Most of the “drama” here this week has centered around the renewal of the Police Records Check Protocol, which, for over 20 years Crosstalk Ministries has held with the City of Montreal’s Police Department (SPVM). CTM was proud in that we preceded the Anglican Church in requiring all our volunteers and staff to have up to date records checks on file assuring that everyone is a suitable person to care for vulnerable children. Every 3 years the protocol must be renewed and of course the pandemic adds another layer of complexity as the department dealing with records checks was closed for most of 2020 and has had to develop new procedures for preparing the checks via email and Zoom instead of in person as was formerly required.
I have been the “Responsable” for the protocol since it was first signed by Brett Cane and myself when we met with a police officer in the old CTM office at St. Matthew’s Church. Things have changed a lot over the years! The most challenging part for me is conducting the whole online correspondence exclusively in French. My spoken French is pretty fluent but written is not as good, especially when one is dealing with phrases like
“VOTRE PROTOCOLE D’ENTENTE AVEC LE SPVM POUR LA VÉRIFICATION D’ABSENCE D’EMPÊCHEMENTS DOIT ÊTRE RENOUVELÉ.”
To make things even more complicated, this time we needed to name a new substitute “Responsable” (no, I’m not spelling it incorrectly, that is a French word 🙂), which entailed my drafting a letter that had to be signed by our new President, Chris Belle, explaining the reason for the change. On top of that, my own records check was set to expire before the date by which the protocol had to be renewed so I had to fill out that form, scan 2 photo IDs and email all that to the Responsable for the Diocese of Montreal, all online of course! At this point everything has been submitted ahead of the June 19th deadline, with the exception of the renewal for my own records check, as it is still being processed somewhere in the same office to which I submitted all the documents for the protocol. AGH!!!!!!!! Bureaucracy.
Aside from that little drama, plans for the Virtual Team Gathering are now pretty much finalised and an email has been sent to all the participants giving details of the event, a request to send in prayer concerns and Mrs. Philmore’s Mint Limeade Recipe 😊. We are suggesting people make the Limeade as part of the snacks that we will “share” prior to the worship evening. We also have our monthly Board meeting coming up tomorrow so there have been the usual preparations to make, the agenda and documents to send out and the Minutes to set up.
During the week, I welcomed 2 visitors! Jessica came for dinner on Wednesday evening and Jenna for lunch Thursday. Unfortunately Thomason is now so excited when a visitor comes (it being such a rare occurrence) that he goes absolutely wild, barking and jumping. If I put him on his leash he still barks making conversation with guests extremely challenging. I am praying that as things gradually open up again and more people are able to visit us he will begin to calm down and greet my friends in a more civilised manner 😊
Out in the garden I deadheaded the Dwarf French Lilac bush, planted a few Sunflower seeds, edged the flowerbeds and mowed the lawns yesterday as today’s forecast calls for a 60% chance of rain.but that leaves me more time for inside jobs 😊.
One afternoon this week I sewed a simple summer smock dress and this afternoon I hope to make a start on some baby rompers, which I cut out a few days ago. But first there is baking to do! Not too big a batch today, I’m just doing the bi-weekly GF loaves, a Miche for myself and some Angel Biscuits. So I guess we had better wrap this up.
Thursday I picked up my second CSA share from the new farmers and got a lovely pint box of Cherry Tomatoes so I made a summery dish of: –
Kamut Fusilli with Tomato and Fresh Mint Sauce
- 8 oz. Kamut fusilli
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or ½ tsp. dried basil)
- 1 handful fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
- 3 Tbsps. olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Place the tomatoes, basil, garlic and mint in a small saucepan and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes so that tomatoes break down and start to produce a sauce.
Meanwhile cook the fusilli, drain and divide between 2 serving bowls. Off the heat, stir the olive oil into the sauce then pour it evenly over the 2 bowls of pasta. Top each with sprig of mint and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2.