Hallelujah! Christ is Risen!
Hello Blog Friends! It has been another full week around here, as we pull together more components of the 2026 Program.
Donna has reported that the recording of the Liturgical Dance went well, and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of that video! She also took on one of the Scrambler Afternoon Program creative activities and used her church nursery class as “guinea pigs” in order to make the necessary, sample photos of the activity. Donna is a great person to take on that task as she is just about to graduate from university, with a B-Ed, having studied to be an Elementary School teacher. I’m looking forward to seeing those pics!
Early in the week, I realised that the Team Leader’s Folder did not include copies of the Scripture passages used for Small Group times. The two older groups of campers should all be able to read and not all communities can provide full Bibles for everyone, so it is good to include a copy of each passage that can be printed out, as needed.
Last Sunday, I was able to chat with Michelle (in the UK), and this week she is tackling the Registration Time, creative activity samples, so, hopefully, I will soon be able to add those photos to another of the Resource Package folders. We do have one church that is signed up for the Backyard Package and, although those campers do not participate in all the creative activities, there is a slot in which they make these ones, so the sample photos also need to be included in that package. It is good to know that this last group of sample photos can soon be added into the folders.
Tuesday, I hosted Archdeacon Linda to lunch. She is my predecessor as Day Camp Director and I served as her chauffeur and general “go-fer” during her tenure. Until recently, she and her husband lived just a few streets away but they have now moved to the next district of the city, so I do not see her as often. It was good to catch up and I presented her with a Pysanka, as I have done for many years. Once she left, it was back to proofreading the last bits of the Manual.
Wednesday, I did some serious recruiting of potential DC committee members. With Christopher off for at least a year, due to the arrival of their new baby, the committee has discussed a few possible candidates and I wanted to have at least spoken to all of them before our May meeting. Currently two people are praying about the possibility of joining. That day I also reached out to a former Team Member who now lives in Australia. Rachel, has previously expressed some interest in helping with content writing for the Program Manuals. She said she would have more availability from May-November to look at one of the chapters (this would be for 2027!!), and I’m really hoping she will be up for the challenge. That afternoon, I was contacted by the person who has very generously offered to give me their older laptop, as they have upgraded to a new one. I need to arrange with the Diocese, to see if they are still willing to offer a tax receipt to this person for the amount that Apple would have given them if the old model had been turned in.
Thursday morning, I opened my email top see the completed Program Manual file .Woot Woot!!!!!! Jillian had suggested I just take a last look at the Table of Contents, to make sure the pagination all matches up, so that morning, I went through double-checking the numbers and could not find any errors. I have uploaded the Master Copy to Drive, especially as I knew that, the following afternoon, my friend would be migrating the laptop over and I sure didn’t want to lose that precious file!!
Yesterday, afternoon, the “new to me” device was delivered and my friend insisted on setting up the migration. Just in case, I made sure to upload the draft of this post to WordPress and, if you are now reading it on Saturday, April 25th, you will know that all went well! Once the old and new computers were “talking” to each other, I was able to serve High Tea as a small “Thank You” gift to my generous friend. Fortunately, Thursday was also my bi-weekly grocery delivery, so I did have some extra ingredients, with which, at short notice, to pull together a special tea.
This week, outside office time, I printed out a pattern for a summer dress. For Christmas, a dear friend had given me a gift card for Tina Givens Patterns and, over the last few months, I spent time , popping onto the website, trying to decide what to buy! I finally made a decision. Another friend had recently brought over a couple of lengths of fabric, asking if I could use them, one of the pieces will be perfect for a summer dress, so now I just need to find the time to cut out the pieces and sew it all together!
Evenings, I have also made steady progress on knitting a lightweight cardigan. During the week, we have even had a few sprinklings of snow, so I guess I still have a couple of months before I will be wearing summer dresses and light cardigans!! There have been a few sightings of returning geese (YAY) and one morning I took a quick photo (see above) of a sweet Northern Junco, sitting right outside my back door, so exciting!
This morning, after a garden “whiffle”, it is time for the Saturday “Bake”. Being currently without yeast, it will be necessary to devote myself to making some tortillas, chocolate brownies and a batch of granola. Fortunately, during the coming week, Jillian and Clara will be visiting, so she will be picking up the yeast for me at her local Whole Foods shop.
Time to close off with our recipe! As the weather warms up (even just a bit!) I have been craving more fresh greens and salad dishes. Here is a tasty main course version…
Chicken, Quinoa & Corn Salad
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels
- ½ a red onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Chipotle powder
- 2Tbsps lime juice
- 1cup quinoa
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ¼cup full-fat yoghurt
- Curly red lettuce, washed and dried
- Sliced radishes and grated Parmesan, to garnish
Rinse the quinoa, several times, in cold water. Bring the broth to a boil, add the quinoa, cover and steam over low heat for 15 minutes, or until it is tender and the liquid is all absorbed. Fold in the corn kernels, remove from the heat and allow to cool, while making the dressing. Line a large, shallow salad bowl with lettuce leaves. In another large bowl, combine the onion, lime juice, yoghurt, and Chipotle powder, fold in the cooled quinoa and corn, and shredded chicken. Pile the mixture on top of the lettuce leaves and garnish with radish slices and finely grated Parmesan. Serves 4. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.