Now that the days are (sadly) starting to draw in it looks as if there will be a return to cosy “Bake & Blog” Saturdays with the kitchen warmed by the oven. Sigh. Whereas they do hold a certain virtue, I am really not quite ready to bring in the deck and porch furniture and call an end to the outdoor life!
It has been the usual crazy week around here. Regular blog readers may have noticed a lack of “Sunday Reflections” post but Sunday was truly over the top madness from start to finish and Monday was not much better, and as “Sunday Reflection on a Tuesday” is not the catchiest of titles, I threw in the towel and decided to skip it for this week.
Sunday morning I got up extra early in order not to miss Cousin Ron’s call from the UK. I hurried Wil outside for his first pit stop of the day only to discover that, during the stormy night a HUGE branch had fallen out of our tree onto the neighbour’s front lawn. Now these neighbours tend to be shall we say “difficult” in the extreme so it was urgent that I remove all the evidence before they noticed. I quickly tied Wil to the corner stop sign and hauled the largest piece into the gutter, swept the lawn (and part of mine too), got a big paper leaf bag and put all the debris in it, untied Wil and dashed into the house, only to see the phone light flashing and to hear a plaintive voicemail from Cousin Ron. Oh dear!
Then it was a mad rush to be ready to leave for church at 9am since I was driving down with Nick because, being on lunch duty, there was a huge pot of soup, 40 individual Naan breads and various sundry objects, including my laptop, for Children’s Ministry (last Sunday we heard the story of Joseph, and so, of course, it was necessary to watch this song) After church and lunch, I rode home with Guylaine and Matt, from Ottawa, who had come for the Service and lunch and a brief hangout time with me before the 3pm CTM Board meeting, In the hour between arriving home and the meeting Wil needed another long walk and a friend’s cats had to be fed! As I was setting out refreshments and sharing a snack with Guylaine and Matt, the Board Members started to arrive, along with the whole Huyer family and Mark (who was going to look after the little boys during the meeting). It being a lovely Sunday afternoon we moved the meeting out to the deck and I grabbed my computer again to take the minutes. The meeting was fruitful and there are some good plans afoot for the re-visioning of two Ministries and a revitalisation of the monthly Crossroads Youth Service. We finished at 5pm, fed the dog and piled into the Huyer’s van to head to Crossroads.
Since this was the first Service in its new location (St, Stephen’s House!!) plus the reunion for all the SYC Campers I had agreed to attend and to organise a prayer mural activity. Prior to the Service there was to be a BBQ. When we arrived burgers were being cooked and a happy group of Campers was gathered on the grass. By this time I was beginning to regret having promised to attend, it had already been a long day but then a gang of Day Camp Team Members came running toward me each wanting to give me a big hug! In that moment I knew I had made the right choice!
54 people crammed into our Worship space for the Service, I had to set up FIVE prayer mural stations to accommodate everyone, and afterwards Alexander and Sarah generously drove me home, so, as you can see, Sunday was just a bit over the top crazy, a good sort of crazy 😊.Having already written 650 words, it looks as if the rest of the week should be recounted in the “condensed version”
But Monday was very important too since it was the Day Camp Committee Meeting! We had a slightly smaller than usual turnout but boy did we cover a lot of territory as we made decisions about allocating all the 2016 Program Manual Chapters, drew up a list of potential Wednesday Words contributors, planned details of the October 3rd Team Gathering and began organising the Fall Coffeehouse! All of this work is essential at the September Meeting, as, God Willing, we begin to set the course for the year ahead.
So the rest of this week has largely consisted of my following up with all of these plans. Writing to each person who we listed, sending out files for those editing Manual Chapters etc.
In between there has been a steady stream of visitors, some planned, some unexpected, but all equally welcome! Somehow I have also managed to complete my quilting project and put in a fair bit of knitting on my cardigan, mow the lawns and harvest herbs for drying, oh and plan children’s ministry for the coming Sunday! (Moses)
Things are pretty zooy around here at times but I would not have it any other way…Carpe Diem!!!
Oops! Time to cook the English Muffins, and then add this week’s recipe choice…
Fresh Tomato and Cannellini Bean Soup
We enjoyed this, for dinner at the Day Camp meeting along with a loaf of homemade ciabatta!
- 2 lbs. ripe plum tomatoes
- 2 Tbsps. olive oil
- 1 cup roughly chopped onions
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 Tbsps. sun-dried tomato paste
- 2 tsps. paprika
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 can Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 Tbsps. fresh cilantro, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Place the tomatoes in a large heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for approx. 30 seconds then drain and peel. Cut each tomato into large chunks, saving all the juices. Heat the oil and cook the onions and garlic until softened. Add the tomatoes, stock, tomato paste and paprika, Stir well
then bring to the boil and simmer for 10minutes. Mix the cornstarch with 2 Tbsps, cold water and stir into the soup along with the beans. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
then bring to the boil and simmer for 10minutes. Mix the cornstarch with 2 Tbsps, cold water and stir into the soup along with the beans. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
Adjust the seasoning and stir in the cilantro just before serving. Serves 4