Cake

Daniel had received a coupon for a free cake from a grocery store in our neighbourhood. He got it, because he had his birthday this month. He had to fetch it before the end of the month, though, or losing it, This is why he went away late today, all he did was getting that cake. I can understand him, if you are entitled to a cake, you should use it. Cakes are tasty.

Cleaner

We always keep our little house clean and tidy. It is so important to us, that we cleaned and vacuumed the floors late tonight.

Polly claims, amusingly, that when we vacuum late at night, we disturb the gnomes who live between the ceiling and the roof. I claim there are no gnomes living there. We have a constant, friendly debate over this. It is fun.

Veterans' Day

Apparently, it is veterans' day in Sweden today. This is not to celebrate show dogs in veterans' class, like me, even though it sounds like it. Celebrating old show dogs would be a great thing. Instead, it is a day to celebrate humans who are veterans after having served in the Swedish armed forces. I guess these veterans are also worthy of celebration. Cheers to all the veterans!

Mother's Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is Mother's Day in Sweden today. I suppose this is why my dear mother asked me to write the blog entry of today.

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!

Monaco

One of the most classic Formula 1 Grand Prix races is on tomorrow: Monaco's Grand Prix. It may be considered the most classic GP.

Ferrari driver from Finland, Kimi Räikkönen, will start from pole position. The other Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel, starts as number two. It will be an exciting race. I root for Räikkönen.

Dog Food

We were near a catastrophe today. We could have run out of dog food.

Paula and Daniel usually buy dog food online. The food is then delivered to our home. This time, it was Daniel's turn to place the order, but he had forgotten about it. What a terrible thing to forget!

Luckily, online orders can be placed any time of the day or night. Daniel did this. We expect new food early next week. We will not run out of food until then. All is well that ends well.

Summer

Summer is here now. It has been warm and sunny weather. I also heard on the radio that older generations in Sweden usually considered the Feast of the Ascension, which we celebrate today, the first day of summer. It is suitable, then, that the weather corresponds to this view. I like summer, it is nice and warm.

Poodles

We have got visitors tonight. A human friend of Paula and Daniel and two Poodles of his borrows our guestroom. The humans had a great time all evening, talking to each other, just like humans often do when interacting with each others. The Poodles stayed in the guestroom or went out in our garden by themselves. This is all right, we know they are just visitors and will leave again. It is still our turf. The night is just like any other night, nevertheless.

Birthday

Today was Daniel's birthday. He got presents from us as soon as yesterday, but we did congratulate him today as well. He is woth being congratulated.

The big party will be this weekend. I am already looking forward to it. I am sure there will be a lot of good things to eat.

Whisky

We gave Daniel his birthday presents this evening. He celebrate his 45th birthday tomorrow, but we did not want to wait. The present he liked the most was a bottle of single malt Scotch whisky, Glenmorangie. He loves whisky. We love to give Daniel things that he loves.

Final Game

Sweden plays Canada in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. We all root for Sweden, of course.

The USA defeated Sweden in the group, on the group but lost its quarter final game. I would have hoped for a final between Sweden and the USA. On the other hand, the USA has never been one of the great powers of ice hockey; these are Sweden, Canada, Russia, and Czechia. Russia won the bronze earlier today, so this year, great powers will win all the medals.

Sweden has defeated Canada many times, but never before in a World Championship final. We hope this will change tonight.

At Home Despite a Show

Paula and Daniel went away to a dog show just outside of Örebro today. I was not entered and stayed at home. This was just as well, since it was an unofficial show. These shows are mostly for dogs or handlers, or both, who are not used to dog shows and needs training. Nobody can say this about me, nor of Paula or Daniel (though Paula is the more experienced handler). Paula and Daniel were there as ring stewards. They had a good time, they told me afterwards. I am sure they did. For this show, I was just as glad staying at home, however.

Abdication Made Possible

The Japanese Emperor Akihito is veryold and physically fragile. He has expressed wishes to abdicate, but this is not possible under the current rules of succession.

The Japanese parliament has, however, gotten a bill about a special law allowing Akihito to abdicate. The law will be specially designed just to allow Akihito to abdicate, not anybody else in the line of succession.

I believe this is a good law. Your reverence for the Emperor has to extend to allowing him to abdicate, should he need to. This is what the bill is all about.

Long live the Emperor!

Late Train

Daniel has been away from our home town in the line of duty. He travelled by train. Unfortunately, the first train broke down and the replacement train was late. This is not the first time he is late coming home, when travelling by train. It must be terrible for people who often depend on trains for their journeys, that trains seem to be late so often. I am glad we usually go by car to and from dog shows. Our cars are much less likely of breaking down or running late for other reasons. Cars are good.

National Holiday

Dad would have celebrated today, had he still been alive. He was from Norway. It is the national holiday of Norway today. I always come to think of Dad, when I think of Norway. He was proud of his Norwegian heritage, thus, so am I.

To all of the dogs and humans out there who are Norwegian, have Norwegian roots, or just love Norway: happy 17 May!

Make Up Countries

Some people make up pretend countries, not just in fiction, but as a hobby or art project. The Slovenian based art collective NSK has done this. They even issue make up passports for this make up country. They claim the country has no territory, which all real countries must have.

I just wag my tail at make up countries like this. Fake countries are a bit amusing. Fake passports do not bother me, legal authorities will not recognise them anyway. The only thing I hope is that there are no made up kennel clubs and dog show championships from these countries – this would be fraudulent.

White Sheets

We have got a new set of bed sheets. They are all white. The sheet which we lie on is usually white, but not the sheet protecting the blankets. It looks nice when it is clean. I hope it does not get dirty too soon.

Affenpinscher Specialty

Today, I accompanied our Affenpinscher friend Morran to a specialty dog show for her breed. Daniel worked as a ring stewart and Paula and I was hanging around the Affenpinschers and their humans.

I gave Morran some valuable tips. The main thing is to enter the ring with a positive attitude, because when you tell yourself you are having fun, everything becomes easier and youoften perform better. Morran did not do very well, but she had fun, and this is the main thing.

Over all, we had a nice day, even though I never entered the show ring myself. I guess there will be new opportunities for me later in the season.

ESC

It is the night of the European Song Contest, the ESC. In part, I root for Sweden, but I do not believe in the Swedish song. We will have to hear if any song is worthy of our votes.

Dance

There was the final of a dance competition on TV tonight, Let's Dance on TV 4. Dance is a little like freestyle, but for humans and without dogs.

Late Nightt Snack

We watched TV tonight, and Paula went out into the kitchen. she came back after a little while with grilled sandwiches. I love grilled sandwiches. Fortunately, I got to taste some. It tasted really good. Eatimg late at night is great, it is unfortunate that many humans and dogs have not discovered this.

Kennel Försvarsmakten

The Swedish Armed Forces breed German Shepherd dogs. For a couple of years, they have not fulfilled the higher standard required by the Swedish Kennel Club, so their dogs have not been registered. An agreement has now been reached and dogs can be registered under the kennel prefix Försvarsmakten again. This is great. I do not think I have to justify why I think so.

Allergies

Paula could not sleep last night. She got some allergic reactio, probably from some of the trees outside, this time of the year. We feelsorry for her.

I am glad Shibas do not get allergies of this kind, at least not that I am aware of. Shibas are, over all, healthy dogs. We do have compasion with humans and dogs who have allergies, though. I wish noone had allergies. Perhaps medical science can cure allergies in the future. I hope it will.

Gender Neutral Awards?

I read this article about perhaps scrapping the gender specific awards for actors and actresses. I think they take the wrong aproach. Why would you want just one gender neutral award? Learn from dog shows instead. We have a dogs class and a bitches class, then chose best of breed by pitting the best dog against the best bitch. Make one competition for best male actor, one competition for best actress, and then pit best actor against best actress. The winner in the last cathegory would be the over all winner. This would make the best of both gender specific and gender neutral competitions.

French Election

The French had a general election today, to chose a President of the Republic. There was a low turnout. A lot of voters did not like either of the two candidates who remained from the first round. As far as I am concerned, it is an unnecessary election. The French has a man who is a decendant of their Kings. They could reinstate the Kingdom. Then nobody would have to vote for a candidate they thought was bad, in order to avoid the candidate they thought was even worse. A king or queen stands above politics and is the Head of State for everybody, not just those who elected him or her. This even means that the king or queen is equally much the Head of State for the disenfranchised, such as children and dogs. I like monarchies better than republics.

Pizza

We got some pizza with our food tonight. It is always nice to get food you do not eat every day. There are a few things I like better than pizza, but not many. It made the evening great.

Working Late

Paula was working late tonight. She ended work at eight o'clock in the evening. This is what it is like being a trained nurse. The hospital has to be open around the clock. I think it is great that Paula and her colleagues do this.

Tacos

Paula made some tacos for dinner. Some Swedes would say tacos is a dish for Friday evenings, but there really is no old tradition saying that this is so. I believe tacos is tasty enough to eat any day of the week. Pancakes, on the other hand, is supposed to be eaten on Thursdays. In my granddaughter Soya's family, they had pancakes today. This is good.

Birthday Sausages

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My daughter Soya celebrated the birthday of her human Mia today. Mia is also sister of Paula, so Paula and Daniel went there to participate in the celebrations.

There were grilled sausages at the party. Soya got some. I wish there would have been a doggy bag with leftover sausages for me. It was not, Soya ate all the leftover sausages. In a way, I am disappointed, but I am even more proud. Soya is a true Shiba and true to her female line from me, Mommy, Granny, and probably further back through the generations. When you can have good food to eat, you eat it. You do not share. Soya did just what I would have done. This makes me so proud of her.

May Day

It is May, and sunshine and warm weather is here. We can say "May day", without sounding like an old time flyer in distress, because it really is a May day.

I wish spring will continue on, all the way until it is summer. It is May, so it is supposed to continue on. Now all we need is a bit more rain, our well needs it.

Flag Upside Down

Even the Royal Palace staff can do wrong, when hoisting a flag. At the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway, the royal flag was hoisted upside down this morning. As soon as the fault was discovered, the flag was hoisted again, the right side up.

I wonder what my Dad would have said about this. He was born and raised in Norway and always a Norwegian patriot. I do believe he would have recognised it as the mistake that it must have been, however. When you think about it, it is quite funny. We all hope it will just be a one time thing, though. It is not funny if repeated.