It is raining today. There is an old Swedish saying that if there is wet and mild weather on the last day of November, it will be snow and cold on Christmas. I do not believe there is any correlation there, so I do not believe in this saying. We mostly have green Christmases, so my bet is on a green Christmas this year as well.
Rain is good, it fills up our well. Snow does not do the same until it melts, sometimes not until spring. We will have to see what happens.
The picture of Totte the cat never got uploaded to my blog entry yesterday. I did not discover this until this evening. If I realise how I can upload the picture tomorrow, I will.
It is troublesome when pictures cannot be uploaded.
Our cats Malin and Totte are often outdoors throughout the night. They are nocturnal hunters. Their nights outdoors are, however, fewer in the winter months. I understand that they rather want to spend the nights in the warmth indoors.
This is Totte close to Paula tonight.
It is the first Sunday in the time called Advent. This is the time before Christmas, four Sundays before. We did not really celebrate, but it is nice to know that Christmas, with its abundance of good food, is close by.
The good thing about the human love of counting the time is that they know when to celebrate. Celebrations are always nice.
Our Chihuahua friends are sad tonight. Mexico played Argentina in the World Cup, but lost, 0-2.
Generally, Argentina is better than Mexico at football. However, Argentina lost its first game versus Saudi Arabia, an even less good football country. When Mexico held on to 0-0 in the first half, even playing a bit better, there was hope. In the end, Argentina still won.
We will have to see if Mexico can advance.
Paula was at home with us dogs today, while Daniel was at work. This is not out of the ordinary.
It is often better when Paula gives us food, than when Daniel does. Paula will more often give us something special, while Daniel give us dog food. This day was even better than most of the days when Paula gives us food. We got steak and minced meat. It is hard to imagine better food.
I am aware that we cannot get food like this every day, but I can always wish we would get it more often.
Paula was at the hospital for a couple of hours today. The medical staff took tests on her to see what bothers her stomach. When Paula came home, she was satisfied with the visit to the hospital. She had more answers, even though the answers where not all good. It is still better to know, than to be unsure. This will surely be a step on the way towards being well again.
Japan beat Germany in the FIFA football World Cup.
This is an amazing and fantastic result. Germany is one of the great powers in football, with four World Cup titles and many more medals. Germany would normally beat Japan easily.
All of us Shibas celebrate. Our Poodle friend Laila, who was born in Japan, also celebrates. However, our Affenpinscher friend Morran is sad – her breed is from Germany and she roots for Germany. Out of respect for Morran, we celebrate in a modest way.
So far, this World Cup is interesting.
In the football World Cup, Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, 2-1. Argentina is much higher on the world ranking and has a great football history. Some would say this is the most surprising result ever in a World Cup in football.
While surprising results are often nice, as such, I cannot be happy that Saudi Arabia won. It is a dictatorship and they do not treat dogs well.
Peanut said Argentina could have it. He does not like Argentina, because Argentina claims British islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. Still, Argentina is a democracy, and while they speak Spanish there, our Chihuahua friends feel a little affiliated with them. We will have to see if Argentina recovers. The Chihuahuas root for Mexico before other participants.
The first genuine snowfall this winter came this morning. Snow that falls in November generally does not last until spring. We will have to see what happens this time.
Snow is fun, even though I enjoyed it more when I was younger.
The 2022 FIFA Football World Cup has started. Ecuador won the first game versus host Qatar, 2-0.
There has been great debates about the host Qatar. People say the laws of Qatar do not respect human rights. As far as I know, they do not respect canine rights, either.
Now the tournament is up and running, regardless of the complaints. We hope democratic countries like Japan (where Shibas in general and Gunnar and Laila in particular are from), England (where Peanut is from), France (where Laila’s breed Poodle is from), Germany (where Morran’s breed Affenpinscher is from), or Mexico (where Piffy’s, Viola’s, and Pepe’s breed Chihuahua is from) will be most successful. We will see what happens.
Paula and Daniel were at a birthday party this afternoon. Paula’s niece Nadja turned six years old.
I could not go myself. Neither could any of the dogs. We forwarded our birthday congratulations with Paula and Daniel. Nadja is a nice young human, she is well worth the celebrations.
It is no game of ice hockey on TV tonight. It is, however, a night of ice hockey anyway. There is a gala devoted to ice hockey, its players and historic events on TV.
There are a lot of great, historic Swedish ice hockey moments. It is nice and well produced. Nevertheless, I believe a game is more exciting.
There is a kind of candy that looks like small bottles of cola pop. It tastes like cola pop too.
Daniel bought some cola bottle candy today. It made for tasty treats in the evening.
Evening treats are the best, at least in the evening. In the morning, morning treats are the best. In the afternoon, afternoon treats are the best. It varies throughout the day. It was nice that we had evening treats this evening.
The street where we live has been closed for cars at one end for a few years. We have been able to walk or ride bikes past it, but when going by car, we have had to take a detour. They have had a construction work there. From today, the street is open again. This is good. It has been a little annoying to go around. Now our house feels less isolated.
At the Brazilian Grand Prix in Formula 1 yesterday, Briton George Russell, who drives for Mercedes, won. As was pointed out by the Formula 1 web page, this was the first time God Save the King has been played for a winning driver or constructor at a World Championship Formula 1 event. All the previous times there have been a British winner, God Save the Queen was played. This is because Elizabeth II reigned for so many years and the first British victory came in 1953, the year after she became Queen. It sure gives a perspective on her long reign and long time Welsh Corgi breeding.
Paula discarded of an old dress today. It was a dress made of 100 % cotton, no synthetic materials. Thus, it could be burned in the stove. Daniel put it in there and soon had a fire going.
Fires are good. They spread heat and a little light. I like that humans can control fire. The old dress contributed to the fire.
Both Paula and Daniel were at home the whole day today. That is, except for dog walks. Daniel worked from home all day. I think it is good that he can.
We all had pasta for lunch. It is good when we get something else than the ordinary dog food for a change. Dog food is great, but other things are, as well.
All in all, it was a nice day today, despite that the weather was rather bad.
At a crematory in Japan, workers have burned garbage together with deceased pets. This has been going on for at least ten years.
The practice was not condoned by the leadership of the chain of crematories. They have made a survey of other crematories, and this practice has only occured at one of them. The workers there seemed to be unaware of the sensitivity, not understanding that humans want their pets cremated without garbage.
I cannot understand how this practice can have continued for ten years. Luckily, it was just at one crematory, but one is one to much in this case. It is good that it was discovered and that the practice has been stopped.
There are some days I feel better, some days I feel worse. This was a day of the former kind. I guess the less good days are due to my age. Nevertheless, life is generally good.
It would be good, if all days would be like this day. Many more days will be. Days like this is something to look forward to.
Today, I read an article about runes carved on a stone in Oklahoma, in the middle of continental USA. It seems unlikely vikings would have travelled this far.
We know vikings came from Greenland to Newfoundland. They probably travelled further than L’Anse Audi Meadows in northern Newfoundland, where undisputable evidence shows they were. To think that they went all the way around Florida in the south and up the Mississippi is far fetched, to say the least. I rather think evidence will be found in more places in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and places around there.
The runes do not seem to be of the right kind either, according to the article. Daniel said he agreed, even though he is no expert.
It is a fascinating story, that runes were carved in Oklahoma. It was probably done much later than the Viking Age, however.
In Sweden, many holidays are put in the weekend, even though the real day is on a fixed date. With a fixed date, the holiday is on different days of the week every year.
All Saints’ Day is one of these days. It is actually the 1 November, but we celebrate it on Saturday of the following weekend. Thus, we celebrated it today.
My thoughts went to all of the dogs who have lived with us, but who do not live on this Earth anymore. Grandmum, Dad, Mum, and many others are those whom I have been thinking of today. Perhaps I will meet them again in the afterlife.
There has been a devastating fire in Mora, where the annual cross country ski race Vasaloppet has its finish. A lot of equipment for the race is destroyed.
We hope that most of the equipment can be replaced or reproduced.
The day of Vasaloppet is a great day to lazily lie around following the race on TV. It is always the first Sunday in March. We hope the next race is not too gravely affected of the fire.
Paula was at an interview for a new job the day before yesterday. She got good news today: they want to meet her again next week. She is one of those who have passed until the next round. We wish her all the luck!
My own employment as a pet dog is secure. I do not have to seek new employment. This is good.
When Daniel came home from work today, he had purchased more dog food. This must be his most important purchase this month. I know it is just the 2 November, but how can you top the importance of buying dog food?
We have humans who take good care of our needs. This is good.
We did not get any news paper in our mailbox this morning. It is part of Daniel’s morning routine to read it, so he was quite annoyed.
It said on the web page of the news paper that the paper was late due to troubles at the printer. It said that the subscribers should have the paper at least at ten o’clock in the morning. Daniel went to check the mailbox about eleven o’clock, but no news paper was there. He checked in the evening as well, but there was still no news paper.
When the news paper will get here, it will hardly be a paper with news anymore.
