A lot happens in 1½ months

Oj...we don't get around to blogging so much so all of a sudden it is the middle of april and there is lots to tell. Since the end of February winter has come and gone, daddy Cai has fathered new puppies, "mormor" Anna has had a baby, husse & matte brought a new sofa, and we have explored new parts of Göteborg.

One day we happened to be walking home from town and they were holding ski- and snowboard jumping at Chalmers. There was no snow anywhere else but they had transported some here and built this long ramp and jump. There were bleachers and music and lots of people. We stood amongst the crowd for a while, Nala between matte's legs (as she often does while waiting for something), and watched all the action.


We went for a walk in Änggårdsberget beyond where we have ventured before. It is ridiculous that we have not done this before because it is so close and so beautiful but this was the first of what will be many visits.



Nala got another sore in her side. She has to take it a bit easier when she meets her best friend Fidou because we have come to the conclusion that it is Fidou's teeth that cause the injuries upon their initial meeting. This time she didn't have to get stitches but she still had to wear her very fashionable t-shirt?!?


We visited Anna, John and the new puppies but the puppies were all really sick. In case it was contagious, Nala could not play with the other dogs. She had to go for a walk by herself instead. At this stage one can wonder if Nala did catch something....or otherwise we would like a refund for this freak with 3 legs, only one correct ear, and a bullet-hole in the side....just kidding, we love her even in this state.


Here are the puppies that Nala missed seeing.




... and Grace

... and Buzu


Then, all of a sudden the winter we never thought we'd see, decided to present itself. Easter weekend bought with it beautiful winter weather and we made the most of it. On Easter sunday we chose to explore Lackarebäcksfjället. Going was tough....at least for husse & matte. Nala just thinks the snow is great fun. It was lucky for us that the ground was frozen or we'd have been up our necks in mud. A lack of paths didn't make things easier but the weather was fantastic and we eventually made it to the top for a great view. After all the hard work it is always nice to get back to the comfort of the boot of the car.



Our promenade on Easter Monday was more local, around Annedal, where we found a fantastic lookout from a very special water tower that looks nothing like a water tower.


Easter saturday we had been at Joakim & Karin's. It is the first time Nala has been tired out. She was great with the kids and vice versa. They are used to large dogs even if Nala is not used to kids. Emmy was following Nala around and calling her and giving her repetitive commands in her cute little girl voice. They were however commands that the other dogs understand and not Nala...at least not in that tone. But Emmy tried hard until Nala needed to avoid her and lay down under the dinnertable to rest. It was very amusing.

After the Easter weekend, to our surprise, it just kept on snowing. Not even the shoots on the trees and flowers that had blossomed could stand against this. Nala got to go to work with matte on the day it snowed most and we walked in the forest by Delsjön at lunch.




We've also made the most of the old sofa before it disappeared.



And then the new one came and Nala loves it.


... so does matte :)


Nala also enjoys the Corbusier chaiselounge and uses it as her lookout post to see out the window.


Then we got a new mat too. Matte and husse weren't so sure it was the right choice but Nala made up their minds pretty quickly.


And finally, our latest adventure... a trip two weeks ago to visit Anna, John and the dogs again, as well as their beautiful new baby, 3 week old Malin.

Happy Birthday!!!

1 year today! Happy birthday to Nala and all her brothers and sisters.
Did she really look like this once upon a time?!

Playing rough

Well...Nala plays rough and has a hard head.

We've know that for a while. About six months ago Nala gave matte a blood nose whilst playing. That was quite a shock for both of us. Matte had never had a blood nose before, and found herself kneeling on the floor with her hands cupped under her chin rapidly filling with blood and it oozing between the fingers and dropping all over the floor whilst Nala stood by looking stunned and confused by all the commotion.

On Friday, Matte took her next battle wound when Nala headbutted her in the eye. Today it does not look pretty at all.


And then today, she hurt herself while playing with all of her friends that she usually plays with everyday. We don't even know what happened. Husse was there at the time and only discovered the wound when it was time to stop playing. So...a visit to the vet followed, and sedatives and stitches, and now she is wearing an old t-shirt and lying in bed beside matte feeling sorry for herself...or is she feeling very pleased with herself because she is not usually allowed on the bed.


Here she is at the vet's before the sedative wore off entirely.


And here is the wound complete with 3 stitches.


Not so impressed with her new style!

It's a small world

On January the 27th we tagged along to Marstrand with Gunilla and walked around the whole island. The weather was really nice and it was Nala's first visit to the island. She was kind of crazy, pulling all over the place and darting here and there. She would have had so much fun if we could have let her off the leash but she is so unpredictable....no, make that predictable....she will run off. We were not the only ones who had the bright idea to visit Marstrand on this day. There were a lot of other people and a lot of other dogs. When we got to the oak forest, we happened to meet another ridgeback coming in the opposite direction. It is such a small world. The first question upon meeting another ridgeback is always what kennel it comes from. It turned out that this one was Kewa from Minjimba Ridges A-litter. She was so calm and walked off leash. Nala went hysterical and wanted to play. Kewa didn't even want to say hello to Nala and tried to avoid her. It is hard to imagine they are the same breed let alone have the same mother. Apparently Kewa was quite a challenge up until her second heat though, then she calmed down. Just one more year to go....

Christmas present

We didn't get to spend Christmas with Nala but she got a present from Grant & Kathy. It is now one of her favourite toys but she can only play with it for small moments at a time because she tries to pull it to pieces. But she is really good when it is time to take it away. She is not at all overprotective of her toys. She just looks acceptingly at you and then does something else. Here she is with husse's Christmas present too...the scarf that is.

Where have we been?

No we haven't fallen off the planet....we just went to the other side for a little while.

Matte went to Argentina to work in the first week of December, and then both matte and husse went on holidays to Japan and Australia for a month. Poor Nala didn't get to go. Instead she went to Minjimba Ridge for a holiday and lived it up with her brothers and sisters and friends. Thankyou so much to Anna and John for taking care of her during this time. We missed Nala heaps. It worried us that she would have such a good time and therefore not remember us when we got back, and even if she would remember us, she would forget all we had taught her. How wrong we were.

We arrived home late on the Friday January 5. My Dog was underway at Svenska Mässan and Nala was registered to be shown on Saturday the 6th. We met John and Nala on the roof of the Focus carpark and Nala was so happy to see us that she peed herself. She did not perform well at the dog show but that wasn't just her own fault...matte was jetlagged and it turned out that Nala needed a week to recover from her holiday too. She even lay down on the mat at the edge of the ring whilst waiting for her turn. Her critique was not so great so we'll have to practice a bit more...and be a bit more alert next time.