Sounds

Hello, Karstuhl here again!

As Mommy is on maternity leave, I have to take full responsibility for the daily blog. I do not mind, it is fun.

I have heard the soumds of my young brother and sisters through the door to where they reside with Mommy at their current age. It would be interesting to see them, but I am not allowed to do that yet. Well, this is just something I have to accept. It is not as if I am lonely wothout Mommy. My younger siblings need her and nobody else right now. This is as it should be, Granny says. I will understand this much better once I get my own pups, according to Granny.

I do not doubt that, in due time, it will be up to me to experience that. This is an exciting thought.

Not the Youngest Anymore

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This is Granny's birthday. She turns twelve. This is some age.

Nobody could have given Granny a better present than Mommy did. Mommy gave birth to Granny's youngest grandchildren yet. There were three of them, a brother and two sisters of me and Nemo.

This is not only a gift to Granny. In a way, it is also a gift to me and Nemo. We are not the youngest children of our parents anymore. Now, there are others who will be more immature than us for a long time. I kind of like that.

Maternal Leave

I am taking a few days off because of my upcoming litter. Stay tuned, there may still be news at any time soon.

New Floor

Hello, Polly here!

I put in a new floor in our kitchen today. Paula's father Nils Olov helped me, so did Daniel. We did not quite finish the work, despite working most of the day. What is done looks nice, though. It will be very nice once we are done with it.

Lunar Water

As I have previously explained in multiple blog posts, I am intrigued by the Moon. This is mainly because I am named for it: Aangenaam Lunar Eclips.

New evidence seem to suggest there is considerably more water on the Moon than previously thought. This is good news for all of us who are interested in the Moon. Water is essential for life. It would be much easier for dogs and humans to colonize the Moon if there was enough water there to sustain the colonists.

I do not think dogs will go to the Moon in my lifetime, but one cannot be sure. I would like to go in the paw prints of comic book hero Snowy, who went there with his human Tintin in the 1950's. So far, it is but a vain dream, though.

Grill

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula made the best possible dinner tonight: home made burgers, charcoal grilled on our own grill. It did not matter that a few raindrops were falling, a true user of a grill can cook on it nevertheless. I liked the food very much, it is only so sad I did not get more.

Fun Science

Human scientists have "discovered" how dogs drink. By the use of high speed cameras, humans have studied first how cats drink, then how dogs drink. They have concluded that we drink in the same way. As the tongue comes into contact with the surface of the liquid, the liquid stuck to it. Then, as the tongue is swept back towards the mouth, it creates a water column, thanks to inertia, which means liquid has a tendency to continue moving in the direction it is being pulled. Before gravity pulls the water back down, the mouth is snapped shut and the liquid is swallowed. This is repeated as long as the dog or cat stops.

We are many dogs who were amused to read these "news" today. We already know how we drink. It is a shame these human scientists cannot just ask us how we do it.

Toy Pup

Friends of ours have recently got a new toy poodle puppy. Paula was envious of them this evening, saying she also wanted a toy poodle puppy. I guess these puppies are cute, but I do not believe they are as cute as the puppies I am about to have any day now. Paula will soon have my puppies to be happy about, I think she will be as satisfied as she can be with them.

It is fair to say I am biased in favour of my own puppies. Then again, what kind of mother would I be if I was not?

Birthday

This is Daniel's birthday. He celebrated it last weekend, but we hope for some extra and tasty food tonight anyway. Paula is working late, but she might bring something. I sure hope so.

Early Celebration

Hello, Polly here!

Daniel celebrated his birthday today. His actual birthday is tomorrow. Apparently, humans often celebrate birthdays a couple of days before or after the actual birthday, just to have the celebration on a weekend. If the celebration takes place beforehand, I can understand it. In such a case you do not have to wait as long as otherwise to eat cake and get presents. If the celebration is postponed, I cannot understand it. How can you volunteer to wait to eat cake and get presents? Humans sure are hard to understand sometimes.

No End in Sight

Hello, Polly here!

Some humans are weird. There was this American old man who had predicted the World would end at 6 p.m. today, and gone out with advertisement campaigns for a lot of dollars to warn people about this. I do not understand what possessed him to do such a thing. What tangible signs of a catastrophe was there? Sure, at our place, we had to wait for our food until rather late this evening. This is a catastrophe of a tiny kind, but it was after the predicted end would start. Late food is not the end of the world, though you can feel like it is once in a while.

The Kitchen

We are rebuilding our kitchen. The kitchen is the most important part of a home, because the food is stored and prepared there. Paula and Daniel worked a lot with the kitchen this evening and got help from Paula's parents. We cannot use our kitchen to its full extent right now, but it will be much better than before once it is done.

Someone Is Missing

Daniel is away tonight. We miss him, but he will be back tomorrow.

Younger Brothers and Sisters

Hello, Karstuhl here!

By the end of this month, I will get younger brothers and sisters. Mommy will give birth to another litter. There might be just brothers or just sisters, but since an examination yesterday said there were at least four pups to be expected, it is unlikely they will all be of the same sex.

I wonder what it will be like not to be the youngest dog in the family. Mommy and Granny has told me the pups will be too small to play with the first weeks, and that I will have to be very gentle with them later on. I am sure I can teach them a trick or two anyway. Young pups need to be taught that, as well as the manners that their mother and other older dogs teach them. When I was like them, there was noone to teach me. I managed to teach myself, but I will help my younger siblings.

The 17th of May

This day is Norway's national holiday, commemorating their Constitution of 1814. We have always celebrated it a little, because my Dad was from Norway. Dad has moved from Sweden to Heaven now, but we celebrate for his sake anyway. (April says she also celebrates because her son Biki lives in Norway, but I do not think that count as much.)

X Ray Examination

Paula and I went to the veterinarian today to check on my upcoming litter. I was examined with x rays, which enabled the humans to see what I already think I knew: I have at least four pups in my tummy. The vet even said there might be a fifth pup in there. I have never had such a big litter before. The biggest litter I have personal experience from is when I was a pup myself and shared the litter with my two brothers Kiko and Jiro. I am up for the task, no matter how many pups there are! I am looking forward to smelling and seeing them when they are born.

Arrangements

We have arranged for my next litter to be born. The puppy litter box has been cleaned, put in its place and fitted with clead blankets. I have inspected the job and found that it is to my liking. Even though my pups are not due until the end of this month, it is good to know that we have already prepared for them, as far as preparations can go.

Meanwhile, I get extra food. Mum is jealous of this, as the food lover that she is. Mum has always said the best thing with getting pups is the extra food. I do not quite agree, though I do share the view that the extra food is a good thing. To be fair, the other dogs, including Mum, also get a treat extra or two if they are around when I get my extra food. It is not much, but it is better than nothing, as Mum says.

Too Bad

Losing against Finland in the IIHF ice hockey world championship is no shame. Finland has a good national team and you can never take a victory against them for granted. Winning silver medals is no shame either, though gold is always better.

Losing 6-1 is a completely different matter.

Eurovision Song Contest

This blog entry comes after midnight, because we were watching the Eurovision Song Contest. I believe there were to few songs about dogs. A lot of popular songs is about love, but what about the animal who loves humans more than humans love themselves: dogs?

It was an even and rather exciting counting of the votes. The Swedish couple commenting on the contest said this proved that the field of contestants was strong. I can see no such necessary causality. A level field of contestants can come from the fact that the contestants were equally bad. I do not say the contestants were bad, but I did not hear any astounding song.

More About Hamburgers

I can highly recommend yet another blog about hamburgers: Flippin' Burgers. The theme of this blog is a journey across America to find the best burgers, in order to get inspiration for a completely new hamburger restaurant in Stockholm. This is a great cause. Goals like the one pursued by this blogger deserves all the support it can get.

If you are an English speaking dog or human, I just have to point out that the name of the blog may fool you. Just like the blog I recommended this Tuesday, Flippin' Burgers is written in Swedish. I am sorry you cannot read it, but I am sure you agree with me on the greatness of the theme of the blog, anyway.

Here Comes the Rain Again

There has not been a decent rainfall for weeks. Actually, the last real precipitaion we had was a snowfall. Fortunately, there has not yet been a draught, since we had so much snow last winter. This evening, when we were outside, we felt some drops of rain. We hope that a nice rain of many millimetres will fall tonight. All the growing things in our garden, in the forest and on the fields need rain now. We also need rain, since our water comes from our own well. It is not yet a desperate need, but rain tonight would be a nice thing. It is also rather cozy to lie down to sleep indoors when you can hear rain falling on the roof and windows.

A Good Blog

On rare occasions, you run into a blog that is so good, you just have to spread the word about it. The Swedish blog Hamburgare is just such a blog. It is a blog devoted to one thing, a good thing, and this thing only: hamburgers. If you know Swedish, I will not waste your time anymore, just read that blog. If you do not know Swedish, I feel sorry for you.

A Saab in Detroit

BBC Travel had a piece on Detroit today, the former Motor Town of America. The town has decreased substantially in population over the last years, and now artists have moved in where the abandoned buildings are. The funny thing is, that the article is illustrated by a work of art where an artist has painted a Swedish car, a Saab, in abstract patterns (the Heidelberg Project by Tyree Guyton). This is by no means representative of Detroit, but it is nice to see for us who are from Sweden.

Formula 1, the 2011 Season

The fourth race of the 2011 formula 1 season was driven today in Turkey. There was some good racing, nice passes et cetera. The new rules on tyres, KERS, and a back wing that you can open when trying to pass makes for more passing, which is exciting for the spectators. The championship itself does not seem to become very exciting, though. Ruling world champion Sebastial Vettel has won three of the last four races, and was second in the only race he did not win. He has led from start to finish in the three races he has won. When this is the case, it does not matter much that there is good and exciting racing regarding the positions behind him in the finish. This is, of course, no critizism against Sebastian Vettel. Any driver would like to be in his position. Any competitor in any sport would too, for that matter. We just have to hope that fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, and others will be able to give Sebastian Vettel a better fight for the victory in the upcoming races.

The Day After the Show

No, I did not write any blog entry yesterday. Sure, I learned that Mum became Best of Breed Veteran and was among the last eight in the Veteran Best in Show final. I also learned that Polly did very well, with an Excellent and CK, but did not win her class. Calvin and April also did well. Nevertheless, I did not want to write about that yesterday. I guess I have to admit I was too jealous of those who got to go to the show. It feels better today.

Another Advantage

There is another advantage of not going to a dog show, besides what I wrote about yesterday. When travelling to a show in the morning of the show, you generally have to get up really early. If you stay at home, you can get up equally early, but then you can go back indoors and back to sleep. Then you can sleep until late in the day without any worries.

However, who am I kidding? I love to go to dog shows and I will be really disappointed tomorrow that I do not get to go.

Baths

Mum, Calvin, and April had baths today. This is because they get to go to a dog show this Saturday. I would have loved to go, too, but will stay home since I have pups in my tummy. I would not want to have a bath, so there are some advantages with not going to the dog show.

New York Taxis

The greatest city of the USA, New York, is known for its iconic yellow taxis. They have always been American, but in a recent bid Japanese car manufacturer Nissan won a ten year deal to provide new cars. The deal has an estimated value of $ 1 billion. I am sure the New Yorkers will be satisfied, Japanese cars are generally very good. There is no reason, as such, for the New Yorkers to feel sorry that the new taxis are not made by an American manufacturer, especially since Nissan plans to build the cars in North American factories.

Birthdays

Today is the birthday of two of our friends. There is Paula's sister Mia, whom we went to this evening, and there is our Pharao Hound friend Primus. We celebrated Mia with a lot of good food and nice company. In a way, though, I believe the celebration of Primus was better. He comes from kennel Enigma, and we celebrated him by eating ice cream cones called Cornetto Enigma. I do not have to explain why this was such a good way of celebrating Primus.

Is there a Future?

The Swedish car manufacturer Saab has secured a short term loan, which will ensure that they can restart the production of cars. It still seems, however, like a risky company. It has not made profit for many years, not even in a growing world economy like now. This is rather strange, considering that they make really good cars, as far as I know. Well, humans are not always interested in purchasing the best products - if they were, there would be many more humans getting Shiba Inus when getting dogs.

Some people say Saab has a home market that is too small. This is also a strange statement, now that the whole European Union is supposed to be a single market and thus Saab's home market. I also wonder why the home market would have to be so important for a car manufacturer. Sure, if you work for a car manufacturer, you would want to have such a car, but what other point is there for buying a car just because it is from your own country?

No matter what the real reasons are, Saab seem to be a company in constant trouble. Some people believe in it, but many obviously do not. I wonder whether there is a future for Saab. I hope so, since their cars are supposed to be great.

Updates

Sadly, I was too late to blog on the first day of May this year. This is because I downloaded and installed some new additions to my web browser, among those some highly recommended safety features. The installation of these features were not done until after midnight. I do hope our computer will have a better functionality now. This will be a blog entry for the second day of May, and I guess there will be two blog entries this day. Now it is time to go to bed.