Leap Day

It is not every year we have a 29th of February. We only have it about every fourth year, like this year. The reasonis that a year is approximatively 365.25 days. The quarter of a day is lumped together to a whole day almost every fourth year. Humans go to such lengths tohave working calendars. I am glad I am a dog and do not really have to care.

Mia

Paula’s sister Mia was here for dinner tonight. Mia is a great person. It was a great night.

Dog with a University Degree

Dogs do fantastic things for their humans. A dog in the USA helped a disabled young woman throughout her university education. When she got her degree, the dog simultaneously got his own honourary degree.
This is such a great story. It should be spread to many readers, this is why I write about it. I love it when humans recognise the contribution of dogs in human life.

Late Night

Paula worked until 10 past midday today. This was late. When she got home, we all stayed up for a long time, to talk about the day. It became a late night.

Snow in Gothenburg

We got a message from Allram today. He lives in Gothenburg since last October, and they have got snow there now. He thought it was really funny to play aroundin the snow.

I understand Allram. Snow is a great thing. You can jump, play, and have very much fun in it. We have hardly had any snow since early December, het we often have more snow here than in Gothenburg. I envy Allram today.

A Deer

Late last night, when we were outdoors for the last time, there was a lot of noise from the next dog pen. A deer had found its way there and mostly closed the gate behind itself. It could not find its way out, so it made the noise when hitting the fence. Deer are not very smart animals. It should have concentrated on getting out where it came in. Eventually, Daniel went and opened the gate again. A little later, the deer had found its way out. We hope it does not return, the noise was annoying.

Minced Meat

I have written about it before. Mommy wrote about it more than once. It is still so good, that it is worth writing about it again. We got minced meat to eat today. It is always great. The smell, the taste, the texture, it is all there. I just love it. The only downside is that we do not get it more often.

Crisps

For the first time this year, we all watched a full episode of the qualification round to the Swedish qualification competition to the qualification round to the Eurovision Song Contest. We followed the cliche, we had crisps to eat. Crisps are great snacks. I truly enjoyed kt. I cannot remember last time we had crisps, it was a while ago. It tastes even better when it was a while ago.

Working from Home

This morning, Paula got up early, but she did not leave. She stayed at home, working with her master's thesis. Around noon, she finally left for work. Just then, Daniel came home. He worked from home in the afternoon. Once he left for a meeting with Odd Fellows, Paula soon came back home.

These are the best working days, when at least Paula or Daniel is at home all the time. I wish days were like this more often.

Life is good.

Good Hips

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

Last week, I had my hips x-rayed. The result is in. It is as I have always thought, I have good hips. On a scale from A to E, I have got a B. This is just slightly less good than A.

This means that, eventually, I will get pups of my own. This is something I am looking forward to. I will be a great mother. You can ask Paula or Daniel, if you are interested in a pup.

Imperfect Garden

In Japan, gardening is an old art form. One of the very best gardens is considered ”imperfectly perfect”. There is a video about it here.

I do not really understand how something can be imperfectly perfect. Our own garden is not perfect, but not imperfectly perfect. The Shiba breed is the perfect dog breed in many aspects, but not imperfectly perfect.

Watch the video, and perhaps you can understand.

Engagement

Twenty years ago today, Paula and Daniel got engaged to be married. They married the next year.

This is of vital importance to all Aangenaam dogs. If it were not for Paula and Daniel, and their relationship, we would not have been. We would not exist. It is a horrifying thought. What would the Shiba breed in Sweden be without Aangenaam? I would not be, without Aangenaam. My pups would not be, without Aangenaam.

Congratulationson your engagement day, Paula and Daniel!

Late Night Snack

Paula made a late night snack tonight, an omelette. This is one of the foremost French contributions to civilisation. It was a great late night snack!

No Meat Sauce

We all got our fair share of dog food this afternoon. Later in the evening, Paula and Daniel had some meat sauce. Daniel was about to give me some, but Paula said I did not need it. She meant I should rather lose weight. Instead, the Poodles got my little share of meat sauce. I was terribly disappointed. I love Paula and she often knows what is best for us. This time around, however, I had a different opinion. I will forgive her, but it can wait until tomorrow.

Mediocricy

Another qualification round to the Swedish qualification round to the European qualification competition for the European Song Contest is aired on TV today. There are many songs, too many songs. It is like a competition in mediocricy. Where are the great songs?

Valentine’s Day

It is Valentine’s day, the day for lovers. I could have a better Valentine’s day. Unfortunately, I am in heat. The males do not express their love, they express how aroused they are. Love is better, when there are not so many hormones involved.

Earth in the Vastness of Space

Mommy often wrote about the Moon and other issues relating to astronomy in this blog, when it was her blog. This made me interested in the issues.

It is almost thirty years since the space probe Voyager 1 took its famous picture called ”Pale Blue Dot” of Earth from the outskirts of the Solar system. It makes you contemplate over how small our planet is, and how big the universe is, even though Voyager 1 was not at all far away compared to the whole universe.

It is amazing how great life can feel, when it is all located on that pale blue dot.

Hips

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

I went to a veterinary clinic today to have my hips examined with x-ray pictures. It is not that I have suffered an injury or experienced any problems with my hips. The reason is just that if I am to have pups of my own in the future, my hip status must be known.

Daniel was there, too. It was nice to meet him again, though I enjoyed going back home with my present family afterwards. Mum was also there, but she just growled at me. I could smell she was in heat, this is probably why she was in a bad mood.

Days that are a little out of the ordinary are always interesting. I like that.

In Heat

It is not easy being in heat, especially when you are so old that you should not do anything with it. I think it might be better not to be in heat anymore, now that I have had all the puppy litters that I am ever supposed to have.

Late Night

Sometimes, we are just late at night. Them the blog entry come on the wrong date. Life is good, anyway.

Boring Sunday

Paula and Daniel were both at home all Sunday. It was still a dull and boring day. Nothing really happened. It was rainy and windy outside, so we did not want to take any long walks, either. Paula was in a bad mood all day, I guess the dullness of the day added to this. We have to hope it will be better tomorrow.

Valentine’s Party

Paula and Daniel went away to a Valentine’s party tonight. This is almost a week before Valentine’s day, whichis on Friday next week. Would it not be better to hold the party next Saturday? Oh, well, they had fun, anyway. This is the most important thing for a party.

Comfort

Paula is sad this afternoon. She had applied for a new job, but was informed she did not get it. We all try to comfort her. It is their loss, that they could not see Paula's qualities.

Many people have applied for jobs or tried to get other things, without succeeding. You may be sad for a while, but there will be new opportunities. For every missed opportunity, there are many more future opportunities to come. It may very well be even better soon.

Any employer that gets Paula can be lucky.

Moose Meat

Paula’s father is dear to us. He becomes even more dear to us, when he provides us with moose meat. Daniel and Calvin walked over in the evening and fetched a big bucket full of meat. Paula told us we can have some with our food tomorrow. I am already looking forward to it.

Thank you for the meat, Nils-Olov!

Water

We generally have plenty of water to drink. Paula and Daniel make sure our water bowls are filled with water. Once in a while, however, they forget. If they do, we tell them, by hitting the empty bowls. They think this is good and do not mind, except when they have already gone to bed and settled for the night. This was the case tonight. Daniel got up and filled a few water bowls. He did not  complain in words, but he sighed audibly. Well, if I could, I would fill up the water bowls. When we live in a house where the faucets are constructed for humans, our humans have to fill our water bowls. Such is life.

Snow

We finally got some snow again this afternoon. It was not much, just a few millimetres, but it was snow.

We have not had any smow since early December. There has been a lot of rain. Where we live, however, we are used to snow this time of the year.

My guess is, we have to wait until next winter to get a decent layer of snow.

Walking Limit?

Humans are often intelligent and wise. Sometimes, however, you got to wonder how some humans are thinking. In Darlington, the United Kingdom, there is a suggestion to ban humans from walking more than four dogs at a time. The reason was concerns over humans not being able tocontrol many dogs, and one case of a pack of seven dogs attacking another human.

Paula and Daniel each often walks more than four of us at a time. There are never any problems with us.

You have to consider how well behaved the dogs are, how strong the dogs are, etc. A limit of four dogs just does not make any sense. I suppose the suggestion will not be enacted.

Mud on the Floors

We have hardly had any winter this season. The temperatures are almost constantly above the freezing point. There is mud in the yard, which we bring indoors when we have been out. Daniel tries to keep the floors reasonably clean. It is not that easy, but I commend him for trying. It is more comfortable with clean floors than muddy floors.

Daily?

I guess I have notyet really gotten used to writning a daily blog. I forgot to write a blog entry yesterday.

I might have written about the first Swedish qualification round to the Eurovision Song Contest. Mommy wrote about them occasionally. We did not watch all of it, and what we did watch was not that good. I wish there would be more popular songs about dogs.