Day of Bonfires

It is the evening before Walpurgis Mass, and the Swedish custom is to celebrate spring this evening by lighting bonfires. We were planing on going to a bonfire, but decided against it, because Paula has a cold.

We also made a toast to the King, since it is his birthday.

Finnish Victory in Russia

The Finnish Formula 1 driver Valteri Bottas won his first victory in a Grand Prix today. This was his fourth race in Mercedes. On third place was Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen, driving for Ferrari.

I wish there would be Swedish drivers who were at least nearly as successful as the Finnish drivers. Still, it was nice to see the flag of Finland on top and to hear the anthem of Finland. This is especially nice when the race was in Russia, the country Finland won its sovereignty from a hundred years ago, and the country that tried to reclaim Finland in wars of aggression in 1939-40 and 1941-5.

We hope Valteri Bottas will win more races, and that Kimi Räikkönen will also win races this year.

Leave from Work for Pups

The Scottish brewery Brewdog has a new perk for its employees. It is odd, but I think it is very good. the brewery offers one week of leave for any employee who adopts a puppy dog or a rescue dog.

I think this is great. It would make it easier for many humans to make up their mind that they have to get a dog. Most human loves are better with dogs, and although many can see some reasons for this, others just might need this kind of perk to decide they need a dog. It must be up to the employer, of course, but I think most employers would benefit in the long run. The employees would be happier and healthier, as humnas tend to be when they have dogs. Thus, there would be less sick leave and with happier employees, there would be a better production. More dogs would also get loving humans.

It is a situation positive for everybody involved. Who can oppose that?

Settle Land

The town plans to make a lot of land around us open for settlement. We have a lot of land around us, where there are just forests and meadows. We like this. Still, when the town grows, people moving here has to have some place to settle. Daniel was at a meeting about this tonight. He said most people living around here wanted less buildings, and smaller buildings, than in the sketches shown. No decisions are made yet. I hope they will not build much. I like to have free land just outside us.

Statistics

A government agency will move its headquarters to Örebro, our home town. It is an agency working with statistics. I guess it is good for the town to get a headquarters here. Perhaps some more people will move here or find good work here. Nevertheless, I guess it is nice, statistically.

Hail

This April, the weather is exciting. We had hail today. This was not the first time this April, yet hail is normally a very rare weather. We have had warm, sunny days, cold, rainy days, and days when snow has fallen and cold winds have chilled us. It seems like we can never know what to expect. It is rather interesting, actually, even though I would rather have more stable, warm weather and a lot of rainy nights. We need rain, but I rather have it when we are sleeping late at night. Nevertheless, I think I will remeber this April for its weather.

Caravan

We had rainy weather today. Friends of Paula and Daniel had been allowed to park their caravan on our property, but their car could not drag the caravan up the slippery slope to the parking space. They made several attempts, then they gave up. I felt a little sorry for them, even though I am not that fond of caravans. It would have been nice to be able to let a piece of our property out. It is big and we do not use all of it. It was not to be, however. I fuess there might be other opportunities

Fun, but It Cound Have Been Better

It felt great being back in the show ring today. I think I did a great performance. I also won Excellent and CAC, but was not Best of Bitches, neither Best Veteran. My grand daughter Soya also performed well, but got a surprisingly low quality prize. We believed she would fare better. On the other hand, this is part of what is fun with dog shows: you can never tell in advance what your result will be. Soya will surely get her final Certificate, to become Champion, soon.

Show Tomorrow!

We are going to a dog show tomorrow! I get to come along and will compete in Veterans' Class. I am so excited.

Of course, those of you who are long time readers of my blog, know that I think dog shows are the best thing you can do over a day. It is so much fun going into the ring and getting the attention of everybody. I hope this is just one out of many dog shows for me this season.

Ancient Roman Coins Found in Japan

At an archaeological excavation by a Japanese castle, four old coins believed to be from the Roman empire has been found. The research is still going on, nothing about this find has yet been published in a scientific journal. It still looks like the coins have been lying in the ground in Japan for many centuries. If the coins have reached Japan in ancient times, it must be a fantastic discovery. Imagine the trade, this long ago, from Southern Europe to Japan. It will be nice to know what the researchers settle as the probable year for the arrival of these coins to Japan.

Raining Cats and Dogs

We had some short, heavy rain showers today. It was the kind of showers where people say it is "raining cats and dogs". This is metaphorical, of course, otherwise I would feel sorry for the falling dogs.

Not Telling Much

In some cultures, not telling much is a good thing. The Japanese culture is one such cukture. It is Japanese being a little bit of an enigma. Today, I read this interesting article about a friendship in Japan where not much was said.

Shibas also tend to be a little enigmatic. We are Japanese.

Close, but No Hit

A rock about a kilometre wide just passed by Earth. It passed at a distance of 1.8 million kilometres. This may sound like a huge distance, but it is close by astronomical measurements. It is called 2014 JO 25. The first designation stands for the year of discovery, if I remember correctly.

I am glad the rock passed Earth. It would have been a disaster, if it would have hit our planet. A lot of dogs and humans would certainly have died, the rest would have been affected in other, negative ways. We all have to hope rocks like this passes Earth, as long as we do not have the means ready to push them off course.

Dish Washer

Our dish washer does not work properly. Daniel has tried to figure out what is wrong, but have not succeeded. He had to wash the dishes by hand instead. I guess we have to ask for professional help. It is just that neither of us really likes to bring in people from the outside, even though we need their services. It would have been better, if Daniel could have fixed the problem. The main thing is that it will get taken care of, however. I guess this will have to happen. So be it.

Benefits of Daydreaming

Humans these days often turn to their mobile phones or other devices connected to the Internet, whenever they have a spare moment. This may be a bad habit. It may be much better to et your thoughts wander, to let your mind rest, to dayderam a little.

Dogs daydream a lot. We have no bad habits of looking at mobile phones, but use them very little. I also know Daniel usually daydream, when we go on walks. I suppose this is good for him. More people should probably daydream more often. It makes you more creative, which is good.

Go ahead, let your mind free! Daydream just a little bit more. You will get a healthier, less stressed mind, I am certain of this. Dogs do this, it makes us feel good.

It Will Be Interesting

The Formula 1 season of 2017 will be interesting. For the first time in years, there are two car manufacturers who are actually racing for the victories. Apart from Mercedes, which has dominated the last three years, Ferrari is also competitive. Sebastian Vettel and his Ferrari has now won two out of the three races so far. This is good, it makes for a much more interesting sport. We like it.

Good Friday

We made this a boring day. It is supposed to be, in reminicense of the torments and the execusion of Jesus. Still, we got minced meat for food, which was tasty. Everything does not have to feel bad on Good Friday. It was enough that winter came back, with cold winds and a lot of snow. I hope spring will be resurected on Easter Day. It would be fitting.

Could Scotland Join Canada?

It seems like a far fetched idea, but when the idea was made public a couple of days ago, many Scots and Canadians liked it: if Scotland would leave the United Kingdom, it could join Canada instead. Scotland would then become the eleventh province of Canada. It would still have the same Queen, since the UK and Canada shares Queen.

It is an intriguing idea, but I do believe it is not very likely.

I guess the Scottish Kennel Club might join the Canadian Kennel Club, if this would become true.

Having a Cold

Daniel has a cold. He has been at home today, but at his computer, working. Having a cold does not stop him from working, it is just that he does not want to spread the viruses unnecessarily to work mates.

Having Daniel at home to spend time with us dogs is the best. He does not do this, when he is working. This is still much better than when he is away at work. In some ways, I wish he would get colds more often, sitting at home to work.

Brighter

It is daylight outdoors on the morning walk as well as on the evening walk these days. It is still fairly cold, but I like the light. Some of the days of January even had temperatures like we had today, just a few degrees above the freezing point. It will be warmer further on, though. I am looking forward to summer.