Curling the days away

 A week of curling is in the books, though the first event isn't over just yet. The men's Brier starts next Friday and will be followed by the mixed doubles and then the men's worlds.  Finally, two Grand Slam events are expected to be held in April.  Prepare yourselves, this blog will be taken over by curling information for the next 10 weeks or so.  

If you haven't guessed this already, I spent most of the week watching curling and knitting.  Our Saskatchewan team bounced back from their first loss, and made it into the second round robin.  In fact, they were top of their pool even though the team didn't play particularly well.  They did, however, come up with the right shots at the right time and took advantage of other team's mistakes. 

I suspect they won't be in the semi and final - those spots will likely go to the top three teams, Manitoba, Team Canada, and Ontario. Although I'm not a big fan of Team Ontario (Homan), I have been impressed with her curling this week as she's eight months pregnant.  It can't be easy getting up and down in the hack to throw! 

One of the teams that have impressed me this week is Team Quebec, a young team that recently finished their junior curling. The young skip, Laurie St. Georges is a risk taker and fearless. That can get the team into trouble with lots of rocks in play but she often makes the final shot that works in their favour.  I expect we'll see more of them in the future.  

The last two games will be played today, with the top three heading to the semi and final tomorrow.  Unless there happens to be a tie-breaker, but at the moment that isn't looking likely. Our Sask. team split their games yesterday and would need to win out the two today to make it to tomorrow's games.  In any event, they've done well this week and can be proud of their efforts.

With all the curling, I've made good progress on the latest baby blanket.  No photo yet, I'll wait until it is finished.  And despite the amount of time I've spent on the couch, I've managed to get my walk in everyday (indoors), keep the house in reasonable order, and got the groceries earlier in the week.  I left the house before 8 a.m. and was home in time to have everything tucked away by 9:30 in time for the first draw.  I have my priorities. :)

I've had visitors this week too, but not of the human kind.  First up was this rabbit.  It was sitting out back and when I spotted it through the window it didn't even move when I took a few photos with my cellphone.

It's a big bunny and hopefully those dark markings are a hint that spring isn't too far away.

Next up was this Hungarian partridge.  Normally, they show up in groups of three or more but this one was on its own.  It didn't stick around when it realized I was at the window so this was the best shot I got.  I love the markings on the wings.

This morning brought the latest visitor, though I suspect it is a regular visitor to the bird feeder. It wasn't eager to have it's photo taken, but after running along the fence, stopping to scold me, it came back to the top of the feeder.  I guess hunger overcame any fear.

I fill the bird feeder once a day, putting feed in the feeder itself and on top and sprinkling some on the ground.  Today was a cold morning -21C (-6F) so I'm certain all my visitors are appreciative. Thankfully, the cold weather won't last more than 24-36 hours and we'll back to mild temperatures.

That pretty much wraps up my week.  Curling won't start until 1:30 this afternoon so I'll putter around the house until then. I never run out of things that need to be done.  Funny, when I was at work I often felt bored but at home, never.  

Take care everyone and have a good week ahead.