Month: June 2011

Meaningful memories

Family, hockey, workNo Comments

The playoffs have started in ball hockey. Sadly that hasn’t changed the apathetic turn out we are getting for games. Playoff games have an additional 2m in the third. Which may not seem like much… but when you are playing with one sub, those are a very long two minutes. Not that it seems to matter a whole lot by then… We were well out of the game by the 3rd. The game took a toll on the team. Our best forward got hooked and slammed his knee hard on the concrete and was done for the night. I doubt he’ll be back tomorrow for our next game. The team captain took got knocked on the chin opening up a nasty gash. Not to mention all the bruises from blocked shots. We don’t lose from lack of heart or effort. I, apparently, creamed a guy into the boards late in the third and got called for roughing. I thought it was a big guy so I went in aggressively, too aggressively I guess. My team mates got a chuckle out of it. The ‘mild mannered player has a mean streak’… *cough* I expect the playoffs will go like the regular season. We’ll be lucky to win a game. Good bunch of guys, we deserve better.

Tomorrow is work’s fun day. Every year the staff loads up on a bus and heads off to an unknown destination for the day. I’m hoping in vain for splatball. >.< We'll see. Last year kinda sucked so... not that I’m complaining about a day off…

Looking forward to the long weekend. We’ll be going up to the trailer on Buckhorn Lake, for the last time. It will be a bitter sweet trip. When I first starting going to the trailer, the park was quite nice. Lots of open spaces, fun things to do, well maintained, good atmosphere… Now sadly a big corp has bought it. They have crammed in trailers in ever spot possible filling in once open fields. The openness the site originally had has been replaced with a stale claustrophobia. Additionally the care the owners have is abysmal compared to the original owners… not to mention jacking up the cost… so, it isn’t surprising my parents are closing that chapter. There are a ton of happy memories associated with the park. Seeing it is no longer the peaceful escape it was, I can’t say I’m terribly disappointed to say good bye to it.

Berry season

food, homeNo Comments

Berrylicious
Berrylicious

Sunday we picked strawberries. Looks like a particularly good crop this year.

The rest of the afternoon was yardwork. Cut the lawn, deweeded front garden, side garden and removed a stump. We had a delicious BBQ dinner. Beef tenderloin with caramelized onions, buttered potato and leeks.

Doggonit!

bdot, hiking, tangaNo Comments

boyne
bdot has been looking for a tea pot for several years. A few months back she found a potter who made tea pots she liked. She ordered a tea pot. It arrived and was nice but it was a little small and the colours weren’t exactly what she was looking for… Soooo, we trekked up to the potter’s studio today north west of Orangeville. It was a long drive up. First we stopped for a yummy breakfast at my favourite, Flapjacks. Om-nom. I had a meat lovers omelet. The potter herself was away but her husband was very courteous and showed us unique pieces and around the studio. Needless to say there were many beautiful pieces and we came away with an impressive pot and four cups.

We stopped at Boyne Valley Provincial Park to walk the dog. It was our first visit to this park. The Bruce Trail runs through the park and we walked about an hour. It was a nice area, lots of streams, hills and …sigh, skunks. Yes, on the way out maybe 5m from th car, Tanga darted at a skunk and got sprayed. Gah. What a mess. I could imagine it being worse, but any spray is a horrible stinky problem to deal with. We used the tried and true recipe of : combine 1 quart hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 to 2 teaspoons of liquid soap.. Originally we wanted to go to a movie but by the time we got home after driving most of the day and dealing with the dog, we just crashed on the couch. We watched the very odd World’s Greatest Dad. It was pretty dark… but I did enjoy it. What is with Robin Williams getting naked all the time? Gah.

Season ending shutout

caledon, hockeyNo Comments

I arrived at home this evening to numerous cops and an ambulance at one of the neighbours across the street. I had no idea what was going on. I assumed since it was the party house with the troublesome teenagers, that it was drug related. It wasn’t. Bdot found out that the woman that lived there died. We never really met them as they kept to themselves. Apparently she was diabetic. Sad to witness.

The ball hockey regular season ended tonight. We went into the game winless on the season. Well… in spite of once again having only two subs, we pulled out a win! 2-0! It was nice to see our goalie pitch a SO. He’s been shelled all season and has kept a great attitude. I don’t understand why you’d shell out $200 bucks to no show. Bah. Hopefully this doesn’t continue into the playoffs. We are a longshot at best, but it we can get proper subs I think we’d be more competitive. A soak in epsom salt was awesome. I don’t what is in there but I sure feel better.

First day of summer was a nice one too. Warm, sunny… Would have been a great day to stay home and chill in the backyard. Chill. No yardwork.

Father’s Day

Family, homeNo Comments

Father's Day sunset.
Father’s Day sunset.

Since it was easier for everyone – we had Father’s day at my Parents on Saturday. It was a warm afternoon so we spent it outside in the shade. Eventually my sister arrived after visiting some friends she knows in the area. My dad wanted Chinese take out so that is what we got. Thanks for making the extra trip to get the Egg Fu Young, it is a treat since there isn’t a good one to be found in Bolton. It was a leisurely afternoon of progressing better beer. Yes… my Dad is known to get his beer from the States, usually whatever is cheapest. I prefer darker beers… so there is always issues when beer is involved. I hate his beer and he hates mine. *smirk* I started off with one of his, bdot took pity and went to get some Bud Lime from the liquor store. Still not awesome… but a drinkable beer, if cold, a miles better than America’s favourite. After some poking around I nearly wept upon finding four Sleeman Honey Brown in the basement. Delicious. Dessert was strawberries and cool whip. As usual we didn’t leave the house without flowers, a doggie bag of food and a some of my old belongings that they are trying to get rid of. My dad was in good spirits, it was a good time.

Today was very tiring. I continued moving dirt into the back dog-side garden. Along the back fence was a ‘rock garden’ from the previous owner, rocks or various sizes, some quite heavy ones. I moved all of them beside the shed. The rock garden will be no more. It will be recycled to become grass. I’m not sure how many wheelbarrows of dirt I moved…It must have been between 20-30, and there is still dirt left. Gah. All-star weed remover bdot de-weeded the majority of the patio. It looks nice now. It is completely de-ghetto-ed. In the evening we got groceries and had dinner out on the patio, since it was a pleasant and cool evening.

My sister did the Lake to Lake cycling race today. Despite a crash near the end, she still finished 6th. Congrats.

For my sister :

For my sister.
For my sister.

Uber Couch

hockey, homeNo Comments

Great room is starting to actually look great.
Great room is starting to actually look great.

The long awaited couch finally arrived! We fought with it a bit to get it in the house… but it ultimately when in. We think it looks great! The great room is coming together with the new paint job!

Tweets from game seven Vancouver v. Boston

  • lol Bettmen getting booed loudly! #StanleyCup Cheers #Vancouver
  • FYI – I stop being pro-Bruins at midnight tonight. #Sabres ^_^
  • Happy to see MVP Tim Thomas win the #Cup – always a smile on his face. Congrats #Bruins #NHLPlayoffs
  • hard to get respect for the #NHL when the refereeing is so inconsistent in the most important game…. unreal. Shame nhl! #StanleyCup
  • #Sedins have been invisible so far tonight. #StanleyCup
  • lol – ‘some interesting aromas floating around here’ #CBC broadcast commenting on the party in the plaza in Vancouver… #StanleyCup
  • …and Luongo is getting jeered @ home in game seven. #NHLPlayoffs
  • …and *that* was a worthy penalty?! haha #StanleyCup
  • Indeed! Damn…. RT @NHL: 43 year old Recchi looks 23 on a great rush but couldn’t finish. #VanBos #StanleyCup
  • with the playoffs ending tonight, my anticipation to see what the #Sabres will do in the post-season grows… so many options…
  • Someone should tell the #Canucks they are playing in game seven for the #StanleyCup….
  • Which is funny because weren’t the teams warned with 2m and 10m penalties for post-whistle BS? @aero_aaron: Call it establish the limit.
  • Sure ‘let them play’ but wow… I still don’t think ‘anything goes’. RT @aero_aaron: I figured they’d swallow the whistles for this one.
  • Jesus. Clearly nothing is being called tonight. #NHLPlayoffs once again with embarrassing officiating.
  • I said ‘Go Bruins’ to my Dad and he told me to ‘eat my heart out’. 🙁 #StanleyCup
  • New couch finally arrived. It -just- squeaked in the door. Just in time for The Game. 🙂

More yard work

bdot, homeNo Comments

Bdot's beautiful new grass
Bdot’s beautiful new grass

It seems I can evaluate my weekend based on how sore I am and the degree of my aching. I’m pretty achy so… that says it all. Yes, another busy weekend in the backyard. I de-weeded the garden on the opposite side to the shed. I think I was out there most of the afternoon… I also took down a small tree. Ugh weeds. Today was a little lighter, just cut the lawn and edged the front garden. There is still so much to do… While I was busy outside, bdot was busy inside… She is painting the great room, hopefully in time for the arrival of out couch on Wednesday. She went up to her friend Bonnie’s tonight. So, it was just the dog and I this evening. We hiked a section of the Heritage trail. It was a little cool outside, great for a walk. Dinner was BBQed pork tenderloin. Chilled the rest of the evening with some T.V..

Stormy weather

bdot, geeky and tech, hockeyNo Comments

Nothing like having no Internet access for a night to make you recognize you’re dependance and addiction to instant information. Yes, the storms that have been wreaking havoc all over southern Ontario (with much more significant damage than near me) knocked out my ‘net Wednesday into Thursday. No Internet access makes me sad.

Tuesday’s ball hockey game went as expected… we played the very strong second place team. We played up to them for about a period and a half… then our lack of subs caught up to us and they ran us into the ground in the third. I was completely bagged by the final 5m of the game. There were a few scuffles. Yes, including myself… I lost it on a mouthy little brat that kept hacking me (no penalty) so I took a roughing penalty – that I have no regret taking – other than it put our team down another man but we weren’t winning that game, so, whatever. Two games left. One we’ll probably lose badly the other we have a shot at ending the season with a win… hopefully everyone shows. I play a lot better when I’m not on every other shift. East Caledon was surprisingly not as slippery as Bolton either… which was nice.

The Bruins have taken both home games convincingly knotting the series up at two. Tim Thomas has looked amazing. As much as I want a Canadian team to win… I find it hard to cheer for a team that embellishes and dives and takes cheap penalties. It reminds me of the embarrassing Italian national soccer team. But Boston instead? Gah… I’m hoping just to see seven games then overtime… then whatever.

Ha! The Rangers have waived Drury! He is sadly a shell of his former self. I’m a little shocked at all the love and interest he still gets in Buffalo. For me there are a ton of ifs to even consider him… If the Sabres cut Connolly and if Drury would be okay playing on the third line and take <2M and he is actually healthy (who knows) then I'd consider him… But really I want the team to be moving forward. I want players who can win now. For me that mean not getting ineffectual players from the Sabres history. IMHO we still have enough non-competing riff-raft on the team, I pray the Sabres make some deep cuts this off-season. We’ll see… things should be heating up soon. There are a lot of paths the team could take and a lot of questions still exist on whether Darcy really does have the plan to bring a Cup to Buffalo. I’m skeptical.

Bdot had a little run in with a parking garage wall and the side mirror on the Subaru. frown I’ve been threatened with grievous harm if I post photos.

My sister got permanent status at work, congrats to her.

Les rouges allez! Or not.

Family, friends, home, sportsNo Comments

Judas!
Judas!

Another busy weekend. I think they will all be this summer since we have so much to do to our property. Saturday morning started with a numbing massage. Bdot started painting the fireplace room… it is being updated to Wilmington Tan. Bdot finished a second coat today and it looks great! It makes the room significantly warmer – pun intended.
Wilmington Tan
Wilmington Tan

In the afternoon I went with KK to Toronto to see Toronto FC v. Sporting KC. The weather was typically unpredictable… At one point it looked like we’d get sun then it clouded over and looked like rain. It ended up settling on being overcast and cool. I’m glad I brought a jacket. It was a pretty unimpressive game. TFC looked pretty sloppy, missing passing all night… they had very few scoring chances. The teams played to a 0-0 draw. Ho-hum. I guess it was better than the 6-2 shellacking they received their previous game. Still, the atmosphere at the game was fun. We were a section over from the Red Patch Boys who a boisterous club that sing and cheer all game long. They are pretty awesome. Qu’est ce que vous chantez? Nous chantons les rouges allez! They came prepared to give Teal Bunbury the gears. Bunbury has played the Canadian national U-17 and U-20 teams. Though he had said he would play for Canada and it would be “wrong” to play for USA, he was called up to the full USA team on November 11, 2010 as part of the squad to face South Africa. The Red Patches came with signs that read ‘Judas’ and booed him every time he touched the ball. I’m pretty sure I saw him smirking often a loud chorus of booed were launched at him. It was a fun night with KK in spite of the ho-hum soccer game.

Today was spent outside doing yard work. I finally moved a ton of soil to the backyard. There is soil now down on the entire span of the left side garden. I also cut the lawn and did a bunch of weeding. I’m pretty beat now.

The trailer that I grew up at outside Ennismore has been sold. I spent a lot of time of there growing up. I’m hoping to say goodbye to it before the sale closes in early July. It is irritating that I had to discover this via Facebook. *eyeroll*