Hello Blog Friends!
Happy All Saints Day (slightly late J). I’ve certainly had plenty of opportunity to sing one of my favourite hymns this week as every spare moment has been spent doing battle with the shoals of falling leaves. It has been crazy warm (up to 20ºC!!) bad for climate warming but great for autumn garden work 😊.
But let’s talk about Day Camps:-
The saga of the Grant Application has been front and centre for much of the week. Last Sunday I carefully went over the final version of the 2023 Budget, sent by Mark, the CTM Treasurer. He had done such a good job of making my wonky columns look much more professional and he also sent a separate sheet explaining his rationale for all the figures, which made perfect sense.
Wednesday evening, at our monthly DC committee meeting I shared the budget with all the members so that everyone now has a clear picture of the position going forward. This week we received two more donations in “support of the Day Camp Director” so I think we are able to show to those reviewing the application that we have made a real effort to fund 50% of the ministry budget for the year ahead.
Thursday morning I assembled all the pertinent documents on my desktop and forged ahead with the online filling of the form. After a slight hiccup entering some figures (I appealed to the CTM treasurer, via text, and he helped sort it out) I got to the final section, only to hit a metaphorical brick wall. Thank God there was a way to save it as a draft so I didn’t lost all that work but I could not figure out how to enter the two required names of people submitting the form. Yesterday I ended up sending an email to “contact us”, asking for help, the person who responded said it was not a problem to leave that part out so I’ve sent the application and now it will just be a matter for prayer until we receive a response, hopefully in January 2023. I am so thankful to have finally completed this task!
At the DC committee meeting we also covered a ton of other topics, especially the 3 important activities scheduled between now and Christmas as well as looking at progress on the 2023 Program Manual content.
As for the 3 activities: –
- This afternoon marks the first episode of the Christmas Cookie Cook-Along. 4 families have signed up, 3 from across Canada and one from the UK, which is pretty cool 😊. Jessica is our first chef and she will be sharing a Gingersnaps recipe.
- Sunday November 27th we will begin our 4-week long Advent Program using the “Joyous Mysteries” Videos and Imago Divina. 7 Alumni have already indicated they will be participating and I’m really looking forward to those Sunday Afternoon online gatherings.
- The final pre-Christmas event is our third annual Carols& Cocoa. I’ve sent out 2 badgering emails to a list of prospective “presenters” some who are musicians and some who like to do readings of prose and poetry. A couple of people have got back to me but I’m really hoping to hear from others. At each of the previous events approximately 40 friends of CTM have joined in and I so hope it will be a real time of community building, fellowship and worship.
And that is how I’ve been keeping busy this week 😊.
As mentioned at the beginning, virtually all my spare time has gone into the raking “battle”. I did also plant my Allium and Hyacinth bulbs, the latter of which were promptly dug up and partially eaten by a squirrel AGH!!!!!! And the compost has finally been spread on the North bed. As I write today, some leaves are still merrily falling but it is supposed to rain tomorrow so perhaps that will bring down the last of them.
This morning, following the garden stint, has been devoted to baking, as I also need to focus, on preparations for tomorrow’s Spanish Inquisition. This afternoon, from 3-4pm, I will be joining the Google Meet to watch the baking of gingersnaps under Chef Jessica’s leadership, but right now I need to wrap up this post and hit the “publish” button.
As we begin November, I’ve been giving some thought to having an ongoing monthly recipe theme and hope my readers will approve 😊. Soup, seems like the perfect dish for dark and cold November so lets start with: –
Roasted Carrot and Parsnip Soup
- 1 ½ lbs. carrots, peeled and cut in ¾” pieces
- 2 large parsnips, peeled, quartered, cored and cut in ¾” pieces
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 1 medium potato, quartered
- 2 garlic cloves, in the skin
- 2 Tbsps. olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- Fresh herbs and yoghurt for serving
Spread the vegetables on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with the oil. Roast in a preheated 425ºF oven for 20 minutes. Stir well and reduce heat to 400ºF. continue roasting for up to 20 more minutes or until tender and caramelised. Squeeze the garlic cloves into the bowl of a blender or food processor, being careful not to burn your fingers. Add the other vegetables and 2 cups of stock. Purée the mixture until smooth. Transfer to a large saucepan with the rest of the stock and heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh herbs and yoghurt. Serves 4-6