Snoring

Mum used to snore when she slept. I have usually not snored, but the others tell me that I snore more and more often.

Snoring may increase with an older age. I do not feel old, but everybody gets older every day.

Wisdom also increases with an older age. Perhaps snoring is a sign of wisdom. Mum was very wise.

Popsicles

Paula loves popsicles, especially popsicles of the brand Piggelin. This is a popsicle by Glacebolaget with fruit flavour. I have tried it, and I like it too. We have eaten a lot of Piggelin popsicles today. Daniel even purchased more, when he went grocery shopping. Paula says it is great for her recovery. If it is, I would say she must eat asmany as she wants to.

Home Again!

Paula is home again! She has been away for several days. We are all very happy to have her home.

The family is not complete, if not everyone is around. Now we are. The family is complete again.

Now you have to excuse me, I want some time to hang around with Paula.

Raining Cats and Dogs

We had heavy rain showers all afternoon. It is the kind of weather called ”raining cats and dogs” in English. I do not know why they sayso, but my guess is that the rain pounds so hard on the roof, that it sounds like there are cats and dogs up there. A true Shiba does not gooit in the rain, unless she really has to. You could, thus, never say that it would be raining Shibas, it would not make any sense. I am glad I am a Shiba, a dog with a sense of what weather it is worth going out in.

Politics

There is still a lot of news about politics, weeks after the general election. It is still not clear who will be Prime Minister of Sweden, now that the Prime Minister of the last four years was voted down by Parliament yesterday. It is a hung parliament and we will have to see which parties are best at making compromises, thus securing a place in the cabinet.

Whomever will be the new Prime Minister, I hope it will be someone who puts animal protection in general, and especially dog protection, high on the political agenda. If I would have been able to vote, a candidate like that would have gotten my vote.

Frost

We had temperatures below the freezing point last night. On the morning walk, there was frost on the ground. It is beautiful. It is cold, but far from too cold for a Shiba coat.

I have a feeling that there is seldom frost on September mornings, that you have to wait until October or November most years, before there is frost in the morning. However, Daniel told me that somebody told him that this first frost of the season was later than average. This may be true. Recorded facts may trump your own memory. On the other paw, it does not matter much. There will certainly be ups and downs in night temperatures for many more weeks, before winter is here.

Ears

Hello, Orange here!

Poor Javier has gotten an infection in his ears. Daniel has brought a fluid to clean the middle ears. It does not look very comfortable. Our Poodle friends Laila and Momo have earlier experience of ear infections and say it is no fun, but they are glad to be rid of it. This is positive, because it points to the probability that Javier will also get rid of it. Daniel is sure the cleaning will help. We all hope it will.

Fame

Hello, Orange here!

My son Kenzo has become famous. He is mentioned in the local newspaper today. Hus humans write for the newspaper, and in a chronicle today, Kenzo was mentioned by name.

There was a promise in the article that not every weekly chronicle would be about Kenzo, but I would not mind if they were. It is always nice to hear from your pups. Reading about them in the paper is even better. I am glad it has turned out so well for Kenzo. He has a good life.

Asteroid Rovers

The Japanese space agency JAXA has made history by successfully landing two rovers on the surface of an asteroid. The rovers are sensing pictures and other data to Earth.

This is like I have always claimed: Japan is at the forefront of scientific discovery and technology. It feels good that the great country where all of us Shibas descend from not onlyhas a great history, but a great present and future. Japan will be there, in space, when our civilisation will definitely expand beyond the border of this little planet. Shibas will be there too, I am sure, perhaps even descendants of me.

The Real Momo

People around Sweden talk about the "Momo Challenge", featuring an ugly human doll.

The real Momo is not this ugly doll. The real Momo is a Miniature Poodle and a friend of ours. Remember this! If you want a real Momo challenge, ask the real Momo.

The grey Poodle here is the real Momo:

Personal Votes

Paula did not participate in the election campaign. She could not, since she was ill and spent her days and nights at the hospital because of it. Her position as a candidate in the Region Örebro län, thus, had to rely on the work of others.

Despite this lack of campaigning, she gained the special trust of 116 voters, who put her name at the top of their vote with an x. She was ninth among the candidates with an x, despite being the 24th candidate out of 26. This proves how many people there are who like Paula and who would like to see a nurse like her having influence over the health care policy in this part of Sweden.

I am proud of Paula, who succeeded in the election in this way.

Hospital Again

Paula is back at the human hospital. She will stay there at least for tonight.

I am not sure what is wrong with Paula this time. Daniel was there briefly to visit her, but he said noone knew yet. We just have to hope for the best, that it will only be for one night.

We love Paula and miss her so.

Around the Moon

A Japanese billionaire maybe the first passenger to fly around the Moon. The flight is scheduled for 2023 by private company Space X and involves a rocket engine not yet developed.

I would like to fly around the Moon. It would be a special experience, perhaps as great as being a winner at a dog show. If the first flight is scheduled for 2023, it would be too late for me, anyway. Sometimes, I wish I would live longer, or perhaps later. There is yet so much to experience and discover.

I like to see the Moon from the surface of Earth, too

Election Results

The results of the local election was published today. Daniel was re-elected for the city council. We all congraulated him.

Personally, I believe it must be very boring sitting in the city council. You just sit there for a whole day each month, talk a little, and vote according to the will of your political party. Daniel likes it, however. I am glad there are those who like it, because it is supposed to be rather important. I would much rather spend days on dog shows.

Sushi

We continued to celebrate my birthday today. Paula and Daniel came home with sushi, and I got a couple of pieces all for myself.

Sushi is great food. It is from Japan, most things from Japan are great, not just Shibas.

In a way, I have had three days of celebration. The day before yesterday, Paula came back home. Yesterday, we had the big celebration. Today, we had sushi for dinner. It can hardly get better.

Birthday

It is my birthday. It has been a great birthday. We had chicken nuggets for dinner and I got a lot of them.

My brothers Jiro and Kiko and I have now lived for thirteen years on this planet. Congratulations are due to Jiro and Kiko too, It has been great years, and more years will come. Life is great.

Now I will continue my celebrations. Stay tuned for more blog posts.

Home Again!

Paula is home again! She has been to the human hospital for six weeks, due to sepsis. Now she is finally well enough to get home.

It is my birthday tomorrow. I like birthdays. No matter how fun my birthday will be, the best present was that Paula came home today. The family is complete again.

Cleaning

Daniel is cleaning the house tonight. We help him the best we can.

Paula will be back home tomorrow. We are so looking forward to this!

An Heir and a Spare

Hello, Karstuhl here!

If you are a sovereign of a land, you want to let your offspring inherit the land. There is often just one of them who can inherit the land, but sovereigns still get more than one pup. The principle is sometimes explained with the sentence that the sovereign gets ”an heir and a spare”. If the heir would pass away, would not get any pups, or there is any other reason the lineage cannot continue through the heir, you have a younger spare.

The Emperor of Japan has just this: an heir and a spare. The heir does not have any sons, and there is male inheritance only. The spare has a son, however.

I will inherit my mother’s land, pack, and blog, in due time. I have an heir: Soya, who lives with Paula’s sister and her family. I also have a spare: Li’l Gertrud, who lives with us.

This summer, when Soya was in heat, she got to hang around with a male for a long time. At a check up by a veterinarian today, however, it turned out Soya is not expecting pups. There is a little risk that Soya cannot have any pups at all, any time. Then the hope is that Li’l Gertrud will get pups. She is the spare.

When planning your lineage, old knowledge from sovereigns is good. The words about an heir and a spare may turn out to be important for us. I hope that both Soya and Li’l Gertrud will have pups, eventually, but you never know in advance. It is better to be safe than sorry.

New Positions

Formula 1 teams Ferrari and Sauber-Alfa Romeo switches drivers next year. While Kimi Räikkönen goes to Sauber, Charles Leclerc goes to Ferrari. Leclerc has made impressive performances, so I understand that Ferrari wants him.

I guess this makes no difference to Swedish Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson.

Guesses

The general election yesterday ended with an unclear result. We will probablynot know the final result until Friday. Meanwhile, journalists, social scientists, and a lot of other people guess loudly what might happen. I get tired of hearing it. Why can they not just wait for the result?

Daniel says all of these guesses depends upon the huge impact that the government has on everybody in the modern world. Almost everything is regulated by the government, one wayor the other. Since this is the case, the outcome of the election is very important. If the government would not deal with so many aspects of our lives, the result of the election would not be as important.

I am glad the life of dogs are not quite as regulated by the government as the lives of humans are.

Election

It is election day. We still have no result. It is exciting. I hope for the Conservatives, since this is Daniel's party.

Wedding Anniversary

This day seventeen years ago, Paula and Daniel were married. Congratulations!

I am more than happy Paula and Daniel found each other. Without them and their partnership and breeding, I would not be. Neither would, of course, any of my pups or grandpups. Words are not enough to express my gratitude. On the other paw, I am a dog, I have the power to express love beyond words. I do, but this goes beyond the limits of a blog post. You just have to imagine it.

Another Birthday

Hello, Li'l Gertrud here!

The person from whom I got my name has her birthday today. She is Paula's mother. Unfortunately, she does not feel well, so she has postponed the celebrations. I hope I can be there, when it is time to celebrate. Until then, I congratulate through the blog.

Hurrah!

Hello, Li’l Gertrud here!

Todayis my birthday. I turn one year old, and so does my dear brother Harry. Hurrah for us!

I have tried to celebrate by inviting the grown ups to play. They would not, however. They are tired of me, for trying too often to make them play, they say. This means they do not want to play even on my birthday.

Oh, well, I think I had a great birthday anyway. Life is good.

Tai Fun

A typhoon has hit Japan, the strongest in 25 years. We are concerned about all the dogs and humans whose lives have been affected. At least ten humans have died.

Japan is hit by deadly storms much more often than Europe is. Japan lies on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean. The east coast of North America is also hit by these kinds of storms more often. I guess we Europeans are lucky to live on the western side of an ocean.

Pressure

We had a little trouble with the water today. I was afraid the well had run dry after the dry summer we have had. This was not the case. The problem was the pressure in the pump. There is a kind of baloon in the pump with high pressurised air, which keepsup the water pressure. Daniel filled up the air, making the pressure a little higher, and that was that. We have no trouble with the water now. It is a good thing Danielhas some experience and tools to take care of these things.

Devastating Fire in Brazil

We had a lot of forest fires in Sweden this dry summer. Forests may regrow, however. Some biologists even say it is positive for the ecology that there is a fire now and then.

In Brazil, however, the National Museum has been devastated by fire. A lot of archaeological and historical artefacts have been destroyed, many items that cannot be replaced. The origin of the fire is yet unknown.

This Brazilian fire is a much worse fire than all of the forest fires in Sweden. It puts the Swedish fires in perspective.

In Need of a Lawn Mower

The grass on our lawn is growing taller. The lawn mower is in a lawn mower shop. We hope the lawn mower will be done soon.

It is not that I dislike unmowed lawns as such, but I dislike ticks. The taller the grass, the higher the risk of getting ticks on your body, jumping from the grass to your coat.

Well, eventually, the lawn mower will e back, better than before. We just have to wait for it.

Campaigns

It is a general election next Sunday. Daniel is campaigning a lot, as a member of and candidate for a political party. He says it is important for every human and dog in this country that his party wins.

While I am interested in some political issues and news, I do not have the passion or patience to make politics a hobby. I am glad some others are, though. Everyone who puts a lot of spare time on politics should be commended for this. They make something tomake the world a better place.