The past two months have gone by pretty fast. But the last two weeks of February and the first three weeks of March were fairly warm breaking some temperature records that were sixty years old!! Some days got as warm as 20C – so no complaints here. We received a few snow flurries at the end of March with some extremely cold temperatures but it looks like winter is finally over – we might have received a total of three inches of snow over the whole winter!! The next couple of weeks are supposed to be fairly warm, yesterday saw a high of 21C so it looks like spring is finally here😊. …And with spring comes … yard work. I mowed the lawn last Saturday for the first time in 2024, and today five days later, it looks like I’m going to have to do it again. The daffodils are out and Kelly was cleaning up the flower beds; I’ll start weed whacking and cleaning up broken branches and stuff….hmmm, I wonder if there will be an opportunity for chain sawing 😊. …And Monday there was a total eclipse of the sun…and we were directly in the path of totality!! The last time I saw a total eclipse was back on July 20, 1963. I was home with the Measles (so supposed to avoid sunlight) but I snuck out and watched the eclipse. So….double whammy…not avoiding sunlight and staring at a total eclipse ☹. I ended up having to wear glasses… and my mother said that I was never the same after that episode. Moon-touched? Sun-touched? I took a little peek at the eclipse – maybe it will reverse the effects and I might return back to normal 😊. But I doubt it. …And in less than six weeks time we’ll be heading off on a seven day cruise from Montreal to Boston!! I’m really looking forward to that.
The war between Hamas and Israel is still going on – about 33,300 Palestinians have been killed and about 69,000 wounded, The death toll from the October 7 attack stands at 1139 with dozens still held captive. About 604 Israeli soldiers and security officers have been killed and 3,193 wounded since the start of the conflict . Israel has declared that the war will not be over until they have achieved total victory over the Hamas militants. However, the war took an ugly turn when 7 humanitarian volunteers were killed last week when an Israeli missile hit their convoy despite the IDF having been informed of their location ☹. The U.S. has threatened to stop providing funds and weapons to Israel unless a complete ceasefire is called.
The war in Ukraine is still ongoing. The Ukrainians are holding out for the most part in the eastern and southern regions but they have had to make a few minor retreats due to low reserves of artillery shells and man power. The American Congress is still withholding the passing of a $95 billion dollar bill that would provide $60 billion to Ukraine for weapons and ammunition. The Russians keep throwing thousands of soldiers against the east with a loss of tens of thousands of soldiers and equipment. However, they are recruiting 30000 military a month in order to replace their losses. The Russians have intensified drone, missile, and aircraft attacks against most of Ukraine over the past month especially in the Kharkiv Region. However, the Ukrainians are continuing to do drone attacks against Russian airfields and refineries ☹. There have been multiple attacks against the Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov, and Bryant regions. There was an ISIS Terrorist attack against the Crocus Concert Hall in Moscow on 22 March resulting in the deaths of 144 concert goers. The four gunmen from Khorasan Province (near Afghanistan) were arrested by Russian authorities and ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack – however, Putin put the blame on Ukraine. Ukraine denied responsibility and this was confirmed by U.S. and French intelligence agencies.
… A lot of cooking has been going in the past six weeks– we have had many different pasta dishes; Res de Tomatillo (Mexican Beef Stew); Yucatan Chicken Verde, Beef and Pork Roasts; Beef Wellington; Chicken Cordon Bleau; Chicken Stuffed Pineapple; Shepherd’s pie; Chicken Pad Thai; Egg Foo Juan; lots of different type Paninis; Steaks; BBQ hamburgers and Sausages on a bun; and many other dishes . We are really looking forward to the meals on the Volendam in six weeks. The food on Holland America ships is amazing 😊.
On the Netflix and Prime front: We finished watching ‘The Grand’ about a hotel in Manchester during the 1920’s. Staying with period series we have watched ‘The Paradise’ – a 2012 British series set in the 1880s about the scandals, schemes, romance and intrigue among the owners and staff members of The Paradise department store in Northern England. And we started watching a Czech series ‘Ambition’ about a family empire in Czechoslovakia following the First World War. It’s interesting to me as my fathers family was in nearby Poland at the time and I can relate to how he must have grown up in that part of the world. I watched ‘Blood Coast’; a French action series about a vicious drug dealer trying to take over the drug trade in Marseilles and the police squad of detectives who are trying to stop him. I watched ‘Between Lands’ a drama series set in 1960’s Spain about a woman working through an arranged marriage so that she can protect her sister and the rest of her family. It was actually quite good, the acting was excellent, and the visuals were outstanding. I am rewatching ‘Borgen’ for the third time – it’s an amazing three season series about Danish politics.
On the NHL front – the Maple Leafs secured a spot in the playoffs, in fifth place in their division (76-44-23) only eleven points behind New York Rangers in first. Seattle Kraken are going golfing soon being twenty nine behind Dallas Stars in first in their division.
On to baseball –MLB just started their regular season, 4 wins and 5 losses, but it’s still early. Seattle are exactly the same, 4 - 5.
On to golf … Canadians have been pretty inconsistent lately. They tend to start off really well in the first two rounds…and then blow up in the last two. Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin have done relatively well but very up and down. Top 10 one week and don’t make the cut the next ☹. Tomorrow the Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia is on with four Canadians in the mix; Corey Connors, Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, and of course Mike Weir who won the Masters back in 2003. Connors has made the top 10 twice and last year was twenty second so he’s pretty familiar with the course. I believe it will be Nick Taylor’s first time and Hadwin’s second.
NFL news – A lot of trades happened in free agency – one of the more surprising ones is that Russell Wilson went to Pittsburgh Steelers on one heck of a deal. Denver is on the hook for $38M of Wilson’s salary and Pittsburgh only has to pay the minimum of $1.1 to take him on as the starter and they received Justin Fields as the back up😊. In Seattle they are keeping Geno Smith on as the starter and they picked up Sam Howell as the backup after Drew Lock went to the New York Giants.
Have a great and safe month … pray for Ukraine … we will see you in a bit!! 😊