Higgins Hörna

July 23 2006
Almost over

Now it's almost the end of our holiday. Mum says that tomorrow it's time for work again, getting up early in the mornings and I'll be spending my days at her parent's as usual when she's working. Yesterday and today mum has spent most of the days in a chair in the sun on the balcony, reading and relaxing and I haven't had any protests against that at all. I've been out on the balcony now and then to keep her company, but it really gets too warm. Now you might think mum and I have done nothing all week, but we've been to two bbq's. First time at mum's sister's place where I managed to get a couple of sausages in the kitchen without mum knowing. The second bbq was at a couple of friend's house, but there I only managed to get a couple of extra biscuits.

Last Friday when we were going for our long evening walk it was pretty unusual. There were loads of people everywhere, specially outside the fence of a park we always go through. This time we couldn't walk through it since it was closed off. It was some people there playing really loud music! Mum said that it was Smokie playing just as we passed, and later on another band would come and play and their name was Status Quo. I just found it very annoying since people were in my way everywhere and I couldn't sniff where I wanted. The day after things were back to normal. We walked through that park on our first walk, and it was still people there but not as many as the night before, and there was no music. I think the people there were just doing some cleaning.

One thing about going for walks now - apart from it being very hot - is that I get loads of sticky things in my coat. There are things on the ground everywhere that has fallen off the trees, and I believe it's the birds that puts glue on those things so they get stuck in dogs coats. It's very annoying and mum has to help me get rid of sticky things several times during each walk. I hate getting things in my coat! I have no idea why the birds puts glue on these tree things, but how else would the glue get there? Only the birds are up in the trees so they must be the ones doing this!

July 18 2006
Still on holiday

Mum and I are still on holiday and that's really great. But there were a couple of days last week that really made me tired. Last Wednesday a coouple of friends came for a visit and they had some really huge things with them, some sort of building-putting-together-thing. In the end it turned out to be a new tv-unit for mum, but it took a while before I could see what it was. Mum and one of her friends spent a long time putting stuff together, and I was there inspecting it now and then. But most of the time I was lying on the floor a bit a way, looking at what they were doing. Then last Thursday mum was busy with different things, like for example baking. I'm not allowed to help her with that, so I had to lie on the floor being bored out of my head. Then it got worse! Mum put me in the tub and gave me a bath!! She said that since it was her birthday the day after, she thought it would be nice if I was all clean and smelling nicely, which I found a very bad excuse for giving me a bath! Besides, I wasn't dirty at all, maybe a little dusty, but not so much that I needed a bath! You can shake the dust off!!!The black water running down the tub was not dirt, it was part of my black colour! If mum keeps this bathing up, I'll become completely see through and invisible!! Or I'll turn white, and that's just as bad, I don't want to loose my black colour!! The only good thing about the bath was that I got to lie all wrapped up in a huge towel for a while, and then mum let me out of the bathroom and I could do my usual after-bath-crazy-run. Then it was time for the usual time up on the grooming table where mum brushed me and used the hairdryer on me. I think it's enough just to get my ears combed, but mum insists on keeping me up on the table for much too long. Now I have to say I do get very fancy looking after a bath, and it's fun showing off after, but I'm not sure it's worth all the trouble.

Then last Friday it was mum's birthday and that was pretty exhausting. I did get to go on my usual walks of course, but mum was messing around with things all day. She was hoovering and washing the floors and those things are such a bore, and then she was doing stuff in the kitchen, things I was not supposed to put my nose in even if I tried, and then mum started to move things around in the livingroom. Then things got better as some guests arrived, that's always fun, and mum got presents and so did I. I got treats and people were telling me how gorgeous I was and I got loads of cuddles but no cake. I think that was bad because if it's a birthday I think I should have some cake, but mum has this stupid ideas of what she think is good for me to eat and what's not good for me. What does she know??

Yesterday mum and I went for a ride in the car in the afternoon, she was going shopping but she left me at her parent's house. I spent the time watching mum's mother cook something that smelled delicious, but as usual I didn't get to try any of it. I got my usual boring food after telling mum's parents I was actually nearly starving, and I'd heard mum say that they could give me dinner in case I asked for it. Then mum came back from her shopping and then she sat talking with her parents and then little Martin arrived with his parents. Turned out that those nice smelling things mum's mother had made was dinner for the humans. They got icecream as dessert, and finally I got a little taste of the nice stuff!

Today a couple of friends were here for a coffee with mum, and in the evening mum made meatballs. Since I know I never get to help her or even try one of the meatballs I went in to the bedroom and crawled in under the bed as a protest. Turned out to be one not so smart thing. Suddenly as I was lying there I heard mum say a couple of those funny words I'm not supposed to repeat, and then she muttered something about it was lucky I wasn't there. Of course I got curious then, and crawled out of my hidingplace. Too late! Turned out mum had dropped one uncooked meatball on the floor, but before I was out in the kitchen she'd picked it up and throw it away. I think she could have left it where it was because I would have taken care of it. Now all I got to do was lick the floor where it had fallen.

July 11 2006
Weird!

I must say today has been a pretty weird day. Well, it was mum that made it weird. At the moment we have our holiday, and we get to sleep as long as we like in the mornings before mum takes me out for the first walk of the day. This far everything was as usual today, but just as we got back from the walk mum phoned someone. I heard her say it would be all right within one hour, and then she sat down to have her coffee and a sandwich as usual. Then I noticed she started to prepare something, so I suspected something very exciting was going to happen!! I started to dance around and sing a little - according to mum I was barking, but it was actually a happy song - and I was running around in front of mum's feet to show her how excited I was about what was going to happen. Not that I knew what it was, but I was convinced it was going to be terribly exciting and fun! Then the phone rang and I heard mum saying we were going down to the car! Then I realised we were going somewhere exciting in the car and that we were probably going to meet someone somewhere to do something very fun. After a while we went down to the car where mum let me in and I sat down totally excited in the back seat.

It was now things started to get weird. Mum locked the car and left! She does that sometimes, usually because she's forgotten to bring something from in the apartment, so I thought it was the same old story today. But instead of going for the door to get to the stairs she walked towards the big gate in the garage and I saw her disappear around the corner. I know that around that corner is a room where mum brings old magazines and papers and things, it's called recycling, but she hadn't brought one of those bags with her down. So, I sat in the car looking for mum and after a little while she came back and got in to the car. Things were back to normal and now we were definitely off to that exciting place! Mum started the car and reversed out of her spot, and then this other car came in so mum reversed a bit more to make room for that car. Them mum stopped the car and turned off the engine and got out!? I started to wonder if we were going anywhere or if mum was just going to spend the day in the garage, and then I saw that other car drive in and park at mum's spot! When the person driving that car got out I saw it was mum's father, so then I thought he was coming with us to that exciting place we were going. Then I saw mum talk a bit with her father and then she walked around her father's car to get something out of the back seat. I thought it must be a huge box of biscuits for me, but shortly after I saw the head of mum's nephew Martin, so I figured he was coming too to wherever we were going. Then mum talked some more with her father and started going for that door to the stairway together with Martin! Now how weird was that?? Mum's father got in to mum's car and of course I was terribly excited over seeing him, but where was mum going with little Martin? Mum's father started the car and drove out of the garage, and I was looking out the window and suddenly I saw mum and little Martin walking on the sidewalk. I turned my head to watch them, wondering where they were going, and what kind of weird drive this was. Turned out mum's father drove back to his and mum's mother's house so I figured mum was probably going to work or something. Maybe she was going to teach Martin how to work there or something.

Anyway, I spent the day with mum's parent's, went for walks, played on the lawn and I even got my dinner there. Then I started to wait for mum. I sat on the terrass looking out of the door where you can see the street and waited and waited. There's a gate in front of the door so I can't go down to the driveway, but if I want to I can get there anyway. All I have to do is walk around the house or around the garage, but I didn't want to do so in case I'd miss mum's arrival. Mum's parents tried to make me come and play with them, but I was busy waiting! I heard they were talking to each other wondering why I was sitting there waiting, it wasn't even mum's normal time to come and pick me up. But I'm a clever dog and I'd figured out that Martin would get too tired working all day, he's only 4, and besides I've heard little kids are not allowed to work.

Then after a long wait I finally heard a car, and it was mum arriving in her father's car! When mum parked the car she got out and opened the back door, and out from there came Martin. I got so excited when mum arrived and wouldn't settle down until she picked me up and I told her I thought she'd been bad not telling me I was going to spend the day with her parents. When the humans had coffee I heard that Martin and mum hadn't been working at all, they'd done some sort of exciting things without me! Then I listened some more and realised I probably had been better off at mum's parents. I'm not really that interested in tractors or trainmodels, and apparently mum and Martin had spent the day visiting something called museums, and Martin had sat in loads of different tractors and looked at all sorts of things. So even if this was a completely weird day, I guess I was in the best place after all.

July 9 2006
Time off

It's really nice having time off even if I don't get to go as much in the car as I normally do. I do get to go for my usual walks, but since it's very warm I don't want to go for long walks during the day. The other day mum brought a waterbottle for us when we went for our afternoon walk, so we sat down in the shade for a while and rested.

We made our stop in a park, so I had quite a few things to look at. Yesterday afternoon we didn't bring any water, but we got water on us anyway. It started to rain! First just a little, and then more and more so when we got home we were rather wet. As you know, I'm not a big fan of getting wet, so during our walk I tried to make mum stop under trees we were passing since it didn't seem to rain under them. Mum said we couldn't stop under the trees because we could end up standing there a long time. Now I think mum was right, because just after we got home and had been in for a while it started to rain even more, and then this noisy thunder came! There was a big bang outside and I ran out the balcony and started to bark to scare the thunder away. Mum said you can't scare thunder, but I'm not sure she's right. You see after the first big bang there were just a couple of other bangs, not at all as loud as the first one, so I think it was my barking that made it go away.

Just thought of something I forgot to tell you, something that happened while I was having breakfast Monday morning. My foodbowl and waterbowl suddenly attacked me! I was eating my breakfast and mum was sitting at the kitchen table and suddenly there was kibbles and water all over the floor! I really have no idea how that could happen or why the bowls were suddenly jumping around on the floor. Mum didn't understand either, and with a surprised look on her face she looked up from the paper asking me what I was doing. I didn't do anything except eating, and as I said I have no idea why my food ended up on the floor together with lots of water.

One good thing with the heat outside is that I've been getting icecream a couple of times. Finally mum bought normal icecream, without chocolate or any other weird stuff in it, so I can have some too! Obviously it's not all good, she gives me too little, just a tiny bit I get. Mum's own portions though are really big, I've seen that!

July 6 2006
Sun and holiday

At the moment mum's having a holiday, and I've figured out it's probably the same as being retired. Mum's parents are retired and they are home all day long so that's why I can spend my time there while mum is working. That's why I think having a holiday is the same as being retired. Allthough before, mum was home all the time as well, and then she said she was unemployed?? I really wonder why humans have so many different words for things that seem to be the same?? However it is with that, it's nice having mum home so I can spend all days with her. And we don't have to get up really early! The only bad part is that I can't go in the car every day.

Maybe I should tell you that I got another pig's ear, from the same friends as last time, and this time I decided to eat it straight away when we got home. Mum was watching tv while I was on the floor chewing the ear. SInce mum didn't seem to appreciate it when I tried to share the fun with her last time I got a pig's ear I decided to be selfish and eat it without letting her enjoy any part of it.

We've had it very sunny and very warm lately, and when it's like that I don't want to go for long walks during the day. Mum takes me for a longer walk in the morning, and then we just go for short walks during the day, and then in the evening when it's cooled down I get to go for another long walk. Mum likes to sit on the balcony reading a book, and even though there's no shadow at all out there I like to keep her company now and again.I like to look out over the yard as well, and to keep an eye on what's going on out there. Yesterday I barked a lot at a big dog that were walking the opposite direction from mum and me. As usual mum wasn't impressed and told me to be quiet, something I had no intention of being. I think it's ok to bark at big dogs, they shouldn't walk around thinking they are something special just because they are bigger than me! The big dog barked back at me, so then I figured it was all right for me barking back at him. Then things got strange, since mum sat down on her heels and started to talk very quietly to me. Since I was barking so much I couldn't hear what she was saying, but being curious I sort of forgot to bark trying to hear what mum was saying to me. I looked at her and then she told me I was a good boy being quiet. I barked again, but mum continued to speak so quiet I just couldn't hear what she was saying so I had to really listen to her. Maybe she'd said something about biscuits!!?? Mum seemed pleased when I got quiet and told me to sit down, which I did in pure amazement and then I got treats and lots of praise so I guess I did the right thing. Maybe it's better not to bark at big dogs afterall, mum certainly seemed much more pleased with me... I haven't made up my mind yet if I'll stop this habit of barking at big dogs as soon as I see them. At least I don't have to be the first one that barks.

Another thing that happened yesterday was that I got to go in the car! Mum decided we should go and surprise her parents, and she also wanted me to see that it's not always she goes there and just drops me off leaving without me. I thought it was nice to visit mum's parents and they seemed happy to see me. I suppose they've missed me the last couple of days... Which isn't really strange since I'm such a charming and cute fellow! Oh, and mum's parents told us that they'd seen a snake that was run over down on the street, not very far from their drive up to the house! They also said that some neighbour had seen another run over snake at another street. The run over snakes are the ones I got those pills for, but since the pills were in town with me and mum, her parents couldn't throw the pills at the snake they saw. Now mum says those pills aren't for throwing at the snakes, but what else can they be good for? I hope she doens't mean I'm supposed to take the pills! If so I don't want to see any snake at all, no matter if it's run over or not.

Even though it was really warm I decided to run around and play a bit on the lawn!

Here I am with my glove, barking...

...and here I'm making grassangels. When there's no snow you can always make angels in the grass! You can also make bedangels, and those are best made in mum's bed!

I decided I better pee at the neighbour's bushes to make all the cats in the neighbourhood know that even though mum is on holiday I can turn up when they least expect it!!

Mum walked around the garden taking pictures, and while she was doing that I found some very nice fresh grass that I ate some of. Mum asked if I thought I was a cow or maybe a horse, but I dint't bother answering that. The grass was nice!

Here I am smelling the air, I could feel some very exciting smell, but I'm not sure what it was.

Finally I had to tell mum to stop photographing the flowers and go and sit down instead. I wanted to rest a little since I'd been running around and we´d been for a short walk and then followint mum around in the garden. I told her not to overdo it and that you have to rest as well!

Home