Higgins Hörna

May 26 2005
A day out

Today was another unusual day. First of all mum dragged me out of bed very very early compared to normal. I hadn't even finished sleeping yet! Then going for the walk, she brought a small backpack which she never does unless we're going somewhere special. Then she dragged me into a building and I thought at first she'd brought me to the vet, but it turned out it was some other place where mum was interviewd, and that's like when humans sit down and have coffee and talk. I have no idea who the people were that interviewed mum, but they were nice even though they didn't have any treats for me. Besides, they seemed more interested in mum than in me, so I found the interview thing rather boring and was happy when we left and went home. When we got back home it was about the time when we usually go out, so it sure was strange.

After mum had had her breakfast and done some other things she started to get ready again, and this time I could tell we were going to do something really exciting! Mum brought out a bigger backpack where I saw her put some food for me, some waterbottles and other stuff and then we went down to the car!! She said we were going to her parents which I found a bit strange considering mum brought water, and I know her parents have water. It turned out we were going to her parents, but from there we were going to another place together with them and mum's nephew, little Martin. Apparently, mum's father had kidnapped Martin from his daycare, stolen Martin's dad's car because that's the car we used for our trip that went to a place called Sagostigen. I think that's a very nice place since they allow dogs, and it's kind of like taking a walk in the forest. Here and there along the path you're walking there are little cottages that you can look in to.

Mum explained that each little house is decorated like fairy tales which I'm not sure what it is, but kids are supposed to like it. Now it turned out that Martin wasn't too impressed at all, most of the time he was sitting in his stroller saying he didn't want to go in to the hoouses! You couldn't even go in to the houses! All you can do is look through doors and windows but I think Martin thought it was a bit scary. I didn't find it scary at all, I found it all very ecxiting!! First of all there were all these interesting smells along the path, and I also found it very entertaining to have a peek in to the little houses!!

Above I'm standing on my hind legs having a peek in to a house that had porridge all over the floor.

There were other little houses with other things in them like for example one house that had three bears in it, there were houses with princes and princesses and I even saw a goat on a roof. Didn't see any dogs though. There were also stones with doors on them, and apparently that's where trolls live. I would have liked to meet a troll, but I didn't see any sings of them, so maybe they are as boring as the hedgehogs are. They might even look as hedgehogs!! We also walked over a strange bridge that talked. Mum and I walk over bridges every day, but I've never walked on one that talked before! First I thought it might be a troll under the bridge, but I didn't see anything, and mum said the bridge belonged to some goats or sheep or something.

Shortly after passing over the talking bridge we came to a big field where there were quite a few kids and a playground. There were also places with tables and chairs so you could have a picnic. Finally Martin started to have some fun, and he wasn't at all interested in having a picnic, all he wanted to do was play. For example there were little cars that kids can drive, and after mum found a coin in her bag that fitted the car Martin got to drive around a bit.

Above you can see mum's mother holding me, Martin driving a car and mum's dad with his back towards the camera. I enjoyed this big field too, because there were so many things to look at and investigate, but it was also nice to have a little break sitting at the tables.

Since Martin wasn't interested in having a picnic, mum, her mother and I had a picnic on our own while mum's father walked around to different places with Martin. I enjoyed the picnic very much, I got fresh water and even got to taste some of mum's sandwich since she said it's special being on a picnic! Then I was sitting there looking at all the kids playing all over the place, thinking what a great day I was having. After a while mum's father came over to have a picnic and mum and I stayed with him for a while when her mother went to Martin. Then mum and I went to see what they were doing. Turned out Martin had found a digging machine and he was having lots of fun digging in the sand. While mum took pictures of that, she handed my lead to her mother and then I went around with mum's mother for a while. Mum was busy playing with Martin and taking pictures. Apparently that's what aunts are supposed to do.

After mum had been playing for quite a while with her little nephew it was time to leave, and time to go to the car. Somehow mum and I got a bit ahead of the others, so when we reached the car we had to wait for them. I tried to make mum put me in the car, but since she didn't have the key we had to wait outside. Oh, and on the way to the car we saw a snail on the path, and I wonder how the snail could peek in to the little houses. I mean the hoouses are small, but the snail - even though it was qite big - was very tiny compared to the houses.

Above you can see me waiting outside the car, and I thought it took a very long time before the others arrived. But finally they did and we went back to mum's parents house. There I got my dinner, and while mum's mother was preparing dinner for the humans mum was out on the lawn playing with Martin. I was on the lawn to running around like mad and I really had a lot of fun! Specially when Martin and mum started to play tennis! I know what a tennisball looks like, because I have a couple of them, but the balls mum and Martin were playing with were so much fun. They were like little plastic balls with holes in them, and perfect to carry around! As they were hitting the balls, I was running after them and catching them!! Mum said I could play with my own ball, but this was so much funnier!! After playing for a while, it was time for the humans to eat and shortly after that mum and I went home. I was totally exhausted since I hadn't slept at all during the day, and also getting up very early. When we got home I ran straight in under the press in here by the computer and fell asleep. Later when mum said it was time to take a little walk before she was going to watch tv I was not really interested in it, but we went for a short walk around the park. The rest of the evening I was sleeping either on the floor or in the sofa next to mum. What a day!

May 21 2005
Another visit

Even though today wasn't as full of surprises as yesterday, it was quite an interesting day anyway. Mum and I went for our usual walks, and one of them brought us to an outdoor market. It was a fun place to visit, because I met some other dogs there. First I met a very cute and friendly black poodle girl, actually I met her twice, and she was very nice. Then I met a black American cocker spaniel who was about my age and a bit too stuck up if you ask me. He barked at me trying to be the boss, and of course I barked back at him but I didn't really think he was very interesting or fun at all. After that I met a 10 month old blue roan cocker boy and he liked to bark at me as well. Since I was older and wiser than he was, I let him bark at me. I more or less ignored him and started to sniff a bush instead, showing him he could bark all he wanted. I didn't care one bit about him...

Later in the afternoon Leonie and Brian came back after they'd been on a trip to another place during the day. It was a bit boring because it started to rain, and we'd planned to go for another walk, but the humans started having coffee, hoping it would stop raining. While sitting there they got the idea we would go for a ride in the car and mum and I could show them some other things. I didn't think anything since I was busy trying to look completely starved, and actually Brian fell for it! He must have thought it looked as if I hadn't eaten in months, because I got to taste some of the cake he was eating;0) Then we went out to the car where mum and I sat in the back seat and mum were giving directions of where to go. We ended up in a place I've been to several times before, it's a place called Sundbyholm and it's by a lake. Even though there was a little bit of rain coming down, and the ground was quite wet I had a good time because there are so many interesting things to smell out there!! Apparently where Leonie, Brian and Aimee lives in Australia, they don't get much rain, so even though I wasn't too happy about the weather I think it was fun for them to see what it's like where I live. As I said, the place we went to is by a lake, and where there are lakes there are beaches. Mum told me they have plenty of beaches in Australia, but probably not this kind of beach, so therefor mum took a picture.

It's Leonie, Brian and me on a cold and windy beach in Sweden!! I think they were a bit cold, but I wasn't because I'm a viking dog!! ;0)

May 20 2005
Unexpected things

During the night I was dreaming about the hedgehog I met last night, and when we went for our first walk of he day I was hoping to see it again, but I didn't. Instead I saw the normal birds I always see. I scared some ducks so the flew away and landed in the river, and that was fun! When we came back from our walk, there was more fun waiting! The post had arrived, and among the things that were waiting inside our door was a letter for me, a special biscuitmail!!

I could smell biscuits from the envelope, and I got very excited! But even though it had my name on it, it said "biscuitmail" on it and it was also written "Secret doggystuff!!" on it mum didn't let me open it. She said it was best that she opened it, and at least she gave me some of the treats that were in it, but then she said that "you can't eat all the good stuff at once". Now what does she know about that?? Anyway, the surprise letter came from another cocker boy, Svante, and he'd been to the doggystore telling his owner which kind of treats he wanted to send to me!

In the afternoon mum and I got another surprise. The doorbell rang, and when mum opened we saw a couple we've never met before. It was Leonie and Brian who lives in Australia, and mum says that Australia is really far away so you can't even take the car to go there. Anyway, at home they have a cocker girl called Aimee, and since she wasn't allowed to come on the trip, they had to come and visit me so they could cuddle a cocker while they're on vacation. Leonie and Aimee are members on a mailinglist mum and I are on, so that's how we came in contact with them. So we knew Leonie and Brian were going to come for a visit when they were on their Europe holiday, but we didn't know exactly when they would arrive and mum thought they would have called us first, but instead they came and surprised us. They were lucky that we were in, because we were just on our way out, so mum helped them call about a hotelroom, and then we decided they would come back to us a bit later.

When Leonie and Brian came back, they came with us for a walk around town, and we showed them the parks we go through every day and some other spots too, and I think they were having a good time. Even though it was a bit cold, or at least that's what they thought. Apparently Australia is much warmer than Sweden, so they're not used to our kind of weather. After the walk we went back to our place, and the humans were going to have coffee. Then it turned out we had another surprise which was that both mum and I got some gifts! Now that was totally unexpected as well, so we really had a day full of surprises. I got a coat to wear when it's really cold during the winter and also a little toy!! Great stuff!!

Mum says I'm a bit fixated on her, so even though I did say hello to both Leonie and Brian I was more interested in what mum was doing, but after I got some biscuits from them, I decided they were nice people;0) I could tell they know how to behave around a cocker, and I got loads of pets and cuddles.

May 19 2005
Success!!

What an exciting walk my last walk of the day turned out to be!! I met a hedgehog!!!!! Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to get too close to that one either, but take a look at this picture!

It was very exciting and quite a surprise for both me and mum, and mum thinks that the poor hedgehog got a minor heart attack. The whole thing was a bit strange, since this meeting was totally unexpected. First of all, mum brought me out earlier than she normally does before going to bed, and because of that she got the idea to take a longer walk. Normally we just cross the road and walk around a yard, but now mum decided to take me another way, something I wasn't too gone on to begin with. I don't really like going for walks when it's dark, and specially not when there are noisy people running around and driving around in noisy cars. But mum was stubborn, and eventually I followed her the way she wanted to go. We started out passing a small restaurant where there were some noisy people outside, and then we just walked around a corner and suddenly we saw this little thing coming out from a place. It was the hedgehog!! When he saw us, he quickly turned around going back the same way he came from, and I think he was trying to escape in to a yard. The problem was that the gate was closed and he couldn't get anywhere. So when he couldn't get away, he just went into the corner and made himself into a little ball. Mum wouldn't let me get close enough to sniff it, she said we'd scared it enough already.

I think mum was a bit excited too over meeting the hedgehog because she could take a picture of it. Not a very good one though, since the hedgehog wouldn't show his face. I also think she felt a bit sorry for it when I barked at it, but I didn't mean to be scare him, I just wanted to tell him that I'm a nice and friendly cocker spaniel! Hopefully we'll meet some of his relatives another time!

May 18 2005
Just stuff

It's not my fault the picture above is taken in a strange angle. Blame it on mum, because all I did was trying to make her move and not stand still taking pictures of some stupid tree! I find it very boring to stand still while mum takes pictures, I mean we are out for one reason, and that's to go for a walk! It's totally different though if I decide to inspect a certain spot during our walk. Then I can stand still forever, sniffing whatever place I'm interested in for ages. At least that's what mum says, but she's not the one sniffing, is she? She has absolutely no idea of what interesting things you can come across while sniffing something.

I'm still hunting for hedgehogs on our walks, and I actually saw one the other night, but I wasn't allowed to get too close to that one either. Since I've realised that hedgehogs are usually out walking during the night, it's perfect to search for them on our last walk before going to bed, and I know exactly where to look for them! On both occations when I've seen hedgehogs, mum has been a bit annoyed since she didn't have her camera with her, so now she brings it in her pocket every night. But, all she's managed to catch this far is me trying to decide which way gives me the best chance of finding a hedgehog.

May 12 2005
Making the bed

Yesterday when mum and I got back from our first walk she decided she'd wash her bedclothes so she ripped them off her bed, put them in the washing machine. Since she was busy with other things during the day, she completely forgot to put new sheets in the bed, and actually didn't remember it until it was time to go to bed. But by then I'd already fixed it while she was watching tv!!

Mum had noticed while watching tv that I wasn't just lying around being lazy, I was doing something, but she was very much in to some program on tv and didn't pay much attention to what I was doing. She'd seen me collecting some toys from under the coffee table, but thought I was playing with them when what I really was doing was decorating mum's bed! I mean it was the perfect space for toys! Plenty of room, nice and soft and a good place to display toys. Also while putting them on mum's bed I cleaned up on the floor where the toys usually are!! During the last part of the program mum was watching I'd been keeping her company, but when she got up from the sofa and walked towards the bedroom I quickly followed her to see her reaction to my hard work. I got a bit disappointed since she didn't seem too impressed, all she did was asking where she was supposed to sleep! That was a bit ungrateful if you ask me. I guess I don't have to tell you what happened? Yes, mum put all the toys on the floor again, and put sheets on the bed, and all the pillows and everything. I'm never going to help her clean the floor agan!

May 10 2005
Sometimes you find nothing at all

For the last couple of days now I've been searching and trying to find another hedgehog, but no such luck. I really wonder where they are, and I was hoping maybe I'd find some out where mum's parents live. We went there for a visit, and first I was running around in their garden searching, and then going for a walk in the forest I was searching there as well, but no sign of any hedgehogs. I mean shouldn't a forest be full of hedgehogs??

Going for the walk in the forest I usually get to walk off the lead now and again. Above you can see me at a field searching for traces after hedgehogs or something else that would be interesting to follow. When we passed the sheep, the horses and a house further in I had my lead on, but then I got to run around without it again. I find the sheep and the horses a bit strange, because they just stand there and stare at you! Sometimes they make funny noises, but mostly they just stare. Now I might be cute, but I think they could be a little bit more descreet!

I really had no luck at all searching for hedgehogs or anything else interesting. All I saw was some stupid birds. I enjoyed our walk in the forest though, and what I find a bit strange is this: Why are there so many trees in the forest? We have trees in the parks in town too, but not as many as in the forest, and I just wonder why it is that forests seem to have so many trees...

May 7 2005
Things you can find on walks

Late last night when mum and I went for a short walk before going to bed we went where we always go which is straight across the street and in to a yard. I don't like being out for too long at nighttime, so that little walk is just enough. This yard we walk over is often filled with exciting smells, and last night mum thought I'd gone completely mad! I was going around in circels, back and forwards, in under bushes and all over the place. At one point I tried to walk through a hedge, but mum forced me to walk around it,. and when we got around to the other side I pulled in the direction where I'd have ended up had I been allowed to take the shortcut. Mum was convinced I'd smelled a cat since we quite often see cats walk around in there, but this was something different and something I've only seen at a distance before. Finally mum saw what I'd found and she said "Oh no, why didn't I bring my camera??" What I found there in the flowerbed under the bushes were two hedgehogs!! They were curled up together and I was very interested in meeting them, but mum wouldn't let me get too close to them. So I barked at them a little to see if they would come over to me, but the only effect that had was that one of them ran away and mum said I shouldn't scare them and that it was time to go inside again. I hope I'll find them again though!

Today going for our first walk I got to run off the lead for a little while since there was no one around. It's always nice to run free without having mum at the other side of the lead, so I was investigating different things I found. Mum was keeping an eye on the surroundings to be prepared if someone would come, but I didn't put much attention to anything but the ground. I was hoping maybe I'd find another hedgehog! Now and again mum was calling me asking me to come to her, and I did every time since I get so much praise when I do, and I also get treats. Now and again I run over to her anyway, just to get some treats. I don't get it every time, but it works sometimes.

I was sniffing around all over the place hoping I'd find a hedgehog or two, but all I found was garbage!

Mum says it was probably some idiots who'd been there cleaning out their car and just dumped all the garbage they had in it. She gets very annoyed when she sees things like this, and it's almost every day we find stupid garbage in places where it shouldn't be. Mum says that if people just throw things on the ground, it can be dangerous for little kids and animals because sometimes it's things in the garbage you can hurt yourself on. There is one kind of garbage I love finding, and that's wrappers and things for hamburgers and other eatable stuff! I'm always looking out for that, trying to spot it before mum does, because if she sees it first she wont let me go near it!

May 4 2005
Going on visits

Thought I'd start this entry by showing you a picture of me going up the elevator. Mum took this one last night coming in from our last walk, and I was in a hurry getting inside to get dried off since it was raining on our walk. Sometimes I think the elevator is going too slow, and last night I also thought we'd been out for too long getting wet.

This afternoon mum and I went to visit her sister Camilla and of course little Martin. I really enjoy going visiting people, and visiting little Martin is always exciting because most of the time I find crumbs under the table where Martin eats! But the visit started outside since little Martin and mum's sister was outside in the garden when we arrived. Mum and her sister decided we would go for a walk, and that's always interesting! I really enjoy going for walks in places I don't visit every day, because there are so many interesting smells to catch up with. As we were leaving, Martin decided he wanted to ride on his little bike. He's very proud of it and loves to ride it. I was a bit uncomfortable with it though since he's kind of all over the place and I was a bit afraid he'd run over me so I kept as far away from him as I could.

When Martin is riding his bike he wears a funny hat called a helmet. It's some sort of hard hat that's supposed to protect your head in case you fall off your bike. Not that I think Martin would fall off since he has some sort of extra wheels on his bike but maybe he can fall off anyway. So we started out our walk, but we didn't get very far until Martin decided he wanted to ride his little car instead. Now that was totally silly if you ask me, because we'd only walked a tiny bit and I wasn't happy at all when the humans turned around and walked back towards the house! Now how fun do you think that was? There I was all ready for a nice walk and then they turn around! I was not a happy doggy, and I tried to convince mum we should move on, but do you think mum listened to me? So Martin got his little car, and now the walk got a bit more interesting since we went to the forest, and I had lots of things to smell. I kept out of the way of Martin and his little car though, because I'm not sure how good he is at driving. Getting back to the house, Martin wanted to play some hockey on the lawn with mum, and while they were doing that I was watching them and trying to steal the ball. Very amusing!! Below you can see me watching the ball.

Finally we went inside and that was nice because I was really thirsty so it was nice to get a drink of water. When the humans were sitting down to have coffee I kept myself very close to Martin hoping he'd drop something on the floor, or maybe give me something when mum wasn't watching. Unfortunately all I got was some crumbs from the floor.

May 3 2005
Working in the kitchen

Did you ever notice how much time humans spend in the kitchen? Sometimes they just sit at the table doing different things, sometimes they're eating, sometimes they are washing dishes and pretty much of their time in the kitchen is spent making food! At least my mum does all these things, and I find cooking and baking very interesting. When mum is standing cutting things I study her quite closely, and sometimes I put my front legs up on the cupboard door to get a closer look. The thing is that every time I do that, mum tells me to get down and let her take care of the cooking by herself. She says that dog noses has nothing to do in cooking or baking! That's what you get for showing an interest! I can't even stick my nose in the pot while she's making my doggy biscuits! Now that is very strange since it's me who's going to eat them anyway. The other day mum was actually baking biscuits for me, and I spent quite a lot of time that day standing in front of the oven staring at it hoping some biscuits would fall out. For some reason the biscuits have to be in the oven for a very long time, and at some point I figures a couple of them would fall down on the floor, but that didn't happen.

Yesterday there were some very interesting things going on in the kitchen by the sink! Mum had been shopping and when we got home she said she was going to prepare a bunch of meatballs and hamburgers to put in the freezer. In other words she'd bought minced meat, and what a lovely smell that is! I stayed close while she prepared the mix and was really showing an interest in the art of making meatballs. I tried really hard to let mum help her shape the minced meat mix into meatballs, but she wouldn't let me. According to mum you can't make meatballs when all you have is paws. Who said I was going to use my paws?? I mean I do have a nose and a tongoue as well, and I was planning to use them. No such luck though, and I didn't even get to help her make hamburgers! I mean while making them, there is no need for having fingers, all you have to do is sort of flatten some minced meat out and there's your burger! Mum could have used a spoon putting minced meat on a tray, and I could have flattened it out, but she didn't want my help. I don't understand why since I've heard things go quicker if you help each other, but I don't think mum ever heard that.

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