The last couple of weeks have seen a lot of change and a slow return to normal… The Canadian Government put the Emergency Measures Act into effect to end the anarchist occupation of Ottawa. The former police chief (a pretty useless individual) resigned; the police and RCMP cleaned up the city pretty quick; vehicles were seized; insurance policies cancelled; bank accounts frozen; over 170 protesters arrested (including the asshole leaders – sorry, call it as I see it). Most COVID restrictions have either been lifted or will be soon (1 March in Ontario). There are still some travel restrictions in place, but most of them have been relaxed with the exception of border crossing. (Double vaxxed doesn’t require quarantine, but non-vaxxed does – this applies to people entering the U.S. as well). The federal Conservatives replaced Erin O’Toole as their party leader with Candice Bergen – not much improvement as she comes across as a rabid, fascist, she-devil. Hopefully Jean Charest will run for the leadership and bring back some semblance of propriety to the Conservative Party. They need a centrist leader, not some ultra-right idiot like Poilievre. The Winter Olympics ended – Canada did pretty well, tying their medal count (26) with the record set in 2010 at the Vancouver games. Going by medal count this put Canada in fourth place – one ahead of the Americans 
They had more golds but we had more medals .
… And as the Olympics ended Putin did as I had predicted weeks ago – he invaded the Ukraine 
. In 2014 he waited until the Olympics ended and then invaded and annexed the Crimea; supported separatist factions (read Russian soldiers in civies) in Donetsk and Luhansk; had two airliners shot down; ignored the western countries; and eight years later was still firmly entrenched in those territories. Fast forward to 2022 – he threatens to invade the Ukraine if they join NATO (they haven’t yet); declares Donetsk and Luhansk to be independent republics (giving him the opportunity to move in ‘peacekeeping’ troops to prevent atrocities by Ukrainians??); then throws everybody off by an outright invasion and attempting to secure Kyiv and replace (i.e. kill) the current government officials with his own. Sounds like a replay of Hitler invading Poland in 1939, doesn’t it? His next steps, if he succeeds, will probably be to invade former USSR republics and bring them back into the Russian Empire – Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan – and possibly the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Estonia. The Baltic states are a little iffy as they are all members of NATO, but they are all a little nervous now. And he has threatened Finland with military response if they join NATO. Perhaps he has dreams of establishing himself as Tsar of a resurrected Russian Empire or perhaps he has a terminal disease or perhaps he is just deranged. His rationale is that Ukraine never existed as a separate entity and has always been part of Russia – apparently history classes weren’t taught in KGB High. Ukraine (which actually means ‘Border’) wasn’t a republic under the USSR umbrella until the 1920’s. From the 14th to the late 18th century it was mainly part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the 19th century it was split between the Austrian-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires, and in the 1920’s until 1945 split between Poland and the USSR. Oh, and during the 1930’s over 10 million Ukrainians died due to being starved out by Josef Stalin – more Ukrainians died then than in the Second World War. So, no love lost between the Ukrainians and the Russians. Many countries have denounced the invasion (Canada, the U.S., most of Europe, Australia, Japan, etc.) and have imposed severe sanctions on Russia – well, spoiler alert; Putin doesn’t care – he’s already taken the sanctions into consideration and will keep going until he succeeds. Sanctions take time – which the Ukrainians don’t have – send money and arms right now … lots of both … and they might stand a chance. On a personal note my father’s family lived for about 6 centuries in what is now Western Ukraine around the Lviv area. Lviv belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in my grandfather’s time; it was part of Poland when my father was born – and when the Germans invaded in 1939 (my father was 17, captured by the Germans, and later escaped over to Britain); and taken over by the USSR in 1945 when the existing borders of the Ukraine were created. In the ‘50’s the Russians killed my grandfather, stole the family farm (about 10,000 acres), and expelled the remaining family members to western Poland (my father stayed in England after WW II, married my mother, and emigrated to Canada in ’53). So, no love lost between my family and the Russians. I hope the Ukrainians kick Putin’s ass.
The weather has been up and down the last couple of weeks – snow one day, rain the next, then snow, then freezing rain, and finally a dusting of snow. Our backyard was flooded one day, a skating rink the next. Luckily the house didn’t have any flooding. Doug the Dog has been a little confused – doesn’t know whether to skate or swim!! . ... And the birds continue to show up for the breakfast buffet 🙂 .The next week looks pretty mild … so I guess March will be coming in like a lamb . Lots of cooking going on … And leftovers!! We have had yellow chicken curry; macaroni casseroles; chicken and shrimp carbonara; beef stroganoff; smoked meat loaf; steaks; burgers; and since we always cook more than we can eat at one sitting – combinations of the above for leftovers . The most interesting – and tasty – was a Kelly original!! Slice a loaf of french bread in two; hollow out the centre; fill one side with leftover beef bourguignon; cover with sliced onions, and green peppers; cover the other side with swiss cheese and condiments; and then grill in the oven! Excellent!! On the Netflix front we started watching ‘The Blacklist’ – it’s been around for 9 seasons. It started off a little lame but got better and better with each episode. We finished Season 1 and are now 4 episodes into Season 2. It should keep us busy for the next couple of months . I’m still re-watching ‘La Reina Del Sur’ (the original, not the horrible American remake) – I’m halfway through Season 1 and it’s still as enjoyable as the first go-round . On to golf … Two weeks ago was the ‘The WM Phoenix Open’ – six Canadians played, only two made the cut; Corey Connors (tied 38th) and Adam Hadwin (tied 26th). Last weekend was ‘The Genesis Invitational’ – 5 Canadians played, none made the cut. Joaquin Niemann from Chile won for $2.16M U.S. . This week is ‘The Honda Classic” in Palm Beach, Florida – 6 Canadians starting, only 1 missed the cut – 3 in the top 12 so far :0. NFL - The Super Bowl was reasonably exciting – L.A. Rams held on to beat the Bengals; good to see Matthew Stafford host the trophy!! I’m hoping Russell Wilson will stay with Seattle for next season – if he can stay uninjured I think they will make the post-season. In hockey Seattle Kraken are still mediocre verging on horrible (6 straight losses) –Maple Leafs still in third place – they have only won 1 in a row, but only 5 points out of first place . Got to go … have a great and safe week … pray for Ukraine … we will see you in a bit!!