Swedish Gold Medal

There is not just an ongoing European championship in football, but also in athletics. This is in Helsinki, Finland. All of a sudden this evening, a Swede won the women's 400 metres final. This was the young Moa Hjelmer, whom nobody seem to have predicted would win. Normally, I believe the surprises reported from championships are that Swedes are not as good as the reporters would have hoped. This surprise was the other way around. I enjoyed that!

Italy and Spain

Two Mediterranean countries will play the final game of this year's European Championship in football: Spain and Italy. Spain beat Portugal in the semi final yesterday, and Italy beat Germany today. We believe that Italy has played better football than Spain. Football is, however, a sport where it is far from easy to predict the results of future games. It will be an exciting game this Sunday.

Rain, Rain, Rain

June of this year in our home town has seen more rain than any other June for many years. While rain is typical Swedish summer weather, this much rain is no fun. We would like to have warmer, sunnier days, when we can lie in the sun in our garden. Those days, living is easy. So far, we have not had any day like that this June. Hopefully, it will be better in July.

Summer TV

Two classical summer TV events started this Tuesday. One is "Allsång på Skansen", a live show from Stockholm with songs and performances, which I do not care that much about. The other is the british TV series Midsomer Murders. I guess Midsomer Murders is aired in the summers in Sweden mainly because the name of the fictious county Midsomer sounds like our holiday midsummer. It is often a nice show, but today's story was a bit cheap. Still, it is nice that the summer TV has begun.

Not Doing Anything

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Today I'm not doing anything. Neither are anybody else in our household. Vacation is a great thing, especially when it is heavy rain and you just want to stay indoors, sleeping, all day. It is almost like you start to like the rain - almost.

Valencia

The European Grand Prix in Formula 1 took place in Valencia today. This is one of three races that have a special place in my heart, because the pups of the litter I had last year were named from Formula 1 tracks, Valencia being one of them. My dear daughter Anzu, who lives in Bergen, Norway, is formally known as Aangenaam Valencia.

This year's GP was an exciting one, with a lot of overtaking. One would have thought that Sebastian Vettel would win from pole position, as he often does, but he had to retire with mechanical problem. Instead, the Spanish Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso won on his home turf. Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen finished second. I do not know that much about Formula 1, but Daniel likes these two drivers, so he was happy. I guess a lot of Spaniards are, too. They are through to the semi finals in the European Championship in football and their countryman Alonso leads this year's Formula 1 World Championship. Perhaps this can divert some of their attention from the sad state of the Spanish economy.

Midsummer

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We did celebrate midsummer today. Paula and Daniel were at home most of the day. In the early evening, they put some meat on the grill. All of us dogs got some extra nice food. I would like more days to be like today.

Summer Solstice and Midsummer

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It was summer solstice yesterday and the shortest night of the year last night. We celebrate midsummer eve in Sweden tomorrow. I wondered why we do not celebrate midsummer at the summer solstice.

Grandmum Sunni said it is unnecessary to celebrate midsummer at all, they never do it in the USA, where she comes from. Daddy told me they never celebrate it in Japan either, where he and the Shiba Inu breed come from.

Mommy, on the other hand, who was born in Sweden, had something to say on the subject. She told me midsummer is celebrated on the weekend closest to the 24th of June, which is when the Christian Church celebrate John the Baptist. This celebration is exactly half a year prior to (and after) Christmas Eve. The summer solstice is earlier than the 24th, but the winter solstice is also earlier than Christmas Eve, by the same amount of time. Thus, this is all due to human political decisions, one way or the other. Humans are curious, sometimes.

Wolves and Baths

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I heard a researcher say on the radio today that there are about ten human children who dies form drowning each year, in lakes, swimming pools, etc. We have just had the first human casualty because of wolves since the 1830s in Sweden, which have caused people to call for the extermination of all the wolves in this country. I wonder when they will call for the ban on all swimmingpools?

Late Night

Please come back tomorrow...

Not a Good Day for Spain

Sweden is out of the Euro 2012, so we have to hope for other teams. Peanut hoped for the Netherlands, but they went out yesterday. Paula's second favourite (next to Sweden) is Spain, and they made it to the quarter finals today. The Spanish team did not play well, however. They did win by 1-0, but the goal was scored in the final minutes when the opponent Croatia was doing everything to score themselves and had switched defenders for forwards. If Spain plays like this, there must be high odds on them defending their gold medals from the last European Championship four years ago. I rather believe Germany will win, or perhaps England.

Portugal

Hello, Peanut here again.

So, Portugal made it through to the quarter finals alongside Germany. Neither the Netherlands nor Denmark made it. I am sad.

Then, after the game, Sunni said once again she did not care, because she does not care about football. Did I not tell you so?

The Netherlands!

Hello, Peanut here!

I hope for the Netherlands tonight, home of my brother Botan.

There is a small hope for the Netherlands to make it to the quarter finals in the Euro 2012 football championship. This is if they win against Portugal, Germany wins against Denmark, and the Netherlands get the best difference between goals scored themselves and by their opponents. It is a long shot, but it is possible.

Not everyone at our home hope for the Netherlands, though. There are those who would rather see Denmark in the quarter finals. Sunni says she hopes for Denmark because it is a neighbour of Sweden and the first European country she was in (and peed in). I do believe, though, that she rather hopes for Denmark because my mother April and I root for the Netherlands. Sunni has never liked my mother, thus, she does not like me. She usually do not care for football, but does tonight. Well, all the more fun, then, if the Netherlands make it.

Human Killed by Wolves

For the first time in centuries, a human has been killed by wolves in Sweden. The killed human was one of the caretakers of the wolves at the zoo Kolmården in the southeastern part of Sweden.

Nobody knows why the wolves killed their caretaker. She was alone with them, so there are no witnesses. This is something that was according to protocol, but which I believe was foolish. Wolves belong to the same species as dogs do, but wolves do not have the interited friendship with humans that dogs have.

So far, the zoo has decided not to kill the wolves who might have killed the human. They are not even sure how many of the wolves took part in the killing. I think it is wise to try to establish what happened, before taking any action against the wolves. They, too, deserve a fair trial.

Glad I Did Not Go

For once, today, I was happy I did not go to a dog show. Daniel went to an outdoor dog show this morning to work as a ring steward, but there was heavy rain for many hours. I would not have wanted to be there, in the showring, in the heavy downpour that hit him. Dog shows are usually nice, but there are limits.

Out of the Championship

Sweden lost its second game in the Euro 2012 football championship tonight. With two lost games, while the other three teams in the group have at least one victory each, there is no chance for Sweden to become one of the two best who go on to the quarter finals. Sweden was thus the second team to lose out, after Ireland. The most disappointing thing was that Sweden played well and led by 2-1, but finally lost by 3-2, nevertheless. The Swedes played much better than in the game where they lost to Ukraine, but it was not enough.

I have to consider carefully which teams to root for now.

Blogging

Hello, Peanut here!

Hailey had no interest in blogging, so she asked Polly or me to do it today. Polly also had no interest in blogging. If they do not know what to write, how do they expect me to do it? Well, it will not be longer than this.

Fumi

Paula and Daniel visited my daughter Fumi and her family this evening. She has a great life in another part of our town. It is good to know that she is fine.

Tokyo Is Expensive

The Japanese currency, Yen, is rising realtive to the US Dollar. Tokyo is now rated as the most expensive city to live in for foreign staff. As a Shiba Inu, I would love to see the capital in the country of my ancestors, but perhaps not if it is too expensive. There must be other parts of Japan which are not quite as expensive to visit.

Never Quite Happy

I believe there is a natural law saying you can never be happier than a certain degree. I think I had a good day today, but then Ukraine beat Sweden in the European Championship in football. Oh, well, give me any Ukranian Shiba Inus and an impartial show judge, and I will show you that Swedes do win over Ukranians. ;-)

hello, peanut here again.

hannes will leave for his new family tomorrow. this will make me the only pup left here at home. it will not be as fun anymore, but i think i will manage. i wish hannes all the best, as i have done with botan, tsuki, and chiko already. we might very well meet again on dog shows or the like.

Loss

hello, peanut here,

i got a text message from my brother botan in the netherlands. he was as upset as his dutch family over the danish victory in the european championship against the netherlands tonight. born in sweden, botan will always be a fan of sweden, but in a game between his new homeland and another country, he favours the netherlands. so do i, as a homage to him. we hope that the dutch will rise again and beat the other teams of the group to advance to the quarter finals.

Euro 2012

The UEFA European Championship in football started today. It is fun to follow the games. I just wish there would be at least a fraction of that air time on TV devoted to live coverage of dog shows.

City Fair

There was this annual fair in the centre of our city today. Paula and Daniel went there with Mia. Apparently, a lot of people were there, and a few dogs as well. I saw no point in going. If I am to be on a crowded place, it better be a dog show.

D Day

Today it is sixtyeight years since American, British, and Canadian troops invaded Nazi-occupied Normandy. This is the greatest amphibious military operation ever in history. It was a vital step in liberating Western Europe from the Nazis and saving it from the Communists. It is worth celebrating.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, we celebrate our national holiday, which has a much less glorious history. I believe it is better to join Mum, April, and Calvin (who are from the USA) in celebrating D Day.

Venus Passage

The planet Venus will be seen crossing the Sun tomorrow morning, as seen from the surface of Earth. This is a very rare event. I do not care much, nevertheless. I am Aangenaam Lunar Eclips, I care about lunar eclipses, but why would I care about a similar event with Venus that is not even visible unless you use special gear to protect your eyes? I will not get up early tomorrow morning to try to see it.

Statistics

Blogger, my blog provider, got some new features a couple of weeks ago. One is a frame showing statistics on how many readers my blog has had each of the last days. This is a little fun, but also a little disturbing. I have realized that I, sometimes, think too much about the statistics, in the lines of: "how can I write this blog to get more readers". There is nothing wrong with getting more readers, but I have never before written this blog just to maximize the number of readers. I worry that this might change me, as a writer, and I am not comfortable with that thought. I like the way I have been writing my blog from the start. I guess I must stop thinking so much about the statistics, but it is easier said than done. I am working on the problem, though. If you, as my reader, notice any change in my style as a blog writer, do not hesitate to tell me, I would like to know!

Polly Poppins

hello, polly here.

two of the pups will move to their new families tomorrow, as this is the day they turn eight weeks old. i have enjoyed playing with them and raising them. this has gone so far that the other dogs have started to call me polly poppins, after the famous childrens book nanny mary poppins. i am proud over this nick name. in many ways, though, i believe i raise pups better than mary poppins could ever do. i guess it is also great training until i get pups of my own.

Trouble with thé Computer

our computer is not functioning properly. we believe it is filled with too much data. meanwhile, i have to make do with writing blog entries by mobile phone. it is all right, but the touch screens could be better suited for dog paws.