Tourists to the Moon

Two tourists have paid considerable amount of money to become the first passengers on a space ship to fly around the Moon. NASA astronauts from the USA flew around the Moon in the Apollo programme in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Since then, no humans have been that far away from Earth.

I would like to visit the Moon. It would be fantastic. Just flying around the Moon seems a little wasteful, however. If offered to come along, I would not turn it down, but landing must be better. Otherwise, it is like flying to America without landing, but just seeing the coontinent from above and then flying back home. It would be an adventure, but a small one.

There may be tourist trips to the Moon with landings further into the future. This is something to look forward to.

Strange Weather

The weather this winter puzzles me. It surprises me time and time again. We had cola weather and snow for a couple of days, but today there has been thaw again. I wish we could get a thick layer of snow that would stay for a while, but it seems it is too much to ask this year. Maybe the weather will be more stable in the summer.

Coming Home

Paula came home this evenign, from her days off in the mountains. We rejoiced, now our whole family is gathered again.

We have had a good weekend even without Paula. We do have a good life in a good home. Still, it would have been better, had Paula been here too. I believe she deserves to get a few days off with her parents, sister, nephew, and niece. This does not mean I love that she is away. It is mixed feelings. On the other paw, is there anything that is 100 % positive? Maybe that Paula is back again – this actually does make me happier, than if she had stayed at home.

Somg Contest

Now we have heard all 28 songs of this year's Swedish qualification to the Eurovision Song Contest. The only song about a dog, was a middle act in one earlier episode. No contestant sang about dogs. I do not root for any particular song, others may do this. If there had been a song about a dog, chances are, I would have rooted for it, though. You would have known. I hope it will be better next year, but I doubt it. There should be more songs about dogs over all,

No Pups

Hello, Polly here!

There will be no pups for me this spring. I was to the veterinarian today, and she confirmed by ultra sound, that there are no pups in my womb. This is disappointing. I had hoped to have a litter, as I have often had in February. It is so satisfying taking care of newly born pups. Maybe my daughter Soya will get pups in a while, in which case I will be a grandmother. This would also be nice.

Off to the Mountains

Paula, her sister Mia, and the children of Mia, went to the mountain range on the border between Sweden and Norway today. They will visit Paula's and Mia's parents, who always spend this week every year in a mountain resort there, skiing cross country and occasionally downhill. Meanwhile, we  dogs take care of the household at home, keeping Daniel company. I hope Paula will have a good time up there, she usually has. Then she comes home relaxed and in a good mood. We will see her soon.

Birthday of a Little Human

Paula's sister has a son, Arvid, who turned two years old today. By human standards, he is still a pup. Paula and Daniel were there, celebrating him. They had a good time. My granddaughter Soya lives with Arvid and his family and took part in the party. She enjoyed it, too.

They had grilled hot dogs to eat, since Arvid loves it. This is a part of the party I would gladly have attended. Hot dogs are great food.

Snow

Suddenly, after weeks with no snow, albeit mostly days with temperatures below the freezing point, we got snow this morning. It was a few centimetres. This is enough for it to be fun, even though it would be more fun with even more snow. at least a decimetre is my preferred hight of a layer of newly fallen snow.

We will see how long this snow will last. There have been days with relatively hing temperatures now and then all through this winter. My guess is this snow will soon be gone, I hope not, but I believe so. Well, having it for a little while is better than nothing.

Morning Light

It is the second half of February. Daylight is now guiding us on the morning walk. It is still the twilight of dawn, but it is brighter than the black night. We can be happy for it for a while, then the humans turn to Daylight Saving Time, so the official time of the clocks say we have to get up an hour earlier and walk in the dark more mornings. We rejoice over the morning light while it lasts.

Disturbed

Hello, Orange here!

This afternoon, I was resting on the sofa in the living room, when Daniel came by with the vacuum cleaner. He vacuumed the whole sofa and I had to move to let him clean the spot where I laid. Life can be so harsh on a Sunday afternoon, having to move away for the vacuum cleaner. This was no fun. I was disturbed in my observation of the day of rest. I am glad Daniel was satisfied with the cleaner appearance of the sofa, though.

Jubilee

It was seventeen years ago today that Paula and Daniel got engaged. They married the following year.

Congratulations on this day, Paula and Daniel!

Three Years

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is three years ago today, that my dear daughter Soya was born.

This was during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. It was the Aangenaam M-litter, so the official name of Soya came from a Swedish gold medan winner, hence, she has got the name Queen Kalla.

Congratulations, Soya!

Early Night

We went to bed rather early tonight. It felt nice. When you go to bed early, you can fall asleep early. Sleeping is sweet. I often wish I could rest or sleep more than I do. Now I am ready to go to rest.

Tomatoes

We watched Master Chef Sweden on TV tonight. It was a horrible episode. The elimination challenge was making a food dish with tomatoes, without any animal proteine. How can you make food without animal proteine?! Oh, the horror I felt! Humans are carnivores, like dogs, both humans and dogs eat meat. We are supposed to eat animal proteine. How can you make a food dish without animal proteine, and get away with it. It was terrible, horrible, disgusting. I am glad it was just on TV.

Valentine's Day

It is Valentine's Day, the day when we give special attention to our loved ones, most certainly our soul mates.

My soul mate was Kenny, father of Karstuhl and more pups of mine. Kenny is not with us anymore, but he lives on in my heart. He is surely also in dog Heaven. I miss him, especially on a day like this. Kenny was always my Valentine.

I do not wish for any new soul mate, my memories of Kenny is enough. I have also had all the pups I want. Now I will be grandmother and great grandmother instead. My pups and grandpups can get Valentines.

Special Signs

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There are some funny things you can do, when writing this blog. It does not just have to be about the text itself, as Mommy tends to have it. For example, I usually have another colour than black in the texts of my blog entries. Mommy thinks this is unnecessary.

I have also pointed out to Mommy, that she can use special signs in the blog entries. It is possible to use signs like ←↚↤⇨⇰. Mommy believes this is as unnecessary as changing the colour of the text. She asked me when I would use arrows like this. I told her I would today, and I have now, haven't I?

Arrows are nice signs.

Pancakes

Hello, Orange here!

Congratulations to my sister Lemon, on our birthday today. Lemon is not called Lemon any longer, but she was, when we knew each other in the litter box.

I got pancakes for my birthday celebration. This was great! I love pancakes and there are few thing I could think of, which would be equally great on a birthday. It was a nice birthday.

Curing Cataract on Dogs

There was a very interesting article in our local newspaper today, about operations curing cataract on dogs. Apparently, it is quite easy with modern technology, changing the bad lens of an eye on a dog or another animal. The article told the story about an eight year old Alaskan Malamute, who was blind, but regained her sight.


The article can be found online, but it can only be read by people who pay for it. Since Daniel has a subscription on the newspaper, we can read it online as well. If you cannot, you just have to take my word for it, that it was a positive article.

Dogs and Humans Affect Each Other

This will come as no surprise to any dog with humans, and any human with dogs. Now there is scientific proof, however. Dogs and humans mirror the personality of one another.

The research shows, i.a., that dogs can mirror the anxiety and negativity of owners. At the same time, dogs that are relaxed and friendly can pass this on to humans, perhaps helping their owners cope with stress.

This only goes to prove, once again, how good dogs can be for humans, and humans for dogs. Dogs and humans really make each other better. We are great for one another. This is great, isn't it?

A Little More Snow

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have had a little more snow over the last couple of days. Just a little. It is still not enough to play in. The clouds should be ashamed of themselves, for not turning into more snow.

Sushi

It was a long time since Paula or Daniel brought sushi home to eat. This Japanese food is among my favourites. Tonight, Daniel came home late, after being trapped on a train station due to cancelled trains. Once he was back in our home town, he purchased some sushi. I got to taste some. It was great. It was almost enough to compensate for having to wait for so long for Daniel to come home.

I wish we would eat sushi more often.

Cold Outside

It is February and cold weather. I have experienced much colder weather than the seven degrees Celsius below the freezing point that we had today, but not this year. If February continues being this cold, I guess you could say we have had a rather normal winter, despite the relatively warm December and January. I am looking forward to spring and summer.

What About Dog Shows?

I read this interesting piece on Stanley, the tiny capital of British crown dependency Falkland Islands.  It says Stanley is more British than Britain itself, with most inhabitants having their roots in Britain. It does not say, however, anything about dog shows. Dog shows were invented in England, and are still a big thing. If the Falkland Islands are more British than England is, they should have dog shows. I wonder if there are many dogs. They have sheep, so they should at least have herding dogs. It would be interesting to read more about dogs of the Falkland Islands. I may make some research, and if I find something, I will come back to the subject in the blog. Stay tuned!

Horrible Theft

We received a shipment of dog food today. When Daniel lifted it up to carry it inside, the parcel hardly weighed anything. He discovered it was open in one edge, and that it was completely empty.

Who steals dog food? This is an awfully horrible theft! We cannot understand how a thief can be so cruel as to steal dog food. Dog food is not worth that much money, but it means a lot to the dogs from whom it is stolen. I wish we could find out who did it, but this is probably impossible to tell. I hope it will never happen again.

Snow on the Arabian Peninsula

We have had a mild winter in Sweden so far. There is just a little snow on the ground now, a layer best measured in millimetres.

Meanwhile, in the United Arab Emirates, temperatures have fallen to three degrees below the freezing point and there has been snow for the first time since December 2004. I was born in 2005, so if I would have lived in the UAE, this would have been the first snowfall in my life. It is amazing that snow falls so close to the equator.

Weather is interesting, when it is odd. You cannot foresee weather, which is nice. It makes odd weather events like the snow on the Arabian Peninsula something to talk about.

I wish we will get more snow here in Örebro, Sweden.

Qualification for the Qualification for the Qualification for the Contest

The first qualification round for the Swedish qualification round for the Eurovision qualification round for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was aired on TV today. There were no really good songs. This is, perhaps, not surprising. With so many steps towards the final song contest, there mist be many newly written songs. It is unlikely all of these will be great.

Making a Dog Stay

Have you ever wanted to make a dog stay? There is a fool proof way of doing this, no matter what dog you want to stay. Just pet the dog. If you pet a dog, the dog will like you and the petting, and it will stay. If you stop petting it, it may go. Petting a dog is the answer.

Bad Foot

We feel sorry for Paula. Her foot hurts, and she is limping when walking.

Paula had a problem like this with her foot last autumn. We all hope this is just a very temporary re-lapse of the old injury. I wish there was something I could do to help, other than offering my company and sympathy. Arguably, however, it should be possible for Paula to get help at the hospital. We hope she will.

Coaching Norway

The Norwegian national football team has a new coach, the Swede Lars Lagerbäck. He is a good coach, having coached Sweden in a good way before, and Iceland in a terrific way more recently. I always have a love for Norwegian teams and sportsmen, my father was from Norway and always rooted for Norwegians. With a Swedish coach for the Norwegian team, perhaps I can have an easier task in trying to make my fellow Swedish dogs root for Norway in football besides Sweden. This is good.