Hello Blog Friends!
As you will see from the photos, I did manage, last weekend, to complete the “Changing of the Decorations” 😊. It was a good thing that Monday was a holiday because it took until then to complete everything but the house now looks fresh and clean and ready for Pentecost/Summer.
Even Mr. T. is “fresh and clean” as he had his annual bath on Monday afternoon 😊. This is always quite an adventure with the possibility of much that can go wrong but both of us survived and this year I wore a rain jacket and boots so at least I stayed a bit drier than the last time! The “bath” takes place outside on the back deck and is technically more of a shower than a bath as, ahead of time, I prepare several large buckets of warm water (one of which also contains pet shampoo). Next I lure Thomason outside with the promise of a treat and tie him firmly on a short leash to the deck railing. The contents of the various buckets are poured over him, he gives several almighty shakes and is finally rubbed down with a big beach towel. Without letting him back into the house, we leave the soggy aftermath behind and immediately go for a long walk so that he can dry more in the warm sunshine. Whew, quite the adventure! Unfortunately this time I was bit too energetic in flinging the last of the rinsing water and succeeded in drowning my sandals, which I had placed at the end of the walkway so that I wouldn’t need to go on our walk in wellies, thus changing into sandals resulted in a rather squelchy walk.
Tuesday morning I was joined by my friend Jenna for an early breakfast visit then it was back to the (home) office. A good friend had sent me a contact address to which he thought I might send the Day Camp promo information and as I hadn’t thought it was much use sending the email over the holiday weekend it was top of my list. We had also received payment for one of the Day Camps, which meant preparing a receipt and also sending off the links to the Acceptance and Resource packages.
During the week Guylaine was in touch to say she had completed the proofing of Networks and so Thursday I was able to hit the “Publish” button and check off another item on my work list.
We are all still praying that our goal of ten host communities will be met but each passing day is making that objective seem less possible to meet. While at the computer I frequently open the “contacts” folder and scroll through in the fond hope I will see someone else to whom the promo information might be sent but I’m afraid some of those people have either marked the office address as spam or just hit the delete button when they see my name again.
Thursday my workday was divided into a couple of “shifts” as Jillian came in the late morning for a visit and lunch. It is unlikely I will see her again in person as she is due to deliver her baby in early June and understandably plans to stay close to home from now on. Ever since the start of the pandemic Jillian has been the most faithful of visitors, coming every couple of weeks for coffee or a meal and stoically braving Thomason’s constant barking. It is so lovely to think she and her husband will soon have a daughter but I shall miss her very much in the coming months as they “nest”.
Today I welcomed Mae Anne for her monthly lunchtime visit. She usually chooses to come for lunch as she has worship practice on Saturday mornings and her church is only about a 15 minute drive from here. As the weather has really warmed up in the last couple of days I made my favourite Watermelon & Feta Salad for our main course, served with a baguette and followed by chocolate cupcakes with peppermint icing. To drink we enjoyed Elderflower Cordial, brought to me from the UK by my friend Michelle.
With Mae Anne coming at noon I had decided it would be best to bake yesterday afternoon. This week’s list included Graham Crackers, which I specially needed as the Matcha Cheesecake I am making, when Jessica & Tyler come to dinner on Monday, has a crumb crust. They recently celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary and it will be nice to mark the occasion with them. I asked if there was a particular culture whose food they specially enjoy and Jessica said they both really like Asian cuisine, so we will be having a Japanese meal 😊.
Since tomorrow afternoon is the CTM Board meeting I do need to get the cheesecake assembled today so it is time to wrap up with our recipe. Homemade Graham Crackers are very useful to keep on hand for making a crumb crust so I thought I would share this old Mennonite recipe for them.
Graham Crackers
- 1 cup Turbinado sugar
- ½ cup raw cane sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Mix in half the dry ingredients, then stir in the milk and finally the rest of the dry mixture. Knead gently until completely combined. Place un an airtight c ontainer and chill overnight.Roll out as thinly as possible, cut into squares, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven until golden (approx. 15 minutes), watching that they do not burn. These keep for several weeks in an airtight tin or also freeze well.
To use as a crumb crust for pies and desserts:- Grind 2 cups of the crackers and mix with 1/2 cup of melted butter ,2 Tbsps. of sugar and 1/2 tsp. of salt. 😊