Qualification in Rain

There was qualification for the Hungarian Grand Prix in formula 1 today. A part of the first qualification round had to be red flagged, that is delayed, due to heavy rain.

The Swedish Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson ran off and crashed, when the first qualification round started again after the rain. This was the second qualification in a row where he crashed. We wonder if he is good enough to keep driving in formula 1. We hope he is, but we wonder.

We had warm and sunny weather at home all day. There was some rain late in the evening, however. Rain is good, it makes sure we have water in our well, so we have water in our house.

Wood

Daniel has sawed and chopped wood today. This is about the warmest day of the year, but it is good that Daniel thinks about winter.

Russians Banned from Olympic Games

Russian track and field athletes will be banned from participation in the Summer Olympic Games, that starts in a few weeks. This is because Russia has had a state-sponsored doping programme.

I think it is correct to ban the athletes. Doping is cheating, and any cheating should be punished. It might be that not all athletes have cheated, but if their national team has cheated, it must reflect upon them as well. There must be severe punishments, to make sure people understand that the consequences of being caught cheating is so hard that it is not worth trying to cheat.

This is true in all competitions, I believe. If somebody would cheat in dog shows, which is where I have competed myself (not without success), I think both human and dog should be banned from participation. The dog would not cheat, but if the dog's human would cheat, it could affect the dog's show results, nevertheless.

Cheating is despicable.

Redecorating

There has been a fascinating pattern on our bathroom door for a while. This has been made by us dogs once in a while, by accident, but it has been interesting , nevertheless. Paula does not like this pattern, however. She took some paint today and started to repaint the door. She wants it in the plain white colour it had from the start. This is called redecorating. It is supposed to make the door look better and raise the living standard and the value of the house. I am not sure I agree.

Cat Food Commercial

There was a cat food commercial on TV tonight. In it, there were kittens. Kittens are cute, but cannot be compared to pups. There should be more commercials with pups on TV. This would be very cute TV.

Pups in real life are even cuter. I have already had all my pups. Perhaps my daughter Karstuhl will get another litter? I am sure her daughter Soya will eventually have pups. As great grandmother, I would be excellent at helping her raise them.

Cat food is delicious, bit wasted on cats or kittens. I would rather eat it myself., or give it to pups.

Blog Readers

I do not know how many readers my blog has got, neither how many there are who read often, nor how many who read once or twice. I like all of my readers, they are the ones I write for, but I allow them to tell me who they are by making comments, I would probably never ask who they were.

We watched an episode of a comedy show on TV tonight, where one of the carachters started a blog. This was the start of many jokes, some of which dealt with comments or other bloggers writing about the first blog. There are almost no comments on my blog, so I did not really relate to these jokes. I have fun writing my blog anyway.

No matter who you are, when reading this blog, you are always welcome to stay tuned or come back later. There will often be new blog posts.

Chicken

We got some chicken in our food today. Chicken is tasty and good food. I love it.

It is not every day we get extra treats in our food like this. There is often just dog food. There is nothing wrong with dog food, but it would be boring to have just dog food day in and day out. Luckily, this is not the case for us. Chicken is among the best thing we can have.

Sushi

If you ever wonder if Japan is a great country, just try the Japanese specialty sushi. We had some sushi for dinner today. It was marvelois, as always. Do I need to tell you more?

I guess you all know what sushi is. This is common knowledge these days. If you have not tried it yet, you should. You are in for a treat. The Japanese know food.

Coup d'etat in Turkey?

A group of military personell claim to have taken control of Turkey in a coup d'etat. This is not yet confirmed.

This is stupid. You should not take control of a country by using force.

There was an attempted military coup d'etat in Spain in the early 1980s. King Juan Carlos I put an end to it, however, by dressing in his military uniform as general of the army and order the coup men to step down.

There is no King in Turkey who can do this. This is one of the major faults of a republic.

The Emperor of Japan made sure Japan gave up the war in 1945, before too many lives were lost for a cause that was already lost. Monarchs are good this way.

A Swedish Classic

We watched a documentary this evening about people who compete in what is called "A Swedish Classic". This is four long distance competitions i bicycling, swimming, running, and cross country skiing. If you complete all four in a year, you complete a Swedish Classic.

There are no similar competitions for dogs. I believe, however, that if you win three CAC's in one year, becoming a champion quickly, this could be called a classic. It would be nice calling it so.

The Emperor Might Resign

It is an important day today. News agencies say Emperor Akihito considers abdication in favour of his son, Crown Prince Naruhito.

Some would say the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, and her cabinet, is more important. I do not agree.

It is without precedent in the modern history of Japan that the Emperor resigns. As far as I know from history, it is also without precedent that the Emperor resigns voluntarily.

China Defies Decision on South China Sea

An international legal tribunal in the Hague has ruled in favour of the Philippines, which claimed China had no claim on most of the South China Sea. China boycotted the proceedings and will not accept it, however.

While I am happy about the verdict, I do not think tensions in the region will be smaller. The statement from China about not accepting it says so. I think China would want to claim even more than this. Hopefully, there will not be a war, it would surely be a big war. Any war is bad, but big wars are worse than small wars.

Election

There has been a general election in Japan. The ruling party LDP and PM Shinzo Abe won and remain in power.

Final

It is the final game in the Euro 2016 footbal championship. France plays Portugal. Our Poodle friends root for France, their breed is from France. I have no other preference, so I do the same.

After full time, no team had scored. It was a rather boring game between two good teams. I would normally rather see a game ending in 3-3 than 0-0. The defence may be too strong, if you know what I mean.

Portugal won in extra time. Well, I do not cry because of this.

Calm Day

There are days when nothing special happens. Nothing special at all. These days are great, when I am in the mood for it. Today has been such a day. We have spent the whole day with Daniel at home, just doing whatever we feel like for the moment. (Meanwhile, Paula is with her sister and mother on a weekend trip.) It has been a wonderful day. Rest is something you need once in a while. This was a day when we got it.

Summer Holiday

Daniel did his last day at work before his summer holiday today. He will stay at home much more in the coming weeks. Paula did her last day yesterday. We like this. It also means we can get up later in the mornings. This is also great.

It is good that Daniel and Paula have good jobs, which give them decent incomes. Nevertheless, I prefer to have  them at home. We hope they will spend a lot of time at home. We also hope we will go to some dog shows, of course!

Cous cous

We got some cous cous in our food bowls today. This was new to me, but quite tasty.

I am always prepared to test new kinds of food. It gives a little excitement to life. In a way, you can even say it spices up life. Most kinds of food are tasty. I love some kinds of food better than others, but there are very few things i dislike. I love everything from a fine steak to water melon. Cous cous makes it to the long list of foods that I like. This list is so long, I could not even say how many items are on it.

I hope you all get food that you like.

Remote Control

When Paula or Daniel watches TV, they use the remote comtrol to switch channels from the sofa. That is, if none of us dogs lay upon the remote control. It may happen that they are not eager enough to switch channels, that they dig out the remote control from the dog who lays upon it. It is not that we want to stop the switching of channels, but it is more comfortable to stay put. Life should not be about having to move, because somebody else wants the remote control.

Laila

Our Poodle friend Laila celebrates her name day today. It is not common for dogs to have name days, this is normally just for human given names. I know of nobody but Laila who is a dog and has a name day. She deserves to be celebrated, nevertheless.

I wish Hailey had a name day.

Fourth of July

It is the 4 July and national holiday in the USA, my Mum's home country. Mum moved to Sweden when she was five, but never forgot where she came from and was always an American patriot. (Calvin is also from the USA and claims to be an American patriot, but he moved here when he was just some months old and actually does not remember very much about America.)

I am half American, and proud of it. I love the USA and celebrate today, in the way my Mum taught me. For the land of the free, and the home of the brave, we salute today!

Rain

It rained a lot yesterday. It also rained this afternoon.

Daniel had planned to mow the lawn, but he could not because of the rain. It is not just that it is uncomfortable to be outdoors in the rain, the main reason is that the straws of grass in the lawn mostly just folds when they are wet. This makes lawn mowing rather futile. Daniel stayed indoors with the rest of us instead.

We watched the Austrian Grand Prix in Formula 1 together. This was a much better afternoon, than if Daniel would have been outdoors mowing the lawn.

I like a well mowed lawn, not least because ticks dislikes it, but it is still nice when Daniel spends time with us dogs instead of mowing the lawn.

Penalties

The quarter final tonight was Germany versus Italy. The game ended in a tie which was not solved in overtime. It went on to penalty shots. After a lot of penalty shots, Germany got through as winner.

By the time the game was over, it was almost midnight. I did not have time to write any blog entry before midnight. Well, here is a blog entry anyway.

Dad

It is the 1July. Dad would have celebrated his birthday, had he still been alive.

Dad's own dad was from Belgium. I hoped Belgium would win in the quarter final against Wales today. We all thought they would, because Belgium is ranked much higher than Wales and has played well so far in the tournament (except for the loss against Italy in the first game).

In this game, however, Belgium did not play well. The defence was not as it should be, without two key players. Wales was a better team. Wales deserved their 3-1 victory. I congratulate Wales!

Trespassing

When two teams are playing football, only the players and the referees are allowed on the football field. If you run down unto the field and are not a player or a referee, you are trespassing.

In the last minutes of the Poland v. Portugal quarter final, a man tresspassed and ran onto the field. Security guards took care of him quickly. The TV producer did not air pictures of this man, which is good, because he does not deserve this kind of attention in live TV across the world. The game was resumed in just a little while.

I hope there will be no more trespassing. It disturbs the game. People should do better things than interrupting the game for every player and spectator. They could get out for a run with their dogs instead.

Walk the Walk

In English, you can say that somebody "walks the walk, talks the talk". This means they do what is expected of them to prove they are what they say they are. I just see one flaw with this test. A human can never "walk the walk" without a dog. As a human, you have to have a dog to walk. Unless you have a dog, you cannot properly walk. Walking the walk, thus, is about walking with your dog. The definition of the "walk the walk, talk the talk" saying still does not mention any dog. This is a major flaw of the saying.

Never try to "walk the walk" without a dog! It just is not a walk.

Midsommer Murders

It is summer, and new episodes of Midsommer Murders are aired on Swedish TV. It always run on TV during the summer. We like this. Our favourite is Sykes, the dog, of course. His human, chief inspector John Barnaby, is also good.

New Washing Machine

We have got a new washing machine. The old one broke down a couple of days ago. Paula and Daniel tried to mend it, but they did not manage to. The old washing machine was eight years old and has washed a lot of clothes, puppy blankets, sheets et cetera. I guess it was about time to get a new one, anyway. We now have a Bosch, which is known, German quality. We hope it will be nice.

Final Sixteen

There were sixteen teams left to the knock-out stage in the UEFA Euro 2016. Among them, I hope Belgium will win. (My paternal grandfather was from Belgium, this is why.) Belgium played Hungary today and won in an impressing manner. The Hungarians played well, but the Belgians still beat them 4-0.

In the quarter final, Belgium will meet Wales. Wales had an easier opponent in Northern Ireland, but won with just 1-0. I believe Belgium will win against Wales.

Midsummer

It is Midsummer Day in Sweden, a holiday held in great reverence. The great celebrations are held on Midsummer Eve, the day before, however. This is just like the celebrations of Christmas and Valborg, so it is common Swedish practice, though curious.

I came along with Paula and Daniel to watch folk dance in Wadköping, the museum part of Örebro. Paula's parents participated, as they do every year. It was great fun being there. I also got some ice cream to eat. The other dogs were envious of me, when I came back, but then we all got food and everything was all right again.

We have all stayed at home, taking it easy, the whole day today. I like days like this.

Welcome Back in the Future, Britons!

We woke up this morning to the news that the Britons voted for the UK to leave the EU.

This is not good news, I believe. Still, it is too soon to say for real that the outcome will be bad. There will be uncertainty about what will happen for a while, but it is not the end of the EU, of the UK, or anything similar.

The Kennel Club in England is not a member of the international kennel federation FCI. Still, there is cooperation and mutual recognition of dogs, breed standards, and dog show results. There will be cooperation between the EU members and the UK in the future, it is just that it will look different. Perhaps it will be a little more paperwork et cetera in the cooperation, but there will never be inpenetrable walls.

If the Britons want to return to the EU in the future, I would wish them a warm welcome back.

Referendum

Dogs and humans alike are curious about the outcome of the referendum in the United Kingdom today. It is a referendum on whether the country should remain a member of the European Union or leave this union.

Daniel says this is the most important casting of votes this year, much more than the election of president in the USA in November. I tend to agree. If Britain would leave the EU, this would affect the whole union, as well as Britain itself. Perhaps it would be the beginning of the end of the EU. A British result to remain would, thus, be of equal importance. It will probably change the EU in some ways, probably to the liking of the Brits.

The polls have showed that the referendum will be a close call. We will have to wait for the result.

Go, Belgium!

Team Sweden has not played well in the Euro 2016 football Championship. They do not deserves to win tonight against Belgium and continue to the knock out games.

My paternal grandfather was from Belgium. This means I have family ties there. I root for Belgium now.

Yikes

One of us felt sick and puked on Paula's pillow tonight. Yikes! I am glad it was not me, feeling sick. The mess is taken care of, so we can sleep now. I hope it will be a calm night without any more accidents like this.

England and Wales

Wales may be a much smaller part of the United Kingdom than England, but they have had more success in sports lately.

In the Euro 2016 football championship today, Wales beat Russia 3-0, while England played 0-0 against Slovakia. Thus, Wales won group B, England came second. Both advances to the knock out phase of the tournament, but Wales will play an easier opponent.

It was even worse for England in the Rugby Union World Cup last autumn. Wales and England played in the same group in this tournament as well, but while Wales managed to advance, England did not.

I would, perhaps, rather be Welsh than English tonight.

Siesta

While Daniel went out to mowe the lawn in the afternoon, the rest of us took a siesta. This is a Spanish expression for a little longer nap in the middle of the day. This is custom in Spain due to the warm weather in the middle of the Spanish summer days, but I think it is a quite comfortable thing to do anywhere in the world on a Sunday. After all, Sunday is the day of rest.

Geordie Shore

It happens sometimes, late at night, that we watch a TV show from the UK called Geordie Shore. It is about some young humans whose sole focus in life seem to be to party and have sex. It is like bitches in heat, but they are like this all the time. The humans I know are not like this. Ii wonder if there is something wrong with these humans.

Spain

We are rooting for Spain against Turkey in the Euro 2016 football championship today. This is not just because some of us are from Spain or with Spanish family. Orange's parents are from Spain. It is also because we believe a democratic kingdom is better than a republic with questionable democracy and questionable human rights record. In Spain, they like dogs. Turks are not so fond of dogs, as far as we know.

Go, Spain!

Horrible Murder

A British Member of Parliament, Jo Cox, has passed away after being shot and stabbed. She was in her costituency Batley and Spen in Northern England when attacked. The police has arrested a man for the deed.

It is as yet unclear why the murder was committed.

Both campaign organisations for the options in next week's referendum has suspended their campaigns.

Any murder is horrible and tragic. In some cases, however, the murdered person has such a position in society that her passing is not just a personal tragedy for herself, her family and friends, but a tragedy for the whole country. An attack on a politician, as Mrs Cox, is like an attack on democracy itself, as well as a murder. We feel with the family and friends of Mrs Cox, and her dogs, if she had any.

We hope we will soon hear why the murder was committed.

Chicken Big Mac

Paula came home late tonight. She brought hamburger sandwiches from McDonald's. One of them was the ordinary Big Mac, a great burger that I have tasted more than once before. The other one was new to me, a Chicken Big Mac. Instead of beef hamburgers, there were chicken hamburgers in this sandwich. This one was for Daniel, but he was not that hungry, so he gave half of it to me.

The Chicken Big Mac was great. It was not quite as great as the ordinary Big Mac, but quite pleasing, nevertheless. The sauce was a little different, but it fit. It was the same good balance between meat, bun, vegetables and sauce as in the ordinary Big Mac. I can recommend it.

Trying new burgers is nice.

Falling Stock Market

The stock market in London is falling, due to anxiety over the referendum next week on whether the United Kingdom should stay in or leave the EU. The anxiety is due to polls showing a growing support for leaving the EU. The stock market is not fond of great changes, as far as I have understood.

I am not an expert on these issues. It is definitely not up to me to say whether the UK should stay or go. If asked, I would just say I feel that cooperation is a good thing, and leave it at that.

I believe it would be a good thing if the Kennel Club in England would be a member of the International Kennel Federation, FCI. This is something I can say, because I have been around to dog shows hosted by local, regional, and national kennel clubs around Europe. More cooperation between the kennel clubs could make the rules and regulations more similar and easier to understand.

Well, we will have to see what the outcome of the referendum will be.

Lucky to Get a Tie

The Swedish football team played its first Euro 2016 game tonight, versus the team of the Republic of Ireland. The Swedes did not play well and we are thankful they were lucky enough to get a tie after scoring a rather late 1-1 goal.

Sweden did not do very well in the qualification round, reaching the tournament by being third in the qualifying group and defeating Denmark in play off games. We did not have high hopes, but we were still disappointed. The Swedes can do much better than they did tonight. The following games in the group are against stronger teams, Italy and Belgium. We watched the game where Italy won by 2-0 over Belgium. It was clear to us both of these teams are much better than the Swedish and the Irish teams. It was the game tonight that was Sweden's big chance at winning a game, but it did not happen.

Well, if Sweden does not go far, there are other teams to root for. I wrote about that last Friday.

Official Birthday

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, etc., etc., has celebrated her official birthday. She turned 90 years old many weeks ago, but always celebrate the birthday officially in June.

The Queen is a fantastic human, still actively performing her duties as Head of State. She is also a lover of dogs and has bred Welsh Corgis under the breed prefix Windsor. This must, of course, be her most important contribution to civilisation, even though being a Queen of so many countries is also extremely important.

The Queen is one awesome human. Congratulations on your birthday, Your Majesty!

Party

Paula celebrated her recent exam today with family and friends. I had participated in the planning, but all of us dogs stayed at home watching the house, while Paula and the others celebrated away from our home.

If it would have been a fine day, the party could have been held in our garden. You can never be sure of the Swedish summer weather, however. There was some rain in the afternoon, at the time of the party.

Paula told me the party was a success. I am so happy it was.

France Won

Hello, Karstuhl here!

France won the first game of the Euro 2016. Our Poodle friends Laila and Momoko celebrate. They root for France, since their breed is from France.

During the game, I told Laila and Momoko I rooted for Romania. They did not like it. Romania is not a country I feel anything special for, but it was the underdog and it was fun to tease the Poodles. I am not that sorry that France won.

Upcoming Tournament

One of the greatest sport events of the year will soon begin, the UEFA Euro 2016 footbaal championship. We are looking forward to following the games on TV.

There are a lot of my favourite countries that do not participate. Japan and the USA are not members of UEFA, of course, but in the continental associations of Asia and North America, respectively. This means they cound not participate. Dad's home country Norway did not qualify. However, his father's home country Belgium participates. So does Sweden.

We all root for Sweden, of course, but if Sweden would not continue to the later games, there are other countries to root for. My Poodle friends root for France, since the Poodle breed is from France. My Affenpinscher friend root for Germany for the same reason. Tenn, Orange, and Karen root for Spain, where they have family and friends. I root for Belgium, as does my daughter Polly, for my grandfather. Javier roots for England, because he has a brother who lives there.

No matter what country will win the gold in the end, it will sure be entertaining. We are looking forward to it.

Tagliatelle

Italy is a great country. It has given the world pasta.

We got pasta in the form of tagliatelle with our food today. It was great. I always love it when we get more than just dog food, and pasta is among the things I love the most. Tagliatelle in the food bowl was great.

Thank you, I taky, for pasta, and tagliatelle!

Funny Tanks

Tanks as war equipment seldom seem funny. In the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, however, specialised tanks nicknamed funnies played a huge part. Here is a story about these. It is an interesting story.

The Second World War keeps being an interesting period of human history. It was a great conflict, involving many countries. It had an evil side with the Nazis of Germany and Fascists of Italy, versus a good side with the democratic countries like Great Britain, the USA, and Canada.

It is true that Japan was on the evil side, but how much I do love Japan as the home country of my own breed, there were undisputable good outcomes of losing the war and becoming a democracy. It is interesting, however, that democratic Finland was allied to Germany 1941-45 in order to keep up its defence against the communistic dictatorship of the Soviet Union, allied to Britain and America. Finland was a good country on the evil side, while the Soviet Union was an evil country on the good side. War and international politics is ironic sometimes.

National Holiday

It is the 6 June and we celebrate the national holiday of Sweden. We do not have many traditions for the national holiday, but it is nice to celebrate it, nevertheless.

Interestingly enough, this is also the anniversary of the British, American, and Canadian landing in Normandy in 1944. This was a decisive event of the Second World War, not so much to win the war, but to save Western Europe to freedom and democracy, so it would not fall in the hands of the Soviet Union army. We could celebrate this as well in Sweden, because it probably saved Sweden from falling into the Soviet Union sphere of interest after the war. Sweden could preserve her democracy and stay free. Sweden took no part in the war, I guess this is why the liberation of the West has never been much celebrated here.

Danish Constitution Day

The 5 June is the Danish Constitution Day, celebrated in Denmark as their national holiday.

I am a Danish Show Champion, so I feel somewhat affiliated with the Danes and celebrate with them. Congratulations, Denmark!

Man Made or Nature Made?

Humans are great constructors. They can build large houses, bridges, harbours etc. There are, however, some formations which humans have believed to be man made, which was not. By the shores of Greece, snorklers discovered what was first thought to be a harbour built by men, but lost to the sea. It was not. It turned out to be natural formations, formed about five million years ago. Humans are not the constructors of every seemingly artificial artifacts. I like humans anyway.

Finish

Paula finishes her speciality training and gets a Masters degree. She will now be able to work as an intensivt care nurse. This is the most advances type of nurse there is.

We congratulate Paula, of course. It is time to party! When she starts her new job as an intensivt care thorax nurse, she will eran more money as well. This is good, because this means she can buy more dog treans and candy.

No Miracle

A baby panda has been born at a zoo in Belgium. This has been called a "true miracle", because pandas are known not to get babies often. Still, the baby was conceived by a male and a female panda. It is not like it was a virgin birth or anything. Making babies can be done, I know, I have done it a few times. It is fantastic, but it is no miracle. It is completely natural.

Summer Times

In an old song, the lyrics say: summer times, when the living is easy.

It is summer now. We are in June, the Sun is shining and the weather is terrific. Still, the summer holidays is yet not here. It is summer times, but the living is not yet easy.

I am looking forward to the weeks when both Paula and Daniel have summer holidays. Then, the living is truly easy.

Bad Connection

We have had bad Internet connection the last days. I do not know why. As far as I know, nothing has changed in our technology configuration or our contract with the Internet service provider. Maybe it will become better further on. If it does not, we have to talk to the customer service. The Internet is working, but not well enough. It makes me impatient, waiting for pages to load.

Another Monday

It is Monday again, and both Paula and Daniel were at their respective workplaces. This is OK, in the hours both of them are gone, we take care of watching the house. This is the way of the watch dog, and we are experts on it. You may know that Japanese warriors can follow the way of the warrior. Japanese dogs like us can follow the way of the watch dog. We do this very well. Nobody has ever broken into our house. This is proof of our expertise. Workdays are not hard for us.

Mother's Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The last Sunday in May is Mother's Day in Sweden. I have, thus, celebrated my Mummy Hailey. There are a lot of other mothers of pups here at our home as well, they have also been celebrated. I got greetings from pups too. We had extra treats with our food and a nice Sunday in other aspects as well. Mother's Day is a nice day.

Let Man's Petty Nations Tear Themselves Apart

We listened to a song from the musical Chess tonight, Anthem. In it, singer Tommy Körberg declares his love for a woman, which goes beyond any borders that is set up between the countries of men in the world. I can relate to this. Dogs do not have borders between nations. We may have borders between dog packs, but we treat all dogs outside of our own pack equal. There is no need to have national borders, if you are a dog. I agree with the sentence: let man's petty nations tear themselves apart. Man's nations are petty. They believe they are more than this, but they are not. In the heart of men and dogs, we are always free, individual spirits, regardless of man's petty nations. This is something we should always remeber.

A Memory that Must Stay Vivid

The President of the USA has visited Hiroshima, famous for being the target of the first (and one of only two) places ever to be hit by a nuclear weapon. The atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, killing a lot of humans and dogs. The two bombs also probably made the war come to an end faster, thus saving other lives.

This was the first ever visit of a President of the USA to Hiroshima. He said the memory of the bomb must never fade. I agree with this. Some people wondered whether the President would appologise for the bombinga, but he did not. I cannot see why he would. It was an act of war in an ongoing conflict. If you fight, you will use the means necessary. It was just a sad thing that the atomic bombs were considered necessary at the time and that they hit many civilians. Who are we, who live now, to judge what they decided back then? We must, however, keep the memori alive and vivid, to make sure we will do what we can to avoid these things to happen again.

Macy Has Left

Hello, Orange here!

Macy has left us for her new home. I miss her! Macy was such a fun puppy to be with.

I am certain Macy will have a great life with her new family. I have met them and approved of them. It is still not easy to let go of my pup.

Good luck in your new home, Macy!

Veterinary Check

Hello, Orange here!

My daughter Macy turns eight weeks old today. Paula took her for the check up at the veterinary hospital. She passed with flying colours. I did not expect anything less. Since I have known Macy all her life, I know she is a healthy, well nourished puppy who can run, climb, and play all you want. We are often having a great deal of fun, Macy and I. It is a great privilege seeing your own puppy growing up and becoming such a nice little dog. I love Macy and being a mother.

Leftover Cake

There was some leftover cake from yesterday this morning. Paula, Daniel, myself, and Karstuhl all got a share of it. It was nice. Celebrating birthdays is not just a good thing on the day of celebration itself, but often the next day as well. Leftovers can be just as tasty as the food was the day before. I like this. It makes for extra celebration, not just one day, but at least two days. Most reasons to celebrate are great, this is one great reason.

Daniel's Birthday

We celebrated Daniel's birthday today. He deserves to be celebrated.

Paula and Daniel had some sparkling wine and cake. I do not like wine, but I did like the cake.

A Little Rain

We had a little rain this morning. Daniel decided to do other things than mowing the lawn because of it. In a way, it is a shame. The lawn needs mowing. A well mowed lawn is the best remedy against ticks, these unnecessary little blood suckers who do not make any dog happy. Well, I guess Daniel can mow the lawn in a few days instead.

Crime By an American in Japan

An American man who worked as a contractor at a US military base in Okinawa, Japan, has been charged with dumping the body of a dead young Japanese woman. This is not the first time Japanese fall victim of crimes committed by Americans who have come to Japan to work for the military.

The military alliance between Japan and the USA is important, not least because of the tension between the countries around the East and South China Seas. Still, crimes committed by Americans who are in Japan due to the US military presence there, are definitely making a strain on the relationship. The Americans must probably make better background checks on their personnel.

You can never be completely sure no crimes will be committed, but there have been too many. I wish there would not be any more felonies for a really long time. It would make the relationship between the countries much better.

New Job

Paula has made a deal with her employer for a new job. She will eran some more money and work with the things she things is most interesting. This is great for her. We celebrated a little this evening. This was a good reason to celebrate.

I will keep my job as a pet dog. I enjoy it and cannot think of any better job. We are all different and have different ideas of the ideal job. A human cannot be a pet, of course, but then, there are many Jobs a human can have, but a dog cannot.

Montenegro Becomes Member of Nato

It has been agreed that Montenegro will become meber of Nato, increasing the number of members in the alliance to twentynine. The decision has to be ratified by the current members, but odds are this will pass everywhere without much question.

We have had talks about membership in Sweden as well. There is, however, far from a consensus that this would be a good idea. Sweden has avoided military alliances since the early 19th century. This way, Sweden avoided offers to join Great Britain and her allies in the Crimean War, thus avoiding the chance of liberating any parts of Finland from Russia. Sweden also avoided going to war against the most horrible threats to freedom and civilisation ever, by staying neutral in the Second World War, thus letting others do the dirty work of beating Nazi Germany. Sweden also stayed out of Nato, when this was the alliance of free, democratic countries standing against the Soviet Union communistic dictatorship in the post war decades. I guess the people who wish for Sweden to stay out of Nato are proud of this history.

Military alliances are not really a thing for a dog, like me, to have any opinion about. There are so many factors involved. I do believe, however, that Nato is an alliance for the defence of liberty and democracy. It would not be bad joining Nato, would it?

Ëvery Spring, Dandelions

There are a few dandelions in our garden. There has never been so few as this year. This is because Daniel constantly hunt them and pulls them up with their roots. He really hates the dandelions. Daniel says they mock him, that their yellow flowers bully him. He says they torment him with their very presence. I cannot see it this way, but he does. It is a good thing for him, then, I think, that he can pull them out and make sure there are fewer and fewer of them each year. Pulling out weeds is a good way to make something useful of your aggressions.

Great Results

This evening, we celebrate Paula and her great results on the course to become an intensive care nurse. She got Summa Cum Laude on her thesis and on the work place education today. It is great. We have all trusted in Paula's abilities and helped her now and then. It feels good that our feelings that she would make a great intensive care nurse seems to be true, even when judged by others.

Congratulations, Paula!

Canine and Human Cancer Medicine

Researchers have found similarities between brain tumours in canines and humans, so that research on cancer of one species can help research on the other, and vice versa.

This is just another way that dogs and humans help each other. We do it all the time, but not always in research like this. It is great.

Night Shift

Paula is doing a night shift at the hospital again. We miss her. The good thing about this, however, is that she will come home in the morning and stay home all day. Since Paula has been awake working all night, she will also engage in one of my favourite chores: sleep.

You might wonder why I call sleep chores. Is it not just lazy pass time? No, it definitely is not. You have to sleep a given amount of hours daily, in order to function properly. It is unhealthy not to sleep. Of course, resting when you do not have to is laziness, but sleeping when you do have to is chores.

I will happily acompany Paula, when she sleeps tomorrow.

Late Night with the ESC

We watched the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday evening. It went on and on, was somewhat exciting, and then it was suddenly past midnight. I do not think the winning song was a good one.

Dance

Hello, Karstuhl here!

They are dancing on TV on Friday nights. I have never really understood what dance is about. I guess you have to be human to understand this.

Board Meeting

Daniel is a member of the board of the Swedish Spitz Club, which is a club under the Swedish Kennel Club responsible for sitt breeds like the Shiba.

They had a board meeting tonight. It was a telephone meeting, so Daniel was at home, but he was not at home in his mind. His thought were just on the meeting.  This meeting went on and on and on. He wasted the whole evening on it. While the Spitz breed Club is important, it cannot be this important,  can it? There has to be some reasonable limits to the time you give to a meeting like this.

I like that Daniel takes time for club meetings on important subjects, but the family is more important. Why does a meeting have to go on for hours? It is a waste of time.

Cold

We have had warm, summer weather for days now. It is rather nice, though I would prefer it if there were less flying insects. Insects are annoying.

Regardless of the heat, Paula has a cold. We feel sorry for her.

A Fifteen-year-old Rediscovered an Ancient Maya City

A fifteen hear old human boy, William Gadoury, from Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Quebec, Canada, has used Mayan star charts and satellite images of Mexican jungles to locate the probable site of a so far unknown old Mayan city. He theorised that the cities were positioned on the ground in the same pattern as Mayan star constellations. It turned out he was right. There were ruins of an ancient city where he thought it could be found.

It is amazing that a boy of this age could make such an achievement. Will he ever even be able to beat it himself? Will he ever have to beat it? I wish I can do a great scientific discovery when I am fifteen years old, it is just that dogs do this more seldom than fifteen-year-old boys, I believe.

The American who rediscovered the Inca city of Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham, III, became so famous that he went on to become a US Senator for his home state of Connecticut. I wonder if William Gadoury can also become a successful politician.

Europe Day

It is the 9th of May, which is celebrated as the day of the European Union, or Europe Day. In earnest, I have not heard anything about this celebration, yet we have had radio and TV on all day. Perhaps I did not pay enough attention, but I believe I would have heard something, if anything had been said.

It seems like Swedes do not celebrate Europe Day. Many polls show there is a large minority who are in favour of Sweden leaving the Union. It seems like more people would think so, if the United Kingdom were to leave the Union after their referendum on the matter this summer. I can understand that. If a great power leaves the Union, there is less reason for a small country like Sweden to stay. Cooperation is good and I think Sweden would be better of in the Union even though the UK would leave.

The European Union has been good for dogs and dog breeding, since it has opened borders, while still making sure serious diseases are under control. If the borders and quarantine came back, it would be a bad thing. Who wants to sit in quarantine? I would not. I hope these open borders stay open for dogs.

More Flags Allowed

Eurovision has published a very limited list of flags allowed to be waved by spectators at the Eurovision Song Contest next week. This has caused critizism, and the rules have now been changed to allow more flags.

In the first set of rules, only flags of contest members and UN members would be allowed. Besides the national flags, it has now been decided that regional and local flags may also be flown at the contest. This will allow People who root for the British song to wave the Welsh flag for the Welsh singer performing the British song. If I were there to see the contest live, I could wave the flag of Närke or of Örebro. It would be fun to do so.

I think the new rules are good. It is more fun seeing many different flags among the watching crowd. Flags are a form of expression and allowing a lot of flags is positive for the freedom of expression that a song contest is also an example of. I salute the decision and may wave a flag in front of the TV set when watching the show.

Headline

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is i tresteg how the blog program workshop. If you do not write anything as a headline, the first word you write in the text is interpreted as a headline. Then you can change the headline, of course, but it is still interesting that you can get a headline without writing any.

Lawn Mowing

A sure sign that summer is coming, is that Daniel mowed the lawn today. It was the first time for the session and went quicker than it usually does. Parts of the lawn really needed it, though.

The most important thing about having a a well mowed lawn is that it lessens the risk of getting ticks. Ticks like to climb the straws of grass and use it to jump onto dogs and other animals. Ticks are mean blood suckers and nobody likes them, but they do exist. With a well mowed lawn, we get less ticks.

Holiday

It is a holiday today. We celebrate that Christ went up into Heaven. I enjoy holidays mainly because our humans are more often at home on such days. Daniel was at home most of the day today, whereas Paula was away studying. She has an exam tomorrow. We are all hoping she nails it. I think she will.

Dog Ice Cream in Ice Cream Vans

The Swedish ice cream van company Hemglass will start to sell dog ice cream this summer. This is ice cream developed for dogs' taste, from the manufacturer Hugo & Celine.


Paula and Daniel do not normally buy ice cream from Hemglass, though it has happened once in a while. The ice cream vans of Hemglass stop close to our house once a week. I hope they will take the opportunity to buy more often, now that they can buy ice cream for us dogs. Ice cream is tasty, but I am sure ice cream specially made for dogs are even better.

Another Birthday

Paula and Daniel went away this evening to celebrate the birthday of Paula's sister Mia. Mia is a very nice human, not least for taking good care of my granddaughter Soya. Mia is worth all the celebration she can get. I wish I could have been there birthday parties are usually very nice events. I and the other dogs chipped in on the present that Paula and Daniel gave to Mia. Hopefulky, she is also pleased to read a celebrating text here.

Happy birthday, Mia!

Tax

Tax is a vile thing, Daniel says, at least on a day like this. The 2 May is the last day to declare your income from last year to the Swedish tax authorities.

Tax is a better word in Swedish. Much better. It means Dachshund. Any word for a dog breed is better than most other words. A word for a type of food or candy may be better, but only slightly better. Dog breeds are good.

Flower Month

In the old days in Sweden, May was called "blomstermånad". This can be translated into "flower month". We have had some snow and night twmperatures below the freezing point in the end of April. I do hope the weather will be warmer and nature will look like it explodes with the colours of flowers, now that it is May. Summer is just a month away.

Seventy

The King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, celebrates his seventieth birthday today. This is a special birthday. It is an even decade and also equally to when a dog turns ten. The King has dogs, so he must know this.

Happy birthday, Your Majesty!

Pup

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I said hello to Orange's pup Macy today. She and Orange was out in the yard when I was, Macy in the  smaller, fenced in area that we usually use for small pups. She is cute and a nice new acquaintance. Orange has made a good job rearing her so far. I think I can help over the coming weeks. It is always fun to be around small pups, even those that are not your own.

In and Out Again

Hello, Orange here!

Macy, my pup, has started to get out of the litter box herself, and back again. This is the age when she is supposed to do this, but I am still proud of her. She is my pride and joy. It is so nice to be with her.

Early Morning

We got up earlier than usual today, because Daniel had a train ticket for an early train to Stockholm. It is now daylight early in the morning, so it did not feel very early. I like to have sunlight on the morning walks.

I wonder if Daniel got some sleep on the train. He does not, ordinary mornings, when he go straight to work, but I guess he had the chance on the train. All of us dogs always go back to sleep after the morning walks. It is one of the privileges of being a dog. It is another factor that takes the edge off a really early morning. When you know you can soon go back to sleep, it feels easier taking a walk.

It is now evening again. Time to get some more sleep. Sleeping is comfortable.

Mitsubishi Has Done Wrong

After last year's revelation that Volkswagen had conducted fuel consumption tests in a wrong way, I though I could at least trust the Japanese car makers. They are known for quality and would lose their faces if caught doing anything wrong. However, it turns out Mitsubishi has conducted tests in a wrongful way.

How many other car manufacturers will be caught with similar wrongful tests? I do not like it, when people are caught cheating. It makes you suspect others have cheated as well. I want to be able to trust people, but I cannot trust anybody, just because I would like to trust her or him. Trust must be deserved. Distrust can smear on innocents, despite me not wanting to distrust them.

I do hope no more car manufacturers have conducted tests like these in a wrongful way. It is important for trusting the car manufacturing business as a whole. I want to trust this business. Cars are important and trusting the companies building them are important too. We will have to see what happens in the future.

Frost

Snow fell yesterday afternoon, but melted right away. There was frost on the ground this morning, though.

I am not surprised. It is the end of April, but there can be winter weather this late in the season. We had a fairly early spring this year, but nothing says the spring must progress fast to summer.

The morning sunshine reflecting of the frost is quite beautiful. It made me feel glad this morning.

New Sofa

We got a new sofa to our living room today. It is bigger than the old one. It is comfortable to rest in. Do I need to tell you I like it?

No Comments

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I have noticed that nobody comments on the Daily Hailey blog posts. There might be a lot of readers, especially when a link to the blog post is posted on Facebook and Twitter. There might also be comments on the link on Facebook. Still, there are no comments on the blog post itself.

I wonder why this is the case. Why don't anyone of our readers want to comment on the blog? If you have got an opinion on this issue, please post a comment on the blog itself!

If there are comments on this issue, I will come back and give you an update on it. Stay tuned!

Disqualified From the Eurovision Song Contest

In many sports, in Sweden, a club can be disqualified and relegated to a lower league, if your economy is not good enough. Such is the case when a club gets bankrupt or close to it.

In the Eurovision Song Contest, it is the same. The European Broadcasting Union has decided that Romania is disqualified from the contest because of outstanding debts dating as far back as 2007.

It is fair to disqualify Romania. If you have a competition, everyone should compete on equal terms. If one contestant does not pay its share of the costs, it is only fair that this contestant will not be able to participate. The participant should be stopped until all debts are paid.

There are many countries participating in the European Song Contest. I really do not see any particular reason to miss Romania. If Romania would pay and be able to participate, it would be nice, bit it is also OK if they are kept out until the debts are paid.

This year's competition will be in about a month. We are looking forward to it here.

The Queen, 90

Some humans say humanity is ruled by patriachal rules, that male humans rule.

It is true to some extent. The highest ranking human in the world is a man: His Imperial Majesty Akihito, Emperor of Japan.

Still, I would say the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has a little more influence. She is Queen of many countries, like Australia, Canada, Jamaica, and New Zealand. She is also a registered dog breeder of Welch Corgis etc. under the kennel prefix Windsor. Queen Elizabeth celebrates her nintieth birthday today. She is worth all celebrations the world gives to her.

Happy birthday, Queen Elizabeth II, breeder of Windsor dogs.

Chipping In

Paula's father, our dear friend Nils-Olov, celebrated his birthday today. We all chipped in on a present for him. He deserved it. He is a very caring and thoughtful person, we all love him.

None of us dogs went over to Nils-Olov to celebrate him. We were there through the present and greetings on the birthday card. We heard he was satisfied with the birthday, which was the main thing.

Happy birthday, Nils-Olov!

Earthquake in Ecuador

Ecuador has been hit by an even stronger earthquake than those hitting Japan recently. The Ecuadorian earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.8 in its centre by the coast. About 350 people were killed and 2,000 people injuried.

I suspect that there are more people killed and injuried in Ecuador than in Japan, not only because the quake was stronger, but also because the infrastructure and buildings might be of poorer quality. Ecuador is a poorer country than Japan. I hope enough help will go to the humans and dogs of Ecuador as well.

Rising Early on a Sunday

We got up early this morning, even though it was Sunday, and despite the fact that we did not go to any dog show. It all had to do with the Formula 1 Grand Prix in China, which started at eight o'clock in the morning, Central European Time. It was an exciting race, so I did not regret getting up to watch it.

Rescue Operations

The rescue operations continue in Japan after the earthquakes. More humans have been found dead due to the quake. It is now a race against time to rescue more. I hope dogs will also be saved.

Please send your thoughts and prayers to the humans and dogs of the affected parts of Japan!

Another Earthquake

A new, stronger earthquake hit southern Japan today, just a day after the last one.

This quake had a magnitude of 7.3, much stronger than the one yesterday. Still, some people had been evacuated, which saved those who normally lives in a village now flooded when a dam burst. Many buildings make it, because the Japanese know how to build earthquake safe buildings. There are no reports of killed humans, but some are injuried and a few trapped inside buildings.

I still wonder how the dogs of the area are doing.

Earthquake

An earthquake shook southern Japan today. At least two humans died and more were injuried. The quake had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale. Many houses and buildings were left without electricity and gas.

The nuclear reactors close to the quake were not affected and those that were running are still running, three others were already shut down for regular maintenance. This is important, when we remeber that the earthquake with following tsunami forced the Fukushima nuclear reactors out of operation in 2011. A lot of people died due to that tsunami, luckily none because of the damages done by the tsunami on the reactors.

I hope the dogs in the area are alright.