Momoko

Our Miniature Poodle friend Momoko went to the veterinarian today with Daniel. Momoko turns fourteen years old today, but the veterinarian said she was healthy for her age. She will get some treatment for her teeth in April, but that is about it. We are all happy that the friendly Momoko will be with us for quite some time to come. We all love her. 

Nämndeman

Paula made her first appearance as a ”nämndeman” at the Örebro court today. She loved it!

There was one case which disturbed her, however. A woman had mistreated her cats badly. Paula told us pictures of the cats were horrible. The woman was sentenced for the crime. 

Not Today, Tomorrow

Apparently, it was tomorrow that Paula makes her first appearance as a ”nämndeman”. Stay tuned, I will tell you more about this tomorrow.

It is a bit disturbing to have the wrong assumption about what day something will happen. It is, however, worse if you believe it is the day after the true day, instead of the day before it. I guess Paula knew the correct day all along.

Justice of the Peace

Paula will have her first assignment as ”nämndeman” tomorrow. You may call this a justice of the peace, or a permanent juror, if you like. It is the layman judges in the courts of law of Sweden. Paulais looking forward to this. We hope it will live up to her expectations. There will surely be more to tell tomorrow.

All Norwegian Skiers

A Norwegian won the classic long distance ski competition Vasaloppet this morning. It is 90 km long. Since 2013, there have only been Norwegian winners.

This afternoon, the skiing world championships ended with the 50 km competition for men. A Norwegian won, before another Norwegian. 

It is crazy how dominant Norwayis as a cross country skiing nation. My grandfather Kuro would have been proud. He was born in Norway and always rooted for Norway. I have thought a lot about him today.

Second Chance

Some of the songs which did not do very well in their first qualification rounds to the Swedish qualifyer to the Eurovision Song Contest had a chance for revenge tonight. We watched it, but were not very excited over every competition. I still miss songs about dogs.

Danger

My mother Hailey always supported Japan, and was often opposed to the present regime of China. The communist regime of China threatens Japan, oppresses its own people, condones the oppression of dogs at dog meat festivals and the like, and seizes ever more control of Hong Kong. I am also not fond of China. I wish China was not so powerful, so it was more possible to do something about its horrible regime. If you eat dogs, you just do not have any ethical boundaries left.

Light in the Mornings

This week on the morning walks, Daniel has not had tohave his reflective vest. Daylight is around when we walk. I like daylight. As a dog, I can see quite well in the faint light of night, but daylight is still better. The lighter mornings also promise that summer is coming. The warm weather of summer is nice. It was a little colder outdoors today than in the recent days, but this is a temporary setback on our way to summer. I feel glad. 

Cul-de-sac

Our house is on a cul-de-sac. You can only exit the street one way. This is temporary, while the town is building a new water tower by oneend of the street. When going by car, we have a longer way than usual to get into the centre of the town. This temporary traffic solution has been here for a very long time now. I wonder when the street will be re-opened again by the new tower. It is strange that it must take such a long time to build the new water tower.

Pizza

Paula and Daniel went out for lunch today, Daniel working from home and Paula studying, but having an errand after lunch. Daniel came backhome with leftovers from recently baked pizzas. The leftovers went into our food bowls. I love pizza, so this was a great lunch for us too. It is something special about how a good meal can make the rest of the day better. 

Artist’s Abducted Dogs Back Home

The artist Lady Gaga has three dogs, two of were abducted some days ago. She was not home, and her dog keeper was shot and hurt when the two dogs were abducted. Luckily, the dog keeper survived and the two abducted dogs have been brought back home. Allis well that ends well. I hope the dog keeper will make a full recovery, and that Lady Gaga will comehome to care for her dogs the way they deserve after their horrible ordeal.

Paula Is Back Home

Paula came back home from her trip to the mountains this afternoon. We had all been waiting for her. Now life can return to normal.

The normal life is when all of us dogs and both our humans Paula and Daniel are at home most of the time every day. It is easier to relax, when thisis the case. Life has been good this week, even though Paula has been away, but it is better now. We love Paula. Welcome home, Paula!

Six Nations

There was a rugby game on TV tonight. England played Wales in the traditional Six Nations tournament. I have never been very interested in rugby. In the World Cup, I root for Japan, but Six Nations are England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. Peanut is from England, and he roots for England, of course. Because of this, I also hope for England.

By half time, Wales was in the lead 17-14, so it was not an easy game. By 62:29, the game was tied, 24-24. England did not score any more points, however, but Wales did. Wales eventually won by 40-24. Peanut was sad. I felt sorry for him. It may be better in other games, though. 

Almost No Snow Left

It has been outside temperatures above the freezing point for most of the week. There is almost no snow left. We had a few weeks in a row with snow and really cold temperatures, but I would have wanted deeper snow and a longer winter. Spring is too early, if it starts in February. Perhaps there will be a backlash with more winter days, but I doubt it. I guess we have to hope for more snow next season. 

Trouble With Dog Food

Daniel had purchased some frozen dog food and let it thaw in the kitchen. Then he would portion it out to smaller containers to fit in the freezer. He failed with some, getting it on his clothes and on the floor. Most was saved, though. It looked funny when he failed. If dogs could laugh, maybe I would have. Daniel took it all in high spirit, whichis good.

Athletes in Odd Colours

We watched some athletics on TV, while Daniel ate his dinner. (All of us dogs had already eaten.) It was international competitions, the athletes were registered to compete for their home countries. Nevertheless, many did not wear their national colours. I guess they are sponsored by different companies or like different colours. Still, as viewers, we agreed that it would be better, had everyone competed in their national colours. Now some did, but not others, which felt strange.

Division

Our Affenpinscher friend Morran is in heat. This means the Shiba boys are getting interested. Thus, we all get separated, so nothing will happen to Morran. It cannot be easy keeping calm, when all of those scents are flying around. Divisions can be necessary sometimes.

Japanese Victory in Melbourne

It beats me why I did not write anything in the blog two days ago about the winner of the Ladies’ tournament in the Australian Open in tennis. She is Naomi Osaka, from Japan. It was her fourth Grand Slam title. 

When there are no Swedes with a chance to win, I am glad there are Japanese winners. As a Shiba, with my roots in Japan, I always have a soft spot for the country. Go, Japan!

Going Away

Paula went away this morning. We hope she will have a good time with her family members in the mountains for a week. We miss her already, but Daniel is here, taking care of us. I actually prefer staying at home. 

Cooking and Cooking

Paula has spent the whole day cooking. She will be going away for a week with her parents, sister, nephew, and niece, and the foodis for this week. It has been nice smells all around. We got some meat toour food as well. Even though most of the food was saved, I believe it was a good day. 

Birthday

My brother Nemo and I celebrate our birthday today. I got minced meat, it was great. Birthdays are nice.

Jubilee

Twentyone years ago today, Paula and Daniel got engaged to be married. They married the year after this. Forus dogs, this is important, especially for those of us who are bred by Paula and Daniel. If it were not for them, neigher my mother, me, nor amy of my pups would have been. Javier would not either. The world would not just be different, for me, there would not be anything. It is strange to consider this. Nevertheless, I am very happy that Paula and Daniel found each other.

Carneval

It is the last day before the 40 days of lent before Easter. In Sweden, this is the first day we eat the Swedish pastry semla. It is a sweet bun with almond paste and whipped cream. Daniel tellsme that the origin of the semla is the plain bread buns you were allowed to eat during lent, where people hid more tasty things. These more tasty things evolved into almond paste and whipped cream. This is why Swedes eat semlas from today until Easter. It is a great pastry.

Spaghetti

We got some spaghetti inour food bowls today. Spaghetti is a common formof pasta, but when you thinkof it, it is actually one of the funniest forms of pasta. The long strnads of pasta are funny. I guess it is just because spaghetti is the most common form of pasta, that you do not always think of how funny it looks. Regardless of the form, it is tasty.

Valentine’s Day

This year, I was not the Valentine of any male dogs. I have had my fair share of loved ones, but not this year. My dear daughter Gerstuhl, however, has had a Valentine for a couple of weeks now. She has been visiting us, and her love Peanut has been with her. They love each other. Ilike Peanut, so this makes me happy for bothof them. Then an old lady like me does not need a Valentine of my own.

A Little Better

This week’s qualification round for the Swedish Song Contest was better than last week’s. It is not that I care much, but Paula and Daniel follow it. There was a nice looking Samoyed dog in one of the pauses between songs, however. I liked that.

Music

Paula and Daniel have their differences. They like different kind of music. This evening, they had an argument about music and what music is the best. I could not care less. To me, music is just sound. I wish they could have a discussion about more important things, like dog food. 

Only You and Me

We listened to some old songs tonight. Paula played a song which is called ”Only You and Me”, bjt in Swedish. I guess it is a rather good song. Life is good, if it can be as in this song. 

Planning

Paula will spend a week in the mountains with her parents, sister, nephew, and niece. She went to her parents tonight to make plans for the journey.

It might be interesting to come along, but we dogs have agreed that it is better if we stay at home with Daniel. Travels may come this summer, if there will be dog shows. Such travels will also require planning.

I hope Paula will have a nice trip.

German

We were watching a Swedish film about tourists in the Swiss Alps today. The natives were speaking German. Our Affenpinscher friend Morran says German is the best human language there is. Her breed is from Germany, so I understand she thinks so. 

German is a fine language, closely related to Swedish. I still believe Japanese is the best. Swedish is good, nevertheless. German is not bad, I have to give Morran this. 

Dogs have the same language all over the world. This is even better.

Stopping Adoptions

The Netherlands is stopping all international adoptions until further notice, due to a huge amount of abuses and wrongdoings over the course of many years. One of the countries childrenhave come from, where wrongdoings have happened, is Colombia. Paula and her sister were adopted from Colombia to Sweden. We do not have any evidence of wrongdoings in their case, fortunately, but the news from the Netherlands make you wonder. I hope things like this have not happened in Swedish international adoptions. 

Macaroni

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

We got sausage and a lot of macaroni for food today. This was great. I love it when we get other kinds of food than the usual dog food. It is like this here at the breeders as well as at my own home in Solna. Life is good. 

A Bad Qualification Round

We watched the first Swedish qualification round for the Eurovision Song Contest. There were no good songs among the seven of this qualification round. 

There will be three more qualification rounds in the weeks to come. We hope for some better songs in those rounds.

Will There Be Pups?

My daughter Gerstuhl is in heat. There is now a clear and present chance that she will get pups in a couple of months. This is good, I wish to become a grandmother. It would be nice to get grandpups.

I have had many daughters. None of them has yet to have pups. This makes me sad. Gerstuhl is the youngest and in her most fertile years. This must be it. For the love of my mother Hailey and grandmother Sunni, I wish our line will continue. The hope lives.

In Full Health

Paula has been ill for quite some time. Several weeks, to be honest. She is better now. This evening, she and Daniel took Morran and Piffy and visited her sister and niece and nephew. This shows she is back in full health. 

I am glad that Paula is feeling well again. She says she is not fully recovered, but that her visit this evening will help her recovery. This is great. We shall hope for the best.

Rules for Olympic Spectators

The organisers of the Tokyo Olympic Games have issued rules on how the spectators should act, in order to lower the risk of the spread of covid-19. You will be able to clap your hands, but are discouraged from chanting or singing.

This seems like a good idea. You would want to see spectators, whenyou watch the Games on TV. Rules on their conduct to lower the risk of the spread of the disease is good. We will have to see how well it will work out.

Crisps

We had some crisps late in the evening today. It was great. Crisps are a very nice form of potatoes. I wish we could have crisps more often. 

Cheese

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

Life is good by my breeders. I do miss my own excellent family, but my breeders are great. They have cheese, and distributed cheese among all of the dogs today. Life is good, whenyou get cheese.

Back In Örebro

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

I am backin Örebro, with Mum, my breeders, and the other dogs. This is because I am in heat. Everybody hopes I will get pups. I guess I am with everybody in this instance. Mum says it is nice having pups. She had me, so she must have had a great experience then, at least. 

We will have to see what happens. 

New Telephone

Paula has the same telephone as before, but she is again able to charge it. There was just some dirt in the socket for the charger. 

Daniel, on the other paw, had to buy a new telephone. He has been sitting with it for a long time this afternoon, so I guess he likes it. It is a Sony, so it is from Japan, thus, it must be good. 

Broken Telephones

Daniel’s mobile telephone has been broken for little more than a week. Today, we found out Paula’s mobile telephone did not want to charge. Paula and Daniel will go to a telephone store tomorrow and try to make things better. Daniel may come home with a new telephone. The Internet society is good, but it requires hardware that works.

The King

The King of Sweden celebrates his name day today. This is why it is a flag flying day. The name is Karl, as in Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and originally for Carl the Great, a.k.a. Charlemagne. 

Real countries have monarchs, as Emperor Charlemagne or Naruhito, or King Carl XVI Gustaf or Queen Elisabeth II. 

Long live King Carl XVI Gustaf!

Sea Food

We had sea food for dinner tonight. Sea food is great. I believe I think so, because I have Japanese origins. They eat a lot of fish and sea foodin Japan, since Japan is located on a couple of islands in the Pacific Ocean. This is a good thing, it is good that land living animals eat sea food, because it shows that land living animals are more evolved and greater than the animalsof the seas. Life with sea food is great.

Council

Daniel is a member of the town council. They had a meeting today, but he was at home. He participated through a video link. 

Apparently, there have been some legal issues on whether the video link systems available are good enough for the decisions taken to be valid. Daniel do not think this will pose a problem for the meeting today. He is a lawyer, so I guess we can trust him in this legal matter.

If the meeting is challenged, the court of law trying the case should, in my humble opinion, consider that it is better for all the dogs whose humans are members of the town council that their humans are at home. 

More Food

Daniel orders most of our dog food on line and it is delivered to our door. Then he buys some frozen food, which is mainly eaten by the smaller dogs. Tonight, he went to buy more frozen food. This was all he did. He often does more, when he goes away, such as buying food to him and Paula, but not tonight. This was odd. I guess the frozen food was so important,it could not wait until he had more errands to make. It honours him that dog food is this important.

Kennel Club

Daniel spent some hours in front of the computer today, despite the fact that it is Sunday and he does not have to work. He used the time for voluntary work for the regional kennel club. This is good, I like time spent on such beneficial work.

Shaved Poodle

Our Poodle friends have this problem that they do not shed their coat. Our humans have to cut or shave it for them. This is one reason I think Poodles would never make it in the wild, however nice dogs they are. 

Paula would shave Momoko today, but decided not to. Then Daniel shaved Momoko instead. Momoko do not like being shaved, but she says the result was nice. She had a little too much coat around her eyes and on her paws, she says. It must be nice to get rid of such obstacles. 

I am glad that I shed coat, and do not have to be shaved. 

Olympic Games Behind Closed Doors?

The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was postponed to this hear because of the covid-19 pandemic. It might be that the pandemicis still with us in full force this summer. If so, the Tokyo Olympic Games may be held behind closed doors. 

We would not go to Tokyo to watch the games on site. It must be aired on television just as usual. Still, the TV broadcast will be more dull, if there is no audience around the competitors.

My dear Mommy looked forward to watching the Tokyo Olympic Games, from the home country of our magnificent dog breed. She passed away before the pandemic and did not evenlive to hear of the postponement. I will try to follow the competition in her stead. We will have to see what happens.

Health Check Up

Daniel and I went to the veterinarian today. Paula and Daniel wanted to have a health check up on me, due to my age. I will turn twelve next month, so I guess it was about time. I was never anxious myself, but my humans were. It turned out I went through the check up with flying colours. My joints, my back, my liver, my heart, everything is working great. 

When Daniel and I got home and we told Paula about the result. Paula said it was the best news yet of 2021. I guess she may be right. 

New President

The United States of America, home countryof my grandmother Sunni, has got a new Head of State. The new president is Joseph Biden. My grandmother would have liked this, because her humans would have. Grandmom’s humans are Democrats, just like the new President is.

My mother Hailey always said human countries should be monarchies. Sweden, where we live, is a monarchy. Japan, the origin of the Shiba, is also a monarchy. My grandfather Kuro was from Norway, whichis a monarchy, and his father was from Belgium, which is a monarchy. Modern dog breeding and dog shows have their origin in the UK, which is a monarchy. I guess I am a monarchist as well. Nevertheless, I like the new US President, as my grandmother would have done. 

Video Meetings

Daniel is working a lot from home. Thisis due to the pandemic, when humans are recommended to stay at good distances from one another. Instead, Daniel has meetings through video links. He had severla meetings at work during the day. Then he had a meeting with the board of a club where he is a member in the evening, followed by a meeting with his sisters and his brother. There must have been at least five hours of different video meetings today.

I am glad I donot have to sit through video meetings. There os sound and pictures of the ones you communicate with, but no smell. Dogs communicate mich more with smells than humans do, we would need electronic transfers of smells as well. I guess it will take a long time for humans to develop sich an invention.

Shrimp Bomb

For dinner tonight, Daniel brought home something called ”räkbomb”, which litteraly translates to shrimp bomb in English. It is a variation of the Swedish smörgåstårta, sandwich cake, with a lot of shrimps.

I got a piece of it myself, it tasted fantastic. All days that ends with a good meal are better days than other days. 

Bath

Our Poodle friend Momoko had to take a bath today. She never likes this, but her coat was in dire need of washing. She is satisfied with the result now, however.

This is the problem with Poodle coats. They do not have the natural dirt repellant that Shiba coats have, so they need to be washed more often, even when it is really cold outside. I do not know why Poodle coats are like this, but I have a suspicion that it has to do with the Poodle background of being water retrieving dogs. Do not take my word for it, though, this is just my personal theory. 

Our other Poodle friend Laura will be washed another day.

Boring Day

Lazy days are often great. I normally like taking it easy. There can be too many lazy days, however. This was one of those days, when I would have wanted to do more than just taking it easy. 

Daniel cleaned, washed the dishes, washed clothes. This is good things to do, but nothing that involves us dogs. Paula mostly just rested, blaming that she has had a cold this week. While we can accompany her resting, it is not fun when you feel like doing other things. 

I hope tomorrow will be better.

Cold Winter

We thought it was coldoutside, when we got out this morning. However, it was not until we got back inside, that Daniel read the thermometre and saw it said -16° Celsius. This is cold. 

Later in the day, it was not quite as cold outside, but still -10° C. Shiba coats can handle this, but it is cold. Last year was the warmest ever recorded. If this cold weather holds on, I guess we will not see a new record.

Telephone Rediscovered

Daniel found Paula’s mobile telephone today. It took a few minutes for him to find it. Paula had not looked for it at all, it seems, because the telephone was there under the bed. It lay behind a toy, but could be seen if you looked for it. Paula was very grateful to get it back. 

Back to the Office

Daniel went to the office today. It was the first time since before Christmas. When he has worked after Christmas, hehas worked from home. For us dogs, this is a great advantage of the covid-19 lock down, that our humans are at home much more. Granted, Daniel sits amd works, but he is at home. He wastes less time going to and from the office, as well. Today, we missed him, when he was gone, even thoughhe came back in the early afternoon. Life is seldom better than when everybody is at home.

Lost Mobile Telephone

Paula’s mobile telephone has become too mobile. She lost it a few days ago and it is still lost. Fortunately, she has only been at home, so we know it is at home. 

When the telephone is lost, Paula has borrowed Daniel’s tablet. This means I had to borrow Daniel’s mobile phone to blog on. I prefer the tablet.

Fell Again

Daniel slipped and fell again this morning. He hurt his right wrist. However, he says it will heal soon. We have still to see this, but I hope Daniel is right.

Falling to the Ground

We got mpre snow today. It is still not mich, bit the roads are slippery. On the morning walk, Daniel slipped and fell to the ground. He got up almost as quickly and he was not hurt. Some would say it looked funny, as a slap stick joke. I am just glad I did not have to feel sorry for Daniel for being hurt. 

Over all, it was a nice and calm Sunday.

Icy Roads

Since the snow came, our roads have become slippery. There is ice on them. As dogs, we have a low centre of gravity and four paws,one on each side of this centre. We manage well. Daniel was nearly slipping to the ground a few times today, though. It is good that he has learned to walk on ice since his early childhood in this country. Winters in Sweden are beautiful and nice, but the ice on the roads is a hazard. You have to take the good things with the bad.

Snow

We finally have snow on the ground that stays put. It fell last night and with freezing temperatures all day it has stayed. It is not much, less than a centimetre, but it still makes the world brighter and more wintery. This night, we noticed that there was a little more snow falling from the sky. I wish we will have a reall winter now. The autumn seemed to go on for far too long.

An Argument Over Music

Paula and Daniel do not always agree about what music is good. They agree about a lot of mjsic, but Daniel cannot understand that Paula can like hip hop, and Paula thinks the same about Daniel when he listens to synth music. I do not think music is very important, but I understand my humans do. I cannot take sides, though, because I do not know enough about it. Nevertheless, Paula and Daniel never have anything but a fight with words over their music tastes. This is good.

Electricity

When I borrowed Daniel’s Ipad to write my daily blog post today, the battery was down to 17 %. I had to start by connecting it to a charger.

We live our lives through electronic devices in these days and ages. This is good, and bad. The good thing is that we can accomplish a lotof things through the electronic devices. Blog posts are just one of these things, The bad thingis that we are dependent on electricity. This would be very well, if we could just get electricity in an environmentally friendly way. Daniel says we cannot, because one of the political parties in the coalition that forms the government are more opposed to nuclear power, than they are opposed to getting electricity from sources like coal and oil, that polites much more and makes the climate warmer.

I am not sure I follow Daniel, when he talks about this. All I want is enough electricity to write my blog posts. Be that as it may, while Ihave written this blog post with the charger attached to the Ipad, it is up to 18 %. This is fine. 

Stay tuned for more blog posts.

Cold

Paula has had a cold the last few days. She slept through dinner tonight, despite Daniel’s attempts to wake her up.

We are glad itis just a common cold. There is nothing that suggest it would be covid-19.

Dogs are generally healthier than humans, I believe. We seldom have colds. I think we are more adapted to the cold Nordic climate. This is something that makes me calm.

Back to Work

After two weeks off, Daniel is back to work. This does not mean mich tousin thepandemic. He is working from home, thus, it is almost as if he is free from work. I like it that Daniel is at home. Paula is also at home, I like this as well. There is one good thing with the covid-19 pandemic, itis that dogs get to have their humans at home more often.

A Shiba Who Saved Her Human

You may very well say I cannot be impartial, when I claim the Shibais the best dog breed there is. After all, I am a Shiba myself. There are, however, many examples of Shibas who have done great things. Allof these examples are pieces of evidence that goes to prove my point. Today, I would like to recommend this story about a Shiba in Japan in the 1930’s, who saved her human when caught in avalanches, twice. She was a hero. 

Bad Connection

We usually have good wifi connection in our bedroom. It is two rooms away from the router, but this usually does not matter. Once ina while, however, the wifi connection is bad. We have to wait and wait for pages online to load et cetera. Today is such a day. It is not a huge issue, but we cannot help that we still get annoyed by it. I wish the wifi connection would be good all the time, I just do not know to arrange it. When we get a new router sometime in the future, it may be better; at least I hope so.

Pizza

Paula and Daniel had some pizza for dinner tonight. Paula did not want all of her pizza, so she divided it among us dogs. It was nicely done of her.

A lot of Swedes eat pizza on New Year’s Day. It has almost become a tradition. I like it, since pizza is tasty. 

New Year Celebrations

We celebrated so hard before new year, that I forgot to write in the blog for the last day of the year. Now I have to write this past midnight, early in the morning of the new year. I have to get better at keeping the blog daily this year. Please stay tuned!

Preparations

Paula and Daniel went shopping for the New Year celebrations today. This is important. The celebrations involve a lot of good food. This is good. Good food is great. I am looking forward to the celebrations because of all the good food.

Considering the pandemic in 2020, I am sure 2021 will be a better year. 

Sleepover

Paula, Morran, and Piffy has a sleepover at Paula’s sister, nephew, and niece. Morran and Piffy likes it there, Iguess thisis why they could come.

I would not mind having a sleepover at people I know well, like Paula’s sister and her children. However, there is no place like home. I prefer to stay at home. We have the company of Daniel, just like all those nights when Paula worked the night shift. Life is nice.

Another Rainy Day

It is late in December and a rainy day. We have had a few days with temperatures below the freezing point, but not really any snow. This seems to be a dull winter, without any snow. We will have to see what happens in January. 

Dog in the Football Pitch

A football match in Bolivia was interrupted for three minutes, when a puppy dog invaded the pitch. Watch a cute, short film of the event here.

Dogs can do a lot of things. We are often lucky that we are so adorable, that humans do not mind. A football match is entertainment, this dog added to the entertainment value. 

Second Day of Christmas and a Cracker

It is the second day of Christmas, and we have taken it easy. The days between Christmas Day and New Year are often nice and calm.

In the evening, however, we heard a cracker. Probably the most stupid of traditions is using crackers to make noise around New Year. The background is old superstition that you would scare off evil beings for the new year. Now people just doit to waste money and scare innocent animals. I cannot believe a cracker was fired as early as today. Do people not have better things to do?

Killing a Mouse

I killed a mouse today.

Our cats Malin and Totte kills mice once in a while. I am tired of hearing the praise they get for this, however well deserved, when I can be just as good att killing mice. 

It should not matter that the mouse I killed was a toy mouse. 

Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve and the greatest day of celebrations of Christmas in Sweden.

Humans say that dogs should not get traditional Swedish Christmas food, because it is very salty. This is a truth that you may take with a pinch of salt. Daniel did give us some small bits of Christmas ham in our food. It was good and a nice way to celebrate Christmas for us.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Cleaning Before Christmas

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It is the day when we celebrate Christmas the most in Sweden. We spent this day cleaning and preparing for Christmas. It feels better to celebrate in a clean house. 

I wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas!

Washing Mashine

The washing mashine is a good invention. With it, Paula and Daniel cleans dog beds, sheets, plush toys, and their clothes. It did not work properly today, however. There seemed to be something clogging the drain. Daniel incåvestigated and cleaned, and think he took care of it. I sure hope he did. It would be bad if we would have to buy a new washing mashine in order to have clean dog beds et cetera.

Overcast

We had some sunshine in the middle of the day. Thenit became overcast and we had rain.

This is typical for the December weather this year. It also means that there was no chance for us to see the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn this evening. Daniel would really have wanted to see it, he said. I am not as disappointed as he is, but it was not fun. We sat indoors watching TV instead.

A Day Off

Today, we have all really taken a day off. I have been able to focus most of the day on my favourite passtime: sleeping.

One of the great things about the holidays is that you can take some time off and really relax. I love this. I wish there were more days like this.

Songs

Paula is playing song upon song from the Internet this evening. She does this once ina while, it makes her happy. Music affects the feelings in this way. I believe humans are more affected than dogs, however. We hear better than them, but smells are even more important to us. I like music, but not just because it makes me happy, more because it makes our humans happy. Happy humans are greater than sad humans, however much you love them anyway.

Cats in Japan?

We watched an interesting documentary on TV tonight about English history. It was followed by a documentary about Japanese people and their love of cats. This puzzled me.

I like cats, not only our own two cats Malin and Totte. Still, dogs are always better.

In Japan, they have the biggest population of the best dog breed in the world, their national treasure, the Shiba. Why would they need to love cats so much that a documentary is made by it? There are Shibas to love.

Rain

It has been a lot of rain this month, overcast almost all the time. Today was another rainy day. It is December, it should be snowing instead. 

Granted, most of the time we do not have snow on the ground throughout most of December. The optimum is still snow before Christmas. It makes it less dark outdoors and gives you a more Christmassy feeling. We will see what happens. 

New Car

Paula’s new car is here. She was in an accident with the car she bought earlier this year. Since that car was so damaged, but relatively new, she got an entirely new car in exchange for it. This new car is here now. It is a beautiful little vehicle.

I wish I will get a chance to go in this car. I never went anywhere in the damaged car.

Not Much Left

There is just half a month left of this year. It is one 24th of the year. It has been a year when the pandemic has been the most important thing. The virus is bad, but vaccines are on its way. We can look forward to a better year in 2021. I believe it will be better. 

Glühwein

Paula and Daniel had some glühwein to drink this evening. They do sometimes, around Christmas time. 

I do not like glühwein. It is warm, sweet, sticky, and generally weird. Taste differs, however. I recognise Paula and Daniel likes glühwein and let them have it.

Lucia

The 13 December is celebrated as a feast for Saint Lucia in Sweden. The main reason is not the saint from Sicily in early times of Christianity, but that this was the winter solstice during the 18th century, when celebrations were first held in parts of western Sweden.

I like the Lucia buns with saffron. Special tasty things to eat are the best things about feast days.

Christmas Greetings

Daniel stayed up until really late this Saturday to write Chrstmas greeting cards. He will put them in the mail and hope they will reach the receivers before Christmas. I hope so too. 

In the Bed

Most of us dogs sleep in the bed with Paula and Daniel. The cats do too, when they are not outdoors hunting throughout some nights. 

There are times when I sleep in the sofa beside the bed, but this is just to get more space. 

Tonight, the Chihuahua pup Piffy is allowed to sleep in the bed for the first time. She really likes it. I can understand her. It is in the nature of dogs to wish to be near the rest of the pack, dogs and humans alike, and cats, when you have got them. I am sure this will go well. 

Welcome to the bed, Piffy!

Nobel Day

It is the anniversary of the passing of the great Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel. He had no children, and gave his fortune to a foundation who give the proceeds out as the Nobel prizes each year. This day is normally the day when the prizes are awarded. This is, however, not the case in this year of the covid-19 pandemic.

Malin the cat says we can all celebrate her name day today, instead. She has a point.

Nice Day

This evening, Paula realised neither she nor Daniel had used any car today. They were both at home all day. I like this. It is unusual that they are both at home all day, especially a weekday. This is the advantage of the pandemic, when Daniel can work from home when Paula is free from work and at home. This is life at its finest.

He Is Gone

Gunde is gone now. I loved him. I wish him all the best and I hope to meet him in the next life.

There are times when I wish no loved ones would never pass away. At the same time, we get pups and grandpups. If no old loved ones would leave, there would be no room for new loved ones. This way, you can have more loved ones throughout your life. Perhaps this is how it is meant to be?

Gunde

My dear old friend, black and tan male Shiba Gunde, is leaving this world for the next one, today.

Since last autumn, Gunde has lived with Sally and her family in Köping. It has been a nice time for him, I have understood. We were happy that he could have this home as his last home.

Gunde is the father of my daughter Soya.

We learned of Gunde’s medical status yesterday, Monday. I was at a lack of words last night, but can write this Tuesday morning. 

Finland

There are Aangenaam dogs living Finland. They can celebrate the national holiday of Finland today. Finland is a nice country, a good friend of Sweden, and where dogs are held in high regard. Long live Finland!

Birthday for Our Cats

We got our cats early this year. They were born one year ago today, as kittens in the same litter.

The cats, black female Malin and striped male Totte, have become good friends of all of us. I really like them, even though they are not dogs. There are differences in how we communicate, but not so large that we cannot get along. 

Paula and Daniel gave our cats their names from childrens’ books characters.

Happy birthday, Malin and Totte!

One Year Has Passed

It is now one year since my dear mother Hailey passed away. We all miss her. It might be that Imiss her the most. After all, she was my mother.

I took over the blog on the same day that Mommy passed away. Hopefully, it makes her proud in her heaven. I do believe I have done her justice, even though I think I am not quite as good as Mommy. With more experience, chances are I will get closer. Let us hope so.

A Little Snow

We had a little snow this evening. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, when we were outdoors for the last time before sleep. It was nice to see, but not enough to play around in.

The forecast says it will be a few degrees above the freezing point tomorrow. This snow will not last. I will miss it, but hope there will be more snow soon. The white snow makes the dark season brighter. We will have to see if we will get a white Christmas or not.

Countdown or Count Down

We had a debate today on whether you should spell ”count down” or ”countdown”, in the headline of the blog entry for yesterday. I argued that if you are uncertain in English,you should write the two parts of the concept as separate words. Peanut agreed with me. He is from England, so heis good at English. Allof us did not agree, however. English is not always easy.

Count Down to Christmas

Daniel got an Advent Calendar from Paula. It has chocolate and marzipan from Anthon Berg in it. Daniel loves this. Both Paula and Daniel refuse to give us dogs chocolate, they say it is unhealthy for us. Apparently, humans has an enzyme in their body to digest chocolate, which dogs do not have. I am still not quite sure if this is the real reason, or if humans just want to keep all chocolate for themselves. Paula does not really like chocolate, though, so this is a reason the story about the enzyme may be correct. I let it go, there are so many other tasty things, anyway.