Early Morning

Daniel had to leave early this morning, to catch an early train. This meant he took the morning walks earlier than he usually does. We walked in the darkness of a morning before sunrise. It was rather warm weather, nevertheless, the darkness made us feel like it was later in the year. It will soon be dark on the morning walks every workday morning. We do not care, we are used to it. Dark mornings show that you come closer to Christmas, which is nice. It is still a long time until Christmas now, however.

Bottle Refunds

Hello, Karstuhl here!

If you buy a pop in a PET bottle, a part of the price is refunded when you return the bottle. In the meantime, empty PET bottles are excellent chewing toys for dogs. They are just hard enough to make for fun chewing. A chewed bottle has always been refundable. This is logical, because the bottle is pressed together and destroyed in the refund machine, anyway.

This is until lately, however.

Over the last couple of days, Paula has tried to get refund for chewed bottles in many machines, bit all the machines have refused to accept these bottles. We do not know whether this is a new policy, or if it is just machines programmed wrongly. It seems odd that the machines would not accept bottles, because they have a couple of small chewing marks, especially when the machines destry the bottles entirely anyway.

I hope it will be possible to get refunds on these bottles in the future, otherwise we may not get to chew on them.

Red and Sesame

There are black and tan Shibas, then there are red and sesame Shibas. Mum was sesame, a great colour. Dad was black and tan, just like me and Polly, the greatest colour. Auntie Linni was red, also a great colour.

If you want a red Shiba, like the puppy buyers the day before yesterday, you still get a great dog. I want to stress this, so you will not draw the wrong conclusions of my comments the day before yesterday.

Indeed, any dog is a great dog. It is just if you do not have any dog, your life is lacking something great.

Still, I believe black and tan Shibas are the very best there is. I am biased, of course, but so are everyone else. With that said, black and tans are the best.

Britons Considering Becoming Irish After Brexit

When a manority of voters in the United Kingdom cast their vote to exit the EU earlier this year, some Britons have considered options to stay EU citizens. A lot of them have considered whether they can become citizens of the Republic of Ireland, a Member State of the EU. A lot of Britons do have Irish roots, but it is uncertain how many there are.

I find it interesting that some people considers the EU such a great thing, that they are prepared to apply for another citizenship to make sure they are citizens of a EU Member State. Many people may get dual citizenship, thus staying citizens of the UK as well, but it Must still feel like a great step to take  I wonder if they consider registering their dogs with the Irish Kennel Club as well.

Busy Sunday

It is Sunday. Nevertheless, the alarm clock went of as early as if it was any workning day. This is fine by me, as long as the Sunday is used to go to a dog show. It was not, not today.

Paula and Daniel spent the morning cleaning. I guess this had to be done.

In the early afternoon, puppy buyers came by. I am not sure what they want. I am too old to have pups, Polly neither has, nor is expecting pups. There will be some time before Polly's daughter Soya will get her first litter. – There are the red Shiba pups of Karen, of course. They are almost two weeks old. If the puppy buyers want a red Shiba, I guess buying one of these pups is all right. I cannot see why you would not want to wait for a black and tan pup, however.

Later i. The afternoon, Daniel mowed the lawn. This also had to be done. It might be the last time this season, but you cannot just let the long grass pass.

Horses

I went with Paula, Daniel, and Morran to the Segersjö Days today. It is an annual weekend of horse competitions to the southeast of our hometown. There were nice food to buy and eat. We did not look much at the horses, but we had fun anyway.

Later in the day, we went to Paula's parents and had crayfish for dinner. It is always fun to meet them. We had a great time there as well. It was a great day, full of new experiences. I liked it a lot.

Pillows

Paula and Daniel fight over pillows sometimes. This is when they go to bed and the pillows are not in order. They need pillows to rest their heads upon when they sleep. I am glad I am a dog, I do not need any pillow to get a comfortable position to sleep in.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

The next Summer Olympic Games will be the most exiting in my lifetime. They will be hosted by Tokyo in Japan, the country of the Shiba.

There have been rumours and accusations of bribery, when Tokyo was elected to host the Olympic Games. Rumours like this seem to surface whenever there is a big event anywhere.

A Japanese investigation has looked into the evidence of one payment that has been put into question. The investigation has concluded there was no bribery. Everything has been in accordance with Japanese law.

I am not surprised everything is in order. Japan is a country with an old, dignified culture. Bribes are beneath the Japanese. We do not need to give or to receive bribes.

Now we can just look forward to the next Summer Olympic Games.

The End of Summer

It is the last day of August, the last of the three summer months. By the calendar, this is, thus, the last day of summer 2016.

I like autumn as well as summer. The colder weather does not bother me, my coat is always enough in autumn. It is just very cold winter days that may be too cold for me.

Even though I like autumn, it is a little sad that we leave summer behind. It will be darker and there are many weeks of work before longer holidays. There may be summer heat some days in September too, but there may also be frost in the mornings. We will have to see what kind of autumn there will be.

Well, summer will return next year. I know it will. It will be nice.

Paying Bills

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is the end of the month and bills are paid.

I am glad our humans pay the bills. Dogs could pay bills, if only we had the money. Under human law, however, dogs are not entrusted with money. If we were, we would certainly earn a lot of money, making it easy for us to pay a lot of bills. As it is, we do not have to pay bills. I guess there is some advantages to this, too.

Rain

It has been a rather dry summer, but it started to rain last night. This morning, rain fell constantly. We were out on our morning walk, but then we went back to sleep in the dry, warm rooms of our house. Paula was working afternoon at the hospital, so she also slept until rather late.

Rain is a good thing. It boosts all the things that grows in the garden. It makes the water level in our well higher. It washes the houses and the cars. It is, however, not comfortable to be outdoors in the rain. Rainy weather is best experienced from indoors. Then it is cozy. We had a very cozy day indoors today.

Ceasefire in Colombia

The far left guerilla group Farc, also known to earn money on drugs and kidnappings, has announced a ceasefire. This will take effect at midnight, local time, which is 6 a.m. Central European time.

We have a special relationship with Colombia, because Paula was born there. It is our favourite South American country.

Peace talks have been going on for years. It now really seems like there will be peace between Farc and the Colombian government. We all hope so. We believe a Colombia in peace will be more prosperous. Certainly, a land without a criminal, far left guerilla group must be a better place to live.

A peace treaty may be signed in a few weeks. We hope ot will be so.

No Show

I did not come along to the dog show today. It was an unofficial show where I would have helped our Affenpinscher friend Morran. Now she had to do it on her own.

Morran did well, but she was only third in her class and did not get any honorary prize. I believe she would have done better, had I been there to coach her. You cannot be sure, of course, but I still believe this.

In a way, it was nice to stay at home. No matter what would have happened, I would not have gone into the show ring. I cannot, on an Affenpinscher specialty. It is going into the show ring that is really fun. If I do not do this, I would rather stay at home. I did today. It was a nice day of rest.

Paula in an Advertisement

Paula's employer is searching for more people. The advertisement is illustrated with a photography of some of the people working there. Paula is one of the four people in the picture. This is sweet. It must be fun to get an extra aknowledgement for the work one is doing, by being seen in an advertisement like this.

Lethal Mobile Game

Nintendo's new game Pokemon Go has become a hit this summer. I do not know why. It turns some humans insane. They focus on the game and its virtual additions to reality, rather than reality itself. If it has not gone too far before, it must have gone too far in Japan now. A man was driving his car while playing, and hit two woman pedestrians, killing one and seriously hurting the other. He has told the police he did not watch the road carefully.

Not everything from Japan is great. A mobile game making a man to cause an accident where another human is killed cannot be great. It is bad. I hope the Pokemon Go frenzy will soon come to an end. It would not be a good solution to ban the game. Bans must be a last resort.

Hamburger

This evening, I went with Daniel to fetch Paula at her work. On the way home, I got a hamburger. It was great. Hamburgers are always great.

Paula's Birthday

We are celebrating Paula's birthday today. She is a truly extraordinary person, well worth anything we can do to celebrate her.

Happy birthday, Paula!

Typhoon hits Tokyo

A great typhoon has hit Tokyo. There have been hard wind, massive rainfall, and a lot of cancelled flights.

This kind of wheather is not uncommon in Japan. After all, the word "typhoon" comes from Japanese. It is a disaster, nevertheless. Just because you are used to bad wheather, does not mean you like it.

New TV Set

Our old TV set broke down two days ago. We now have a new one. This is good.

It is never good when a piece of machinery breaks down. On the other hand, if you replace that which is broken, you may get something better instead. I believe we did this time.

A Second Swedish Gold Medal

Sweden is a country with a relatively small population. We cannot compete with the most populous nations in the number of competitors in the Olympic Games, nor in the number of medals won. Today, however, Sweden won a second gold medal. It was Jenny Rissveds who won gold in the ladies' mountainbike race. This is great. I like it all the more, because it was an unexpected gold medal. Unexpected successes have a special sweetness.

Crayfish Feast

Paula and Daniel went away to a crayfish feast tonight. Eating crayfish in August is a Swedish tradition. The humans love it. I think it is overrated. There is too much shells vis a vis meat.

Japan v. USA

There was a wrestling game on TV from the Olympic Games today, where a lady from Japan was wrestling a lady from the USA. I had mixed feelings about this.

Mum was American, but our whole breed is from Japan. My dear husband Kenny was born and raised in Japan, so my daughter Polly is half Japanese.

It was an exciting game. Wrestling is a sport which is rather easy to understand. In the end, the American won and got the gold medal. I was happy for her and sorry for the Japanese. The Olympic Games brings feelings.

Coaching

It will not be the upcoming weekend, but Saturday of the weekend after this, I will get to go on a dog show again. It is a breed specialty for Affenpinschers and Schnauzers, so I will not go into the show ring myself. I will be there as a coach to our Affenpinscher friend Morran. With my experience, I believe I have got a lot to give in a coaching role. It will be fun. Stay tuned for reports on the day of this show.

Dad Would Have Been Pleased

My Dad was from Norway, as longtime readers of my blog know. He always rooted for Norway in sports.

The Swedish ladies' team in handball played Norway in the Olympic Games today. Norway scored about twice as many goals as Sweden. As a Swede, it was embarrasing to watch. Dad would have been pleased, though.

I miss Dad. He passed away too may years ago. Life was better when he was around.

Affenpinscher Club

Daniel participaten in a telephone meeting tonight. We could hear what he said, and it became clear it was not the Spitz club, where he has been a member of the board for many years, but the breed club for Affenpinscher. This is fun for our Affenpinscher friend Morran. Somehow, I still think it would be more useful to do more for spitz breeds, I believe. Nevertheless, working for any dog breed club is a great thing to do. It is not a waste of time.

Second Day of Dog Show

There were no Shibas shown at the dog show in Askersund today. In a way, this is good, because then I do not need to be disappointed I am not there, participating.

Daniel was there working again.

Paula worked night last night and tonight, so she spent most of the day sleeping. This is an hoourable way of spending your day. You sleep because you have to. If you rest without sleeping, you may be lazy, but sleeping is a way of restoring your body and brain. Sleeping is as important as working, eating, and other such essential things you do.

I spent the day overseeing us dogs watching the house. This is my duty as alpha bitch. I enjoy it, but it is tough work at times. I would rather go to a dog show.

Dog Show at Home

This weekend, our regional kennel club hosts its annual dog show in Askersund. It is not next door to us, but it is still our home turf, since this is the regional kennel club we belong to.

Daniel was there, working as a ring steward. He usually does.

Paula was also there. Rumour has it, she showed a Shiba, but none of us got to come along. If she did show a Shiba, I wonder whom that might be. I guess it was someone with our kennel prefix, or at least a close relative of some of us.

I would have loved to go myself. My show career is over, successful as it has been, but I would not mind a comeback. Dog shows will always be my favourite thing to do.

Bad Sportsmanship

A competitor in the Olympic Games in judo from Egypt was defeated by a competitor from Israel. The defeated man then refused to shake hands with the Israeli, as is customary. This is bad sportsmanship.

Judo is a Japanese sport. In Japanese culture, politeness is essential. You should not compete in a Japanese sport, if you cannot behave properly.

The Olympic Games is about friendly competition across all political borders of the world. Refusing to shake hands with a competitor from another country is an affront to the Olympic ideals.

This Egyptian should be disqualified from further competitions in judo.

Bad Harvest in Champagne

The 2016 grape harvest in Champagne, France, will be very bad. Frost, rot, and mildew have caused this. The harvest will be the worst in decades.

This is not good for lovers of the sparkly champagne wines. I am not one of them, but Paula is. She will manage, of course, but I feel for her.

For my part, I mostly just drink water.

Booing at the Olympic Games

There are spectators at the Olympic Games who are booing. This is bad, it is no sportsmanship. There are never booing at dog shows, the crowd there must be better at sportsmanship.

Evidently, there are many reasons for booing. I do not care. I believe there are no reasons that can justify booing. If you do not like one competitor, just do not applaud. Every competitor deserves this much respect.

Running Away to Get Home

In this evening's episode of the Midsomer Murders, the dog Sykes ran away from a dog day care unit to get home. This is the right way to go. If you run away, it is in order to get home.

Olympic Competition in Trick Filming

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We are watching the men's team competition in gymnastics. It is obvious that the participants do things that are not physically possible to achieve for a human. This is proof that they are not actually doing it. The competition is actually a competition in trick filming – this is the only reasonable explanation, thus, it must be true. It is nice to watch, nevertheless.

Silver

The Swedish Olympic team got its first medal today. Emma Johansson won silver in bicycle. She won silver in the Olympic Games eight years ago as well, and has been called "Silver Emma" ever since. The new silver medal will reinforce this nickname. (Four years ago, she came sixth.) We did, of course, hope she would win gold, but silver is still an excellent result. It is also a nice twist on the nickname.

Squash Soup

Nils Olov came by for a lottle while this evening. We all love him and wish he would have stayed longer. He brought some home made squash soup. I am not fond of soup, but I know Paula loves this soup. It was nice thinking of Paula and giving her some soup. Next time, perhaps we get some moose meat or other things that I love to eat. I have hope.

Dogs in the Olympic Games

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games starts officially today – or early morning Saturday, Central European Time.

I have always been of the opinion that there should be some dog sports in the Olympic Games. Agility is a dog sport close to the equestrian sports that has been included in many games. Dog sled racing should be included in the winter games.

There is an old April Fools Joke about Poodle clipping being an olympic sport in the 1900 Olympic Games. This is not true. It would not be a good olympic sport either, involving just Poodles.

The Olympic Games are interesting, nevertheless.

Ice Cream

We had some ice cream tonight. It was good.

Home Again

We went home again this afternoon. It was nice to visit the west coast, but there is no place like home.

I like going places and smelling new things. The best trips are when there is a dog show or two. This trip was fine, but there was no dog show. On the other hand, you cannot have all the fun any time you go somewhere.

I like to thank Daniel's family for a nice time.

Her Own Forest

Daniel's mother owns a forest estate in Småland, where she was born and reared. She inherited it from her father. We visited it today and ran around there for a while. It is very beautiful there, with a lot of beeches.

It is always nice to walk in the forest, but there is a special feeling when you walk on your own land, or the land of your close family.

Orange Colored Sky

Hello, Orange here!

We are visiting Daniel's parents at their summer house. I really like Daniel's mother. She taught me there is an old jazz song by Nat King Cole called Orange Colored Sky. (The song title is in American English, this is why you should spell it "color".) We listened to the song on Youtube. It was great, not just because the song title had my name in it. Look it up and listen to it, I am sure you will like it!

Packing

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have prepared for a trip to Halland on the Swedish west coast. Mommy, Orange, Daniel, and I will go there for a couple of days. We will visit Daniel's parents at their summer house.

Daniel has packed bags. I just made sure he packed the most important things: dog food and food bowls.

Mommy is disappointed, because we will not go to a dog show. She believes dog shows are the most fun places to be. While I like dog shows, I do not believe they are that great. I think we will have a good time, nevertheless. When I am around, dogs and humans often have a good time. I cannot say for sure whether this is thanks to me, or whether it is just that I have such a positive view of life that I feel like people have a good time when I am there. It is nice, either way. I am sure we will have a good time.

Dirty Campaign in Tokyo

The people of Tokyo in Japan will elect a new governor. This is one of the most important political positions in the country.

The front runner Ms. Yuriko Koike belongs to the big Liberal Democrat Party. She has not received the support of the party, however, because she did not consult with the party leadership in Tokyo before announcing her candidacy. I can understand that this is a reason for the party not to support her.

There has been a lot of negative campaigning, among these sexist commentaries against Ms. Koike even from members of her own party. Sexist comments do not belong in a political campaign. I wish there would never be any of those. If for nothing else, I hope Ms. Koike wins, just to show people who have used sexist comments against her that this is futile and silly.

Darker Outside

It is getting considerably darker outside as we are leaving midsummer further and further behind. Paula and Daniel were away this evening and had not switch on any lights before they left. It was not really dark when they came back home, but darkness had started to fall. We did not mind. It is quite cozy to sit around while darkness is starting to come. Later on, it will be darker earlier, but then we will have lights on when we are watching the house in the evenings. It will all be nice.

Kitten Survives in Washing Machine

A kitten in England was accidentally trapped in the washing machine, when his human turned it on for a 60 degrees washing cycle. Luckily, the human heard thuds from inside the machine, saw his fur colour, and hurried to get him out. The kitten was not inside the machine for more than two minutes. After veterinary care, he seems to get a full recovery.

It was fortunate that the kitten survived and did not get any injuries. Still, it is an upsetting story. I have had puppy litters in our bathroom, where we have our washing machine. Paula and Daniel has always made sure no puppy would go inside the washing machine when doing the laundry. I do not want to consider what would have happened otherwise, and idåf a puppy would have been trapped in the machine.

Perhaps it would be best not even to think about these things. After all, it is quite unlikely that a puppy would end up trapped in the washing machine, sustaining permanent injuries. I do not get puppies of my own anymore. I might be able to forget about this until I get another litter of grandchildren or great grandchildren.

Good Riddance

The former party leader of the Swedish communist party, C.H. Hermansson has passed away.

Communism is a political ideology that has ruled a lot of countries in the world. Every communistic country has become poor. A lot of the people living in these countries have been murdered by the communistic leaders and elite. Communism is no good.

It is always a tragedy when somebody dies. The tragedy is bigger in some cases than others.

We are all equal in death. Some are more equal than others.

Water

They said on the radio there are low water levels around here now. This may affect us, who have a well of our own as water supply. There was some rain today, however. We received 4 mm. I hope there will be more rain, preferably at night, when we are indoors anyway. We can never have too much water in the well, I believe.

Fire in the Wilderness

A fire rages in the forest some kilometres north of Örebro, where we live. The fire fighters have taken control of the fire, but it may take weeks before there is no fire left.

Humans often want to control fires and put them out. At the same time, scientists have learned more and more of the benefits of letting wildfires burn. It gives way to new growth and benefits the eco system. Perhaps it would be a good idea to let more fires burn?

Blueberries

Paula went to the woods today, with her father and our Affen Pinscher friend Morran. They were out to pick blueberries.

I would have liked to come, not because I am so fond of blueberries, but because I love a long walk. I had a nice afternoon at home, watching Formula 1 on TV with Daniel, but a long walk would have been a little better. Oh, well, it might be my turn next time.

The blueberries went into the fridge. They will be frozen for later use. I guess this is nice.

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.