Hello Blog Friends!
Easter is almost upon us, as we prepare to enter Holy Week. Needless to say, it has a been a VERY full week around here!
The week began with quite a long CTM Board meeting, last Sunday afternoon, so much for the day of rest! The Board has ,previously discussed meeting on a weeknight but it is virtually impossible to find a day that is mutually possible for everyone and so, by default, we continue to meet on Sunday afternoon. Of course, that always means that Monday morning my first task is to tackle the minutes, in order to send the draft off to our President, who approves them for circulation to all the members. This meeting was quite important, as it was the last one prior to the April 12th AGM. It actually took me until Thursday morning to get the draft sent off as there were a number of other items flagged, at the meeting, for me to take care of ASAP.
One of these was the sharing of the link to the AGM documents, which had to be sent to all the voting members. The Webmail (Office email) address, only allows an email to be sent to a maximum of about 25 recipients, which means I had to divide the voting members’ names into 2 separate emails. Making sure no one is left out is quite stressful!!!
By Tuesday, that, and a few other emails had been dealt with but Tuesday I also had a Diocesan Committee meeting, and the secretary for it was unable to attend, so I ended up with 11 more pages of notes to turn into another set of Minutes, EEK!! That work ended up over a couple of evenings as there was also urgent Day Camp work to first handle.
During the week, the Acceptance package for the Backyard program was assembled and, by Thursday, I was able to share the link with the Coordinator for that Day Camp.
Meanwhile, tons of messages have been flying back and forth because, in just a couple of hours we will launch the ZOOM link for our annual Alumni Lenten Mini Retreat. I think everything is in place for that. I have triple- checked the PowerPoint template, and all the other links, and fervently hope things will run smoothly. As I am still working off my very dodgy old laptop a so finally asked Guylaine to come to my rescue and “Present” the slides during the Retreat as, if I open more than one or 2 tabs on my desktop, the computer screen tends to go black and I have to wait a while before it will reboot, AGH!!.I am excited that the “new to me” replacement should be delivered very soon, but it was impossible to organise that and have it running totally smoothly, just a couple of days before the event, so it will probably arrive after Easter.
Wednesday evening, the laptop woes were particularly upsetting as, for those of us in the Anglican Church, Wednesday marked a very momentous occasion, when the first woman- Dame Sarah Mullaly was installed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. Because of the wonky computer, it was necessary for me to watch this 2hour-long Service on my mobile. I couldn’t watch it live, anyway, as, coming from the UK, it was starting at 11am EDT so I watched it in the evening instead. It was an extremely moving Service and even in included Liturgical Dance performed by members of the African Choir of Norfolk, which was amazing!!
I woke up Thursday morning to find the Master Copy of the 2026 Program Manual had been uploaded, by Jillian, to the Day Camp Drive. This was very good news and now, several Committee Members and a couple of other volunteers will, hopefully, be joining me in the task of proofreading the document. That afternoon I sent out a group “plea” for help and have already had 2 positive replies, woot! woot!
In my (ha ha) “spare” time I have managed to wrap all the completed Pysanky and also make a number of small bags in which to put some baked treats. Next weekend, it is hoped I can arrange to either deliver or have friends, pick up these small Easter gifts.
I also completed the sewing of a sweet summery dress for a little girl whose 7th birthday is coming up, in April. The next creative endeavour will be the birthday crown for my, soon to be, 11-yearold Godson. He wants it to include an appliqué of a pygmy hippopotamus, the things I find myself doing!!!
Due to today’s Retreat, I decided to have my Bake yesterday afternoon and so made a third batch of Hot Cross Buns (no I have NOT eaten all of them, there have been quite a few Lenten visitors), the regular GF Loaves, a Cardamon. Banana Loaf (new NYT Food App recipe) and a Breakfast custard, which I will have for my breakfast on a few mornings during the coming (Holy) Week.
But now I need to get this post wrapped up and clear the table to lay out supplies for Japanese Bookbinding, which may be happening during the Retreat (it’s an option for participants).
Despite more snowfalls during the past week, I am still stubbornly pushing towards spring and so shall leave you with a very tasty recipe for …
Spicy Tuna & Avocado Tostadas
- 2 tins wild caught tuna, drained a flaked
- 2 grated garlic cloves
- 1 lime, juiced (2Tbsps)
- ½tsp ground Chipotle
- 2Tbsps Mayonnaise, preferably homemade
- ½ cup cilantro leaves
- 1 large ripe avocado, chopped
- ½ small red onion, chopped
- 1 medium tomato, chopped (or 10 cherry, halved)
- 8 small corn tortillas
- Hot sauce for serving
In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic and Chipotle. Add the avocado, cilantro, onion, tomato and tuna. Fold gently together so things don’t get smooshed. Divide the mixture between 8 warmed tortillas and serve immediately. Serves 2, as a main course.