Mild Winter

We have had temperatures above the freezing point formost of this week. January is supposed to be the middle of winter, but it has felet more like early spring, in early March or so. 

It is not that we like winter. As dogs with a heritage from Mexico, both Pepe and I could do without winter. We still live in Sweden, a country in the northern reaches of civilisation. It is supposed to be winter and snow here.

Perhaps more snow will arrive in February. Time will tell. Nobody can predict weather for a whole month. 

Meeting

Daniel was at a meeting until late tonight. It is boring when he is. We don’t want to stop him from going to any meetings, but we also don’t need to pretend that we like it. Life would be better is everyone could stay at home more. 

Spectator Died

At an indoor athletics event in Colorado, America, a spectator was killed by a hammer that was thrown through certified barriers and hit him. The spectator was a 57 year old man, hit by the hammer while trying to shield his family members. 

This is a terrible accident. We hope the reason why the hammer could pass the barrier can be found out, so the fault can be sorted out. We also hope that if the man had a dog, this dog will come with losing him. 

In Memoriam

The 27 of January is the international day for commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, the Nazi genocide during the Second World War. This day in 1945, Auschwitz was liberated and the extent of the genocide started to get known to humanity. We think of all the people who were murdered. It is a horrible thing, but must not be forgotten. May the victims rest in peace. 

Vacuuming

Vacuum is a facinating thing, because it is litteraly nothing. A vacuum cleaner does not use vacuum, but as if there was a vacuum inside it, the machine sucks dust from the floor. We used our vacuum cleaner this afternoon. Paula was disturbed by it, so she became angry. It disturbed her afternoon nap. We did not care, we finished vacuuming anyway. It is cleaner now, which feels good for the paws. 

Gulf of Mexico

The new American President Donald J. Trump has issued an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. 

This is ridiculous. America has some shores to this gulf, but so does Mexico. It is called Gulf of Mexico all around the world. As is explained in this video, the only thing the American President can be sure to achieve, is that American government authorities uses his preferred name for the gulf. Everybody else will surely keep calling it Gulf of Mexico. I sure will. 

The Gulf of Mexico is mostly international water and a fair bit of Mexican territorial water. If the American President does not like the Mexico part of the name, he should still let it be. There are things to rename inside the borders instead. New Mexico can be renamed New America. 

Cat Food and Dog Food

There are times when Paula and Daniel joke that we dogs like cat food better than dog food, and that our cats like dog food better than cat food. This morning, Daniel gave Pepe and me one plate of cat food and one plate of dog food. We showed him – we both chose the dog food. Cat food is not as tasty and probably not as healthy as dog food. Dog food is good.

Working from Home

Both Paula and Daniel worked from home this morning.

All of us dogs always work from home. Our watch duty is at home. This is an easier task whenour humans are at home. There are, of course, also other advantages with having them at home, such as the closeness to those we love.

It was a great morning.

Temporary Disagreements

This morning, Paula and Daniel had a disagreement. It is not fun to listen to them, when they do. What we do know is that they will always make up again.

If you love somebody, the occasional disagreement is no big deal. You can deal with it.

Boring Afternoon

Both Paula and Daniel came home early today. This was not as fun as it sounds. Daniel just sat at his computer, working from home. Paula just slept. We don’t know why Paula was so tired that she slept all afternoon, but it was boring. 

I wish tomorrow will be a better day. It probably will be. 

Better Legs

Morran, our dear Affenpinscher friend, did not feel well yesterday. She almost dragged her hind legs with her, or so it looked like.

This was much better today. She could walk freely today, the way she usually does. Her legs were better.

Morran, of course, did not accept the proposition that she felt less than well yesterday. She does not accept that anyone would feel sorry for her. She says she always feels fine. This is one of the things I like about Morran, she will not accept pity. I did tell her I hope she will continue to feel as well as always. This, she thanked me for. 

No Dogs or Cats

The United States of America has got a new Head of State, President Donald John Trump. 

Donald Trump has no dogs. Neither does he have cats. We think this is a shame. Humans feel better with dogs, or at least cats, as companions. The US President is often called the most powerful human in the world. The responsibilities that come with this job should be an easier burden, if he had dogs, or at least cats. 

Well, it is up to Donald Trump and his family to decide for themselves whether to have dogs or not. We still believe they would feel better if they did. 

Nap

Sunday is the day of rest, but perhaps not as much as it turned out to be this afternoon. Paula and Daniel sat on the bed, talking a little and reading the news. Then they both fell asleep. 

Dogs are used to taking a nap or two in the middle of the day. Humans are not. While both Paula and Daniel admitted they had enjoyed their nap, you could hear they were a little surprised and even annoyed that this had happened. We dogs do not think they should be annoyed. There is nothing wrong with a nap on your day off. 

Another Saturday

Saturdays are probably my favourite days of the week. We get up as early as usual to go out for a while, but then we all go back to bed. Even Daniel go back to bed, who usually gets up early to go to the office. On weekdays, Paula stays in bed for a little while longer than Daniel but then she also gets up. On Saturdays, we can all go back to rest and sleep for a long time. We also know next day is Sunday, when the same thing may happen. Life is great these Saturday mornings. 

Floods in Brazil

Heavy rain has caused floods in the south of Brazil. Towns have been flooded, but people help. In this short movie sequence, you can see that dogs are carried across the water. This is nice, in all the tragedy. 

We hope that the floods will soon be over, and that dogs and humans get the help they need. 

Going Shopping

As som as Daniel came home tonight, he and Paula went grocery shopping. 

When they came back home, they brought grilled chicken. Paula served some of the chicken to us dogs.

Totte the cat has always loved chicken. I totally understand him. Chicken gives such a tasty meat. We loved the chicken meat we got today. 

Board Meeting

We had a dull evening today. Both Paula and Daniel were at home, but did not spend any time with us dogs. Paula did not feel well and was just resting. Daniel went on line top participate in a board meeting. This was a board meeting with the regional kennel club, where he is a member of the board. This is important, so he may be excused. Paula could not help that she did not feel well, so she is also excused. It was still a dull evening for us dogs. We are lucky most evenings are more eventful. 

Thaw

It has been a warm day for January. It was about +5° and the snow was thawing. Water was dripping from the roofs and trees. 

While we do like spring and summer, it is too early to get spring now. There is enough time for winter for a couple of months more. We hope winter will stay for a while. 

Sausages

We got sausages in our food today. Sausages are good food.

You can go on and on about the advantages of modern human invention. Sausages are made on old knowledge. It is still one of the greatest human inventions. It takes care of pieces of the animal you do not eat as they are, season it and package it, which makes for very tasty dishes. It is also environmentally friendly, because through sausages, more of the animals come to use.

We wish we could have sausage more often. 

Brush Up

Paula and Daniel, who are both authorised to work as ring stewards, went away today to a Brush Up course for ring stewards. This is a kind of course they have to take every other year to keep their authorisation.

The best thing about this was that they got some left over food back home, and gave us dogs cheese. Cheese is always great food. 

Away for the Evening

Daniel went away in the afternoon. He did not come home until it was almost midnight. Apparently, he was away celebrating something in Arboga, a neighbour town. 

Paula was at home with us. We had a nice evening. We are even sure our evening was nicer than Daniel's.

We dogs do not have to go away for parties. Our life at home is fun enough.

A Controlled Fire

We had a controlled fire at home this morning. Daniel lit a fire in the stove in our livingroom. A controlled fire like this makes life very cozy.

Malin the cat lied down in front of the stove, enjoying the warmth, for a long time. I can understand why she did this. I was a little too restless to do this myself, though. 

We would want controlled fires more often.

Fire to the North West

A huge fire is raging in Los Angeles in the south of California. This is just a little to the north west of Chihuahua, the land where my dog breed comes from. 

We hope dogs are saved, just as humans are. I don’t know how many Chihuahuas live in Los Angeles, but it is not far from Chihuahua and it is a popular dog breed around the world. We feel for all dogs affected by the fire. 

Overslept

It is hard to go back to work after several days of spare time. While Daniel went away to the office this morning, Morran, Pepe, and I overslept. 

It feels nice to sleep for a long time in the morning. Once you wake up, and realise you have overslept and not fulfilled your duties, you get disappointed with yourself. How can we watch the house, if we are all asleep? 

A good thing is that nothing happened. Our guard dog duty must have a fearful reputation among the bad people of society, they never dare to come here. In a way, thus, we fulfilled our duty as guard dogs anyway, through our reputation. This is good. 

A Lot of Snow

We got a lot of snow this morning. When we got out in the early morning, there was a decimetre of new snow on the ground. 

Daniel and Totte spent a few hours shoveling the snow away from the drive way. Totte gave up before they were finished, so Daniel had to do the rest himself. It was nice that I did not have to help. 

The snow started to thaw in the afternoon. It was still so much, that the work put in by Daniel and Totte was not in vain. 

Three Wise Men

This is the Thirteenth Day of Christmas, Epiphany. This is when we celebrate that some wise men came to the newborn Jesus, considered Him a King, and gave him three gifts.

Tradition has it, there were three wise men, each with one gift. Tradition also says these were called Casper, Melchior, and Baltazar. Their names and the number of men are not mentioned in the Bible, however. We guess traditional knowledge like this is fun to know, but may be untrue. Nevertheless, the basis of the story of the Wise Men is written down in the Bible.

Every reason to celebrate is a good reason. Happy Epiphany! 

A Cat In the Way

This evening, Malin the cat occupied Daniel. She was Petter by him for a long time. None of us dogs could get in their way. Morran was rather annoyed, she thought Malin got in her way.

The cats usually leve it to us dogs to have this kind of close relationship to our humans. I think we should let them be, however, in the few instances when they want to be close. We are all friends. 

Pepe Did Not Want Ham

Daniel gave us some ham at lunch time today. Morran and I loved it and ate our ham quickly. Pepe did not want any, however. 

While Morran and I were happy to share the ham that Pepe did not want, I could not help but wonder why he did not want any. He is usually as fond of good food as any other dog. I asked him, but he just said he did not feel like it at the time. This was a strange answer, but I guess we have to accept it. Nobody wants to force Pepe to eat tasty food. 

We will have to see what Pepe does, the next time we are offered treats. 

Real Winter

We had some cold days in early December. Then there were many days with temperatures high above the freezing point, for being December. On the New Year Night, snow fell and we got temperatures well below the freezing point. It was like the new year came with winter. It is still winter. I like spring better, but I guess spring is far away. We just have to live through another cold winter. 

A New Year

It is a new year, and we can start anew in some ways. New year resolutions are often made to make improvements in the way we live our lives. Morran, Pepe, and I discussed this. None of us could come up with any good new year resolution, however. We all think we already live good and harmonious lives. What is there to improve? We all wish you, as reader of this blog, a happy New Year, though.