Hello Blog Friends!
Here we are on the last weekend of May with the Day Camps Kick Off Event scheduled for next Saturday 😊.
Sadly, there hasn’t been much good news this week as,Tuesday, we heard that the church in Delta who had asked us for prayers to find a coordinator has not been able to find anyone and so will not be hosting a Day Camp this year. That brings our total of camps down to only 6 and though, of course, we are invested in those six communities and intend to provide them with all the support we can offer, it still means that the prospect of meeting our goal of 10 camps this summer is now slipping farther away.
It is all terribly discouraging after so many people have given countless hours to work on all the program resources. Promotional work started last October and there has not been one week since then when I have not been actively trying to publicise our programs via email, voicemail, FaceBook, newsletters, e-news platforms etc.
Wednesday, after hearing about the camp in BC not happening, I messaged all of the Day Camp committee members, asking them to make renewed efforts to reach any potential contacts they might have. It is hard, because I recognise I am the only person who lives 24/7 in the “Day Camp world” and other people, even committed helpers, have so many other things going on that I can hardly expect them to devote much time to proselytising for Day Camps. Sigh.
On a lighter note, another Team Alumnae baby was born last week, a sweet little girl. That makes 1 boy and 3 girls safely born since the end of March, quite a prolific “baby boom” for Day Camps 😊.
This has only been a 4-day workweek due to last Monday’s Victoria Day Holiday. In general office work, the Pentecost/Summer issue of the Networks newsletter has been put together and will be published this weekend, after Guylaine has given it a final “once over”😊. And, of course, there is always some day-to-day banking work to do as well as support for Junior Youth Camp.
On the side, I have been trying to solve the dilemma regarding my aborted laptop upgrade and am extremely thankful for this older laptop, on which I am still, currently, relying. No solutions yet!
There has also been a bit of time spent in the garden and one afternoon a new neighbour asked if I could come over and identify for her which plants in the overgrown backyard were weeds and which were worth keeping as she has never had a garden before moving into their house. Apart from the fact that it started to rain while we were touring the “jungle”, she seemed very happy to have a clearer picture of what to tackle 😊.The maple “keys” are starting to fall and that means extra time spent raking and sweeping. Yesterday I got up super early to mow the lawns, as there is a forecast of rain for today, and it took me three hours,as it was necessary to keep stopping to collect up the keys before mowing over them. Some people do mow over them but it leaves a mess of brown bits all over the grass, which is most unsightly!
Thursday Syndi-Belle joined me for dinner. although not one of the Day Camp Team alums, she has been very involved with CTM’s youth camps and we like to have a visit every few months. I made Thai Curried Coconut and Fish Pho and for dessert we had fresh cantaloupe with Peanut Miso Cookies.
Evenings I have put aside the Fairisle fingerless gloves I’m currently knitting in order to work on an anniversary gift for some special friends, as they will soon be celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary. Due to complex social calendars they will only be coming for a celebratory High Tea next month, but meanwhile I do want to get the gift completed.
This morning I spent quite a while dealing, again, with the maple tree “keys” that are currently raining down by the bucketful bur since astual rain is now also falling, I have been driven inside to move on with the weekly Bake- GF loaves, sourdough sandwich loaves, dog biscuits and an apple pie, the latter item being a “thank you” gift for Wentworth who gave up time migrating the laptop content. Even though I cannot actually use the newer computer, he did give freely of his time to work on the transferring of files. Later this afternnoon the plan is to sew a new summer teacosy and also make a cute sun hat for a little boy who will soon be turning three years old 😊.
So now, we had better get on with a recipe! Occasionally I like to make “brinner”aka “breakfast for dinner”. Since this week’s fruit box included several peaches I decided to make…
Cornmeal Waffles with Peach Topping
- 3 peaches, sliced
- 2 Tbsps. honey
- 2 tsps. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. finely grated lemon rind
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup unbleached flour
- ¾ tsp. each baking soda and baking powder
- 2 Tbsps. raw cane sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup plain yoghurt
- 3 Tbsps. olive oil
First make the peach topping by combining the peaches, honey, lemon juice and rind and setting aside in a bowl for at least 30 minutes. For the waffles, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, yoghurt and oil. In another bowl, beat the egg whites at high speed, until stiff peaks form. Add the egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients an fold together with a few strokes of a large spatula, to make a lumpy batter. With the same spatula, fold in the egg whites but do not over mix. Heat a waffle iron and cook the waffles, 1/3 cup of batter at a time. You should have 8-10 waffles. Keep the waffles warm in a low oven until they are all cooked then serve topped with the peaches. Serves 2 for brinner 😊.