Rain

It has been raining today. It has actually been raining quite a lot lately. You can see this on the lawn, which grows with a relatively huge speed. It is a good thing to get a lot of rain after the dry summer that we had, but it still annoys me to be showered whenever I go outdoors. In an ideal world, rain would fall late at night, when we are indoors anyway. On the other paw, an ideal world would be rather dull. I like the world we have, despite its glitches.

Stop Over at Lunch

Once in a while, Daniel has things to do away from home in the morning as well as in the afternoon, but stops by at home at lunch time. In the time he is at home, he lets us dogs out. He often gives us linch as well. It is usually done rather quickly, but this is quite all right with me, because I hate waiting when food is on its way.

Today was one of these days when Daniel stopped by around noon. We also got lunch. I liked it as much as I usually like it. In a way, it makes me feel a little important, when Daniel comes home for us like this. We know we are all important for him and for Paula, but for Daniel to make it home, taking us out, giving us lunch, and often filling upthe water bowls or doing a few other important things, is special.

Nevertheless, I like the days when Daniel and Paula are both at home the whole day the best. I hope there will be more of those days soon.

The Downside of Being Daily

There are days when I am not inspired to write anything in my blog. At the same time, I always try to keep it daily. It is called Daily Hailey, and I try to live up to the promise of this name. There are, however, days when nothing really special happens and when there are no news story to write about, either. This is one of these days. I wish I had something better to tell you, but I do not, not today. If you come back tomorrow, I hope there will be something more interesting to read again. Meanwhile, I hope you have a nice time.

Finland

Hello, Li’l Gertrud here!

I have been told I will go to Finland for a dog show in late September. This will be interesting, since I have never been to Finland. It is a show in Eckerö and we will go there by car and ferry.

Grand Mum is envious. She loves to go to dog shows, but may not come this time. I hope I can make her proud by my performance, anyway. She would like this, she said.

Road trips are always fun. It is nice to see new parts of the world, even though there is no place like home. Stay tuned for more reports!

Bills

We paid bills tonight. In the middle of this work, Paula called from the hospital. Daniel and Paula talked for about half an hour, then we had been logged out of the bank payment service. It proved not to be such a big deal. Once we were logged in again, we discovered that most of the work done was saved already. This was good. Now the bills are paid.

Spa-Francorchamps

Hello, Li’l Gertrud here!

We are watching the Belgian Grand Prix of Formula 1 this afternoon. It is exciting.

This race is held annually on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the southeast of Belgium. I was intrigued to hear that there was a ”Kennel Straight” on the circuit. Grand Mum told me it was not so, however. The people on TV commenting the race are talking about the ”Kemmel Straight”. Well, it sounds very much alike.

The race is exciting, no matter what the straights on the circuits are called.

Luxury

Our little piece of land is bigger than most lots for small houses. We have a large area between the house and the road which we hardly ever use. Daniel mows the lawn there (unless the lawn mower is broken down, as it currently is), and we walk across it on our walks.

Daniel says this piece of land is a piece of luxury. He enjoys having it, just for the sake of owning it. Nobody else can decide what will happen there, it is for us to decide if there will be any changes. No other family will ever live between us and the road, as long as Daniel may decide.

I do think this is a luxury. If we would want to build more dog yards, we have the place to do so. This is a luxury. Perhaps we never will build more dog yards, but we could, if we would want to. This feels good.

There have been times when Paula and Daniel jave talked aboit moving to a different place. I do not thinkI want to do that. I am perfectly fine with this little piece of luxury land.

Longer Away

Hello, Orange here!

This morning, my son went away to his new family. He went farther away than his sister. He will live in a suburb of Stockholm. Danielhas loved there and he has assured me it is a nice place to live in. I believe this will also turn out great. My pups are worth the best.

New Family

Hello, Orange here!

My daughter Clementin went away to her new family today. They are nice people, I have met them before and met them today. There are also other Shibas in this family.

Clementin willhave a good life, I do not doubt this. Still, I miss her already.

There might very well be times when Clementin and I will meet again. This will, perhaps, be at a dog show. I hope it will be many times and not too far off into the future. Clementin will have a good life, regardless, I am sure. I wish her luck!

Inspection

Hello, Orange here!

My pups Clementin and Mandarin and I went to the veterinarian today. It was time for their first veterinary inspection.

They passed with flying colours. They were also very well behaved and charmed the veterinarian and other staff at the hospital. I was not surprised. Clementin and Mandarin have always been very cute and well behaved. They will have good lives, I am sure. I love them both very much.

The Pups

Today Ihad the privilege of getting to know Orange’s pups. She has done a nice job of rearing them, they were playful but polite. I quite enjoyed spending some time with them.

It is always nice spending some time with small pups. The advantage of spending time with pups of other mothers, is that you can leave the main responsibility for their upbringing to their mother, you do not have to take this responsibility yourself. Still, I do help a little, I cannot stop myself from doing this. Orange did not mind.

Back to Work

Daniel started to work again today, after a few weeks of vacation. This meant it was time for us dogs to start guarding the house on a more daily basis again. This is no problem, we are used to it. It is just that life is better, the more of our family are at home.

Sometimes, I wish everyone would be at home the whole time. On the other paw, I do beloeve this would turn out to be boring in a while. Life is not just about staying at home, it is also about experiencing new things and places. Going to dog shows, for instance, is great fun. guarding the house when not everybody is at home can also be fun, though not that fun. Life is nice, anyway.

Broken Lawn Mower

Daniel mowed the lawn today, or at least almost half of it. Then the lawn mower broke down. We are not sure why it broke down, but Daniel thinks it might be the spark plug that ceased to function. Daniel was very disappointed that he could not mow the whole lawn. He did manage most of the fenced in areas where we dogs roam, which is good, because this minimizes the risk of ticks. Appart of this, I do not care very mich, though I understand Daniel’s frustration. It is annoying when things break down.

Rainy Night

Darkness has come, because it is night, the sun sets earlier than preciuosly during the summer, and it is overcast and raining.

It feels nice, lying indoors listening to the rain outdoors. We are warm, dry, and comfortable. Meanwhile, the rain gives water to all the growing things and eventually to our well. I like this.

Past Midnight

I am always annoyed when I miss midnight and gets to make a daily blog entry the next day. Please come back again later for better blog entries!

African Animals in Cuba

Here is an interesting story about African animals thriving in Cuba. They were gifted to Cuba during the 1960’s to 1980’s, when Cuba aided many communist regimes in Africa. The origin of these Cuban animals were sent from these regimes as thanks. They now roam free in a part of Cuba with a lot of wilderness and thrive to the extent that they are hunted for food. You ca, for example, get antelope steak.

While I would like to try antelope steak, Iwould not want to go to Cuba to do so. Africa would be closer.

Deworming

Hello, Orange here!

Daniel has dewormed my pups. We both believe the pups do not have worms, but as a precaution, deworming must always be made.

Bothpups took the deworming great. They are good at everything they do, including this. I am so proud of them. They will surely be loved by their future families.

Missing Paula

Paula has been to the human hospital for almost two weeks. She has got some sort of infection which gives her a fever. We all miss her and wish her well.

Daniel takes good care of every human workload at home. Still, it is not the same without Paula. We miss her so much. Hopefully, she will be good enough tocome home soon.

A Story of Zero

Can you count to nothing? Ancient humans never did, but then the digit 0 was invented in India.

Apparently, 0 has only been invented once in human history. It might seem strange to us in the modern society, when we are used to having the zero, but it was a revolutionary concept that has led to many mathematical and scientific breakthroughs.

Here is an interesting article about zero.

Another Champion

Our Affenpinscher friend Morran became Swedish Show Champion today. I congratulated her, when she came back home.

Morran won her final CAC at our regional home turf, the annual show in Askersund. I have also won there.

There are two kinds of dogs: those who can become show champions, and those who cannot. The former kind is the better kind. A dog does not necessarily have to be champion himself or herself, but if there are loads of champions in the pedigree and among the offspring, it is good enough. (Dad was like this.) I do not know very much about Affenpinschers in general or about the pedigree of Morran. She does not have any offspring, at least not yet. Now that she is show champion herself, she has got proof that she is a dog of the better kind. This is worth celebrating.

Thunder in the Morning

We woke up to thunder and lightning this morning. It was quite early. Some of us made it out and then in again, before the rain started to fall. It was a heavy rainfall for quite some time. We actually got more than ten millimetres of rain, much needed this dry summer. It was not too early to get up, so I was not that worried about the way we woke up. The rest of the day had fine weather without any rain. It was a good day to live.

Disappointing Rain

Thunder and lightning struck yesterday night. There was also a heavy rain shower.

This morning, there was 1 millimetre of rain in the rain gauge. What a disappointment.

We still have not had close to the amount of rain that usually falls during the summer, even though it has been better lately. The plants and our well needs more water. We wish for more rain, preferably during the night, when we are indoors sleeping anyway. Perhaps there will be a lot of rain this autumn, at least.

Darker Nights

Hello, Li’l Gertrud here!

The nights are getting darker again. I feel comfortable with this. Not yet one year old, I was used to dark nights as a pup. It seems like it is easier tosleep when it is dark outside. It is, unless there is lightning, of course. We had lightning and thunder this evening, but now there is just rain. Lightning and thunder is exciting, but I would prefer not having it in the middle of my night’s sleep.

Pups

Hello, Li’l Gertrud here!

I have gotten used to the nickname ”Li’l Gertrud”. I have it in part because I got my name from Paula’s mother, who is a human and therefore bigger than me, as a Shiba. Another reason for the name is that Ihave been the youngest dog in our house. Not the smallest, but the youngest.

Now, however, Orange has a litter of pups born this summer. They are Mich smaller and younger than me. Can I still be called Li’l? Well, if both of them gets new families, I guess I can. We will see what happens.

Sudden Shower

It said in the newspaper this morning that there would be no rain today. Then we had a sudden shower in the late afternoon. It was a short but heavy rainfall. I know from before that you cannot fully trust the weather forecasts, even though they are generally quite good. It gives me a certain satisfaction to know that you cannot make completely true forecasts. Life would be boring, if you always knew in advance what the weather would be. Life would be very, very boring, if you always knew in advance anything that would happen. The uncertainities about the future gives life suspense and makes it worth living. I like that.

Going Out

Hello, Orange here!

My pups are great. They have learned to walk out into the garden themselves, when the Doors are opendoc for them. They are Shibas, so noone should be surprised that they are well on their way to become house broken already, but it is still great that they are. It is so easy being their mother. I would love them either way, but love is easier when it is easy taking care of them.

Hospitals

Paula is at the hospital since a couple of days. This time, it is not because she works there, but because she has an infection and needs medical treatment. Daniel visited her this afternoon. He has told us she is feeling all right under the circumstances and have hope for a quick recovery. We hope so too.

Daniel’s father also had to go to the hospital today, in Stockholm, where he lives. Daniel’s brother helped him by calling an ambulance and came along to the hospital. He told Daniel there was no need to rush to Stockholm. They have to see what the physicians say. We hope for the best.

It is good that there are hospitals, though we would all prefer if we never had to use them.

More Visitors

The family of my sister Suri and granddaughter Milou stopped by today. They wanted to see Orange’s pups, because they are considering getting another Shiba. They are still not sure, but will consider the matter. There will be more pups in the future for these nice humans, if one of the current pups will not be their pup.

Apples

We have a lot of apples on our apple trees this year. Today, Nils-Olov came by and collected some of them. He has been promised to do so, because there are so many apples that we cannot take care of them all ourselves. I hope he makes something tasty with them. I am sure he will, he is usually good at doing so. It is good that the apples come to use.

Other Visitors

Hello, Orange here!

We got visitors from another family today. My son Mandarin may move to them. This is not settled yet, but will be in a few days, I guess.

These people were also nice people. They did not cuddle with the pups as much as the visitors yesterday, but they had a lot of questions and were very serious about their interest in a Shiba. I believe they would give Mandarin a good home.