Hello Blog Friends!
Here we are already approaching the end of July, my goodness the summer goes so much faster than, say, February 😊.
Much of this week has focused on assisting the Junior Youth Camp staff as they prepare for camp taking place August 10th -17th .A while ago I had offered to make the nametags, as I did last year, but, not having heard any more about it, I thought they had perhaps taken another route. Nope, a text arrived last weekend asking if I was up for the task. Of course I said “yes” and there ensued a lot of “to-ing &fro-ing” as we established the correct names of everyone who will be staying on site. This includes Staff, Campers and Young Leaders and makes a grand total of upwards of 60 tags. EEK!!!
After coming up with a design in line with their 2024 Theme-“be the light” I created a template and printed off a number of sheets on which to write the names. Pippa (JYC co-director) will be laminating them and so the tags can be made on regular bond paper and not cover stock, which is just as well since I’m not sure if our somewhat temperamental printer will print on heavy weight paper😊.
As of Wednesday I was ready to begin writing the names on the tags. They are also colour coded-Staff- blue/Campers-red/YLs-green and, being me, I also wanted to add yellow highlighter “light” lines to the flashlight I designed to illustrate the theme 😊, so that added another layer to the process.
Of course Day Camps work also continues. Monday morning I sent off the 2 articles (and photos), by Chris and Jeff and Nicki, at the Synod Office acknowledged their safe arrival. As the deadline for content was yesterday, it was good to know she has them on file as she begins to assemble the September issue of our Diocesan Paper.
Also on Diocesan business, I spent several evenings and some weekend time finalising the section of the Diocesan Profile- the “Diocesan History Timeline” assigned for me to write. The deadline for that is August 1st so I was happy, Wednesday evening, to get it uploaded to the Search Committee’s Google Drive folder.
Every day I have been checking the online Signposts Evaluation form to see if any more responses have been entered. Parishes are free to submit a response from more than one person but most places just have the Day Camp Coordinator fill it out. Currently, there is only one outstanding form and I’m sure the conscientious coordinator will soon submit it 😊.
As my evenings have mostly been taken up with the Diocesan Timeline I haven’t been doing much in the way of craft work but I am getting along with the first of the third pair of fingerless gloves for my Christmas gifts stash.
When the sun is shining I can also be found, early in the morning (think 730am 😊) beavering away in the garden. The miserable attempt, made by the city workers, at seeding the areas torn up during the lead pipe work has so far only produced a few leggy grass stems and a bunch of tiny weeds, as most of the (inferior) seeds appear to have been eaten by pigeons, who are none too fussy about the quality of their food 😊. The flowerbeds (with the exception of the trampled sections) are looking quite pretty and we have had sufficient rain to keep them, mostly, from having the somewhat brown and crispy “late summer” look.
This morning I was out early, as usual, and am now busy with the Saturday Bake. Before I deal with the sourdough biscuits, let’s have our recipe 😊.
One hot night last week I remembered a recipe written for me, by a dear friend, on an index card, about thirty years ago. Kate, tragically, died in her mid-30s and I still often think so fondly of our friendship. Here is Kate’s-
Tuscan Salad
- 8 pitted black olives
- 8 pitted green olives
- 2 hardboiled eggs
- 4 green onions
- 2 cups cooked Navy Beans
- 1 6½oz. tin tuna
Chop first 4 ingredients and add to the beans, stir in the tuna.
Dressing:
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsps. apple cider vinegar
- pinch salt
- 6 Tbsps. olive oil
- chopped fresh herbs (eg. oregano, thyme, parsley, mint, cilantro)
Place all dressing ingredients in a small jar, close tightly and shake well. Toss with salad and chill well before serving. Serves 4