Higgins Hörna

June 27 2005
Midsummer

Last Friday it was Midsummer here in Sweden, and it's very hard to celebrate that! It makes you very tired!! Midsummer's Eve started like any other day with me and mum going for a walk after she'd given me my breakfast. Coming back from the walk, mum had her breakfast and read the paper. I had a feeling it would be an exciting day because I'd heard that we were going to mum's sister and her family, and I always get something nice to eat there! (Don't tell mum I said so!!) So I was wondering when the excitement was going to start, because mum took her time and didn't seem to get ready at all for going anywhere. I did hear her talk on the phone to someone, but when she put down the phone and we didn't go to our car. Then I thought that maybe someone was going to pick us up since mum brought me out. I tried everything to not have to go for another walk, but mum dragged me along and didn't pay any attention to me holding on to the lead trying to make her stop walking. I was even jumping around her legs to make her stop, but that didn't work either so eventually I followed her around the park. When we came back she went straight back up to the apartment again to my disappointment. I found that very strange since she'd brought a bag with her on the walk, but it turned out we weren't staying in long. We went out again and then we had to wait outside the big door for a while. I was looking for mum's parents' car since I thought they were the ones picking us up, but it was Stefan that arrived and he has a much bigger car than mum and her parents' cars. Now the first exciting thing happened! For the first time in my live I got to ride in the back of a car!! Normally when I go in mum's car or actually any car I've travelled in I'm riding in the back seat. Now I got to sit in the far back all on my own!! It was so exciting!! It turned out the back seat was already crowded since little Martin was there in his special chair, and mum's mother was there too so mum sort of got the last bit of space there. In the front was Stefan driving the car, and in the seat next to him was mum's father. I said hello to mum's mother trying to reach up to her over the back seat and then I sat down and looked out the window. I have to say it was quite a difference sitting in the far back of the car compared to sit in the back seat!

When we got to the house where Camilla and Stefan lives mum let me out and I could say hello to everyone properly. Then I ran in to the kitchen where mum's sister Camilla was preparing food. I was sniffing around in the air and I could smell all sorts of nice things but Camilla is as mean as mum. She didn't give me anything to eat! It turned out the meal the humans were going to have were outside on the terrass since the weather was very nice. Humans like to sit outside times like that. So while mum was helping her sister getting the food out on the table, I was running back and forwards hoping they'd drop something, and sometimes I kept their mother company when she was watching the table. Not sure why she watched the table since I've never seen one walk away...I heard them say it was to watch the flies, but I don't know...Anyway, when all the food was out the humans sat down to eat and they sure took their time. I got a bit bored with them so I lied down and had a look out on the street.

I can't say I saw much of the street though, I mean we were on the terrass, then there's the garden and at the end of the garden there's a fence. But I did see some things. No dogs though. When the humans were finally done eating I got to go out in the garden and play a bit with mum, and we were watching little Martin drive his little car on the street. After a while mum said it was time to take me for a walk, and it turned out little Martin wanted to come too in his little car, so mum's mother came along too. When we got back to the house it was time for the humans to have coffee and cake and I got my dinner. The humans sat there talking and laughing, and then mum's parents left. They were going home on the bus and mum said we were going later with another bus. Guess what happened?? Stefan and Camilla started a bbq so it was time for mum to eat again. I find bbq's very interesting, because it's happened that things fall down on the ground for me. (If anything fell down it's something between Stefan and me so I'm not telling you about it here!) After the bbq was done the humans continued to talk and I was getting very tired. Suddenly mum said "Oh, we've missed the last bus" and that made me a bit disappointed. I mean I had really been looking forward to going for a ride on the bus! It made me a bit worried because I didn't know how we were supposed to get home, and I didn't feel like walking all the way to town. I don't even know if that's possible or if mum knows the way! Also since I hadn't exactly slept anything during the day I felt that a walk would be too exhausting. Then mum started to call someone, and it took a very long time before she got an answer. Actually Stefan started to call as well just after mum started, and he was the one finally getting an answer. Turned out mum and I were going in a taxi to get home! I'd been in taxis before, and that's pretty much like a normal car ride, except that before getting out of the car you have to give money to the person driving, and you don't know the person who is driving. We had to wait pretty long before the taxi arrived, but finally it came and the nice driver took us all the way home. Mum paid him and we got out just outside the big door to our building, but mum said I had to pee before going to bed so she took me across the street. When we finally came up to our apartment I was in bed before mum even had time to brush her teeth, and that never happens.

It was nice to finally get some sleep, and I slept very long. Actually I could have slept even longer but mum woke me up! Suddenly as I was far away in a nice sleep I thought I heard someone saying my name. First I thought I was dreaming, but then I heard it really was mum talking to me. She was already up and dressed and ready to go out! I didn't feel as if I was done with my sleeping yet, so I really wasn't in a mood for a walk, but as always mum was the one deciding. I tried to make the walk really short since I didn't feel rested. Mum said I was dragging my feet after me, and I wasn't at all in the mood to sniff at things the way I normally do. I was so glad the weather wasn't too good, no sunshine as it had been the day before so mum actually spent most of the day watching videos. That meant I could curl up in the corner of the sofa, stretch out on the floor or cuddle up on mum's lap and rest and sleep. I was too tired to eat my breakfast, and didn't finish it until about 5pm, and then about two hours after that I felt almost rested and decided to tell mum I wanted my dinner. I'm so happy it's only Midsummer once a year! It really makes you tired celebrating it!

Since Midsummer nothing special has happened really. We've been on our usual walks, I've met a couple of dogs, watched birds and today I saw a rabbit. Oh, and when we came back from our early evening walk today mum found some things in my coat that shouldn't be there. Fortunatelly it wasn't ticks, it was something less disgusting.

I really don't know what those green little spiky things are even though I inspected them when mum was going to try and take pictures of them. After the inspection I got mum to play with me.

June 23 2005
The last couple of days...

... has been quite busy for me. To start with, I can tell you that I'm very good at chasing noisy helicopters away! Today when mum was reading the paper there was a very disturbing noise outside. It was a very strange noise and I prefer peace and quiet so I ran out the balcony as fast as possible to see what was going on. To make the noise go away I barked very loud too. Mum said it was pretty useless barking at helicopters, telling me that's what disturbed me. But guess what?? Mum was wrong! The helicopters disappeared!! Ok, so they came back once or twice and flew over our yard again, but I was there barking at them and finally they didn't come back. It must have been because of me barking, don't you think??!!

I've also barked at the hedgehog again, so it turned out it didn't move after all. But to show it how disappointed I was not having seen it I barked at it.

Last Sunday mum's parents came here for coffee It was a nice and sunny day so we sat out on the balcony. Mum told me I could go inside instead of sitting out there getting all warm, but I'm very interested to hear what people are talking about so I decided to stay. I'm specially interested in hearing what mum has to say, because sometimes she makes things up about me that aren't true! At least she tells people things that is not the way I've seen it, so I have to keep an ear on that. When mum's parents were going home I got to go with them in their car!! I was spending Sunday night at their place since mum had some silly meeting to attend on Monday morning. Mum said it was probably better that I went home with them and that maybe I'd behave better, without practicing for the Dog Opera. That just shows you that mum doesn't know anything! The auditions for the opera has already taken place and apparently there were some other dogs who sang better than me. That means I don't have to practise anymore. I might start practising again if I see there are new auditions coming up.
Spending time togheter with mum's parents was very nice, specially since I had them all to myself and got all the attention! We went for walks, I got to see the sheep in the forest, I helped out with some gardening and jumped over my hurdle, went for some more walks and was just relaxing and having a good time. Mum's parents says I'm a very good boy because I stay in their garden even though they don't have a fence around it. They let me walk around as I like when they're out, and I just go around and check things out. Sometimes I lie down in the shade under a tree just enjoying life. And why would I leave anyway? Everything I need is there, they even have a special biscuit box just for me!! Sometimes I remind them the biscuits are there because I think they forget about it now and again.

One thing they never forget is to give me some biscuits before going to bed. I think that's brilliant! Just as I do at home they hide biscuits in a blanket and I get to search for them before going to sleep! Last Sunday I slept very well all night in various places. It gets a bit warm lying in the bed all night, so then I jump down on the floor to cool down a bit, and then I get back up in bed again. When I jump up in the bed I always jump up in mum's mothers' bed, walking straight across her head and then I lie down between her and mum's father. The reason I walk straight over mum's mothers' head is that a couple of times I've by mistake walked straight over mum's stommach, and then she's said "ouch, watch where you're walking" . So I've figured that since the head is quite far away from the stommach it must be the best place to walk in order not to hurt anyone. When sleeping at home I don't sleep between anyone since it's pretty hard to do with only one person. Also, mum's bed is the same size as her parent's bed which means I have quite a lot of space in mum's bed. The thing is though that sometimes mum sort of invades my space in her bed and then I kind of kick her a little in the head or push her with my nose to make her move.

When mum came to get me Monday I was just browsing around in the garden in the sunshine. I was up at the corner of the garage looking down the street now and again, and then I thought I heard the sound of a car. Since I didn't see a car passing I went towards the door leading out from the terrass to the drive up, and just at that time mum came through that door! I was so happy to see her, and I nearly kissed her so much that her ear fell off! Her parents told her what a good boy I'd been, staying in their garden all the time, and then mum said she wasn't surprised. She said I was a smart boy and that she didn't expect anything else. Since I was out on the drive up I went towards the car thinking we were leaving straight away, but mum said we were staying a little. She was going to have coffee with her parents before she left. Since I'd been pretty busy until she came, I decided to lie down next to the pond in the shadow and relax.

It's actually very relaxing lying next to the pond, listening to the water and I have to admit I fell asleep.

The last couple of days have been very nice, sunshine almost every day. It was only two nights when it rained and I got all wet! Yukk! One night it was really pouring down, and even though I'd been very excited about going for a walk when mum was getting ready, all that excitement vanished when we got down to the main door to get out. When I realised it was raining I stopped in the middle of the door looking up at mum asking her if she really meant I had to go out and get all wet?! Mum said I had to pee before going to sleep, so I hurried over the road and did what she expected as soon as I could and hurried back to the door again to get in. I prefer when it's sunshine and not wet, but when it's really a lot of sun and very warm I don't like going for long walks. It gets too warm walking around in a black coat! When it's like that mum just takes me for short walks and we leave the longer walks until it's cooled down in the eveningtime. The strange thing is that no matter how warm it is, humans seem to enjoy all sorts of strange activities. Very often when we go through the parks there are people standing there throwing sticks!! It's very exciting and I've tried to run after the sticks but mum never allowes me. She says it's a game for humans called "Kubb" and that I'm not supposed to run after the sticks starting to chew on them. She says that would mean she would have to constantly appoligise for my behaviour. But dogs are supposed to run after sticks, so to me it doesn't make any different if it's some silly human game or not. A stick is a stick...

June 16 2005
Half miserable day

The first walk today was weird. The first bit was pretty normal, but then mum started to walk som strange road that I wasn't interested in at all. It was a little bit fun at first because I met some dogs that I said hello to, but after that I was convinced mum was getting us lost so I tried to make her turn in to a road that I thought would lead us right. Mum wouldn't take that road even though I had the lead in my mouth and pulled her in that direction. So since mum thinks she is always right and are supposed to decide everything I reluctantly followed her. Just after I started following her I realised where we were going! Now she had told me we were going to buy new liver treats for me, but it was a long time since we walked that specific road, so I hadn't recognised myself. When I realised it was the big doggy-food-store we were going to I started to hurry on and then mum was the one who were a few steps behind.

You'd think that the day would improve coming home from that walk and that I'd get some of the new livertreats, but all I got was fresh water in my bowl. Not that I wasn't thirsty, but what if my sugar level had dropped during the walk? If that happens it's a good idea to eat something like for example.... livertreats. But I didn't get any. Later in the afternoon we went for another walk that was pretty normal, and then we went to mum's parents. Nothing strange in that, but I noticed mum wasn't exactly getting ready the way she does when we're just going there for a visit having coffee. I'd also heard her say something about working so I was quite suspicious when we got to her parents house. I was right! Guess what happened when we got there?? Mum left me!! I tried to keep my eyes on her and I even ran to the car, but then her parents distracted me with biscuits and when I went inside to get my biscuits they closed the door!! When I realised my big mistake I sat down and practised some more for the Royal Dog Opera but that only made mum's parents say I was silly. They told me to take it easy and lie down and rest a bit together with them when they were reading. I really wasn't up to resting at all! Then a bit later they said we were going in the car, and since I love going in the car I kind of forgot about practising my singing. I figured we were probably going home to my place to mum, and the trip started out good since I recognised the road into town. But it was not the real trouble and misery began! They didn't park the car outside the house where I live! I started to get worried, because what if mum went out to her parent's house just to find it empty and deserted!! I was sure that if that happened mum would get very upset with me not being able to keep her parents in order! I was wondering what to do and decided it was probably best to try and get mum's parents to get in to the car again and go home to their house, or I could lead them to where I live and sit outside and wait and see if mum was coming.

My plan didn't work very well, because mum's parents are as stubborn as mum and they made me walk in the direction they decided!! Now I did recognise it as a place mum and I walk through every day, it's one of the parks where there are a lot of flowers. I found this very disturbing because it would be very easy for mum's parents to get totally lost! I mean they don't live in town as I do so if they got us lost I would never see mum ever again!! But just like mum, her parents took no notice of what I wanted to do and they slowly walked around in the park looking at flowers! Hello!! If they want to look at flowers they can take a look in their own garden, not in town where they can get lost!! I really tried to get them to leave the park, and eventually they did, but did they go to the car or to where I live?? No, instead they started to walk along the river where mum and I walk every day. I started to get really worried, because as long as we walked along the river I felt pretty secure they wound't get us lost, but then they started walking places I'm sure they had no idea where they were! I don't think it was fair of them putting the responsibility of our safety on me to get us through town! I mean anything can happen if you take people from out of town - specially retired people like mum's parents - and they decide to walk around as if they knew where they're going. It's pretty obvious to me that they hadn't got a clue as to which way to walk, and I think they were pretty annoying not only looking at flowers, but also in shop windows! I was not impressed!

Just as I thought I was safe because we started to get close to where they left their car it got weird again. Do you think they went to the car?? No, of course not. They dragged me to some big house mum and I pass on our walks every day, went in to a yard and sat down on a bench. I had no idea why we were there and why they sat down. All I knew was that it's a place close to where mum's father used to work, so did he think he was going to work or what? When we'd been sitting there for a little while mum's father disappeared through a door, and when he came back he had a cup of water in his hand that he gave me. I thought I could smell mum on the cup, but I wasn't sure. Maybe it was just in my imagination because I wanted her to come and rescue me. But guess what?! Shortly after that mum came through the door where her father had gone to get me water!! Talk about happiness!!!! Finally there was going to be some order again! I know that mum to does weird things now and again, she can be pretty embarassing at times and she never lets me decide anything, but one thing about mum, she knows her way around town! So the responsibility for all our safety was now moved from little me to mum!! I was kissing her lika crazy and telling her what a miserable walk I'd had and after a little while we all left that yard. I was walking really fast towards where mum's parents had left their car because I was pretty sure they'd forgotten where it was. I walked as fast as I could thinking we were all going in the car, but mum said she and I were walking home so we just watched her parents get in to their car and drive off. After that I could calm down and sniff some interesting things on our way home. I also had to listen to mum calling me a little whimp and a mama's boy. She said I'd become more silly than ever. She also said that I will have to get used to her leaving me at her parents while she's working. If you ask me I think she should get a better job where I'm allowed. Mum knows I'm very good at working!!

June 15 2005
Arranging stuff and messing around

As all dogs knows it's very important do mess around and arrange things every day. I thought I'd show you how I combine those two things in one in a good way. Something I fix every day is mum's bed, and to show you how I do I asked mum to assist me so I could show you. I asked her to take pictures of how I do my messing around and arranging, step by step!

Ok, so step one is to jump up in the bed and bark a little...

...then you start rolling around, grabbing the duvets with your teeth...

...make sure to kick yourself around with your hind legs. Basically you're supposed to make your way all around the bed
on your back.

You have to make noise while doing the messing around, so bark a little, make some growling sounds and so on. It's also
very effective sounding like a gorilla baby! Don't forget the totally mad look in your eyes! It's very important!!

Then you can pretend for a while that you're all done....

...but really, you're not! Start over again with the mad look!

After you've messed around for a while you're basically ready for a good rest or maybe a nice walk.

I got a bit distracted today though because I suddenly realised mum's jeans are in the chair over there.
I know she has liver treats in her pockets and I could smell them!

If you happen to be distracted by realising there are liver treats close to you, quickly sit down and ask for a reward
for fixing mum's bed so nicely.

Pllleeeaaaaasssseeeee mum... I've been such a good boy arranging everything on your bed!

IF you're not given an award, there are different things you can do. You can give your mum a very offended look and not talk to her in
at least 5 minutes, or you can try and put your cutest face ever on.

June 13 2005
Fun and not so fun

If your name's Higgins, yesterday wasn't a good day! It started out as a good day with nice weather and our usual walk, and after that mum brushed me. You have to live through that now and again, but guess what? It got worse!!In the afternoon I was put in the bath tub!! Yuukkk! We'd been out for a walk in the afternoon and when we got back inside I sort of got the feeling that something was going to happen. Something bad like a bath even though I hadn't noticed mum preparing anything. So I quickly went into hiding and refused to move. After a while, maybe like a half hour I got very curious what mum was up to since she wasn't sitting in here at the computer. She wasn't in the kitchen, and she didn't seem to be in the livingroom either because I couldn't hear the tv. Eventually I had to go and have a look what she was doing and I found her sitting on the floor in the bedroom doing something that looked very interesting. Talk about being fooled!! As soon as I came over, mum picked me up and went to the bathroom where she put me in the tub and she said if she can count on anything it's my curiosity. I have to admit though that it felt quite nice after the bath, specially when I was let out of the bathroom and could do my mad run all around the apartment. I dried myself really good on mum's bed and then she wrapped me in a towel where I cuddled up next to her in the sofa. Mum was watching tv for a while, and then she used the hairdryer to make me completely dry, and she brushed me again. I was so glad when it was over, but it also felt pretty nice being all clean and fluffy!

Today was another day when mum brought me to her parents since she was going to some place I'm not allowed to go. It was raining when we got there, so I couldn't be outside playing. Mum barely had time to let me in before she left again, and shortly after she left her dad went out the door too. He was cleaning out the drain pipes on the house or something and he said I wouldn't be of much help so I had to stay inside. Later on he brought me for a walk and that was fun! I was looking for hedgehogs and other dogs and had a very pleasant walk. And guess what? When mum came back to collect me she was told lies! Guess what her parents told her?? They said I'd been sitting at the top of the stairs howling!! I didn't do anything like that at all! But according to mum's parents that's what I did when her father went outside doing whatever he was doing, and mum's mother went downstairs to do some ironing. I can agree that mum's father went outside and her mother downstairs, but anything else they said are just lies. Mum's mother said she was downstairs doing her ironing, listening to the radio, and suddenly she heard this strange noise which didn't seem to come from the radio. It took a while before she could make out what it was and she said it was me howling! She said that she'd called my name but I didn't hear her, so she'd walked over to the stairs just to see me sitting at the top with my nose in the air howling like a wolf! That is absolutely wrong!!! I was practicing for the Royal Dog Opera, and to get in there you need to know your arias. I just thought it was a great place to practice in since mum's parents live in a house of their own so the neighbours wouldn't be disturbed, and also the acoustic in their house is very good. So that's it! I did not sit and howl because I thought I was on my own no matter what anyone says. Only thing is that mum seems to believe what her parents told her, so I have to have a serious talk with mum about the Dog Opera. I mean she's the one who will have to drive me to their audition!

Now I haven't seen a hedgehog in a very long time, and I look for them every night.

On the picture above I hope you can see me in the dark searching for hedgehogs. This is where I've seen them before, but lately there has been no sign of them. I'm starting to think that maybe they all left town and moved somwhere else.

The other night when mum and I went for our early evening walk we saw a rabbit. It was sitting under a tree looking around, and mum was getting her camera out to take a picture of it. I decided to help out so I told the rabbit to sit still so mum could get a great rabbitpicture. Guess what?? It ran away! Mum got a very nice picture of... hmm.. grass... Then she told me it wasn't necessary to bark at the rabbit because they get scared and run away. Like it's my fault rabbits don't understand what I tell them!!

Yesterday I met the biggest dog I've ever met! It was a S:t Bernhard who was 11 years old and very nice! I thought it was so much fun saying hello to him, specially since he stood very still and was very careful. Some dogs you want to say hello to are just so big headed, and I don't like those kind of dogs, but this guy was the nicest dog ever. Very calm. Not only was he more than twice my age, his head was almost as big as I am! I heard mum talk to his owner asking the weight of a dog like that. She was told around 65 kilos. That's very much more compared to me, I even think he's heavier than mum, but think about the amount of biscuits he must be eating!! His mum was telling him to take it easy and not drool all over me, but mum said that's what you have to take sometimes. Continuing our walk she told me that doggy drool in my coat is much better than bird poop and I have to agree with that.

June 10 2005
Friday news

As I said yesterday I spent yesterday evening, night and first part of today together with mum's parents. I had a very good time! I slept very well in mum's parents bed during the night, allthough I must say it gets a bit crowded. First I got to search for biscuits that mum's mother had hidden in a blanket on the floor next to the bed and as usual I found the biscuits very quickly. Since mum's father hadn't gone to bed yet I hurried and jumped up in his bed. I thought he might be sleeping in the spare room or something, but he didn't. He came in and squeazed himself into bed. To make myself some more room I pushed mum's mother a bit in her back so she moved a bit closer to the edge, and that gave me plenty of room to sleep in!

We were out walking in the area where they live, and I could smell plenty of dogs but I didn't meet any. I do enjoy my walks there, and it's also fun walking around in the garden looking at the stuff they have there. Before mum arrived today I was helping her dad with some digging in the flowerbeds and that was fun! At the same time I was walking around listening to see if I could hear mum's car, and as I was walking around the lawn suddenly mum was just there!! Yay!! I was totally excited seeing her and thought we could leave at once, but she insisted on talking a while with her parents. While they were talking it started to rain a lot, so when we headed for the car it was completely wet everywhere! I got soaked on the short bit from the house to the car, and when mum opened her door I started to climb inside and went over to the back seat. I don't understand what mum was complaining about, saying her bum got wet! She says it's because I walked with my wet paws right over her seat, but I don't think it was so wet there since my paws were still wet too!

When we got home it turned out we'd gotten mail!

It was the latest edition of the doggy magazine! Mum and I sat down to read it, and I was very interested in reading one article called "Vilket hundgodis är godast?" which means "Which doggy treat is the nicest?" I must say I'm surprised they didn't contact me and wanted my opinion on that subject! I'm an expert when it comes to doggy treats! The answer is BISCUITS!!! Mum says that the ones calling themselves experts are the worst, but I'm not sure I can agree with her there. I've spent a lot of time investigating the fact that biscuits are the best treat ever!!

June 9 2005
Yesterday was exciting!

Yesterday was a strange but exciting day! It started the normal way with a walk and mum were potting aorund with some stuff at home and then we went in the car since mum was doing some shopping. Then in the afternoon we went for a walk which was a bit strange. Mum dragged me in to a building where I didn't want to go in. It was the same house where I went with mum for that boring interview a while ago, and since I found that very boring I didn't want to go in again and get bored. But mum made me go in! I was happy to see we weren't staying long, mum was just giving a nice lady some papers who petted me before I sat down ready to leave with my lead in my mouth. I was very glad when we left and I walked very nicely all the way to show mum what a good boy I am and to make sure she wasn't going to drag me in to some other boring place. Coming home we just got the keys for our car and took off, and I sat a short while waiting in the car when mum went in to some place to get a plant. She said I wasn't supposed to jump on the plant! Just because I once by mistake jumped on a bag with some nice plant in it she obviously think I'll jump on them all the time! I tried to explain to mum it wasn't my fault I'd accidently jumped on the plant, it was mum putting it in a very stupid place! Anyway, when we got home I noticed mum was preparing something exciting so I couldn't really relax, and when she brought me out for a walk I once again thought we were going in the car. I wasn't going for a walk at all, but again I was forced to!!

Not too long after getting back from that walk we finally went down to the car and took off! Mum stopped next to another car on the street and waived and pointed and told me it was our friend Kersti and her son Nick in the other car and that they were going to drive behind us. So first mum and I came in our small black car, and after came Kersti and Nick in their big black car and we went to a place I've been to a few times before. We went to a couple called Gunilla and Anders, and they are very nice people! The German guests we had yesterday were staying with Gunilla and Anders and it turned out the humans were going to eat!! When I visit places I'm not used to, I always stay close to mum, and I was trying to have her put me on her lap but I wasn't allowed to when she was eating. After a while I started to walk around a little, and guess what? Meat started to fall off the table! Very nice, and it got even better! When the humans had finished eating I managed to get myself up in the sofa where mum was sitting, and I started to stare at the big plate where I could see meat. Guess what? Anders is a very understanding and kind man and he gave me the left over meat!!It was totally delicious and I wish mum would give me that kind of meat every day, but I don't think that will ever happen... After a while it was time to move things in to the kitchen - we were sitting outside - and since I'm an excellent kitchen helper I stayed close to Gunilla in case she'd need my help. I was hoping she'd give me some nice stuff to eat, but she didn't. I even tried dancing for her, but I didn't get anything.

After I was finished helping out in the kitchen it turned out all the others had moved out on the lawn, sitting in the sunshine at another table. They were going to have coffee, and I was walking around to everyone hoping they would give me something to eat but I didn't have much success. When little Nick was around I was lying on mum's lap, otherwise I was walking around in the garden sniffing the different plants they had. After a while mum brought me for a little walk around the area, and it seems like a nice place. I could smell cats in some places, and I saw a couple of dogs. I was looking to see if I could spot a hedgehog, but I didn't. Maybe they have them there too, maybe it was mum bringing me to the wrong places...
After the walk the sun was gone from the lawn and the humans moved back to the terrass again for the rest of the evening. I spent most of the time curled up next to mum in the sofa. I did go in a few times togheter with Anders and helped him out in the kitchen, and as I've mentioned before, he's a very nice man. He gave me some sort of biscuits that had some sort of cheese taste! Very crunchy and nice, so I really had a very good night! Both nice meat and special biscuits! We got home rather late so mum just brought me for a very short walk and then it was time for bed.

I've heard that mum's father is coming to collect me this afternoon because I'll be looking after him and mum's mother until tomorrow. Mum is going to work in that silly place again tonight, and tomorrow morning she has to be in some other stupid place where dogs are not welcome. But I think I'll have a nice time anyway. I just hope none of mum's parents will go missing because it will be a bit difficult for me to explain how I lost one of them since I'm supposed to look after them.

June 7 2005
Good weekend

I have to say this was a very good weekend even though it was raining which I don't like. But I thought it was excellent it was raining most of the time, because that meant I didn't have to take a bath! The worst thing is I will probably have to get a bath later, but I guess I have to suffer through that since mum decides about those things. She says it's time for putting new Frontline on me to protect me from ticks, but before that I do need a bath. There was ONE bad thing about the weekend though, and that's when mum brushed me. It's nice now and again to get a good brush, at least to have my ears combed and possibly one of my sides, after that I'm bored. Not that mum ever lets me get away before she's done all of me, but I'm always trying! Now yesterday when I was brushed it was a bit more annoying than usual and it took a very long time. Mum got this idea to clear away some hair around my ears, and as I've mentioned several times, I don't like getting groomed! Since mum doesn't own a machine, she's using different pairs of scissors, and I think that's a bit worrying having scissors too close to my ears. Not that mum ever cut me, all she's cut except my hair is herself and a couple of times in the curtains, but I still don't feel very comfortable about it. I tried everything to make her stop, I was rolling over on my back trying to play, I kissed her and tried to push her hands away with my paws, but nothing helped. Mum says it's not good having too much hair around the ears since it can cause ear infections which she don't want me to get. I don't fancy getting ear infections either, because then I'm sure you have to go to the vet, and that's another thing I don't like. But there must be a better way preventing ear infections rather than having to suffer through scissors terror! If I have to chose I think I actually prefer a machine cutting around my ears, but I really don't like them either. Now I have to admit that after mum was finished with me I felt quite good with lots of air around my ears, but don't tell mum I said so!!

Today mum and I went to her parents and when I was inside looking for biscuits mum disappeared! I was a bit sad at first when I noticed, but then mum's dad brought me out for a nice long walk and I forgot to be sad. There are so many interesting smells out where they live and a lot of exciting things to look at so I really enjoy going for walks there. I was pretty tired at the end of the walk, and thirsty too so it was nice getting back to the house again. I drank plenty of water and then I got some sleep before going with mum's father in his car. You see when we were out for our walk mum's mother had mysteriously disappeared too so we were going out to look for her. We found her in town and after we found her she brought me home to mum. Since mum had apparently just gone home while I was searching for biscuits I guess she's a bit confused, specially since she left just as we arrived! Now mum tells me that she had to go to some place where I'm not allowed, but how many times do I have to tell her there is no point visiting places where I'm not welcome?! She never learns!

When I'd been home for a while the doorbell rang and I was so curious about who was coming. It turned out to be a couple I didn't know, but I have vague memories meeting one of them before when I was about a year old. Mum told me it was her friend Heike who lives in a place called Germany. I think you can go there in the car, but mum and I never did that. The humans were having coffee and were talking while I was resting, and after a while they left again. Apparently we're going to see them again tomorrow evening, but not in our place.

June 3 2005
Me, grumpy??

Yesterday was a strange day. I guess it started pretty normal, it was more towards the afternoon it started to get strange. Mum was getting herself ready for a walk, but I'd gotten the idea something else more exciting were going to happen so at first I didn't want to go with her on a walk. I tried to get to the garage since I was sure we were going in the car since mum didn't put her normal jacket on when we went out. Not that she has a special doggy jacket going for walks, but I know what she wears for normal walks. Mum's excuse for not wearing the normal jacket was that she'd washed it and it wasn't dry yet. I still was convinced we were going in the car and was a bit upset when it turned out to be just another walk, and as it turned out when we got back we went straight up in the apartment. Then mum started to brush me, and I wasn't very pleased with that either. She said I looked a mess and that it doesn' t look very nice going around with twigs and grass hanging from your coat under your tummy or have resin in your ears. And what does she know about that?! I'm the one going around with it on me, and who knows when you might need some resin, grass or twigs?! Not that I'm exactly sure what you'd use it for, but it might come in handy! After mum had brushed me I saw her putting some of my food in a plastic bag and then I was sure something exciting was going to happen, but it didn't happen for a while.

Anyway, after some time the phone rang, and I heard mum saying something about going downstairs and wait outside, and then it was like I had a rocket behind me! I got very excited and was running around all over the apartment, not hearing a word of what mum was saying. I didn't even notice she just put some shoes on before going out, not bringing a bag or anything. It turned out it was mum's parents coming, and I recognised their car immediately! Mum said I was going home with them in the car and she'd see me later. Mum put me in the backseat of the car where I had to share the space with mum's mother and little Martin who was also going in the car. Martin was sitting in MY spot at the window behind the passenger seat, and he was sitting in one of those stupid special chairs for kids! That annoyed me very much since I always sit in that special spot no matter which car I'm going in. Things got worse because mum didn't even come with us in the car! At that point I realised that maybe things weren't going to get as fun and exciting as I'd thought. I do like mum's parents a lot, and it's usually fun spending time with them, but it seemed as if I'd have to stand sharing their time with little Martin. When we got to their house I made a quick run around the garden and peed in my usual spots, and while I was doing that mum's parents started getting toys out for both me and Martin. I didn't feel like playing in the garden no matter how hard they tried. To show them how disappointed I was I was mostly walking around with a grumpy face - so I was told - drinking water out of water cans even though I had my own bowl of water and I wasn't at all interested in eating my food later on when they gave me that. I had some grass and flowers instead. Then they told me you shouldn't eat flowers so I had some more. Eventually it seemed as if Martin understood me, because he said to his grandparents that "Higgins is in a bad mood and wants to go home", and that's exactly what I wanted. But I still didn't get to go home. A bit later mum's dad brought me out for a walk, and that was OK I guess. There are a lot of intersting things to smell out there and to look at, so when we got back to the house I had my dinner.

About an eternity later Martin and I was placed in the car again, and I thought I was finally going home, but instead we went to get mum's sister Camilla who is Martin's mum, and then we went home to their house. We stayed there a little while, and then mum's parents took off with me again. This time it was only me, but I still couldn't sit in my spot in the car since that stupid chair was there. I hope they're not going to have that there forever! It's in my way!! Apparently it's their chair now since Martin's parents got him a new chair for their car. Anyway, this car ride was a bit strange since I thought we were going home to me or to mum's parents, but istead mum's father drove to some big house and parked outside. I thought it was very strange since I knew the house, mum and I pass there every day on our walks, and now we were sitting in the car outside?? We didn't even go out! Not that I wanted to anyway, because it was raining and I don't like rain, but why were we sitting there? I was told that we were waiting for mum and that she would be there soon. I thought we were sitting there waiting for days, but apparently we didn't. When mum finally came to the car she let me out and started to talk a little with her parents and they told mum I'd been totally grumpy all afternoon and evening!! I don't know what they mean about being grumpy, I just wasn't in the mood for playing on the lawn, and I didn't get the full attention I thought I'd get. Just because of that there's no need calling me grumpy! When mum finally stopped talking to her parents I tried to take the quickest way home, but mum said we were going a little bit longer to save us a walk later. She told me to stop being so grumpy and that she was the one deciding which way to go, and that I could do what I wanted when we got home.

When we were finally back in our apartment I was all wet so mum dried me and then she sat down to watch tv. I lied down in the corner of the sofa giving her looks wondering where she'd been and what she'd been doing. Mum said she'd been working. As you might know mum is un-employed at the moment and has been looking for a new job quite a long time, but I hadn't heard anything about her getting one. Specially not one where I can't come! I've always worked with mum and I'm good at it! Then she told me that she'll be working some Thursday evenings during the summer and that I'll be spending time with her parents then. And a couple of weeks from now she'll be working more and I will spend my days with her parents. I think it's a silly place to work in since I can't come! It seems like a very easy place to work in, mum says it's a museum - whatever that is - and that Thursday evenings she's just walking around there. How hard can that be?? I know how to walk, and I'm positive I'd be very good at walking around a museum! Later when mum is going to work more she's not going to do the walking around but she'll be in the reception. I know how to work in a reception! I used to do that at the hotel with mum! It's really easy working in a reception, you can just lie there sleeping under the desk, and sometimes you can sit or stand and look at people. But apparently places like museums aren't very dog friendly, they have to think about Allergy. I don't know who Allergy is or why you should think about him. I think this Allergy can stop telling me where I can work and go to some other place than the museum.

Home