All in all this has definitely been a calmer week on the Day Camp front and one certainly prefers it that way!
Week 3 is historically the toughest week for Teams to push through as their energy levels start to flag yet with the knowledge that there is still another week to go. But most of the calls and messages have indicated that the Camps were running smoothly. All but one of the communities held Friday Closing Services and today a couple of Teams are already in transit to their Week 4 locations.
The Leaders have been really good about checking in regularly and keeping me in the loop and this has been a big help in averting disasters as I have been able to catch mistakes in logistics before chaos ensued!
Around here there has been more activity in planning for Senior Youth Camp, making sure all travel arrangements are in place for the Day Camp Teams’ returns home NEXT weekend and of course the dull office work of sending out invoices and receipts. It has also been extremely HOT most of the week with a few thunderstorms to liven things up. Wednesday evening I very much enjoyed a visit with Pippa (mother of my Godson Tighe). We talked about the Week 1 Day Camp at our home church, where she had been one of the Coordinators, Pippa has seen every aspect of the program having been a Camper, Team Member and Leader, Office Worker and now Coordinator and mother of Campers. It’s hard to believe but we did also actually chat about other things too!!
Then on Thursday Janice joined me for dinner as she was dropping off some SYC registrations so it was good to talk things over with another Day Camp Committee member, especially since Janice was female overnight supervisor at the Retreat and knows the personalities of everyone on Team.
This afternoon I am off to see the new apartment shared by Jessica (another stalwart of the committee!!) and her sister Angela. I have been invited to tea and plan to bicycle over, although showers are in the forecast. I am excited to check out their new home and then be able to make a “housewarming” gift once I know their colour scheme.
This morning I’m dashing around doing lots of weekend chores and getting this post organised early in the day so as to to leave the afternoon for my expedition.
Throughout the week I have also been preparing the annual Golden Chicken Awards. My plan this year has been to sew stuffed felt chickens of different breeds and attach them to key rings, I’m pretty excited by how well they’ve turned out!!
Since I have a couple of upcoming weddings to attend I also squeezed in the sewing of 2 patchwork tea cosies, which are sort of my signature wedding gifts.
Plus work has begun on the birthday crown for my eldest Godson,William. He is turning 6 SIX!!! I just can’t believe it. His birthday falls a couple of days after Senior Youth Camp so I am assuming that the finished gift will be one of the many items I pack for my day trip down to Camp where I will be going to visit and lead workshops. More on this over the next two weeks! Of course there has also been gardening and a few extra household tasks like the quarterly Pantry cleaning!
It being so hot all week that there have been several cold salad dinners, one evening I made a brown rice salad and it was pretty tasty so here is the recipe:-
Southeast Asian Rice Salad
- 1½ cups uncooked brown rice
- 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
- 2 cups sugar snap peas
- ½ a sweet onion, slivered
- ½ cup cashews
- 2 Tbsps. Sesame seeds
- ½ cup chopped figs
- 1-cup green pepper slices
- ½cup orange juice
- 3 Tbsps. Olive oil
- 2 Tbsps. sesame oil
- 2 Tbsps. cider vinegar
- 2Tbsps. Tamari
Cook the rice and place is a large serving bowl. Add all the other vegetables and toss. In a small bowl combine all the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the rice and vegetables while the rice is still hot. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.Serves 4