of snow has shrunk. It is still time for winter, so I hope the snow will stay. It makes the environment brighter, now that it is still short days and long nights. We wiĺl have to see.

Porridge

Paula had porridge for dinner. There is no meat in porridge, but she thought it was good, nevertheless. 

Daniel cooked the porridge. He told us this was the very first time he had cooked porridge. Paula was surprised to hear this. Perhaps Daniel had beginner’s luck, when Paula liked his porridge. 

I am glad there was dog food for us dogs, and not porridge. 

A Little Greatness

Minced meat is great. We got to taste a little in the kitchen tonight. Even a little minced meat is great. It is a little greatness.

Rumour has it, there are humans who do not eat meat. I do not know if I believe this. Meat is great, tasty and healthy. Why would you forsake this? 

Milder Temperatures

After many days when the temperature was down around -20° C, we now have a much milder winter. We just had a few degrees below the freezing point today. It is almost comfortable to be outdoors now, at least compared to howit has been. I like this kind of winter mich more than the colder winter we have had. This is how the winter can continue for many weeks, if I can make a wish. It will probably be both colder and warmer, though, before spring will come. A not very cold winter is nice. 

Afternoon Nap

It is always nice to take an afternoon nap. This is what I did this afternoon, when I was suddenly brought back to consciousness by Daniel. He called for me numerous times. The other dogs had already gone out in the yard, I had to run to catch up with them. This was an afternoon nap that was much better than the ordinary naps, and ordinary naps are really good. I have to see if my sleep tonight will be as good. 

Meatballs

There was meatballs for lunch today. All of us dogs got to taste the meatballs. This made the Sunday lunch a great lunch. 

Meatballs are great food. I wish we would get meatballs more often. 

The Three Wise Men

On the thirteenth day of Christmas, we celebrate that wise men came from the east and hailed the newborn Jesus as a King.

Tradition holds that there were three men, who were called Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar. However, these names are not mentioned in the Bible. Not even the number of visiting wise men are mentioned, the text just says that there were three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

I rather agree with Snoopy, in Charles M. Schulz’ comic strip Peanuts, who questioned why one of the expensive gifts was not a puppy. 

Swedish Silver

We watched the final game in the IIHF Junior World Championship in ice hockey. The tournament was in Gothenburg, so the Swedes had home turf, when they faced the USA. However, the USA have played great throughout the tournament and was the better team in most of the final. Sweden lost, the players had to settle for silver. This is not bad, but gold would have been better. Kudos to the Americans, who were better. 

Bicycle Ride

Daniel rode his bicycle to the office today. The roads are icy, so I think this was a little daring, but he made it. He is an experienced bike rider, he generally rides his bike throughout the year. This makes him able to ride on the icy roads. I would not, but then again, I would never ride a bicycle at all, anyway. It was nice to be able to stay at home. 

Cold Outside

It is many degrees Celsius below the freezing point. With our coats, all of us dogs can handle it. I feel a little sorry for Viola, however, with her short coat. She claims that she manages, but I feel sorry for her, nevertheless. We all hope it will be a little milder weather soon. 

Earth Quake and Planes that Collide

The new year has started badly in Japan. There was a big Earth quake there. Then a small aircraft with people due to help the victims of the quake collided with a big passenger aircraft, as the latter landed on a Tokyo airport. While everyone on the passenger plane was evacuated and survived, five of the six humans on the small aircraft died. It is still not known what caused the collision, but we look forward to hearing the explanation.

I hope the deceased humans did not have dogs who will now miss them.

Hailey or Polly would surely have written about this, had either of them still written this blog. It was, thus, self evident for me that I would write about it. As a custodian of their blog legacy, this is the least I can do. 

A New Year

This morning, we woke up to a new year.

I guess I slept through the celebrations at midnight for yet another New Year’s Night. As far as I have been told, there were crackers and fireworks that could be heard to us, but they did not wake me up. I really do not care much. Dogs do not need to keep track of time, the way humans do. What’s another year? 

If I get to make any wishes for the new year, it is for more peace, tranquility, and candy.