I had planned on updating last weekend but due to storms and service provider outages we were pretty much without internet for a week☹. Normally this would not be too much of a problem but we live in a black spot for and rely on VOIP through the internet for telephone services – so no telephone connectivity (unless you want to stand outside in the pouring rain on one leg and pointing the cellphone to the north). Throw in that Netflix requires an internet connection we were down to watching real tv and our collection of Love Boat videos!! Oh, yeah … both of us work from home, so an internet outage can be rather problematic ☹. Not too bad for me … I can do a lot of my work offline (except for blogging) … but Kelly’s work requires her to be online all the time ☹. So … either get the internet going, or go work in the office; a three and a half hour drive … each way ☹. Or … have really, really good neighbours that have Starlink and an extra work space available!! So Kelly was able to go across the road and up the hill and do her work from one of the two farm houses up there. I’ll tell you – there are some pretty friendly and helpful people in the country side!! 😊
The past couple of weeks has seen some pretty nasty weather – two weeks ago there were tornadoes (two in London and a couple in Eastern Ontario and Quebec (5 people killed), deluges of rain, flooding, high winds, etc. . The temperatures went from sweltering heat to fairly cool – it feels like a nice autumn day now. The winds picked up again last week and caused a lot of damage in Southern Ontario … downed trees and broken branches, more power outages, etc. , but we were pretty much unaffected (with the exception of two recycle bags filled with twigs and small branches). Unlike across the road (while Kelly was up there) … a wind gust flipped over a tractor that crushed a hen house, killing two chickens and injuring four more!! We are supposed to get a fair amount of rain in the next four days but hopefully no more twisters / tornadoes for a while!! 😊 Lots of animal and bird sightings lately; about twelve squirrels (red and black) that like our front lawn; deer running around in the morning and early evening; stray dogs and cats that roam around the area (Kelly just saw mother cat leading about six kittens out of the barn); cardinals and hummingbirds in the back yard; blue birds (not blue jays, blue birds) and red-winged black birds in the front yard; lots of sheep … and one cow … across the road; the list goes on.
Today is the 6th of June – the 78th anniversary of D-Day. Not a lot of veterans left – an 18 year old would be around 96 today ☹. My father was twenty-two and on the Polish cruiser ORP Dragon that day giving naval gun support to the troops on Juno Beach – the Dragon was torpedoed a month later with the loss of twenty-four sailors. My father, thankfully, was unharmed. My father was on five ships during the war – two torpedoed, one bombed – he was pretty lucky.
COVID cases are still increasing – some places are bringing back mask mandates – and now Monkey Pox is on the rise … if it isn’t one thing it’s another ☹. Ontario had their provincial elections on the 2nd of June – Doug Ford and the provincial Conservatives increased their majority; the Liberals increased by one seat – still not enough for party status; the NDP lost about 9 seats; the leaders of both parties have resigned 😊.
The ‘Special Military Mission’ in Ukraine is still going on – it has devolved into a war of attrition; one day the Ukrainians are starting to make inroads – the next the Russians have withtaken territory – but it’s still a no win battle in the Donbas region. Towns are being destroyed, civilians are being killed, no end in sight. Except the Americans and the British are promising long range artillery and missile systems to the Ukrainians that can reach the Russian lines. The Russians are not impressed – today Putin promised to expand the war into new territory (which territory - Ukraine? Europe? Bluff or not??) if the weapons are delivered. What appears to be missing from the news is possibly the real reason Putin invaded Ukraine – the Donbas region is super rich in natural gas, rare earth minerals, coal, and oil (80% of Ukraine’s production reserve). Ukraine was on track to ink a deal for oil exploration in the Black Sea that would have been worth trillions of dollars a year. This whole pretence of liberating Russian ethnics from Ukrainian Neo-Nazis and re-establishing the original USSR is nothing but a barefaced land and money grab for Putin.
… And now, on to lighter things. Lots of cooking (as always) going on: We have had chicken curries; steaks; burgers; Roast Pork / Roast Beef with roast veggies; Loaded pasta casseroles (bacon, sausage, ground beef, tomatoes, etc.); Steak Salad; Chicken and Shrimp with Oyster Sauce; Pork Tostadas (with corn tortillas of course); Pineapple Stuffed Chicken (again); Beef Enchiladas; the list goes on 😊. On the Netflix front we tried watching ‘Russian Doll’ – that didn’t work out so much better ☹; watched final season of ‘Ozark’ – mehh, could have been better and lots not resolved; watched Season 4 of ‘Amazing Mrs. Mazel’ – wasn’t too bad, but not as good as previous seasons; and we are currently watching ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ – not too bad but the acting and the script are all over the place, good one show, mediocre the next. We are going to need something new to watch. I finished Season 1 and 2 of ‘Toy Boy” – and it turned out to be pretty good, more twists than a bag of pretzels 😊. I just finished the third and final season of ‘Who Killed Sara’ – the first two seasons were pretty good; the last unbelievable and a bit of a disaster ☹. So now I’m binge watching ‘Borgen- Power & Glory’, a new Netflix series about Danish politics and Greenland trying to get independence. Well, kind of new – the original ‘Borgen’ had three seasons from 2012 to 2015, and it was pretty good. The show is pretty good for just its on location shots in Greenland, spectacular scenery. I'm going to have to update my Netflix reviews soon ... I haven't done any in a while.
On to golf … lots going on in the last three weeks. The PGA Championship, won by Justin Thomas – Adam Hadwin, the only Canadian to make the cut (Connors and Hughes did not) finished tied for 71st. At least he made the final – Tiger Woods dropped out on the third day. The Charles Schwab Challenge, won by Sam Burns – two Canadians played and made the cut; Adam Svensson and Nick Taylor tied for 48th. This week on the PGA Tour golfers are at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio – all four Canadians made the cut. Corey Connors tied at 13th; Adam Hadwin tied at 18th; Mackenzie Hughes tied at 44th; and Adam Svensson tied at 48th. Next week will be the RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s in Toronto, should be a whole slate of Canadians entered – however, the week after that is the U.S. Open; lots of golfers will probably skip the RBC in order to practice for the U.S. Open. … And too much controversy going on with the rival Saudi Arabia backed LVI Tour – the PGA threatening to remove tour status from any golfers participating ☹. NFL news – I’ve got nuthin. In hockey Oilers made it to the Western Conference final by beating out Calgary … and are now 0 – 3 against Colorado; bye-bye any chance of a Canadian team making it to the playoffs. On a brighter note it looks like New York Rangers may beat Tampa Bay (N.Y. ahead 2 – 1), so possibly no Stanley Cup Champion repeat. Got to go … the rain has started and I can hear thunder … have a great and safe week … pray for Ukraine … we will see you in a bit!!