The month of April had all kinds of weather – with the exception of one super hot week, it’s been extremely cold … and foggy … and wet … and windy. We’ve had rain for the last six days, and three more are scheduled for the beginning of May ☹. I even saw some snow flakes this morning. At least I got the yard cleaned up of broken twigs and branches, the lawn has been cut (four times) and the John Deere was pretty busy during the hot week … I even got a farmer’s tan!! 😊. It’s supposed to start warming (and drying) up this weekend so hopefully we will get to do some more yard work.
Did some drives with Doug the Dog in April – drove down to Port Dover along the back roads … found some new towns we’d never seen before; Calton, New Salem, Frogmore – and took him twice to see a new vet (new to him anyways) over in Nilestown.
The war in Ukraine is still dragging on, and Ukraine says they are still preparing for a big offensive, but not really seeing much happening lately. Supposedly Ukraine has received all the armament and weaponry promised by the NATO countries so hopefully they can start retaking areas near Kherson and Bakhmut. They still have a supply line to Bakhmut open and the Wagner Group appear to be running out of ammunition so here’s hoping they can retake it. The Russians have installed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and Belarus is now saying they are completely trained. Probably bluffing, but who can tell with Putin, the man is crazy. China is still proposing a peace plan … and Xi has met with Zelensky … but Ukraine won’t budge on the point that they want the Russians completely out and the borders return to that prior to January 2014. Now the Vatican is trying to propose a peace plan … however, a lot of people are sceptical of that too. Oh, and as I have said before; have someone kill Putin … that man is insane.
… We are cooking meals as always … We’ve had beef and chicken curries; chicken cacciatore and Coq au Vin; meat balls … both with marinara sauce and Scandinavian style; lots of steaks and burgers; Beef Bourguignon; Smoked Beef Brisket; and coming up soon, Smoked Brisket Chili!! 😊.
We have watched the first four episodes of ‘Ted Lasso’ in Season 3 – as the shows only come on once a week we’ll wait until the rest of the season posts the episodes until we close out the series. We’ve started watching the final season of ‘Mrs. Maisel’ – we’ve watched 4 episodes, we’ll have to wait for the rest. I’ve finished rewatching ‘Black Spot’ – which is still excellent … and there are rumours that there will be a Season 3; and ‘Call My Agent’ which is fun to watch … but has definitely ended ☹. Still on the French side, I binge watched ‘Inhuman Resources’ – about an unemployed HR manager who goes a little ballistic when he does get hired; and I binge watched both seasons of ‘Into The Night’ – a Belgian Sci-Fi series about the sun killing off all human life during the daytime … and the survivors on a plane trying to outrun the sun at night!! It’s pretty good 😊. There is supposed to be a Season 3 – Season 2 ended on a cliff hanger – but no dates have been mentioned.
On the NHL front – the playoffs have begun – and how!! Both Toronto and Seattle made the playoffs … and both of them are heading to the conference semi-finals!! Toronto beat Tampa Bay in six games and Seattle won in seven games over last year’s Stanley Cup winner, Colorado!! … And as Florida Panthers won in game seven over Boston, Toronto will have home ice advantage in the next series starting this Tuesday. They finally broke the streak of not advancing beyond the first round since 2004. Seattle will be playing Dallas in their next round so I’m hoping both Seattle and Toronto will move on to the Conference finals!! Edmonton also won in game seven over Los Angeles so they will move on to play Las Vegas in the Western Conference.
On to golf … Canadians in ‘The Masters’ didn’t do so much better … Connors, Mike Weir, and Adam Svensson didn’t make the cut and Mackenzie Hughes finished 29th. Jon Rahm of Spain won for over $3 million U.S. . The Zurich Classic (in which paired teams of two play alternate shots) had Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor finishing second for over $500 thousand U.S. each. This past week was the Mexican Open at Vidanta – only two Canadians played (and made the cut) … Taylor Pendrith and Michael Gligic (for 30th and 39th).
NFL news – Aaron Rogers (finally) moved to the New York Jets … I guess that’s the last we’ll hear from him. Seattle did pretty good in the draft last week – they ended up with 10 picks including 5th and 20th in the first round. They should have a fantastic offensive and defensive lines this coming season😊. Maybe the Superbowl?? 😊
Have a great and safe week … pray for Ukraine … we will see you in a bit!! 😊