Sunday, January 28, 2018

Sunday 28th January 2018...a Birthday and no sleep!!!!

As you can see I wrote this blog a few years ago but the words are still so relevant and true and Janet great talking to you this mornings hugs and blessings!!!!


Saturday 28th January 2012…..I want to tell you about a beautiful lady!!!

I first met her when I was just a little kid growing up in Doncaster, England and I will confess right here and now I was sweet on her younger Sister!!!
For obvious reasons she became interested in my suave, debonair and handsome Brother( can you believe I just wrote that??)
At a tender young age they got married and started a life that has blossomed with love and happiness and now they are well into the forties in years married.
Three wonderful children one amazing Grand son later life is good for them……
Janet my amazing and special Sister in law it is your birthday today and I want the whole world to know that I love you, admire you and I salute you with Happy Birthday wishes!!!!!
As always life has thrown you curve balls but with your incredible attitude, devotion and love of family you have been the “Rock” for the Pearson family.  As long as I live I shall never forget the way you were with my Dad after Mum passed away..it was not easy but you took care of him, treated him with love and respect and because in part to you his remaining 12 years were lived with grace and happiness.
Janet are the best and rank right up there with Mum!!!!  You know what a compliment that is!!!!!!

Have a wonderful day…..to my readers do you think my Brother Malc is taking her out for dinner????  NO!!!!
Janet has decided because there is a family from Ghana who are in England visiting their son as he finishes college and he attends their Church…..so Janet has invited the five of them to dinner!!!
That tells you a little bit about this special lady!!
So I wanted to devout a separate blog just for you….I know when we are together I am a big tease and give you a hard time only in jest you KNOW that you are the greatest woman and my Brother has been a lucky man!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANET!!!!!!



So like a crazy sports nut I was up at 2.30 am and watched this amazing athlete do what he does best!!!!


Ageless Roger Federer continues to set the standards with Australian Open victory




Roger Federer
Federer beat Marin Cilic in five sets to claim his sixth Australia Open and 20th Grand Slam title

When Roger Federer won back his Australian Open title a year ago, five years after his previous Grand Slam title, it felt like an impossible gift from the past, one final reminder of what had once been at a time when all assumed it had gone forever.
The man was 35. He had been out for six months after knee surgery and back problems, 17th seed for a reason. You were astonished by the comeback and you were thankful to have witnessed one glorious final heist.
We were all fools. In the past 12 months Federer has now won three Grand Slam titles. At 36 he began this Aussie Open as favourite and then won it with the loss of only two sets (and both of those in the final).
This is not nostalgia. This is now. This a new dominance, not an echo of past glories, a greatest hits tour that has produced three fresh classics.

In the build-up to Sunday's final against Marin Cilic, Federer went into Melbourne to seek inspiration by watching Gary Oldman's new Churchill biopic.
It was his only misjudgement of the fortnight. Darkest Hour? This is more a second golden age, and there is no reason to think it will be a brief one.
In the six years from 2011 to 2016, Federer won just one Grand Slam title. A year ago he was supposed to be not only past his prime but past the period when he was past his prime.



Highlights: Roger Federer beats Marin Cilic to win 20th Grand Slam

He injured his knee running a bath for his four kids. At Wimbledon he fell on his face in futile chase of a forehand from Milos Raonic, a man with half his range of skills but nine years younger and faster. He had finally admitted that he needed to use a bigger racquet-head, like a man accepting middle age by wearing reading glasses round the house.
Novak Djokovic was the king, Andy Murray in charge of his own grassy empire. The kids were queuing up outside them. A graceful retirement appeared to be accelerating round the corner.
And now this: an Australian Open title, the regaining of his Wimbledon crown, the retention of his title in Melbourne. With Rafa Nadal defending a lot of ranking points over the next two months, it is quite possible that Federer could be world number one again by the end of March.
Twenty Grand Slam singles titles, four more than any other man (Nadal) in history, within three of Serena Williams, the other great survivor and revivalist of the modern game. And why should it stop there, with his rivals injured and the young dashers stalled, and Wimbledon waiting to welcome him back once more?
Federer's win in Melbourne 12 months ago brought back memories of Jack Nicklaus winning his 18th major at Augusta in 1986, 23 years after his first, six years after his last. But that was it for Nicklaus, barring a sentimental charge to sixth place at the Masters in 1998.
It triggered comparisons too with Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa in October 1974, winning back his own crown from George Foreman at the age of 32, a champion returning from exile in a way few could believe.
Ali would have two more defining nights, once when out-surviving Joe Frazier in that brutal death-spiral in Manilla a year later, again when winning his re-match with Leon Spinks at an age when his aura could barely disguise the damage done to his body and mind.



Federer has won 10% of the 200 men's Grand Slams played since tennis turned professional in 1968

In adding two more Grand Slam titles in the past six months Federer has found further echoes of those extraordinary deeds.
You would describe it as raging at the dying of the light, but he could never rage. These triumphs have been made with the same physical grace and unhurried style as a decade ago.
There were times on Sunday - the tournament's extreme heat policy in place, the roof on and the stationary spectators gasping in the humidity - when Cilic looked so hot and bothered that you could see sweat flying off his racquet as well as his forehead.
Federer only seldom looked troubled, at the end of the second set and then as he let slip what had appeared to be a decisive lead in the fourth. Even then they were brief interruptions. Temperatures climb but Federer keeps floating. In an era of muscle-men and baseline toilers he flows round the court like iced water.



Roger Federer says 20th Grand Slam is 'an absolute dream come true'

It is like watching Michael Holding bowling 88mph bouncers, menace disguised as serenity, or Wilson Kipketer in the home straight of an 800m, pace without apparent effort. Federer at 36 moves better than most elite sportsmen at 21.
There is an argument that his renaissance - and that of Nadal, winner of the other two Slams in 2017, denied a place in the final here primarily through injury, favourite for the next in Paris - is in some ways bad news for men's tennis.
The game is missing too many of its star names. Murray's hip has him on permanent hold; Djokovic's elbow is pulling him back. Stan Wawrinka is struggling with his knee, Kei Nishikori his wrist.
The tournament had semi-finalists in Hyeon Chung and Kyle Edmund who are 21 and 23 years old respectively. But of the other young guns there is as yet too little.
Nick Kyrgios is still what might be. Bernard Tomic, the other great local hope, is closing in on might have been. As Federer lifted the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup on Sunday, Tomic was being bitten by a snake on the Australian version of I'm A Celebrity.
The competition has fallen away. But as it has done so Federer has risen again, and only the small-minded and cynical could not be moved by the impossibility of it all.

I did go back to bed and managed to sleep till around 10 am but really have been dragging myself around the rest of the day...I did go for a walk about 4 miles and now all cleaned up had supper and going to do some trip planning.....

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Friday, January 26, 2018

Friday 26th January 2018........easy easy day!!!

Well I decided not to get up at 2.30 am and watch the tennis and a good job as I found out this morning Roger won quite easily when his opponent retired with blisters on his feet...so Roger is through to the finals yet again.....The women's final is on tonight at again that crazy hour of 2.30 am but I have also decided not to watch that but I will watch the men's final early on Sunday morning!!!!

Went to the gym again this morning and it has been two weeks now working out with Aaron and he is a very capable and nice young man and I like his training methods and also his prices......

After that session I went to the grocery store and came home and relaxed..I realize that it is time to make my plans for the summer I have some plans already made and a lot is up for grabs...will fill you in over the next few weeks......

I watched a live soccer game from England late afternoon and then cooked a nice chicken casserole and now going to relax and maybe watch a movie!!!

When I moved from Bermuda to Smoky Lake Alberta, Canada it was in the middle of May and I spent 13 years there.....whilst there I owned a convenience store and Vicky worked for me for many years and is a good friend..this is the photo she sent me today of the front of the house.....

and you ask why I do not live there anymore???????



Yashi Kochi!!!

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Thursday 25th January 2018...burning the midnight oil!!!!!!

My passion for tennis overtook my passion for sleeping and my alarm woke me up at 2.30 am this morning in order to watch and support a young man from my Brother's home town play in his first Grand slam tennis match!!!!

It was really a one sided contest and there was no doubt that the young kid would not make his first final appearance!!!


Britain's Kyle Edmund exceeded expectations by reaching a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time in his career at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Was it a one-off or are we likely to see the 23-year-old lift a trophy in the future, like his compatriot Andy Murray?
BBC Sport pundits Andrew Castle, John Lloyd and Pat Cash assess what we can expect from Edmund in 2018 and beyond.



Highlights: Edmund beats Dimitrov for semi-final spot

'Nobody wants to play Edmund now'

On his way to the last four, Edmund overcame seeds Kevin Anderson and Grigor Dimitrov which earned him career-best victories at Tour level.
He eventually came unstuck against sixth seed Marin Cilic on Thursday - who prevailed 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.
Edmund had to call a trainer after the first set for a hip problem and former British number one Castle said: "I think the injury cost him a shot at winning it.
"He's definitely not right physically but I thought he handled the occasion. If you beat Anderson, Dimitrov and others then you're capable and ready.
"Nobody wants to play Edmund now. That's a reputation that goes round. We knew he had a forehand that could put a hole in you but now people have seen other things: defence, attitude, results at a different level.
"He's going to have to recalibrate his own mind now."
Former Wimbledon champion Cash told BBC Radio 5 live: "Mentally he's very focused. We're used to seeing Murray grumpy and miserable for hours on end if he misses a shot. Kyle is the opposite."
Edmund's Grand Slam record
TournamentBest result
Australian OpenSemi-finals (2018)
French OpenThird round (2017)
WimbledonSecond round (2017)
US OpenFourth round (2016)

Can Edmund win a Grand Slam?



Edmund is the sixth British man to reach the last four at a major in the Open era after Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, John Lloyd and Roger Taylor
Kyle Edmund is the sixth British man to reach the last four at a major in the Open era, after Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, John Lloyd and Roger Taylor

Prior to his exploits in Melbourne, the furthest Edmund had progressed at a major was the fourth round of the US Open in 2016.
He will move from world number 49 up into the top 30 when the rankings are released next week and his next Grand Slam test will come in France in May - on his favoured clay surface.
"He's got to figure now that he's got to be in the second week of all the Grand Slams," said John Lloyd, one of six British men to make a major semi-final in the professional era.
"That should be a minimum. Realistically I don't see why he couldn't get to a quarter or a semi-final at the French.



"Wimbledon will be the crucial one out of the four. It's not his best surface and then you've got all the British stuff that comes with it.
"I don't see why he can't play well at Wimbledon but a lot of it will be in his head."
All three pundits agreed that Edmund could go on to become a top 10 player in the future.
"Before the Australian, I would have said Kyle was top 30. I didn't think he had enough flexibility in his game - he didn't have a plan B or C," admitted Lloyd.
"But after watching the Australian I've changed completely now. I think he's got a very good shot at being top 10."
Cash concurred: "This is not the first semi-final we'll see Kyle in. He's too good an athlete."

The next generation - Edmund's rivals



Denis Shapovalov
Denis Shapovalov lost against Kyle Edmund in the first round of the Brisbane International

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have dominated the men's game for the last 15 years.
But as they edge closer to the end of their careers, there is a new generation of players hoping to replace them at the top of the rankings.
There are six players who are the same age or younger than Edmund who are above him in the current world rankings.
AgeRankingATP titles
Alexander Zverev (Ger)2046
Nick Kyrgios (Aus)22174
Lucas Pouille (Fra)23184
Andrey Rublev (Rus)20321
Borna Coric (Cro)21461
Karen Khachanov (Rus)21471
Alexander Zverev broke into the top five in September, while Australian Nick Kyrgios was among the favourites for the Melbourne title after winning the Brisbane trophy, before going out against Dimitrov in the fourth round.
Chung Hyeon of South Korea, the world number 58, is the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist for eight years and faces Federer in the last four on Friday.
But it is Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov, currently ranked 50 in the world, who has caught the eye.
"I love the way Shapovalov plays," said Lloyd. "He's still raw but I think he'll win a Slam within three years. There's something about him - he's amazing."
"We're watching his development," added Castle. "He's got a whole load of stuff that no one else has got."

After the match I went back to bed but could not sleep so got up had breakfast and at 9 am went to the courts and did my impression of a grand slam event...I did not quite make it either but it was two great hours of tennis under cloudy skies...

The rest of the day I stayed home doing a sundry of different things including cooking, laundry, sorting stuff, reading, working on the computer, eating and already it is 7 pm and I should probably not tell you I intend to watch the world's best tennis player Roger play at around 2 am!!!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!

Thursday 5 th January 2023…it was a great run!!!

 This was my first ever blog post back in November of 2006!!! With just a couple of days off I have written a blog every day since and I hav...