I’ve been a little remiss – I haven’t posted in almost a month – but I’ve been pretty busy with work over the last 6 weeks (yes, I actually have a job) and hopefully will have more time to do updates after next week. Spring is finally here – or it was until we got a dusting of snow last night with freezing temperatures. The grass is turning green, buds are coming out on the trees, squirrels and rabbits busily running around (and driving Doug the Dog nuts) and I’m back to bagging leaves; the ones that finally fell off during the winter months. Today is Easter Sunday – the traditional beginning of spring – and also Patriots’ Day Weekend in Boston. We follow the Boston news stations daily – when we moved to Malahide Township our tv channel coverage became either Boston for the East Coast, and Seattle for the West) and I’ve enjoyed watching the preparations for the first Boston Marathon in April since 2019. Boston is one of my most favorite cities – I’ve been there over 12 times by air, car, ship, and train – and I’ve run the Boston Marathon 4 times; 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1993. It’s gotten a little out of hand though – the last time I ran in ’93 there were about 7000 runners; now there are about 33,000 and they have to run the race in time spaced out groupings.
Most COVID restrictions had been lifted – and of course we are now setting records for new infections; some provinces are bringing back the mask restrictions but that will probably start a whole new set of reactions by the unvaxxed who believe their freedom is being affected ☹. Oh, well – to quote Forrest Gump; ‘Stupid is, as stupid does’. I’m getting my fourth vaccination in another weeks time 😊 The federal Conservatives are still looking to replace their party leader – does it really matter? Whoever they pick will just cement Justin Trudeau in as Prime Minister of Canada – and I’m okay with that 😊.
The war in Ukraine is still going on – Putin is still delusional; Ukrainians are barely holding on; and thousands of innocent civilians are still being killed. President Biden likened it to being a Genocide – and it is, just like the one in the 1930’s that had Stalin starving over 10 million Ukrainians to death. President Zelensky has said that Putin wants to erase every Ukrainian from the face of the earth – he’s not far wrong. But Russia has withdrawn it’s military from around Kiev (with hundreds of murdered civilians left in their wake) in order to concentrate their forces on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. According to Russian sources there are only about 2500 Ukrainian military (including Canadian and Europeans who volunteered to fight for Ukraine) left in Mariupol – and unless they surrender by a deadline they will be all killed. And of course, the Ukrainians have refused, saying – “We will fight absolutely to the end, to the win, in this war”. I think they should have said (to paraphrase Ukrainian Marines at Snake Island at the beginning of the war ) – “Hey, big Russian Military – go fuck yourself!!” – but that’s just me. And oh, that cruiser that fired on the marines – the Slava Class ‘Moskva’ - it was sunk a couple of days ago by Ukrainian cruise missiles 😊. I hope Mariupol holds out.
… And now, on to lighter things. Lots of cooking (as always) going on: We have had chicken and beef curries; Beef Rendang; steaks; burgers; Roast Beef with mashed potatoes and asparagus (tonight); Fresh Pasta with Bolognese Sauce; Seafood Quiche (shrimp and scallops) with Asparagus; Roast Chicken with Spinach Salad; Beef and Asparagus with Oyster Sauce; Beef Stew; Chicken and Shrimp with Hoisin Noodles; Pineapple Stuffed Chicken; Roast Pork with Scalloped Potatoes; the list goes on 😊. On the Netflix front we are still addicted to ‘The Blacklist’ – we are into 5 episodes of Season 6 and only 2 more seasons to go!! There are a lot of plot holes – and sometimes the acting (with the exception of James Spader) can be limited – but we will stick with it to the end. I finished watching Season 3 of ‘El Chapo’ – his capture and extradition came as a complete surprise!! (sarcastic emoji missing). I watched a new Belgian dramedy – ‘Soil’ – that deals with Muslim families repatriating their dead back to Morocco and the family business that is trying to change that. It could have been an excellent series, but the script is a little lame; some actor roles could have been done without; and just a general emptiness about the whole show. Surprisingly, it won several Enfer Awards – the Flemish equivalent of the Emmys. I started a new Netflix Argentinian series – ‘Almost Happy’ – about a radio talk show host that is having family / personal problems; kind of the Argentinian version of ‘Seinfeld’. I never liked ‘Seinfeld’ but I kind of like this show 😊 . On to golf … lots going on in the last three weeks. Valspar Championship - Adam Hadwin tied 7th ; World Golf Championship Match-Play – Corey Connors came in 3rd for about $860K U.S. , Valero Texas Open – Adam Hadwin tied for 4th for $344K U.S.; The Masters (won by Scottie Scheffler for $2.7M U.S.) – Corey Connors tied for 6th for $521K U.S.; and the RBC Heritage – currently in its last round with Cory Connors in 11th place, 3 strokes out of first (Hadwin is 7 strokes out)😊. Looks like Connors and Hadwin are having a pretty good year – 31st and 32nd in the Fedex points so far 😊. NFL news – I got nothing 😊. In hockey Seattle Kraken are still last in their division but still ahead of the Montreal Canotians overall. Maple Leafs in second place – they won last night over Ottawa. Got to go … have a great and safe week … pray for Ukraine … we will see you in a bit!!