It has been quite a week around here, much of the activity causing my Day Camps work to be even more complicated than ever!
Monday the office cell phone stopped working. Agh! It was possible to send and receive texts but when phone calls came in the person on the line could not hear my voice. Just a bit difficult to deal with! That evening our CTM tech expert came to the house after he finished work and examined the phone, finding that some lint was blocking the microphone, he poked it out and Presto! the phone worked.
Then on Wednesday this laptop (the ONLY office computer) crashed and would not start up again, back came our techie! He checked it out and it is working again but it looks as if I shall have to buy a new computer, which is a bit of a blow. This laptop was a gift from a dear friend of my Mum and although it is the “office” computer, it belongs to me so I can use it for all personal files etc. If the computer belonged to CTM I would not feel comfortable using it for all
my own things. This will be a matter for serious prayer!
my own things. This will be a matter for serious prayer!
On a brighter note, Arnee tells me that the Program Manual is now in its whole document format and will soon be sent for proofreading. YAY! Yesterday we received the first Church Application from New Brunswick and earlier in the week one of our Committee members sent out over 100 Facebook invitations encouraging friends to join the Travelling Teams!
Meanwhile the Changing of the Decorations took place (as you will see by the slew of photos!) and even if outdoors still resembles the Arctic, Lent and Spring have arrived inside this home.
The big horror story of the week began on Thursday morning when I went across to my neighbours’ house to water the plants, (they spend winters in Florida).
After disarming the alarm I walked into the kitchen only to come face to face with a squirrel sitting on the counter. AGH!!!!!!!!!! It ran upstairs so I very quickly watered the plants and then fled the house myself. After consulting with another long-time neighbour who lives in their adjoining house we decided the best course of action was to call an exterminator. That evening I was able to reach the owners in Florida and the next morning called an exterminator recommended by St. Stephen’s church.
Unfortunately “normal” exterminators do not trap squirrels so I was referred to the “Wild Animal Control” man. He came yesterday afternoon and my neighbour and I re-entered the house with him. Thankfully the squirrel had not done serious damage, however it had ripped nearly every window screen trying to escape. The man finally located it in the basement and caught it in a net. He removed it and then proceeded to try and locate its point of entry, finally deciding it had entered through a hole in the bricks where the flashings meet the flat roof of the house.
He had to come back this morning with the equipment to secure the flashings but that has now been done. Meanwhile there has been constant Skyping and emailing with Florida and the lady is going to fly home this week to have the house professionally cleaned because normally they would not be coming home until next month. Whew! Quite the saga, quite the week.
All of which goes to say that there has not been much time today to relive the anniversary of my Mum’s funeral!! (March 6th).
When I was a little girl we had a dear old dentist, Dr. McSween. When he was doing dental work he always said that he used to “accidentally” stomp on his patient’s toe just before he drilled. He called it ” a counter irritant”. I think the Lord sent me the squirrel saga this week to serve as my counter irritant so I would not have time to dwell on personal thoughts!
Needless to say, there has not been a lot of time for other activities but the first batch of Hot Cross Buns for Lent was (finally!) baked AND my first dozen Pysanky is complete except for varnishing. Just a bit of baking and crafting squeezed in somehow.
As for cooking, most of this week’s meals were pulled from the freezer! But yesterday, I managed to bake some chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting which, at this moment are in a car being transported up to Ottawa as a birthday surprise for Victoria, dear friend, Senior Youth Camp Director and mother of two of my (adorable) Godsons!
So here is the recipe, just in case you need to make a birthday surprise too!!
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 3 cups flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tsps. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ cup + 2 Tbsps. canola oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 Tbsps. lemon juice
- 2 cups cold water
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk until there are no lumps. In another bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and pour into the dry mixture. Whisk thoroughly. Pass the batter through a sieve into a clean bowl and whisk again.Pour the batter into 2 dozen paper-lined large muffin cups. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for approx. 15-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely and ice with the following frosting:-
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- Approx. 3-4 Tbsps. sieved raspberry juice
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and of a good spreading consistency. Makes enough for 2-3 dozen cupcakes. Both the cupcakes and icing freeze well (if there are any leftovers!).