Hello Blog Friends!
How is your September going? Everyone with whom I come into contact seems to find “back to reality” after the summer, a bit intimidating . On our early walk ,this morning, I experienced the first real sign of autumn when my ears caught the honking of Canada Geese and I looked up to see a small flock directly above us, flying, quite low and heading resolutely south 😊.
Around here we are forging ahead with lots of plans for the autumn, as well as keeping an eye on work for the 2025 Day Camp Programs. Progress has been made on finding writers and editors for the different program components, although there are still a couple of gaps, which I hope to fill as soon as possible since it is important to give people plenty of time to work on their manual sections.
As of Wednesday, another alumnus has offered to lead a reflection for the Advent program, which is super, and yesterday I sent out a plea to about 15 potential “presenters” for Carols & Cocoa, as a first round of badgering. The Day Camp wheels are certainly turning.
Wednesday it was good to to combine business with pleasure when Donna and Miriam joined me for lunch to discuss worship music for the October 5th online Team Gathering. Being shameless (when it isn’t for me, personally, but for ministry 😊), I and asked Miriam if she would be willing to take on creating the PowerPoints for the 2025 program and Donna if she would take on the teaching and recording of the Liturgical Dance. Both young ladies said “YES!” so high-fives all round 😊.
Hunting has already begun for a suitable piece to choreograph for the Liturgical Dance and I’m toying with a South African Zulu song, found on You Tube. Previously, for the “On Fire!” program, we have used the song, “Seed to Sow”, from a CD with Michael W Smith and the African Children’s Choir, it is such a great song, but it is time to pick something else for the 2025 version. Watch fro a sneak peak link in an upcoming blog post 😊.
Outside of office hours, Tuesday was the in-person meeting of Diocesan Council. Thankfully, Thomason was not too appalling when Eli came to sit with him and the only casualty was a dried gourd, which he got hold of and eviscerated (still picking seeds out of the cracks in the hall floor, sigh😊. Eli sent me a super photo roll (a few of which are shown above), which helped in assuring that all was well on the home front! The meeting was looong!! We started with the Eucharist, next a light supper was served and then there was the business meeting. We were supposed to be out of the meeting space at 6pm (it started at 4pm) as another group needed to use it but only ended at about 620pm, by which time everyone was pretty stressed, including the group who were trying to start their meeting. AGH!!! Fortunately I was given a ride home by Day Camp alumnus, Robert, who also happens to be the Vicar General and was particularly grateful as my house is a bit out of his way home. At least rush hour was over so it only took us about 20 minutes from downtown and I squeaked in the door at 658pm, having promised to be back by 7 at the latest 😊.
No crafting time this week, although the 4th pair of fingerless gloves was completed, to add to the Christmas gift stash. It is also a daily priority to have early morning gardening time so that continues, as the garden slowly transitions into autumn mode. The potted chrysanthemums are rapidly coming into bloom and the bursts of burgundy and rust outside the front and side doors are very cheerful. The 30-stem Challenge also continues and I hope to keep making them until the snow forces me to put away the secateurs.
This morning , rather sadly, it seemed time to exchange the kitchen door screen for the window glass as we have already had several mornings when the temperature has dipped to +9ºC, which is pretty chilly. The furnace is NEVER turned on until Thanksgiving Weekend, so it is prudent to conserve heat where possible 😊.
The Saturday Bake is currently underway, with crusty sourdough rolls, apple crisp, banana chocolate chip cookies and digestive biscuits on the agenda. Soon the oven timer will be ringing, so we had better get our recipe typed in 😊.
The young ladies really enjoyed the Curried Chicken & Rice Salad we had at Wednesday’s luncheon and I happily ate the leftovers for dinner the next evening.
Curried Chicken & Rice Salad
- 1½ cups white Basmati rice
- 1 Tbsp. finely grated gingerroot
- 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
- 1 cup cooked French green beans
- 1 red pepper, diced
- ½ cup sultanas
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- ½ cup mayonnaise (preferably homemade)
- 3 Tbsps. whipping cream
- 2 tsps. curry powder
- 1 leaf lettuce
- ½ cup each toasted coconut and peanuts
Combine the rice and grated ginger with 3 cups of water and cook until tender. Transfer to a large bowl and cool. Once the rice has cooled, add the chicken, green beans, red pepper, sultanas and green onions then toss well with a wide spatula. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, cream and curry powder. Pour this over the rice mixture and toss again. Line a serving bowl with lettuce leaves and fill with the salad. Serve accompanied with small bowls of coconut and peanuts, for toppings. Serves 4-6, generously.