Hello Blog Friends!
This post is being published rather later than expected, as the house is currently in “Changing of the Decorations” mode, and so it is proving to be a very full day.
As mentioned in last week’s post, this large undertaking has had to be squashed into a shorter than usual timeframe due to a couple of lastminute visits from special friends. Fortunately, over the past couple of days, it was possible to do a few “behind the scenes” tasks, which has eased the burden, a bit. The goal is to break the back of it today and then, tomorrow afternoon, only have some lighter chores to complete between the various Sunday Services, none of which I want to miss, it being a major Feast Day!
Last Sunday was also very full with the usual Services as well as the 4pm Induction of a Priest friend. After the Induction, the friend who gave me this laptop had arranged to drive me home and come in to install Microsoft Office. It took him quite a while to set it up but, thankfully, he was successful and so, even though Monday was a statutory Holiday (Victoria Day) I still ended up finally finishing several jobs that had been on hold, while not being able to edit Word.
Since Tuesday, office work has seemed to be back on track, although, each day, I have been remembering more random files and documents that need to be updated, now that Microsoft Office is fully functional!
Wednesday morning, I got up super early and managed to mow the lawns before starting office work. Over the long weekend the job of making more craft samples. These were the “Travel Bags”, containing some simple items that a child, in 1st century Nazareth might have carried when making a trip, with family, to Bethlehem or Jerusalem. The first day of camp, the children make the burlap bags and then on each subsequent day, will learn to make another item to add. This year it had been my job to make all the Activities for the Creative Connection items (this portion of the program happens after lunch, each day and involves the three older age groups) and someone else had volunteered to do the Travel Bags, but they had trouble collecting the supplies and ended up having to back out ,so at the last minute it had fell to my lot to take over. Last weekend, all the material were assembled and, by Wednesday evening, the activities were made and all the photos had been taken. Thursday, the jpgs had to be resized and renamed, then folders of the files were uploaded into Google Drive. These particular activities were needed both for the “Classic” Day Camp package and also for the “Backyard” version so separate folders had to be created and accurately labelled, which took quite a while.
Another task on my list was to make a flier for the upcoming online Team Gathering. Yesterday, that was accomplished and a first round of “badgering” notices sent out. Mikaela, me assistant badger, is also on the case and we are hoping to round up a decent number of Alumni to join the Google Meet. As we are already past the middle of May, I’m am anxious to have the final components added to the Resource Packages. The PowerPoint slides are the key missing piece and were promised to be completed by “mid-May” so one hopes they will soon make an appearance!
There has been little time for “crafting” but the lightweight summer cardigan I was knitting for myself was cast off, sewn together and blocked and, last Monday, (Victoria Day) the hand sewing was finished on the Prom Dress I had been altering for Seren. Pippa (her Mum) came by that evening and picked it up and, by all accounts, Seren is happy with the alterations!
As there is still a LOT to accomplish, before day’s end, it is time to add a recipe and get back to unpacking Pentecost/Summer décor.
Here is a quick and tasty supper dish that I threw together on Thursday evening…
Spicy Asian Beef & Noodle Soup
- 1/3lb, ground beef
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp. chili flakes
- ½ tsp, each, turmeric and cumin
- 4 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup frozen peas
- ½ red pepper, julienned
- 4oz. Enoki mushrooms
Heat the oil and add the garlic, ginger and spices. Stir until fragrant, then add the beef, breaking it up into small pieces. Season with pepper and salt and sauté until it is no longer pink. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Once summering, stir in the peas, pepper and mushrooms, making sure to pull the mushrooms apart. Simmer for 5 minutes then ladle over the cooked ramen. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately. Make 2 generous servings.