Rain

It is raining a lot. The ground needs it. I am glad to hear the rain, when I am indoors.

Nothing New

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Sometimes, Mommy decides she does not want to write a blog entry, and demands that I do it instead. I have to, in order to be allowed to write blog entries when I ask to. Nevertheless, I decide what I write and this means I can decide to write about nothing in particular. There just is nothing new today. There you go, a blog entry. Do come back again, it may be better tomorrow.

Splendid Isolation?

British Prime Minister Theresa May has now formally signed the bill triggering Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union. The United Kingdom will leave the EU.

I cannot say I am surprised. It follows the outcome of the referendum last summer, even though there was a small margin. It also follows the British tradition of "splendid isolation". The Brits believe they are better of alone. They do the same in the dog world, where the Kennel Club in the UK is not a member of the International Kennel Federation FCI.

Let me just say, I doubt this isolation will be very splendid. Free trade, which is the main goal of the EU, is a positive thing. I believe the British exit will be negative both for the UK and for the remaining countries of the EU.

On the other paw, who am I to tell? I am just a dog. British dogs were not allowed to vote in the referendum. It might be that the exit will have beneficial consequences. We will have to see.

Sunshine

We have had sunshine and warm spring weather for a couple of days. I guess it can be colder again further on, but I guess there will be no winter anymore. Rain would be needed, but preferably in the nighttime, when we are indoors sleeping, anyway. Life is good, any which way the weather choses to take.

Gonza

Today, Karstuhl and I have been worried about her son Gonza. He has hurt his back and has to have veterinary care and probably some form of rehabilitation. We are not sure what have caused this, but we think there must have been some kind of accident causing this. Hopefully, Gonza will be fully recovered. He is still young and should have many happy years to come. We just have to follow the news about him and hope for the best.

Silly

We have "daylight savings time" from today until October. I have always felt this is silky. Why would you want to turn the clock, to convince people to rise earlier in the morning? The clock is just a device showing the time. Let things start at 7 in the morning instead of eight, instead.

New Season of Formula 1

We will get up early tomorrow morning. It is time for the Australian Grand Prix in Formula 1, the first race of the 2017 season. It is exciting, with new rules and cars that are supposed to be faster. Daniel is the greatest fan of us, he believes Formula 1 is the very best of competitions. I think it is among the best, but the very best is dog shows. There is no dog show for us tomorrow, however.

Taxes

Why do humans pay taxes? It is something I cannot understand.

First Come, First Served

If you go to bed first of all, you get to chose where to lie. I did this tonight. Daniel was a little bit annoyed, as I occupied part of the bed where he likes to lie. I was here first, however. Life is harsh for Daniel, sometimes.

Is Spring Coming?

We had a little snow last Monday morning. Since then, we have had temperatures well above the freezing point. Spring equinox has passed. Is spring finally here? I hope so, after a boring winter without much snow. I would welcome warmer weather. Any more precipitation can be in the form of rain. We will see what happens.

Circular Runways?

Runways for aircraft requires a lot of place, in part because they are long. A new idea to remedy this problem is to construct circular runways.

I am not sure this is a good idea in countries up north, like Sweden. what would happen if there is ice on the runway in the winter? It is more dangerous to go in a curve than straight ahead, when there is ice on the ground. Has the inventor given ice a thought?

Music

There was a documentary on TV today about music. Archaeologists have found flutes made by bones in stone age times. These are the oldest musical instruments ever found. If I understood correctly, this was from a time when dogs and humans had already teamed up. I believe the love of dogs inspire much music. Music often express love, dogs and humans always have love for each other. This may have been the case from the earliest times that we were together. History is fascinating.

Zip Line Rescue

There has been massive floods in Peru in South America. In one instance, a zip line was used to save a dog. This was a mighty fine piece of news, I believe. Dogs are important in society. Humans who can save dogs, but do not, do not have enough compassion. If given the chance, dogs would always save humans.

Disturbed in the Morning

It is Saturday and we were going to sleep until late in the morning. Some of the younger dogs rose early, anyway. They woke us up time and time again, one after the other. Why can they not appreciate a calm morning, undisturbed in any way? You do not have to go out early in the morning, sleeping until late is more sweet. When will they ever learn?

It has happened that I accompany the other dogs outdoor. This is certainly not because I need it. If it was up to me, we would all have continued sleeping. All of the others know that I am never the one waking anybody up early in the morning. When waking up anyway, however, I may just as well go out, when the others do. The I hope we can all go back to sleep. Sometimes we do. I wish we would always do.

Saturday mornings can be a treat. Too often, they are not. I hope this upcoming Sunday morning will be better.

Friday Night

It is Friday night. This is good, because I know we usually sleep until late in the morning on Saturdays. The most common case when we get up early on Saturdays, is when we go to dog shows. If there is anything better than sleeping until late in the morning, it is going to dog shows. I am looking forward to sleeping until late tomorrow morning, and to going to dog shows on Saturdays later in the year. Saturdays are good days. Fridays too, because they are just before Saturdays. It feels good tonight.

Clean Sheets

We have got clean sheets in the bed tonight. It is sweet, it feels good. I am not always sure what makes Paula and Daniel decide to change the sheets, but I always like it when they do. Then I lay on the sheets, putting my own scent there in a mild manner. This makes the sheets about its best after a night or two. Now I can look forward to this.

Roast Beef

There was roast beef for dinner today. It smelled nicely. I wanted some, but since I had already eaten, I was not given any. I wish there would have been some leftovers for me, at least, but the roast beef was evidently so tasty that nothing was left. Perhaps I can get some next time.

Pie

It is the 14th of March, or 3/14, as my American Mum would write. This is the Pie day, the day when we celebrate the tasty pastries known as pies.

It is actually pi day, the day when we celebrate the infinite number that is designated by the Greek letter pronounced as pi, that stands for the mathematical relationship between the radius and circumference of a circle. A pie is also circular in its shape, and since it is pronounced the same way as the infinite number, we can celebrate pi by eating pie.

I wish all days would be as tasty as pi day.

Anti-clockwise

We usually walk the same morning walk, clockwise. I want variation once in a while, so I suggest we walk the same route, but anti-clockwise. Sometimes, we do. I like this. It is a variation of our everyday habit. We also get to look at things along the road from another perspective, which is nice. Variation is good, if done with moderation.

Dog Show Again

For the first time this year, and first in a very long time, Paula and Daniel went to a dog show. They brought Gunde and Karen, while I had to stay at home. Neither Gunde nor Karen got any terrific results. I believe I would have, but, alas, I did not go. I hope I get to go later this year.

Swedish Qualification Round

The final installment of the Swedish qualification round to the Eurovision Song Contest was held today. Paula and Daniel were not quite satisfied with the result. On the other paw, I guess most Swedes are not, because the winner did not get more than 50 % of the votes.

I did not root for anybody. I would have, had anybody had a song about a dog. The only one in the qualification contest known for a song about a dog, was one of the hosts: Hasse Andersson. He sang this song with the rock group Mustasch in one of the earlier qualifiers, but not as part of the competition. It was still my favourite. I wish someone would compete with a dog song, sometime.

Petting

Some of my dog friends are more keen on being petted, than I am. I almost think they overdo it. I like being petted, but moderately. There must be limits to this. Meanwhile, I let them being petted the way they want to,

Long Meeting

Daniel was at a meeting this evening. This is not odd, as such. He is at meetings in the evening rather often. This time, however, the meeting went on until late. We missed him, because we thought he would come home earlier than he did. Well, he felt glad when he got home. We were happy that he finally arrived home.

International Women's Day

Humans have a day they call International Women's Day, to make themselves aware of discrimination against women in society.

A day like this is not necessary among dogs. Bitches rule.

Repeat

Paula likes to hear the same song again and again, once she has discovered a new song she thinks is great. Daniel often grows tired of it much quicker than Paula does. For my part, I do not care much. Music is not a big thing in my life. If Paula wants to put a song on repeat, I let her do it. Her happiness is important to me. Letting her repeat songs is just one way to help her being hapoy, which is good. I can just think about other things.

Colder

It is getting colder again, even though we are a few days into March. This winter, the weather seem to vary more than ever. It might be that I just do not remember the variations of every precious winter I have experienced, but still, I have this distinct feeling. I am getting tired of the winter now, especially since there is no snow to play in, anyway. Now I want spring to come. We will probably have to wait for a couple of weeks more, though. The only good thing is that it is always socially acceptable to complain about the weather in this country.

Vasaloppet with Dogs?

The oldest long cross country ski competition, Vasaloppet in Dalecarlia, Sweden, is always run on the first Sunday in March. We got up early to watch it on TV, as we usually do.

There are a lot of minor conmetitions in the week preceding the main competition. I believe there should be a dog and ski competition. Sled dogs can run alongside fast cross country skiers and the fastest pair would win. I am sure this would make for great TV entertainment, just like the ordinary Vasaloppet.

I claim no copyright on this idea. If the enterprise behind Vasaloppet would want to arrange a dog competition, I would just be happy about it.

Lazy Day

We just took it easy today. It felt lazy, but I believe you need to be lazy once in a while.

When I have taken it easy all day, one might think I would put more effort into the blog post of today. It is just that I still feel lazy. I just do not feel like writing that much today. If you want to read more, there are years of earlier blog posts to get back to. I hope you can find more interesting stuff to read there.

Friday Night Party

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula and Daniel are at a party this Friday night.

Meanwhile, we dogs are having a party of our own back home.

I hope we do not trash too much, before they come home.

Sparkling Drinks

Paula and Daniel drink sparkling drinks sometimes. They like it, so does Javier. The downside is, you have to drink it before all the bubbles are gone. You cannot let it stand in a glass or a bowl through the night, the bubbles will disappear and part of the taste with it. I do not care much, I rather drink plain water. Paula, however, has a glass of sparkling drink to finish this evening. This cannot be good, feeling obligated to finish it. I hope Paula think it is worth it.

Australia, 25 Years of Growth

Australia has a great economy. It has now had 25 years of uninterrupted economic growth.

I often think about my late friend, Auntie Linni, when I think of Australia. Her father was from Australia, so she held the country in high regard, often rooting for Australia in sports. For Auntie Linni, the tremendous economy of Australia would not be a surprise. She always trusted in Australia. I guess I cannot do anything but the same, given the aticle I have a link to from this blog entry.

Too bad Auntie Linni is no longer with us. I miss her every day.