March has always been a bit of a busy month – ominous portents, festivities (St. Patrick’s Day) and Spring; The war is still going on in Ukraine (always ‘Ukraine’ not ‘The Ukraine’ – original meaning ‘The Border’ not ‘The The Border’) – war, not ‘special operation’ as Putin claims it to be. Since Russia invaded on February 24th – no doubt anticipating a quick victory and replacement of President Zelensky – about 2 thousand Ukrainian civilians and military have been killed (probably higher); cities like Mariupol, Kherson, Melitopol, Odessa have been devastated or occupied in the east; Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk have been bombed in the west (only a few mile from the Polish border). Putin has been targeting schools, hospitals, bomb shelters with no regard to human life; he held a ‘victory’ rally in Moscow surrounded by tens of thousands of Russian civilians who believe him when he says that they are winning in Ukraine; and is he? No. Over 5000 Russian troops have been killed, hundreds of tanks and aircraft destroyed; and the Ukrainians are proving to be pretty determined to defeat Putin and keep their country. But at a great cost – artillery and cruise missiles (and now hyper-sonic missiles) are turning some of the major cities into rubble. But the Russian people don’t get to hear this – there has been a major shutdown of any information (news, media, radio) reaching the Russian population – with the result that a lot of them believe Putin to be defending them from the neo-nazi / genocide bent savage Ukrainians. However, there have been a few cracks in the system; over 13000 have been arrested for peaceful demonstrations; several thousand Russians have managed to escape to the West to seek political asylum. It probably couldn’t hurt for RFE (Radio Free Europe) to start broadcasting the truth over the air waves in the hope that more Russians will turn against Putin – untouched, he will keep trying to raze Ukraine to the ground; just like his predecessor Stalin did back in the 1930’s. I hope the Ukrainians kick Putin’s ass. Okay, got that off my chest 
St Patrick’s Day – that day that everyone pretends to be Irish and use as an excuse to drink their faces off! Well, this was the first time in two years that people could celebrate it as per normal – however, the original St. Patrick was born in England, was a failed missionary with little interest in religion, and was never canonized by the Catholic Church; sooooo, why celebrate him? Probably because the Irish for whatever reason always got drunk on the 17th of March and needed an excuse to justify it . Spring is here!! It’s been raining the last couple of days, and it’s supposed to snow later this week – but, Spring is here!! In about another week I’ll be able to clean up the leaves from the lawn that I missed last autumn – with the other 93 bags that I filled!! … And Doug the Dog is happy – the ice rink in the backyard has finally melted; he never really learned how to skate too well!! In other news The Canadian Government finally put an end to the mandatory COVID pre-testing required for travelers re-entering the country. Yay!! Hopefully we will be able to go back to Mazatlan next November – already booked, just hope no new virus shows up. One new strain has but it only seems to affect those people that refused to get vaccinated. Oh well, too bad for them – they had a choice and blew it!! (apparently no sympathy from me, but hey, tired of hearing these idiots ranting about their ‘Freedom’ being taken away) . The Paralympics ended this week – did anyone notice, sadly probably not – and Canada came in third overall in the medal count . Lots of cooking going on: We have had yellow curries – Red Thai and Beef Rendang; steaks; burgers; Roast Beef with vegs and gravy; Chicken Cordon Bleu with Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus; Chicken and Broccoli with Oyster Sauce; Mexican Casserole with Corn Bread Topping; Beef Chili with Cheese; Pork Chops with Green Onion Sauce; Moroccan Lamb Stew with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Green Beans; - the list goes on - and of course lots of leftovers . ... And as you can see in a couple of pictures on the left Doug doesn't get left out on supper time! 🙂 On the Netflix front we are still addicted to ‘The Blacklist’ – we are into 5 episodes of Season 4 and only 4 more seasons to go!! I finished watching Season 1 of ‘El Chapo’ - still better than ‘Narcos Mexico 3’ – and will start Season 2 soon. Last night I watched the Belgian movie ‘Ferry’ – it's a prequel to the 3 seasons of ‘Undercover’ – it was pretty good; it showed how he met Daniella (future wife) and how he got started in the Ecstasy business. On to golf … Last week was the ‘The Players Championship’, postponed many times due to bad weather, they only finished on Monday. Five Canadians started, three made the cut; Adam Hadwin (tied 9th - $525K U.S.) , Taylor Pendrith (tied for 13th - $327K U.S.), and Corey Connors (tied 26th - $140K U.S.). This week is the ‘Valspar Championship’ in Palm Harbour, Florida. 5 Canadians started, 3 have made the cut – Adam Svensson (currently in 41st) and Nick Taylor (currently 68th) are plugging along; Adam Hadwin (who won this 5 years ago for his first and only PGA win – is in 5th spot after 4 holes, 4 strokes behind the leader. Who knows, he might end up winning again!! NFL news – free agency was on this past week; the most shocking was probably Daunte Adams going to Oakland Raiders from Green Bay – he was one of the main reasons Aaron Rogers re-signed (of course a $200 Million contract probably didn’t hurt either). Seattle hasn’t done much yet; hopefully they will do something with their draft picks Wilson, now with Denver, is predicting 3 or 4 Super Bowls in his future with the team – well, if he couldn’t do it in Seattle, can’t see him doing it now – I’ll give him one more only . In hockey Seattle Kraken are still mediocre, however they did beat the Montreal Canotians –worse team in the league – a week ago and Detroit last night, so that’s something, I guess. Maple Leafs still in third place – they lost last night to Nashville (and should have – they looked pretty bad), 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!!