No Superstition, Please!

Happy new year!

Show the World you do not believe in demons and other out of this world beasts, by not firing crackers and fireworks to scare them off!

Illegal Cat Migrant

This is a story from our local newspaper today.

A man living in the village Frövi close to Örebro brought a cat to Sweden. He did not declare the cat to the customs, however. He has now been sentenced to pay a fine for this.

I believe this is good. Animals should not be smuggled. It could bring illnesses to animals already living here.

Whenever I have been abroad and arrived back home, my paperwork has been in order. My humans are good that way.

China Bans Ivory Trade

It is better late than never. The largest legal ivory market in the world, China, has decided to ban trade in ivory. The ban will take full effect about a year from now. This will hopefully change the attitude of Chinese buyers of ivory, thus making the demand much lower. With a lower demand for ivory, poaching of elephants will hopefully diminish considerably. The elephant is endangered because of poaching. If there is much less demand for ivory, poachers will earn less from their illegal business. This may save the elephants for the future.

I am normally not fond of the Chinese regime, but the decision to ban the trade of ivory is great. The law makers should be commended, when they do something good.

Strange

Paula watched an episode of a TV show this weekend. In it, one of the human characters had lost her dog. Another character asked if she would not get a new dog, but she said no. She said she could not do this to the memory of her lost dog, and that her lost dog was so good, she could not imagine getting a new dog as good. I found this strange. Every dog is an individual. You cannot compare dogs and say that one is much better than the other, because what is better in one dog, is weighed up by things that is better in another dog. It is just like humans. Basicly, every human is equal, and every dog is equal. Thus, if you lose a dog, you can get another dog, who is just as good as the former, but in other aspects. If you lose a dog, just get yourself another. Any life is better with any dog.

Dog on Twitter

American actress Carrie Fisher passed away the other day. Her dog Gary misses her, of course. He has written about this on Twitter, where you can find him as @Gary_TheDog.

Do not say anything about you thinking it is strange that a dog has a Twitter acount. After all, you are reading a blog by a dog – me.

My thoughts go to Gary, who has lost his human. Take care, Gary!

Near the End of the Year

The year 2016 is coming to an end. In the news, reporters are making summaries of the news this year. There have been bad things and good.

Daniel says that one of the worst things may be the referendum in the UK, resukting in a result that this country would leave the EU. What really will come of this is unclear, but Daniel tends to believe it is bad.

For our family, there have been pups, but there have also been illness and death. My dear old friend April has passed away. Paula has had to spend a lot of time at the human hospital due to illness. Luckily, however, Paula is getting ever better.

We believe next year will be better. It is hard to see how it could not be better.

A Storm Is Coming

A storm is coming in from the seas to the west of Sweden. We have had rain and more wind than usually this evening, and yet the storm is not here yet. We live a way away from the coastline, so the full impact of the storm will probably not affect us. It is still good to be aware that the storm might come. Every drop of rain is positive.

Kentucky for Christmas

In Japan, millions of humans celebrate Christmas at American fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken. This seems odd, but here is the story behind this Christmas tradition.

I like chicken myself. It is good meat. Before giving fried chicken to dogs, however, make sure all the bones are removed. Cooked bones from poultry may split in the digestive system of a dog, causing serious injury and pain. Raw chicken that has been frozen may be better.

Meri Kurisumasu!

It is Christmas Eve, and in Sweden, this is the main day for Christmas celebrations. We give each other Christmas gifts and eat great food and candy, late in the day and on to the night.

As an alpha bitch in our dog pack, and a benevolent ruler, I believe I have a certain obligation to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas among us. It is not hard, we are a jolly bunch of dogs and we enjoy the company of each other. When there is candy, it is always enough for everyone.

I always hope everyone outside of our pack and family will have a merry Christmas as well. They may be humans, dogs, wolves, or prey, I wish a merry Christmas to everybody! As my Japanese Shiba relatives would put it: Meri Kurisumasu!

The Day Before

It is the day before Christmas Eve. We have had the start of celebrations, but mostly preparations. It has been a good day.

Rain

It is two days until Christmas Eve, and rain fell this evening. I am disappointed, but not surprised. On an ideal Christmas, there is a thick layer of snow on the ground. On many Christmases, there is no snow and temperatures above the freezing point. We all have a discrepancy between the view of an ideal Christmas, and the view of an ordinary Christmas. On an ordinary Christmas, there is no snow on the ground. I guess this Christmas will be an ordinary one in this respect.

Free Time

Daniel has made his last hours of work before Christmas today. Paula will just go up to visit her workplace tomorrow.

Sometimes, I wish I had free time too. However, my duties as watch dog and pet dog goes on around the clock every day of the year. I do not complain, it is no hard work and I like it. It is just that it would be nice to do something completely different. I do, sometimes, like when I go to dog shows. It is still not quite the same as the free time from work that Paula and Daniel have. We will all have a great Christmas, nevertheless, I am sure.

F1 Late Silly Season

It seems like Finnish Formula 1 driver Valteri Bottas will leave Williams to replace Nico Rosberg at Mercedes. Meanwhile, Brazilian Felipe Massa will come out of his recent retirement to continue in Williams for another season, alongside rookie Canadian driver Lance Stroll.

Formula 1 can really be exciting, even between the seasons.

Christmas Lights

Hello, Orange here!

According to Swedish traditions, we have Christmas Chandeliers in the windows. They face the road, which is to the west of our house, or the sides, so people can see them further down the road. Earlier years, the chandelier in the bathroom window has been clearly visible, when you come walking from the south. It is not anymore. Threes and bushes has grown in the field south of our property, impairing the view. It is not as useful having the chandelier in this window, now that people cannot see it from the road. We might find another place for it until next Christmas. We will have to see.

Wolf Pack Hunt Caught on Film

As a dog, I feel a certain affiliation with wolves, our wild cousins. Wolves are awesome animals and great hunters.

If you want to see what a wolf hunt looks like, here is a hunt caught on film.

The headline for the film says the hunt is epic. I say it is not. While the film is very fascinating, the hunt as such is nothing out of the ordinary for a wolf pack.

Watch the film! It is just a few minutes long, but I can recommend it. It has a happy ending, too.

How We Show Love

Long time dog people already know this, but here is an article about nine ways in which dogs show love and affection for their humans. I know my humans do not need to learn this, but there may be others out there who do. Read the article, it might convince you to get a dog. Any human who does not have dogs, lack something in life. We show love, it is in our nature to do so. If you need love, just get dogs.

Fire

We lit a fire in the stove in the living room tonight. It gives a cozy light and adds to the warmth indoors. I like it. It has always been an advantage of being a dog, that our humans can light fires and control fires.

Water

It is always a bit disturbing when the water runs out in the water bowls. Our humans are great at filling them up, though. There have been reports about being a lack of water. We know we have had troubles with our own well. There have never been a lack of water in our water bowls, however. We still want more precipitation, however.

Great News from South Korea

The slaughtering of dogs in markets is banned in the South Korean city Seongnam. This has been the largest dog meat market in the country. It is great that this uncivilised behaviour is banned.

Dogs are man's best friend, we are not meat to be eaten. We help man get meat while hunting, we are not to be eaten, just as humans do not eat other humans and dogs do not eat humans or other dogs.

Thus, in just one little leap, South Korea gets much more civilised.

Bipeds

Unlike most mammals, humans walk on two legs, not four. As a dog, I can stand on my hind legs for short amounts of time, but it is much easier walking on four legs. When it is winter and slippery roads, as it is now, it is also much safer.

Human scientists have explored the possible reasons why humans are bipeds for a long time. There are new clues every now and then. I find this almost as interesting as new evidence on the origin of dogs. It is intriguing to know more about ancient human history.

Useful Time

This evening, Daniel petted me for quite some time. When one of the other dogs came by, I told them it was my turn.

Daniel has a nice saying: petting your dog is never a waste of time. It can hardly be said better. No matter how much stress there is in your life, if you take some time to pet one of your dogs, you calm down. Your dog does too. It is a win-win situation.

Remember to pet your dogs often.

China Pushes Against Free Speech

Having new rules on "inappropriate content", the authorities in China shuts down thousands of live streaming accounts.

This is just another one in a long line of actions of Chinese authorities to curb and cull free speech. It is what happens in a society that is not free. China is a dictatorship, we have to remember this.

Daniel told me that when he purchased a new mobile phone earlier this week, the sales clerk recommended one Sony and one Huawei. Sony is from Japan, of course, while Huawei is from China. Daniel chose the Sony. I am glad he did.

I do not do live streaming. I do, however, do a daily blog where I sometimes bark at infringements of free speech. If I lived in China, or any other of many dictatorships in the world, I would probably not be able to write things like this. Perhaps my blog would be shut down entirely. I do not want that to happen to anyone. Free speech is a must in a free and prosperous society. We all have to make sure free speech is guaranteed to us.

Winner of Idol Sweden

The final of Idol Sweden 2016 is aired on live TV tonight. I do not really care who wins. History tells us that the outcome of the Idol final does not really count in the long run. The winner has seldom had a successful career, while some other participants have been much more successful. Participation in Idol may be a route into fame and success, but being an ultimate winner is no guarantee to give you more luck than other participants. In a few years, we can say whether any of the participants of Idol Sweden 2016 was a real winner.

Going Out Late at Night

Some of the smaller dogs have to go out more often than I. If I rather stay indoors in the night, I will do this. There are advantages of being a mature Shiba.

Ears

My Toy Poodle friend Laila has narrow ears. Dirt is gathered there and bacteria may grow in this dirt. Daniel cleans the ears now and then. Laila does not like to get her ears cleaned, but she admits she feels more comfortable afterwards. I am happy I do not have this problem with my ears.

Fire

It was cold outside today, thus, it was colder than usually inside. We made up a fire in the stove in the evening. It is cozy and warm. We just need to get some more firewood inside. We have a lot out in the barn, it is just a matter of carrying it inside. This will come to good use, if we get a cold winter.

Finland

Today, we celebrate the national holiday of Finland. The country declared its independence from Russia on the 6th of December 1917.


I have been to Finland several times and feel affinity to the country, since I am Finnish Show Champion. We have travelled to Helsinki about this time of the year for dog shows many times, but we do not do it this year. We celebrate Finland at home instead.


Happy national holiday to all the dogs and humans in Finland!

Macaronies

Paula and Daniel discussed going away from home for Sunday dinner. Eventually, they decided not to, but cooked macaronies and sausage and ate at home. I like this, it is always nicer when they stay at home, not least because I have a chance to get leftovers.

Renewed Silly Season

Newly crowned Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg surprised the world yesterday, by announcing his retirement from the sport. Thus starts a new "silly season". Who replaces Nico Rosberg at Mercedes next year? Here are some speculations. In time, we will know. It will be interesting to know.

Freedom of the Press

This day 250 years ago, Sweden enacted the first Statute of freedom of the press in World history. This is worth celebrating. Cheers!

December

It is the last month of the year. This month always feels like a long countdown to Christmas. I love Christmas, because there is so much good food and candy when we celebrate Christmas. I know of the reason behind Christmas, the birthday of Christ. It is fitting that we celebrate Him with so many tasty things.

Pizza

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula and Daniel had pizza for dinner tonight. I got to taste some. It was good.

There should be pizza more often. It is tasty and healthy. You can have almost any kind of good food on a pizza. Food on a round piece of bread, it is like the circle of life.

Bills

We have got bills to pay, as it is the end of the month. Everybody has bills to pay, I am told. My own bills are not of high amounts, but Paula and Daniel pays a lot. On the other hand, they make fairly good money on their respective works as well. If I could earn more money, I would, and I would pay more bills. We get by anyway, which is good.

Shaving

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I am glad I am not a Poodle. Poodles do not shed their coat, but needs to get it cut or shaved now and then. I watched as my Poodle friend Laila got shaved tonight. She really was not comfortable with it, even though she enjoyed her better self afterwards. I cannot blame her, it did not look comfortable at all, being shaved. It is better to have a coat that sheds of ot self twice a year.

Christmas Decorations

The time before Christmas is here. We have cleaned ghe house and put up advent chandeliers, as is Swedish tradition. We also changed curtains in the kitchen and now have Christmas curtains. I like our Christmas curtains. I believe there are dogs on them. Others clain there are hares, but I do not think so. Nevertheless, the house is prepared for Christmas now. This is great.

Giving Paula a Ride Home

Paula was away this evening, then Daniel too the car to get her. I often get to come along, but not tonight. Daniel too another dog to ride along. I do not like this. I hope I get to go next time. It feels like it would be my turn.

Black Friday Going Out of Style

Black Friday is a relatively new thing in Sweden, a day with sales, imported from the USA, where this day is the day between the Thanksgiving holiday on a Thursday and the weekend.

In the United Kingdom, they have had Black Friday for a longer time than we have in Sweden. It might actually be going out of style in the UK.

I hope Black Friday goes out of style in Sweden too. It is an unnecessary phenomenon, especially since Swedes are never free from work to go hopping, since we doot celebrate Thanksgiving. Time will tell, but I think Black Friday is not here to stay. The sooner it is gone, the better.

Trial

Paula was at the court of law today, about the consequences for the man who drive the car which hit her, when she crossed the street on the 20th of November last year. It seemed like it went well. The man who drive the car admitted as much, but claimed it was just an accent and that he would not be responsible. I believe the court will find that he was negligent and will find him guilty. There might be damages, if this will be the case. I hope so.

Median Amount of Readers

There is some statistics that come automatically with my blog service. I can always see how many times a blog post has been read.

Once in a while, I share links to my blog posts on Facebook ant Twitter. These blog posts always get more readers than the others. It would be surprising if they would not. When it comes to blog posts that I do not promote in this way, I usually get five or six readers. It seems like the average blog post has five readers. They usually never have less than five readers.

I guess I may have five readers who always come back to read my blog. I guess they are from the close family. It would be interesting to know, if there is any follower whom I could not say I know. If this is the case, I would like to know this person. On the other paw, anyone is free to read my blog without telling me or anybody else. If you want to tell me, please do, but feel free not to.

I like all of my readers.

Earthquake

There are reports of an earthquake in the sea outside Fukushima in Japan. This was where the great tsunami hit in 2011. This time, the tsunami warning is for perhaps three metres. We hope it does not even get this high. We hope all dogs and humans make it all right.

Blue Wine

Hello, Orange here!

Most wines are red or white. There are also pink wines, called rose, some white wines called grey, and orange wines. The newest colour to be addes to this palette of wine colours is blue. A newly founded winery in Spain makes a blue wine, with a mix of white and red wines and an addition of natural colouring. It is now sold in many countries. The question is if it is just a hype and will disappear again, or if blue wines are here to stay. It would be interesting to see.

Falling Asleep in the Sofa

Paula came home last night and we watched TV in the living room. It is dangerous doing this with Paula, following her example, you often fall asleep in front of the TV. We did not wake up again to go to bed until well past midnight. By that time, I had not written any blog entry for yesterday. I have only got myself to blame for this. It was, however, sweet to sleep next to Paula.

Late Night

We often stay up later than usually on Friday nights. This is because Daniel and Paula often do not work Saturdays, so they can sleep until later in the morning. I like this, especially at this time of the year, when it is dark outside at the time the alarm clock usually wakes us up. Saturday late mornings are great.

Going into Space from Australia

Auntie Linni's father was from Australia, so she had special feelings for this country. She would have been pleased to hear about this story on a future Australian space programme. It uses a special type of flight engine that works only in highly supersonic velocities. As far as I can tell, it sounds promising.

Fake News

There are a lot of fake news out there on the Internet. Some of it gets shared as if it was true. You always have to read the article, not just the headline, and stay critical of things you read.

I always try to be truthful in everything I write. Be aware, however, that there are those who do not believe a dog can write a blog, or write anything, for that matter. Does this make the contents of my blog posts less believeable? I hope not, because the intention is always to be truthful. You have to decide for yourselves.

Super Moon

There has been a "Super Moon", an astronomical phenomenon most people probably would not notice, if they did not read about it. This is when the Moon come about as close to Earth as possible in its eliptical orbit, at the same time as it is farthest from the Sun, so there is a full moon which looks bigger than average, if you are really looking.

I think it is more exciting with lunar eclipses. Everybody can identify a lunar eclipse.

If you want to see a Lunar Eclips, just look at me, because this is my name in the pedigree.

Rain in the Evening

Rain started to fall this evening. What is left of the snow of last week will soon be gone. It might sound like I am repeating myself, but I hope the melting snow and the rain fid its way down in the ground and up our well. We need a well filled up well. Nature look dirty and sad, but when rain falls, I cannot be all sad. There are advantages to it.

Father's Day

We celebrate Father's Day in Sweden today. I miss my father, with whom I lived for the first years of my life. He was such a nice dog, teaching me a lot. He was also a Norwegian patriot, having a mother from Norway and being born there. Whenever there was cross country skiing on TV, Dad was happy to be Norwegian. If I had had a Norwegian flag and a flag pole, I would raise the Norwegian flag every Father's Day.

Melting Snow

I did forecast this: a lot of the snow has melted today. We had temperatures in the afternoon many degrees above the freezing point. Especially where the sun rays hit the snow directly, since there were no clouds in the sky, the snow melted fast. In a way, this is good. We want water to trickle down into the earth, to fill up the reservoirs and our own well. Let it melt, and let it rain for a while longer. The snow may settle in due time before Christmas Eve anyway.

Hello There

Daniel, Morran, and I walked over to Paula's parents' house tonight. We met up with Paula there, then we had dinner with Paula's mother. It was a very nice Friday night in great company. I liked it a lot. You can stay happy for a long time after a nice night like this. I guess I will, and Morran too.

Tears

At this time of the year, when it is cold and dry outside, we get tears in our eyes more often. Tears are mostly made up of water, but there are some salt and other things in tears as well, to keep the eyes moist enough. These salts and stuff can dry up in the coat below our eyes. Luckily, Daniel helps us to clean our faces from this dirt once in a while, when necessary. It feels better to get rid of it, but it is impossible to reach with your tounge. This is why it is so good to have a helping paw from a human – or should I say helping hand? We have great humans.

Not the End

Donald Trump effectively won the election for President of the USA. Formally, the election was about electing electora, who in turn elects the president. The electors pledged to vote for Donald Trump has a majority among the total number of electors. Thus, the final result is effectively known.

I do not care so much about this election, it is just that all humans seem to care.

If only Donald Trump had hair the red colour of a red Shiba coat, I guess I would find him a bit more interesting.

Some humans are very disappointed by the result. They have to remeber, this is not the end of the world. There have been many far worse people with power in history.

Election Day

It is election day in my Mum's home country, the USA. This election is important for most of the world, because the USA is the world's biggest economy.

The House of Representatives, one third of the Senate, many State offices, and the President, will be elected today. This is interesting. Unfortunately, it has been harsh and dirty campaigns for President and both main candidates are disliked by many people. It will be interesting to see who will be elected President. I do not know if any of the main candidates have dogs, though.

Winter Is Here

Snow fell today and the temperatures are below the freezing point. We have not had a lot of snow, not like in some other parts of the country. There is just about a centimetre on the ground. We wilm have to see whether it will stay or whether it will melt away. I guess it will melt and disappear, we are still in early November. New snow will come later in the season.

Gustavus Adolphus

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is a national day of commemoration in Sweden today. It is the anniversary of the battle of Lützen in 1632, were Sweden won, but the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus was killed. Sweden took part in ending the war in 1648 as a great power, most of this thanks to Gustavus Adolphus.

For my part, I do not see so much cause for commemoration. It would be better, if Sweden still held any of the territories on the south shore of the Baltic Sea, that Sweden gained in the peace treaty of Westphalia in 1648.

It would be more than tree hundred years after this battle, that any Shibas came to Sweden.

The Gustavus Adolphus pastries are great, anyway. Those make the day worth a commemoration.

The Ones Who Have Left Us

It is All Saints' Day, a day to commemorate all the loved ones who have lived but left us. Those of us who are left on this world, remember those who have left this world.

I send special thoughts to Mum and Dad, without whom I would not be here, and who shaped me into whom I am.

I also think of Auntie Linni, who never had pups of her own, but who was such a great extra mother of me, my siblings, my own pups, and other pups here at Aangenaam.

My own love was Kuro-chan, or Kenny, father of many of my pups.

The latest who has left us was April, my dear friend, almost of the same age as I was, with whom I shared many moments of life. Her daughter Peanut was dear to me as well, but left us way too early.

There are many more who have left us. Unfortunately, I cannot think of all of them as much as those who have been closest to me. I still miss all of those whom I have loved and lost. Still, it would be worse, never to have known and loved them at all. This is a thought that offers me some comfort, after all.

Frost

We have had snow, bit it melted away. This morning, the temperatures were below the freezing point. Everything was covered in frost. It was quite beautiful, once daylight came. The temperatures stayed below zero. It is said we would have rain tomorrow, but it feels like it might just as well be snow. In that case, I hope there will be a lot of snow, so we can play in it. I might be an old lady these days, but snow brings forth the happy puppy in me. It is fun.

Cubs Win

Chicago Cubs won the World Series in baseball this year, for the first time since 1908. This is an unprecedenced time without this final victory. Finally, what has seemed like a curse is gone. The victory did come.

I have no special relationship to Chicago Cubs or Chicago as a city. The name of the team is great, however: Cubs, as in the pups of a wolf. I like this name a lot.

A Little Snow

There was a little bit of snow on the ground this morning. Rain was falling and the temperatures were above the freezing point. It did not take long before the snow melted and vanished. It was the first snow of the season, but it could have been more. It usually is.

I guess we will have to wait until we get a layer of snow on the ground that stays with is for a while. This snow was not even fun while it lasted. It was not nearly enough to play in.

Darkness

November is often the moth of the year that feels darker than any other. It has been overcast and rain today, so darkness came early in the afternoon. I like it that rain is falling. I also like that the mornings are brighter after leaving the daylight saving time behind. The early darkness in the afternoon is still putting me off a bit. We will have to look forward to December and Christmas lights. There are not many weeks left now.

April Has Left Us

We have received the sad news that our friend April, mother of Javier and other red Shibas, has passed away.

April used to live with us, but moved to Uppland last spring to have a family of her own. She had a nice time there, as far as we can understand. Last week, she did not feel well, however, and at a visit to the veterinarian, she was diagnosed with cancer. It had spread to many parts of her body, so there was no chance of operating it, like it was in my case last winter.

I am sure April has a good afterlife, she was such a gentle and caring friend.

More Daylight

Finally, we have no more daylight saving time. This means we have daylight again on our morning walks. I like this. It is so much easier to get up and go out for a walk, when there is daylight. This comes every year about this time, but is equally welcome every year.

For those of you who want more daylight in the afternoon than in the morning, I suggest you move to Galicia or Iceland.

Cutting Claws

Hello, Orange here!

I had my claws cut today. My three pups also had their claws cut. It was about time for them, they are three weeks old today and their claws had grown accordingly. It will be nicer for them and for me, now that their claws are a little shorter. They are genuine Shibas, however, protesting the invasion of privacy that the cutting of claws are. Daniel did well as cutter of claws of the pups, under my supervision, of course. I do not let any harm come to my pups. I know Daniel is gentle, but my supervision is still needed. It soothes the pups as well. Everything turned out fine, just as expected.

Meat

Hello, Polly here!

Late last night, Daniel came home with a bucket full of moose meat. We had been given this by Paula's father. I was disappointed, however, that Daniel put all the meat in the freezer. There was none of this meat thawed for us to eat today, either.

What is the purpose of getting great meat, if you just tuck it away in the freezer? I would like to eat some of it. This is what I would have done, had I been the one who got the meat. On the other paw, I do not think the others would have been pleased with me, if I would have eaten it all up myself. Perhaps it was just as well that Daniel got the meat. He is fair when sharing things. I think I am fair, when taking things for myself, but I know nobody else think so. It might be better not to make the others upset.

Number One Music Albums

I have never been much into music. I do not know of any dog who is. We can enjoy a good tune, but it is not like we become fans of musicians or buy their records. Still, there is one news story this week that is interesting. Thirtynine years after his death in 1977, rock icon Elvis Presley has gotten a thirteenth album to top the UK chart. By this, he is second only to the Beatles, who has had fifteen. It is amazing that Elvis Presley can still sell so much, so long time after his premature death. I just wonder how many top spots he had had, had he still been alive today.

No Rain

We have had a little rain on and of for many days now, but not today. There was even a little sunshine today. We do not like this, because we need rain. We just have to hope for more rain in the days to come.

Telephone Conference

Daniel was at home the whole evening today. Yet, he managed to devote all evening to a telephone conference. There was no cozy moments in the sofa tonight.

The telephone conference was a board meeting of the Swedish Spitz Breeds' Club, so it was important. We still think it went on for too long. Talking about dogs for many hours can never be more important than spending time with your dogs for a fraction of that time.

I hope we will get more time with Daniel tomorrow night.

Ideas

It happens occasionally, that I believe I have had a great idea for a blog entry, but that I have forgotten about it, once I come around a computer or other device, where I can write in my blog. This is a little annoying. I believe I had such an idea today. Now I cannot remember what the idea was. The question is, really: if it was such a great idea, why can I not remember it? Great ideas should stick firmly on your mind, shouldn't they?

Normally, I get other good ideas for blog entries. This was not the case today. I guess there was some kind of blog entry, anyway. I have written worse before.

The Dogs that Saved a Whole Town

In the winter of 1925, the Alaskan town of Nome was isolated, when a serious case of diphteria broke out. The whole population could have died. Siberian Husky sled dogs managed to get medicines to the town in time, however, saving about 10,000 lives. Please read the story, it is quite fascinating.

Breakfast Away from Home

This Sunday, Daniel left all of us dogs alone in the morning, to have breakfast with Paula's family. They all surely had a great time, breakfast is a great thing.

I wish I could have come. It was said I could not come, because my granddaughter Soya would be there. I do not really understand this reason. I would have told her who was highest in rank, then everything would have been perfectly peaceful and fine.

Later on, we had a nice afternoon and night, so over all, it was a nice Sunday.

A Little Rain

It has been raining most of the day, but not much. We still would like to get a lot more rain, in order to raise the level of water underground and fill up our well. There is usually mich more rain than this on any given autumn.

On the other hand, there have always been years with extreme weather, one way or the other. This year, we have had an extremely dry autumn. It is just the way nature is. You can never expect this weather or that. This also makes life a little more interesting.

Interesting as it may be, enough is enough, and I believe there should be much more rain now.

The US Grand Prix

In my Mom's home country, the United States of America, most focus is on the Presidential election. The election is early in November, the new president will be sworn in next January, and it is still uncertain who is closest to winning the election.

This weekend, the US Grand Prix in Formula 1 will be decided. I like a Grand Prix better than an election. It is entertainment from start to finish. The winner gets on the podium just minutes after the finish, not two months later, like the newly elected US President. Still, I know most Americans are not very interested in Formula 1. I believe they should be. What if the incumbent US President would present the trophy to the Grad Prix winner? This might boost the interest.

Daniel and I will watch the Grand Prix. We are not sure we will stay up during the election night.

A Dog for an Autistic Boy

An autistic boy eho lives with his family in Japan, and who refuses to touch any other human being, has been given a service dog. The boy hugs his dog. He is uninhibited by his autism, when interacting with the dog.

I am not surprised. If there is any animal more social with humans than even other humans are, it is the dog.

This only goes to prove, once again, how important dogs can be for humans, and what a vital part of civilisation dogs are.

Not Coming Back

Hello, Orange here!

Today, another one of Karen's pups left us, going to her new home. She will certainly also have a good new home.

Paula did not come back home either today. This was for different reasons. She got a new medicine last week, but it turns out she could not stomach it – quite litteraly. Her stomach went bad, when she used the medicine. This is no good, but she is in good hands at the hospital. We hope she gets well soon, and if she stays at the hospital, chances are greater she will.

The reasons for not coming home to us are different, but this is life. There are so many different things happening in life. This makes life more exciting, and I like that.

A New Home for a Pup

Hello, Orange here!

My sister Karen got a litter of three pups about seven weeks before my latest litter was born. Her litter turned eight weeks old today. They went to the veterinarian for a check up, and everything was fine, which is no surprise. Then the male pup of her litter was picked up by his new family. They also said hello to me. It seemed like a nice couple, I am sure Karen's son will have a nice home with them. Meanwhile, I attend to my own pups. They are slightly more precious to me, but this is as it should be, isn't it? I hope for the best for all pups, but most of all for mine. It is so easy to love them, so I am sure they will have great lives. Karen's pups will too, I believe.

A Little Rain

We have received a little rain today. This is the first time in many days that we have had any precipitation whatsoever. The land is very dry. We have had problems with the water level in the well.

I hope we will get more rain in the days before. We all need it, dogs, humans, trees, grass, deer, etc. There is usually a lot of rain in the autumn, it just has not been much this year. I hope it will come soon, a lot of it. Time will tell.

Visitors

Hello, Orange here!

A week ago today, I gave birth to three wonderful red pups. There are two boys and one girl. I just love taking care of them.

Today, the pups had the first visit of humans, a young couple who will most certainly take care of one of the boys, when he is old enough. They stayed for just a little while, which is good when the pups are so small, but they seem like very nice people. I believe my son will get a good life in their care.

Billions

We have started to watch a new Tv show: Billions. It is American, like most great Tv shows. This one is much better than average. I can highly recommend it. You just have to find it on HBO or a channel near you.

This show was the reason I did not write any blog entry yesterday. We just watched two episodes in a row, and then it was pasta midnight. This is how good the show is.

Working from Home

Daniel did not go to work today, he sat at home working instead. It is nice when he does this, I wish he could do it more often.

One reason for Daniel to stay at home, was to be home when we would get some help. The help never showed up, however. Daniel will call to orrow morning. If we are lucky, he can be at home tomorrow, too.

Cold

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Daniel has got a cold. He is sneezing and coughing. It is a little annoying, even though I want to feel sorry for him. It is mixed feelings. I hope he gets well soon, for his sake, but selfishly also for my own sake. On the other hand, if you wish someone well for his sake, there is nothing wrong in wishing the same for your own sake as well, is there? It is not that you have less compassion, just because you are also concerned about not being annoyed yourself. When I do not feel annoyed, I am friendlier to everyone, which is beneficial to all.

Qualifiers

The qualifying games for the 2018 FIFA football World Cup has started. It feels like it is too early, yet, it is hard not to be interested.

I wish Sweden, the USA, and Japan will qualify.

A Car Running on Salt Water

It is amazing, a concept car which runs on salt water. It is not really seawater, but still just water with salt in it. One part of the water has a positive charge, the other a negative charge. The difference makes the car run. The exhaust is just water vapor. It is fuelled with water from two hoses, as quickly as a petrol car. While it seems too good to be true, it might be true. The patent is pending, later on, cars can be built with this propulsion system. I hope it will work.

Early Sunday Morning

We got up rather early this morning, for a Sunday. It was not as early as the average weekday, but early, nevertheless. The Japanese Grand Prix started at 7 a.m. Swedish time. It was nice to be able to watch it. Formula 1 is a big sport in Japan. It is exciting, so I understand the huge interest.

In the end, Nico Rosberg, Germany, won in his Mercedes, before Max Verstappen, the Netherlands, in his Red Bull, and Lewis Hamilton, the UK, in the other Mercedes. Rosberg is, thus, in a bigger lead in the championship. It is still undecided and exciting, though.

Home Grand Prix

Tomorrow morning, Swedish time, we will watch the Japanese Grand Prix in Formula 1 on TV. In a way, this is a home Grand Prix for all of us Shibas. Our breed is Japanese, so Japan is a kind of home country for all of us, even those of us who have never set our paw there. We enjoy watching the live TV coverage of this Grand Prix in Japan.

A Wasp

Hello, Karstuhl here!

A wasp came flying in the kitchen this morning. It stung Daniel, then Daniel hit and killed it. It is as if the wasp wanted to make a statement against my blog entry yesterday. Fortunately, no pups or other dogs were hurt. Daniel is already over it. Bugs and wasps may be annoying, but a single wasp is no match to Daniel. I like this.

Bugs

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have autumn weather, at last. September was warm, but October is a proper autumn month, when it comes to weather and temperatures.

A great thing about autumn is that the annoying little crawling and flying creatures, the bugs, will go away. They are the worst thing about summer. However, we still have some bugs around. I guess this is because of the warm September. Still, they are buggibg me. I do not like this. I wish they would all soon be gone. Lofe is easier then.

New Negotiations

By a narrow margin, the people of Colombia voted "no" to the peace deal with the guerilla Farc. The President of Colombia has already taken steps to renegotiate some of the more controversial provisions of the peace deal.

It is believed that many voted against the deal, because it was too lenient against the guerilla and its members. After all, a guerilla is often not much more than an armed band of criminals, and many Colombians have probably seen Farc as such.

I hope it will be possible to go back to the negotiating table, striking a new deal. Colombia needs peace.

Paula Is Feeling Bad Again

Paula had to get hospital care again yesterday night, due to the injury in her right leg. We were worried. We have heard from her again today and she may come home tomorrow. She has been given treatment, which is good. We hope to see her, well and happy, tomorrow.

An Important Referendum

This year, the people of ghe UK voted to exit the EU. There is another referendum now, in Colombia, which may be more important. It is a referendum on "yes" or "no" to a peace agreement between the government and the Farc guerilla. It may bring an end to a long war, which may be more important than whether or not you live in a country which is a member of the EU or not.

The civil war in Colombia has been fought since the 1960's. Farc is communistic, but has become less ideologic. It has funded a lot of its war by involvement in the drug trade and kidnappings for ransoms, laundering the money through cattle ranches, shops, and construction companies owned by Farc. The war has caused a lot of deaths and sufferings to the people of Colombia; causing deaths and sufferings are indeed no strange things to communists.

I hope the outcome of the referendum will be "yes". Colombia and its people deserves peace. Perhaps it would have been better to utterly destroy Farc, but the peace has come about mainly because of government progress in the war. A continued war would have caused more deaths and sufferings and an utter destruction of Farc may still have been far away. This is a chance for peace and the people will hopefully take it.

Noise

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I am annoyed by the noise of Karen and her pups at night. They are disturbing my sleep, and the sleep of others here at home. None of my pups have ever disturbed anyone, nor have I. Life would be better with an undisturbed sleep at night.

Young Winner of Bond Bonus

A little child in New Zealand has won NZ$ 1 million on a bond bonus scheme. The child is too young to realise what this means yet, but will surely be happy about it when it gets older. The child's parents were very happy, of course.

I would also want a pup, or grand pup, to win a lot of money. It would make me happy.

Trouble with the Washing Machine

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The washing machine did not work properly this evening. It showed a n error code on the display that meant it did not have proper access to water. Daniel read the manual, turned the water off alltogether, unscrewed ghe hose, and removed the filter. Then he cleaned the filter for the incoming water. He then put the filter back into the machine, and the hose back on it, and turned the machine on again. A little later, the same error code was displayed again. This time, the reason was that Daniel had forgotten to turn the water on again. He is good at many things, Daniel, but he could be better at repairing things at home. He did realise he had left the water off, but why forget to turn it on again in the first place? Well, nobody is perfect.

Happy Meal

We celebrated my eleventh birthday today. I got a Happy Meal from McDonald's, which was just as tasty as ever.

My birthday was actually two weeks ago, but since Paula was at the hospital that week, I decided to postpone my celebration. Today was a good day to celebrate. It was the same day of the week and everyone was at home. Life is good.

Bigly

"Bigly" is actually a word in English. Some people watching the US presidential debate yesterday night thought they heard Donald Trump using this word. Apparently, he did not, he said "big league". It is still interesting to learn that "bigly" is a word. You can never know too much about an interesting language like English.

Clean Sheets

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have got clean sherts in our bed tonight. This always feel a little luxurious. It is really nothing special, but it still feels nice. It is like starting on a clean sheet, litteraly.

Training Aid

A scientific study has found that there is no evidence that fitness trackers, like devices counting the steps you take, improves your fitness. Among five hundred overweight humans, half of whom got training aids like this, the other half lost more weight.

I have a better idea, for any human who wants a training aid: get yourself a dog. If you have a dog, you have to walk the dog on a regular basis. If you need a lot of training, just get a dog who needs a lot of excercise. With a dog, you cannot just skip a day or two of training. No matter what weather there is, your dog will take you for a walk. This must be better than devices counting your steps.

Cleaning

We spent a great deal of the day cleaning the house. It always gets dirty, especially on the floors. Daniel did the most, but we helped him. Meanwhile, Paula was at work, earning her salary. I think it was a rather productive day. It might be hard work when you do it, but you are satisfied when it is done. A clean house is nice to live in.

Iceland or Iceland?

When I hear of Iceland, I think of the island country in the North Atlantic. Brits may think of a food retain chain instead. The country Iceland is now considering a law suit against the food chain Iceland, to prevent the food chain from trying to stop companies from the country Iceland from using the name Iceland.

I believe the country should win such a law suit. If I were to become Icelandic Show Champion, I would like this to be a title from the national kennel club of Iceland, the country, not some kind of title from a food chain.

The country has held the name since it became independent from Denmark in 1918, its island has held the name for centuries before that. The food chain started its business in the 1970's. For me, it is self evident the country, its citizens and corporations, has better right to the name than the food chain.

Idol?

The Swedish version of the singer talent show Idol is on every day this week. Before the episode today, the show was described as a show featuring idols. I thought the show was about plenty of young humans wanting to become idols, not that they are all idolsearly in the competition. It sounded strange to me. It is as if every dog at a dog show would be called champion.

A Country with Only 28 Web Pages

North Korea is generally viewed as one of the harshest dictatorships of the world. It is very closed to the rest of the world. Proof has now been found that there are only twentyeight web pages under the North Korean top domain .kp. This only goes to prove what an isolated and backward country North Korea is.

This is not a country I would want to live in. I hope there are not many dogs who have to live there. There are probably no Shibas in the country, which is a soothing thought.

I hope the North Koreans will soon see an end to the dictatorship.

Celebration

We celebrated my birthday today, now that Paula is at hone again. We had really good food and a nice evening together. I liked it a lot. Life feels better, when the whole family is gathered at home.

Veto Against Brexit Deal?

The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union, and will need a deal to exit the EU, a so called Brexit Deal. This may take time.

Other EU countries cannot stop the UK from leaving. They can, however, say no to the Brexit Deal, if they think the deal is not good enough. Some countries in Central Europe consider voting against the deal, if it does not protect the right of the citizens of these countries to keep working and living in the UK. Any such veto will postpone the exit, because a new deal has to be negitiated. How long this process may continue is unclear.

I wonder what will happen, if the UK has not really left the EU many years from now. How much consideration must be taken to the result of this year's referendum many years from now? Only tine will tell.

Paula Is Home Again!

Paula came home from the hospital this afternoon. We rejoice!

Paula is not quite well yet, but they have found out what os wrong, and she has had medicines prescribed for her. Among us dogs, we have a friendly competition about who will comfort her the most. We have missed Paula so much. The family is complete again.

Hoping For the USA v. Team Europe

The IIHF World Cup in iche hockey starts today. Team USA plays team Europe in the first game.

I am European, but I do not root for Team Europe, but for Team USA. Team Europe is a special team,  having players from all of the European ice hockey countries that do not have their own national team in the World Cup. Sweden, being an ice hockey great power, has her own team. So do Czechia, Finland, and Russia.

I can root for the USA, since I am half American thanks to Mum. Team Europe does have a few players from Dad's home country Norway, but also players from Denmark, Slovakia and other countries. I would not be sad od Team Europe would win, considering its Norwegian players, but I prefer Team USA in this context.

It will be an interesting tournament.

Friday Night

We are having a cool Friday night.

Not Celebrating My Birthday

This is my birthday. I turn eleven years old today. This is cause for a celebration, but I will not celebrate. I have informed Daniel and the other dogs, that I postpone the party until Paula comes home from the hospital. It would not feel right to throw a party without Paula.

Daniel gave us some mackerel with our food, because of my birthday. I did not turn this down. The grand celebration will come later, however.

Missing Paula

We all miss Paula. She is in good hands at the hospital, but we would rather have her healthy at home.

Daniel has visited Paula. He says she is in a good mood, considering the circumstances.

For some odd reason, none of us dogs could come along to the hospital. They want it clean and tidy, and may believe all dogs shed coats constantly. They may also believe this is necessary for the sake of humans who are allergic go dogs. Oh well, Daniel sent our love, and came back with Paula's love. In due time, we will see her again. It will not feel like a long time has passed, when we do.

Tidal Forces and Earthquakes

The Moon affects Earth in some ways. During nights with fair weather, the Moon can make the night bright. When the tide is high or low, it is because of the Moon.

A new Japanese scientific study shows that there is also a correlation between high tidal force stress and high magnitude earthquakes. People have suspected this, but the new study is the first that really shows the correlation.

This study might help predict large earthquakes. This is good. It is especially helpful in countries often hit by earthquakes, such as Japan. I like useful science like this.

What About Paula?

Paula did not come home tonight. She was not supposed to, since the plan was that she would work night. She is at the hospital now, but not working, but as a patient. The leg that took the impact from the car that hit her last November hurt extremely much. They do not yet know the cause, but we believe they will solve it. The medical science is good.

A Day of Remembrance

Fifteen years ago, today, terrorists attacked the USA. They hi-jacked aircraft and let them fly into the World Trade Center in New York City, as well as Pentagon in Washington.

Five years ago, Mum made her first and only entry into my blog. She wrote about her own experiences of the 11th of September 2001. She experienced it first paw in the USA, were she were born and lived at the time. Mum is no longer with us, but her blog entry remain.

For me, this is a day of remembrance. I do not remember the terrorist attacks myself, but I have heard much about them. It is also a day for me to remeber my Mum, who did remeber this attack on her home country. Rest in peace, victims of the terrorists! Rest in peace, Mum!

Music

Paula played a lot of music fhis evening. I guess she loves all of the songs she played. I do not. I believe any of the songs are good, but some are bad and none are great. Am I biased. I think not, what would be my bias? This is just the way I think about some songs.

Race Day

There is a race car event in our home town today and tomorrow. It is called Örebro Race Day. I do not understand why it is called "day", when it is two days.

Daniel will visit the Örebro Race Day tomorrow. I stay at home myself. I think it is not much to see, when it is not the real thing. You can see formula 1 cars, but it is no formula 1 Grand Prix race. If we would get a Grand Prix to Örebro, it would be another matter. Then I would like to go there and watch it on site.

OK, it would not be boring to see the Örebro Race Day, but not great either. This is my mind.

Early Morning

Daniel had to leave early this morning, to catch an early train. This meant he took the morning walks earlier than he usually does. We walked in the darkness of a morning before sunrise. It was rather warm weather, nevertheless, the darkness made us feel like it was later in the year. It will soon be dark on the morning walks every workday morning. We do not care, we are used to it. Dark mornings show that you come closer to Christmas, which is nice. It is still a long time until Christmas now, however.

Bottle Refunds

Hello, Karstuhl here!

If you buy a pop in a PET bottle, a part of the price is refunded when you return the bottle. In the meantime, empty PET bottles are excellent chewing toys for dogs. They are just hard enough to make for fun chewing. A chewed bottle has always been refundable. This is logical, because the bottle is pressed together and destroyed in the refund machine, anyway.

This is until lately, however.

Over the last couple of days, Paula has tried to get refund for chewed bottles in many machines, bit all the machines have refused to accept these bottles. We do not know whether this is a new policy, or if it is just machines programmed wrongly. It seems odd that the machines would not accept bottles, because they have a couple of small chewing marks, especially when the machines destry the bottles entirely anyway.

I hope it will be possible to get refunds on these bottles in the future, otherwise we may not get to chew on them.

Red and Sesame

There are black and tan Shibas, then there are red and sesame Shibas. Mum was sesame, a great colour. Dad was black and tan, just like me and Polly, the greatest colour. Auntie Linni was red, also a great colour.

If you want a red Shiba, like the puppy buyers the day before yesterday, you still get a great dog. I want to stress this, so you will not draw the wrong conclusions of my comments the day before yesterday.

Indeed, any dog is a great dog. It is just if you do not have any dog, your life is lacking something great.

Still, I believe black and tan Shibas are the very best there is. I am biased, of course, but so are everyone else. With that said, black and tans are the best.

Britons Considering Becoming Irish After Brexit

When a manority of voters in the United Kingdom cast their vote to exit the EU earlier this year, some Britons have considered options to stay EU citizens. A lot of them have considered whether they can become citizens of the Republic of Ireland, a Member State of the EU. A lot of Britons do have Irish roots, but it is uncertain how many there are.

I find it interesting that some people considers the EU such a great thing, that they are prepared to apply for another citizenship to make sure they are citizens of a EU Member State. Many people may get dual citizenship, thus staying citizens of the UK as well, but it Must still feel like a great step to take  I wonder if they consider registering their dogs with the Irish Kennel Club as well.

Busy Sunday

It is Sunday. Nevertheless, the alarm clock went of as early as if it was any workning day. This is fine by me, as long as the Sunday is used to go to a dog show. It was not, not today.

Paula and Daniel spent the morning cleaning. I guess this had to be done.

In the early afternoon, puppy buyers came by. I am not sure what they want. I am too old to have pups, Polly neither has, nor is expecting pups. There will be some time before Polly's daughter Soya will get her first litter. – There are the red Shiba pups of Karen, of course. They are almost two weeks old. If the puppy buyers want a red Shiba, I guess buying one of these pups is all right. I cannot see why you would not want to wait for a black and tan pup, however.

Later i. The afternoon, Daniel mowed the lawn. This also had to be done. It might be the last time this season, but you cannot just let the long grass pass.

Horses

I went with Paula, Daniel, and Morran to the Segersjö Days today. It is an annual weekend of horse competitions to the southeast of our hometown. There were nice food to buy and eat. We did not look much at the horses, but we had fun anyway.

Later in the day, we went to Paula's parents and had crayfish for dinner. It is always fun to meet them. We had a great time there as well. It was a great day, full of new experiences. I liked it a lot.

Pillows

Paula and Daniel fight over pillows sometimes. This is when they go to bed and the pillows are not in order. They need pillows to rest their heads upon when they sleep. I am glad I am a dog, I do not need any pillow to get a comfortable position to sleep in.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

The next Summer Olympic Games will be the most exiting in my lifetime. They will be hosted by Tokyo in Japan, the country of the Shiba.

There have been rumours and accusations of bribery, when Tokyo was elected to host the Olympic Games. Rumours like this seem to surface whenever there is a big event anywhere.

A Japanese investigation has looked into the evidence of one payment that has been put into question. The investigation has concluded there was no bribery. Everything has been in accordance with Japanese law.

I am not surprised everything is in order. Japan is a country with an old, dignified culture. Bribes are beneath the Japanese. We do not need to give or to receive bribes.

Now we can just look forward to the next Summer Olympic Games.

The End of Summer

It is the last day of August, the last of the three summer months. By the calendar, this is, thus, the last day of summer 2016.

I like autumn as well as summer. The colder weather does not bother me, my coat is always enough in autumn. It is just very cold winter days that may be too cold for me.

Even though I like autumn, it is a little sad that we leave summer behind. It will be darker and there are many weeks of work before longer holidays. There may be summer heat some days in September too, but there may also be frost in the mornings. We will have to see what kind of autumn there will be.

Well, summer will return next year. I know it will. It will be nice.

Paying Bills

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is the end of the month and bills are paid.

I am glad our humans pay the bills. Dogs could pay bills, if only we had the money. Under human law, however, dogs are not entrusted with money. If we were, we would certainly earn a lot of money, making it easy for us to pay a lot of bills. As it is, we do not have to pay bills. I guess there is some advantages to this, too.

Rain

It has been a rather dry summer, but it started to rain last night. This morning, rain fell constantly. We were out on our morning walk, but then we went back to sleep in the dry, warm rooms of our house. Paula was working afternoon at the hospital, so she also slept until rather late.

Rain is a good thing. It boosts all the things that grows in the garden. It makes the water level in our well higher. It washes the houses and the cars. It is, however, not comfortable to be outdoors in the rain. Rainy weather is best experienced from indoors. Then it is cozy. We had a very cozy day indoors today.

Ceasefire in Colombia

The far left guerilla group Farc, also known to earn money on drugs and kidnappings, has announced a ceasefire. This will take effect at midnight, local time, which is 6 a.m. Central European time.

We have a special relationship with Colombia, because Paula was born there. It is our favourite South American country.

Peace talks have been going on for years. It now really seems like there will be peace between Farc and the Colombian government. We all hope so. We believe a Colombia in peace will be more prosperous. Certainly, a land without a criminal, far left guerilla group must be a better place to live.

A peace treaty may be signed in a few weeks. We hope ot will be so.

No Show

I did not come along to the dog show today. It was an unofficial show where I would have helped our Affenpinscher friend Morran. Now she had to do it on her own.

Morran did well, but she was only third in her class and did not get any honorary prize. I believe she would have done better, had I been there to coach her. You cannot be sure, of course, but I still believe this.

In a way, it was nice to stay at home. No matter what would have happened, I would not have gone into the show ring. I cannot, on an Affenpinscher specialty. It is going into the show ring that is really fun. If I do not do this, I would rather stay at home. I did today. It was a nice day of rest.

Paula in an Advertisement

Paula's employer is searching for more people. The advertisement is illustrated with a photography of some of the people working there. Paula is one of the four people in the picture. This is sweet. It must be fun to get an extra aknowledgement for the work one is doing, by being seen in an advertisement like this.

Lethal Mobile Game

Nintendo's new game Pokemon Go has become a hit this summer. I do not know why. It turns some humans insane. They focus on the game and its virtual additions to reality, rather than reality itself. If it has not gone too far before, it must have gone too far in Japan now. A man was driving his car while playing, and hit two woman pedestrians, killing one and seriously hurting the other. He has told the police he did not watch the road carefully.

Not everything from Japan is great. A mobile game making a man to cause an accident where another human is killed cannot be great. It is bad. I hope the Pokemon Go frenzy will soon come to an end. It would not be a good solution to ban the game. Bans must be a last resort.

Hamburger

This evening, I went with Daniel to fetch Paula at her work. On the way home, I got a hamburger. It was great. Hamburgers are always great.

Paula's Birthday

We are celebrating Paula's birthday today. She is a truly extraordinary person, well worth anything we can do to celebrate her.

Happy birthday, Paula!

Typhoon hits Tokyo

A great typhoon has hit Tokyo. There have been hard wind, massive rainfall, and a lot of cancelled flights.

This kind of wheather is not uncommon in Japan. After all, the word "typhoon" comes from Japanese. It is a disaster, nevertheless. Just because you are used to bad wheather, does not mean you like it.

New TV Set

Our old TV set broke down two days ago. We now have a new one. This is good.

It is never good when a piece of machinery breaks down. On the other hand, if you replace that which is broken, you may get something better instead. I believe we did this time.

A Second Swedish Gold Medal

Sweden is a country with a relatively small population. We cannot compete with the most populous nations in the number of competitors in the Olympic Games, nor in the number of medals won. Today, however, Sweden won a second gold medal. It was Jenny Rissveds who won gold in the ladies' mountainbike race. This is great. I like it all the more, because it was an unexpected gold medal. Unexpected successes have a special sweetness.

Crayfish Feast

Paula and Daniel went away to a crayfish feast tonight. Eating crayfish in August is a Swedish tradition. The humans love it. I think it is overrated. There is too much shells vis a vis meat.

Japan v. USA

There was a wrestling game on TV from the Olympic Games today, where a lady from Japan was wrestling a lady from the USA. I had mixed feelings about this.

Mum was American, but our whole breed is from Japan. My dear husband Kenny was born and raised in Japan, so my daughter Polly is half Japanese.

It was an exciting game. Wrestling is a sport which is rather easy to understand. In the end, the American won and got the gold medal. I was happy for her and sorry for the Japanese. The Olympic Games brings feelings.

Coaching

It will not be the upcoming weekend, but Saturday of the weekend after this, I will get to go on a dog show again. It is a breed specialty for Affenpinschers and Schnauzers, so I will not go into the show ring myself. I will be there as a coach to our Affenpinscher friend Morran. With my experience, I believe I have got a lot to give in a coaching role. It will be fun. Stay tuned for reports on the day of this show.

Dad Would Have Been Pleased

My Dad was from Norway, as longtime readers of my blog know. He always rooted for Norway in sports.

The Swedish ladies' team in handball played Norway in the Olympic Games today. Norway scored about twice as many goals as Sweden. As a Swede, it was embarrasing to watch. Dad would have been pleased, though.

I miss Dad. He passed away too may years ago. Life was better when he was around.

Affenpinscher Club

Daniel participaten in a telephone meeting tonight. We could hear what he said, and it became clear it was not the Spitz club, where he has been a member of the board for many years, but the breed club for Affenpinscher. This is fun for our Affenpinscher friend Morran. Somehow, I still think it would be more useful to do more for spitz breeds, I believe. Nevertheless, working for any dog breed club is a great thing to do. It is not a waste of time.

Second Day of Dog Show

There were no Shibas shown at the dog show in Askersund today. In a way, this is good, because then I do not need to be disappointed I am not there, participating.

Daniel was there working again.

Paula worked night last night and tonight, so she spent most of the day sleeping. This is an hoourable way of spending your day. You sleep because you have to. If you rest without sleeping, you may be lazy, but sleeping is a way of restoring your body and brain. Sleeping is as important as working, eating, and other such essential things you do.

I spent the day overseeing us dogs watching the house. This is my duty as alpha bitch. I enjoy it, but it is tough work at times. I would rather go to a dog show.

Dog Show at Home

This weekend, our regional kennel club hosts its annual dog show in Askersund. It is not next door to us, but it is still our home turf, since this is the regional kennel club we belong to.

Daniel was there, working as a ring steward. He usually does.

Paula was also there. Rumour has it, she showed a Shiba, but none of us got to come along. If she did show a Shiba, I wonder whom that might be. I guess it was someone with our kennel prefix, or at least a close relative of some of us.

I would have loved to go myself. My show career is over, successful as it has been, but I would not mind a comeback. Dog shows will always be my favourite thing to do.

Bad Sportsmanship

A competitor in the Olympic Games in judo from Egypt was defeated by a competitor from Israel. The defeated man then refused to shake hands with the Israeli, as is customary. This is bad sportsmanship.

Judo is a Japanese sport. In Japanese culture, politeness is essential. You should not compete in a Japanese sport, if you cannot behave properly.

The Olympic Games is about friendly competition across all political borders of the world. Refusing to shake hands with a competitor from another country is an affront to the Olympic ideals.

This Egyptian should be disqualified from further competitions in judo.

Bad Harvest in Champagne

The 2016 grape harvest in Champagne, France, will be very bad. Frost, rot, and mildew have caused this. The harvest will be the worst in decades.

This is not good for lovers of the sparkly champagne wines. I am not one of them, but Paula is. She will manage, of course, but I feel for her.

For my part, I mostly just drink water.

Booing at the Olympic Games

There are spectators at the Olympic Games who are booing. This is bad, it is no sportsmanship. There are never booing at dog shows, the crowd there must be better at sportsmanship.

Evidently, there are many reasons for booing. I do not care. I believe there are no reasons that can justify booing. If you do not like one competitor, just do not applaud. Every competitor deserves this much respect.

Running Away to Get Home

In this evening's episode of the Midsomer Murders, the dog Sykes ran away from a dog day care unit to get home. This is the right way to go. If you run away, it is in order to get home.

Olympic Competition in Trick Filming

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We are watching the men's team competition in gymnastics. It is obvious that the participants do things that are not physically possible to achieve for a human. This is proof that they are not actually doing it. The competition is actually a competition in trick filming – this is the only reasonable explanation, thus, it must be true. It is nice to watch, nevertheless.

Silver

The Swedish Olympic team got its first medal today. Emma Johansson won silver in bicycle. She won silver in the Olympic Games eight years ago as well, and has been called "Silver Emma" ever since. The new silver medal will reinforce this nickname. (Four years ago, she came sixth.) We did, of course, hope she would win gold, but silver is still an excellent result. It is also a nice twist on the nickname.

Squash Soup

Nils Olov came by for a lottle while this evening. We all love him and wish he would have stayed longer. He brought some home made squash soup. I am not fond of soup, but I know Paula loves this soup. It was nice thinking of Paula and giving her some soup. Next time, perhaps we get some moose meat or other things that I love to eat. I have hope.

Dogs in the Olympic Games

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games starts officially today – or early morning Saturday, Central European Time.

I have always been of the opinion that there should be some dog sports in the Olympic Games. Agility is a dog sport close to the equestrian sports that has been included in many games. Dog sled racing should be included in the winter games.

There is an old April Fools Joke about Poodle clipping being an olympic sport in the 1900 Olympic Games. This is not true. It would not be a good olympic sport either, involving just Poodles.

The Olympic Games are interesting, nevertheless.

Ice Cream

We had some ice cream tonight. It was good.

Home Again

We went home again this afternoon. It was nice to visit the west coast, but there is no place like home.

I like going places and smelling new things. The best trips are when there is a dog show or two. This trip was fine, but there was no dog show. On the other hand, you cannot have all the fun any time you go somewhere.

I like to thank Daniel's family for a nice time.

Her Own Forest

Daniel's mother owns a forest estate in Småland, where she was born and reared. She inherited it from her father. We visited it today and ran around there for a while. It is very beautiful there, with a lot of beeches.

It is always nice to walk in the forest, but there is a special feeling when you walk on your own land, or the land of your close family.

Orange Colored Sky

Hello, Orange here!

We are visiting Daniel's parents at their summer house. I really like Daniel's mother. She taught me there is an old jazz song by Nat King Cole called Orange Colored Sky. (The song title is in American English, this is why you should spell it "color".) We listened to the song on Youtube. It was great, not just because the song title had my name in it. Look it up and listen to it, I am sure you will like it!

Packing

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have prepared for a trip to Halland on the Swedish west coast. Mommy, Orange, Daniel, and I will go there for a couple of days. We will visit Daniel's parents at their summer house.

Daniel has packed bags. I just made sure he packed the most important things: dog food and food bowls.

Mommy is disappointed, because we will not go to a dog show. She believes dog shows are the most fun places to be. While I like dog shows, I do not believe they are that great. I think we will have a good time, nevertheless. When I am around, dogs and humans often have a good time. I cannot say for sure whether this is thanks to me, or whether it is just that I have such a positive view of life that I feel like people have a good time when I am there. It is nice, either way. I am sure we will have a good time.

Dirty Campaign in Tokyo

The people of Tokyo in Japan will elect a new governor. This is one of the most important political positions in the country.

The front runner Ms. Yuriko Koike belongs to the big Liberal Democrat Party. She has not received the support of the party, however, because she did not consult with the party leadership in Tokyo before announcing her candidacy. I can understand that this is a reason for the party not to support her.

There has been a lot of negative campaigning, among these sexist commentaries against Ms. Koike even from members of her own party. Sexist comments do not belong in a political campaign. I wish there would never be any of those. If for nothing else, I hope Ms. Koike wins, just to show people who have used sexist comments against her that this is futile and silly.

Darker Outside

It is getting considerably darker outside as we are leaving midsummer further and further behind. Paula and Daniel were away this evening and had not switch on any lights before they left. It was not really dark when they came back home, but darkness had started to fall. We did not mind. It is quite cozy to sit around while darkness is starting to come. Later on, it will be darker earlier, but then we will have lights on when we are watching the house in the evenings. It will all be nice.

Kitten Survives in Washing Machine

A kitten in England was accidentally trapped in the washing machine, when his human turned it on for a 60 degrees washing cycle. Luckily, the human heard thuds from inside the machine, saw his fur colour, and hurried to get him out. The kitten was not inside the machine for more than two minutes. After veterinary care, he seems to get a full recovery.

It was fortunate that the kitten survived and did not get any injuries. Still, it is an upsetting story. I have had puppy litters in our bathroom, where we have our washing machine. Paula and Daniel has always made sure no puppy would go inside the washing machine when doing the laundry. I do not want to consider what would have happened otherwise, and idåf a puppy would have been trapped in the machine.

Perhaps it would be best not even to think about these things. After all, it is quite unlikely that a puppy would end up trapped in the washing machine, sustaining permanent injuries. I do not get puppies of my own anymore. I might be able to forget about this until I get another litter of grandchildren or great grandchildren.

Good Riddance

The former party leader of the Swedish communist party, C.H. Hermansson has passed away.

Communism is a political ideology that has ruled a lot of countries in the world. Every communistic country has become poor. A lot of the people living in these countries have been murdered by the communistic leaders and elite. Communism is no good.

It is always a tragedy when somebody dies. The tragedy is bigger in some cases than others.

We are all equal in death. Some are more equal than others.

Water

They said on the radio there are low water levels around here now. This may affect us, who have a well of our own as water supply. There was some rain today, however. We received 4 mm. I hope there will be more rain, preferably at night, when we are indoors anyway. We can never have too much water in the well, I believe.

Fire in the Wilderness

A fire rages in the forest some kilometres north of Örebro, where we live. The fire fighters have taken control of the fire, but it may take weeks before there is no fire left.

Humans often want to control fires and put them out. At the same time, scientists have learned more and more of the benefits of letting wildfires burn. It gives way to new growth and benefits the eco system. Perhaps it would be a good idea to let more fires burn?

Blueberries

Paula went to the woods today, with her father and our Affen Pinscher friend Morran. They were out to pick blueberries.

I would have liked to come, not because I am so fond of blueberries, but because I love a long walk. I had a nice afternoon at home, watching Formula 1 on TV with Daniel, but a long walk would have been a little better. Oh, well, it might be my turn next time.

The blueberries went into the fridge. They will be frozen for later use. I guess this is nice.

Qualification in Rain

There was qualification for the Hungarian Grand Prix in formula 1 today. A part of the first qualification round had to be red flagged, that is delayed, due to heavy rain.

The Swedish Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson ran off and crashed, when the first qualification round started again after the rain. This was the second qualification in a row where he crashed. We wonder if he is good enough to keep driving in formula 1. We hope he is, but we wonder.

We had warm and sunny weather at home all day. There was some rain late in the evening, however. Rain is good, it makes sure we have water in our well, so we have water in our house.

Wood

Daniel has sawed and chopped wood today. This is about the warmest day of the year, but it is good that Daniel thinks about winter.

Russians Banned from Olympic Games

Russian track and field athletes will be banned from participation in the Summer Olympic Games, that starts in a few weeks. This is because Russia has had a state-sponsored doping programme.

I think it is correct to ban the athletes. Doping is cheating, and any cheating should be punished. It might be that not all athletes have cheated, but if their national team has cheated, it must reflect upon them as well. There must be severe punishments, to make sure people understand that the consequences of being caught cheating is so hard that it is not worth trying to cheat.

This is true in all competitions, I believe. If somebody would cheat in dog shows, which is where I have competed myself (not without success), I think both human and dog should be banned from participation. The dog would not cheat, but if the dog's human would cheat, it could affect the dog's show results, nevertheless.

Cheating is despicable.

Redecorating

There has been a fascinating pattern on our bathroom door for a while. This has been made by us dogs once in a while, by accident, but it has been interesting , nevertheless. Paula does not like this pattern, however. She took some paint today and started to repaint the door. She wants it in the plain white colour it had from the start. This is called redecorating. It is supposed to make the door look better and raise the living standard and the value of the house. I am not sure I agree.

Cat Food Commercial

There was a cat food commercial on TV tonight. In it, there were kittens. Kittens are cute, but cannot be compared to pups. There should be more commercials with pups on TV. This would be very cute TV.

Pups in real life are even cuter. I have already had all my pups. Perhaps my daughter Karstuhl will get another litter? I am sure her daughter Soya will eventually have pups. As great grandmother, I would be excellent at helping her raise them.

Cat food is delicious, bit wasted on cats or kittens. I would rather eat it myself., or give it to pups.

Blog Readers

I do not know how many readers my blog has got, neither how many there are who read often, nor how many who read once or twice. I like all of my readers, they are the ones I write for, but I allow them to tell me who they are by making comments, I would probably never ask who they were.

We watched an episode of a comedy show on TV tonight, where one of the carachters started a blog. This was the start of many jokes, some of which dealt with comments or other bloggers writing about the first blog. There are almost no comments on my blog, so I did not really relate to these jokes. I have fun writing my blog anyway.

No matter who you are, when reading this blog, you are always welcome to stay tuned or come back later. There will often be new blog posts.

Chicken

We got some chicken in our food today. Chicken is tasty and good food. I love it.

It is not every day we get extra treats in our food like this. There is often just dog food. There is nothing wrong with dog food, but it would be boring to have just dog food day in and day out. Luckily, this is not the case for us. Chicken is among the best thing we can have.

Sushi

If you ever wonder if Japan is a great country, just try the Japanese specialty sushi. We had some sushi for dinner today. It was marvelois, as always. Do I need to tell you more?

I guess you all know what sushi is. This is common knowledge these days. If you have not tried it yet, you should. You are in for a treat. The Japanese know food.

Coup d'etat in Turkey?

A group of military personell claim to have taken control of Turkey in a coup d'etat. This is not yet confirmed.

This is stupid. You should not take control of a country by using force.

There was an attempted military coup d'etat in Spain in the early 1980s. King Juan Carlos I put an end to it, however, by dressing in his military uniform as general of the army and order the coup men to step down.

There is no King in Turkey who can do this. This is one of the major faults of a republic.

The Emperor of Japan made sure Japan gave up the war in 1945, before too many lives were lost for a cause that was already lost. Monarchs are good this way.

A Swedish Classic

We watched a documentary this evening about people who compete in what is called "A Swedish Classic". This is four long distance competitions i bicycling, swimming, running, and cross country skiing. If you complete all four in a year, you complete a Swedish Classic.

There are no similar competitions for dogs. I believe, however, that if you win three CAC's in one year, becoming a champion quickly, this could be called a classic. It would be nice calling it so.

The Emperor Might Resign

It is an important day today. News agencies say Emperor Akihito considers abdication in favour of his son, Crown Prince Naruhito.

Some would say the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, and her cabinet, is more important. I do not agree.

It is without precedent in the modern history of Japan that the Emperor resigns. As far as I know from history, it is also without precedent that the Emperor resigns voluntarily.

China Defies Decision on South China Sea

An international legal tribunal in the Hague has ruled in favour of the Philippines, which claimed China had no claim on most of the South China Sea. China boycotted the proceedings and will not accept it, however.

While I am happy about the verdict, I do not think tensions in the region will be smaller. The statement from China about not accepting it says so. I think China would want to claim even more than this. Hopefully, there will not be a war, it would surely be a big war. Any war is bad, but big wars are worse than small wars.

Election

There has been a general election in Japan. The ruling party LDP and PM Shinzo Abe won and remain in power.

Final

It is the final game in the Euro 2016 footbal championship. France plays Portugal. Our Poodle friends root for France, their breed is from France. I have no other preference, so I do the same.

After full time, no team had scored. It was a rather boring game between two good teams. I would normally rather see a game ending in 3-3 than 0-0. The defence may be too strong, if you know what I mean.

Portugal won in extra time. Well, I do not cry because of this.

Calm Day

There are days when nothing special happens. Nothing special at all. These days are great, when I am in the mood for it. Today has been such a day. We have spent the whole day with Daniel at home, just doing whatever we feel like for the moment. (Meanwhile, Paula is with her sister and mother on a weekend trip.) It has been a wonderful day. Rest is something you need once in a while. This was a day when we got it.

Summer Holiday

Daniel did his last day at work before his summer holiday today. He will stay at home much more in the coming weeks. Paula did her last day yesterday. We like this. It also means we can get up later in the mornings. This is also great.

It is good that Daniel and Paula have good jobs, which give them decent incomes. Nevertheless, I prefer to have  them at home. We hope they will spend a lot of time at home. We also hope we will go to some dog shows, of course!

Cous cous

We got some cous cous in our food bowls today. This was new to me, but quite tasty.

I am always prepared to test new kinds of food. It gives a little excitement to life. In a way, you can even say it spices up life. Most kinds of food are tasty. I love some kinds of food better than others, but there are very few things i dislike. I love everything from a fine steak to water melon. Cous cous makes it to the long list of foods that I like. This list is so long, I could not even say how many items are on it.

I hope you all get food that you like.

Remote Control

When Paula or Daniel watches TV, they use the remote comtrol to switch channels from the sofa. That is, if none of us dogs lay upon the remote control. It may happen that they are not eager enough to switch channels, that they dig out the remote control from the dog who lays upon it. It is not that we want to stop the switching of channels, but it is more comfortable to stay put. Life should not be about having to move, because somebody else wants the remote control.

Laila

Our Poodle friend Laila celebrates her name day today. It is not common for dogs to have name days, this is normally just for human given names. I know of nobody but Laila who is a dog and has a name day. She deserves to be celebrated, nevertheless.

I wish Hailey had a name day.

Fourth of July

It is the 4 July and national holiday in the USA, my Mum's home country. Mum moved to Sweden when she was five, but never forgot where she came from and was always an American patriot. (Calvin is also from the USA and claims to be an American patriot, but he moved here when he was just some months old and actually does not remember very much about America.)

I am half American, and proud of it. I love the USA and celebrate today, in the way my Mum taught me. For the land of the free, and the home of the brave, we salute today!

Rain

It rained a lot yesterday. It also rained this afternoon.

Daniel had planned to mow the lawn, but he could not because of the rain. It is not just that it is uncomfortable to be outdoors in the rain, the main reason is that the straws of grass in the lawn mostly just folds when they are wet. This makes lawn mowing rather futile. Daniel stayed indoors with the rest of us instead.

We watched the Austrian Grand Prix in Formula 1 together. This was a much better afternoon, than if Daniel would have been outdoors mowing the lawn.

I like a well mowed lawn, not least because ticks dislikes it, but it is still nice when Daniel spends time with us dogs instead of mowing the lawn.

Penalties

The quarter final tonight was Germany versus Italy. The game ended in a tie which was not solved in overtime. It went on to penalty shots. After a lot of penalty shots, Germany got through as winner.

By the time the game was over, it was almost midnight. I did not have time to write any blog entry before midnight. Well, here is a blog entry anyway.

Dad

It is the 1July. Dad would have celebrated his birthday, had he still been alive.

Dad's own dad was from Belgium. I hoped Belgium would win in the quarter final against Wales today. We all thought they would, because Belgium is ranked much higher than Wales and has played well so far in the tournament (except for the loss against Italy in the first game).

In this game, however, Belgium did not play well. The defence was not as it should be, without two key players. Wales was a better team. Wales deserved their 3-1 victory. I congratulate Wales!

Trespassing

When two teams are playing football, only the players and the referees are allowed on the football field. If you run down unto the field and are not a player or a referee, you are trespassing.

In the last minutes of the Poland v. Portugal quarter final, a man tresspassed and ran onto the field. Security guards took care of him quickly. The TV producer did not air pictures of this man, which is good, because he does not deserve this kind of attention in live TV across the world. The game was resumed in just a little while.

I hope there will be no more trespassing. It disturbs the game. People should do better things than interrupting the game for every player and spectator. They could get out for a run with their dogs instead.

Walk the Walk

In English, you can say that somebody "walks the walk, talks the talk". This means they do what is expected of them to prove they are what they say they are. I just see one flaw with this test. A human can never "walk the walk" without a dog. As a human, you have to have a dog to walk. Unless you have a dog, you cannot properly walk. Walking the walk, thus, is about walking with your dog. The definition of the "walk the walk, talk the talk" saying still does not mention any dog. This is a major flaw of the saying.

Never try to "walk the walk" without a dog! It just is not a walk.

Midsommer Murders

It is summer, and new episodes of Midsommer Murders are aired on Swedish TV. It always run on TV during the summer. We like this. Our favourite is Sykes, the dog, of course. His human, chief inspector John Barnaby, is also good.

New Washing Machine

We have got a new washing machine. The old one broke down a couple of days ago. Paula and Daniel tried to mend it, but they did not manage to. The old washing machine was eight years old and has washed a lot of clothes, puppy blankets, sheets et cetera. I guess it was about time to get a new one, anyway. We now have a Bosch, which is known, German quality. We hope it will be nice.

Final Sixteen

There were sixteen teams left to the knock-out stage in the UEFA Euro 2016. Among them, I hope Belgium will win. (My paternal grandfather was from Belgium, this is why.) Belgium played Hungary today and won in an impressing manner. The Hungarians played well, but the Belgians still beat them 4-0.

In the quarter final, Belgium will meet Wales. Wales had an easier opponent in Northern Ireland, but won with just 1-0. I believe Belgium will win against Wales.

Midsummer

It is Midsummer Day in Sweden, a holiday held in great reverence. The great celebrations are held on Midsummer Eve, the day before, however. This is just like the celebrations of Christmas and Valborg, so it is common Swedish practice, though curious.

I came along with Paula and Daniel to watch folk dance in Wadköping, the museum part of Örebro. Paula's parents participated, as they do every year. It was great fun being there. I also got some ice cream to eat. The other dogs were envious of me, when I came back, but then we all got food and everything was all right again.

We have all stayed at home, taking it easy, the whole day today. I like days like this.

Welcome Back in the Future, Britons!

We woke up this morning to the news that the Britons voted for the UK to leave the EU.

This is not good news, I believe. Still, it is too soon to say for real that the outcome will be bad. There will be uncertainty about what will happen for a while, but it is not the end of the EU, of the UK, or anything similar.

The Kennel Club in England is not a member of the international kennel federation FCI. Still, there is cooperation and mutual recognition of dogs, breed standards, and dog show results. There will be cooperation between the EU members and the UK in the future, it is just that it will look different. Perhaps it will be a little more paperwork et cetera in the cooperation, but there will never be inpenetrable walls.

If the Britons want to return to the EU in the future, I would wish them a warm welcome back.

Referendum

Dogs and humans alike are curious about the outcome of the referendum in the United Kingdom today. It is a referendum on whether the country should remain a member of the European Union or leave this union.

Daniel says this is the most important casting of votes this year, much more than the election of president in the USA in November. I tend to agree. If Britain would leave the EU, this would affect the whole union, as well as Britain itself. Perhaps it would be the beginning of the end of the EU. A British result to remain would, thus, be of equal importance. It will probably change the EU in some ways, probably to the liking of the Brits.

The polls have showed that the referendum will be a close call. We will have to wait for the result.