A lily from our front garden

The NHL Draft was this weekend. I was highly opposed to the Sabres drafting Russians. With the risk of losing Russian players to the KHL and often their inconsistent work ethic – I was hoping for some good North American boys. So what do the Sabres do? They draft a Russian and Latvian for their 1st and 2nd picks. *eyeroll* It unfair to criticize them until they have played for a season or two in Buffalo but I’m skeptical. I’m hoping they prove me wrong. The Sabres first pick was Russian center Mikhail Grigorenko (6’3″ 200lbs). Sabres desperately need size up the middle and they certainly went overboard drafting centers to address this. Wow. Done and done. They have the rights to a bunch of big boys now. Mikhail looks like a highly skilled, quick forward with great potential. Some have even said he could be Malkin 2.0 and could also be in the line-up as soon as next year. Malkin 2.0?! I want to be excited but… we’ll see. The NHL is a different league and success doesn’t always translate to the big league. The Sabres traded up for their second pick and grabbed Latvian center Zemgus Girgensons (6’1″ 186lbs) at 21st. So another big center. (Anyone still thinking Roy will be in the line-up in October?) Girgensons is a hard-working, no-nonsense kind of player who will turn into an inspirational leader on this side, leading by example with his work ethic. I guess to be safe the Sabres also grabbed another big center with Justin Kea (6’3″ 212lbs). Kea looks to be the replacement for Paul Gaustad, a fourth line checker with a big body and a willingness to drop the gloves when required, as can be ascertained from his portfolio at Hockey Fights. (reference link) The Sabres big need going into the draft was to get some big centers. They got a bunch of big centers… if even one of these guys turns into a fulltime player then I’d say it was a successful draft! Now Sabres’ GM Darcy Regier will focus on free agency… I wonder if there will be another big trade coming the Sabres’ way? Free agency opens up July 1st.

spectacular!

The weather has cooled considerably this weekend. Really can it get hotter than 35+ for four days? So I was able to get outside and get some gardening done this weekend. We really have a Jekyll and Hyde property. I think the front yard is actually turning out to be quite nice. With bdot’s creative planting and our refinement over this summer, I quite enjoy the gardens in the front yard. The lilies are looking spectacular! This weekend I filled the two front gardens both with black mulch. I like how the mulch keeps weeds down (a bit) and makes the beds look neat and the colour within the flowers pop. However, the backyard is still a soul sucking depressing mess that makes me sad each time I’m back there. We are toying with the idea of a MAJOR reno back there, possibly even adding a small pool. The interlocking patio is old and dated and it sure looks like it. It has heaved and no longer keeps weeds out. We make some effort to keep on top of the weed menace, but there simply isn’t enough time. And the lawn in backyard… I think I’ve ranted about that enough in the past.

Sunday we had a short-notice visit from one of her aunts. They were visiting friends in the area and decided to stop by. They are good people and are always hospitable toward us when we are at Round Lake so it was good to see them even if for a short visit.

After the visit we went out to run a few errands. First stop was picking up some wine from the LCBO in Caledon East, or so we thought. We had forgotten that we need a Special Events permit to serve wine at the wedding. So we’ll need to fill out some forms before we can buy wine destined for the wedding. Ho-hum. Government has to get its cut I guess. I think bdot has made some progress toward the wine she wants to serve. I’m of no help picking wines as I can’t stand it. *shrug*

After the LCBO we stopped at a market to get some fresh local produce. It is a little more expensive but it is nice to buy locally. I try to when I can. If not local then Canadian at least.

The main reason for going out was to get to the driving range. The entire afternoon rain was threatening to fall. It was gray and cool but it was holding off so we thought we’d try to get a bucket of balls hit at Glen Eagle. The course is just down the road from where we live so it is a little surprising it was my first visit to the course. It looks like a great course, well maintained. I’m sure we’ll play it sometime. Anyway, we get our tokens, get our balls, get to the empty driving range, hit our first balls then bam! DOWNPOUR, like we were pranked by Gawd. And it rained and rained and rained. We waited for a bit to see if it would let up and it did briefly but then there was thunder, lightning and it rained harder… it was no fun. So that plan didn’t work out as well as expected as we both got uncomfortably wet.

We had the usual Sunday night bdot hellfire shrimp for dinner. Yum. I tried a Flying Monkeys Netherworld Dark (can’t direct link to a page since they use flash – eyeroll) which bdot picked up for me. It was pretty hoppy, smooth, flavourful and I found it to be quite heavy. I’m not sure I’d drink more than one at a time. (11/2023: netherworld.jpg is missing)

This should be a quick work week… Thursday is work’s Fun Day (an all day excursion with staff to a mystery location) and Friday is the day before a long weekend…