Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa

Friday, February 20, 2026

Friday February 20, 2026 So close

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Older Blog: https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

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Friday February 20, 2026

I was up early again, putting off chores, to watch our women's Team Homan curlers play a semi-final against Sweden's Hasselborg who they beat just a couple of days ago. But today, it was all Hasselborg, who applied the pressure and Team Homan made poor shots all game. Now Team Homan are relegated to the Bronze medal game tomorrow against the USA at the same hour..... The Swedes will play for Gold against the Swiss on Sunday.

Then it was on the the semi-final in hockey and the Finns sure gave us a scare, jumping to a 2-0 lead and held that for the first 25 minutes. Then Canada began the comeback, and the gritty players came through. The Finnish goalie Soros stood on his head, but a late penalty to the Finns sealed their fate, as a McDavid to Mackinnon feed found the back of the net with 35 seconds left..... Our second come-from-behind win in a row...

The Finns will now likely face Slovakia in the Bronze medal game tomorrow, while Canada will likely face the powerful Americans on Sunday. Nobody could have written better scripts about our team's response to adversity!

We got two Amazon deliveries today while Cristina went to Tulua to get fresh meat for the dogs' meals. She also came back with more plastic furniture...

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

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If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

2 catbird seats occupied by Mono & Blanco

Set up a ladder for the other

Team Homan in big trouble all day

Hasselborg deserved the win

Canada struggling to get back in the game

We tie the score, late

Working hard

Mark Messier on pins and needles

Soros makes a save with knob of his stick!

Mackinnon bangs home the winner

It is a good goal

Canada showed grit!

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Thursday February 19, 2026 Aiming

PLEASE bookmark this page and check daily.

Older Blog: https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

******

Thursday February 19, 2026

We were up very early to gather clothing and bedding for flood victims north of here. German came to collect our offerings and we jammed his car full, especially with a king-sized foam mattress.

I didn't watch, but Team Jacobs lost at 3:05am to Norway in their last curling game and were back playing Norway in the afternoon in the men's semi-final, beating them 5-4 in the extra end. That put them in the Gold medal game Saturday against Britain's Bruce Mouat who surprised the unbeaten Swiss team....

Team Homan, on the women's side took out Korea 10-7. That puts them against Sweden in a semi-final game tomorrow. They have found their form somewhat and we have high hopes for a Gold medal from them.

Then our women's hockey team went up against the powerful American team, got a superb short-handed goal, and held the 1-0 lead until 2 minutes left. They played hard, surprising me that they stayed in the game for 58 minutes, but the bad coaching I had cited held true. They played "kitty-by-the-door" for the whole third period and that was a HUGE mistake. They kept turning over the puck and inevitably Americans scored, then won the Gold in overtime.... So, we got the Silver, as expected by me.

The Swiss women surprised the Swedes to take the Bronze.... also in overtime.

The men's hockey team will take on Finland in one semi-final tomorrow while the Americans take on Slovakia. The Gold medal game is Sunday.

During all this, the internet quit which prompted another useless visit by Servinet.

Then we got a visit by the window fabricator because we want to replace another set of bedroom windows, and add 3 small but tall windows in the storage room (bodega) to add much more light. One of those windows will be made to open.

Then we had a short but powerful rainstorm and the power went out like usual.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.

******

If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.