Hello Blog Friends!
This blog post is likely to be a bit disjointed as I’m having to start it mid- week since, from Thursday to Saturday, I will be caught up in the rigours of the Conference Synod 😊.
As our monthly Day Camp committee meeting will be happening this evening, I spent a bit of time Monday and yesterday prepping some last minute agenda items (sadly not about additional host communities). One bright note was that Wentworth Brookes has agreed to be the speaker at our summer online Team Gathering, coming up on July 6th. I also heard from Sebastian Bailey, whom I had approached to speak without knowing he is currently living in Germany, where the time difference would preclude his speaking at an event starting at 7pm in Canada! However, he has generously offered to record a greeting and a song (he is a professional saxophonist), which we will play during the TG. It has been such a blessing to see the ways in which the Team Alumni have built community, firstly due to the pandemic but latterly in post-pandemic times. Bridging the “generations” amongst Alumni could be challenging but the common experience of being on the travelling teams has created a strong bond that, quite surprisingly, glues us all together 😊.
There has also been some prep work to do for this coming Sunday’s Board meeting. Unfortunately our Treasurer has a conflict, as he is helping lead a church youth retreat this weekend and so will not be able to attend. He rarely misses a meeting and we so value his regular updates on finances. He has sent around some notes to all the board members and I will incorporate them in the meeting minutes. Due to the fact that all of us are very busy with summer ministries, the Board will not meet again until September.
Thursday- To add to the “disjointedness” of writing this post, the water in my house has been turned off by the city from 7 am-4pm today, so that work can continue on replacing old lead water pipes. Additionally, on the other side of the house, a city crew is radically pruning the two large old maple trees, which means that my flowerbeds and driveway are all covered with a thick layer of sawdust and large branches have squashed a number of my perennials. To top it off, there are supposed to be thunderstorms later in the day so there will be no way I can get out to survey the damage.
As mentioned earlier, Synod starts with a Cathedral Eucharist this evening. I had tried to arrange a lift down with an acquaintance who lives in NDG but it fell through and now the Bishop’s husband is coming to get me (no doubt during a thunderstorm EEK! It feels a bit like Armageddon around here this morning and understandably, Thomason is extremely stressed as large branches thud to the ground all around the house. I decided to make a cup of coffee (yes, last evening, I filled plenty of vessels with fresh water 😊) and sat down in my usual “workstation” spot in the living room. Thomason gratefully lay down at my feet and BAM a large branch fell onto the porch just outside where I was sitting!! Of course, the coffee flew everywhere as Thomason leapt up barking, certainly not a very restful morning. Sigh.
Last night’s committee meeting was a bit smaller the usual as two members had sent regrets. We gloomily recapped the aborted Kick-Off event and each member was given time to share their thoughts around the future of Day Camps post-2024. Our July meeting will be devoted, exclusively, to strategising future goals and plans and I hope that a few former committee members might be able to join us for the conversation. Things are looking pretty bleak at present and it is very hard to discern the best way forward.
Friday Morning- This bit of the post comes to you from the floor of Diocesan Synod. At the moment the delegates are sitting at round tables in the World Café format. They have an opportunity to respond to questions under the theme of”Visions/Priorities”.Our diocese is entering a season of transition as our bishop has recenlt announce her retirement in 2025. During the ensuing 18 months we will elect a Coadjutor bishop who will ultimately succeed her as Diocesan Bishop in the autumn of 2025. I will be leaving at the lunch break so that my friend, who is dog sitting, can take the afternoon to do other things, including visiting his grandfather’s grave, while in Montreal. I plan an afternoon of intensive meal prep for dinner tonight through to dinner tomorrow, as well as walking Thomason and maybe even a bit of garden work!
Saturday Noon- Coming to you from lunch break at Synod. I just went into the kitchen to retrieve my lunch from the fridge and found the President of CTM- Chris Belle, heating up his lunch in the microwave. We commiserated over the fact that, tomorrow, we have to face the Board meeting, after 3 days of Synod meetings.AGH!
Thursday evening, before heading down to the opening Eucharist, I made these Bowls, one for myself and one for my dog sitter, Timothy, we both enjoyed them and I’m super happy there was enough left over for me to have another one when I totter in the door, after Synod has wrapped up. Do try the recipe 😊.
Banh Mi Bowls
For the pork:
- 1lb. boneless pork
- ¼ tsp. each sea salt, and ground black pepper
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 tsp. chile flakes
- ¼ cup Tamari
- 1Tbsp. brown sugar
- For the pickled carrot and radish:
- 6 Tbsps. apple cider vinegar
- 4 Tbsps. raw cane sugar
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
- For the bowls:
- 3 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup thinly sliced English cucumber 1 small jalapeno
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
Season the pork with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker. Combine Tamari, garlic, brown sugar and ¼ cup water and pour over the pork. Cook on low for 5-6 hours until very tender. Meanwhile, cook the brown rice and set aside to cool, thn make the pickled carrot and radish by stirring together the vinegar, sugar and water in a glass bowl and tossing the vegetables in the mixture. Refrigerate until ready to assemble the bowls. Once the pork is cooked, remove it from the liquid and shred the meat. Pour the resulting sauce into a small jug.
To assemble the bowls: – divide the rice evenly into 4 serving bowls. Arrange vegetables and meat, decoratively, in sections over the rice. For serving, pass the jug of sauce.