Hello Blog Friends!
Only one more week before the Feast of Pentecost and there has been plenty to keep me busy this week! In good news, we now have a confirmed Speaker for the July Alumni Team Gathering. Yay! Josiah Henderson is a former Team Member, Leader, Training Leader and Committee member. He is now an ordained priest and, as a curate in Ontario coordinated, for 3 summers, a Day Camp in the church where he served . Recently, returned to the Montreal area and we have hopes that he may be able to host a Day Camp in 2027, meanwhile we will get to (virtually!) say “Hello” to him as he speaks to us at the Team Gathering. I am still waiting to have full access to Microsoft Office, but really hope it will be installed tomorrow afternoon, after which I will immediately create a flier for the TG and share it with all the lists of alumni.
A fifth Day Camp for 2026 has been officially confirmed and there is one more pending, so it looks as if we will have 6 camps running this summer. Our hope had been for 10, but 6 is pretty good in a post-pandemic world.
Still waiting for the last set of creative activity samples.Thankfully, Thursday afternoon a message arrived from the person who is making them saying they couldn’t find the link I had sent with the instructions (EEK!), so a fresh copy was quickly shared and we soon should ,finally, have photos of the samples.
Tuesday afternoon, before heading down to Cathedral Place for the in-person Diocesan Council Meeting ,I waa able to have another phone chat with John, our new committee member, and he has confirmed that he is definitely planning to join us, starting at the June meeting. No word yet from the second person I approached, obviously, it will require a few more “Badger” Emojis to find out if they have yet made up their mind.
Outside of office time,Wednesday evening, Seren, for whom I an doing Prom Dress alterations came for a second fitting and gave me the go ahead to start doing the final stitching. This is a holiday weekend in Canada (Victoria Day) and Seren’s family is going to their country cabin so I now have until Monday evening to finish the handwork. Early in the week a parcel was delivered with a superfrontal I had agreed to repair for a church. The piece of strong canvas fabric, which holds it in place ,on the altar, is in very bad shape and needs replacing.I had hoped that at least some of the work could be done by machine, but in taking a closer look, everything is, sadly, too old and fragile. I had to call the lady who brought it and say that I felt it should really be retired from use. We had a good conversation and I have packed it back in the box and will be arranging to get it back to the church from which it came.
With Pentecost happening next weekend, big plans are in place to begin the Changing of the Decorations, however, some close friends who, a few months ago, moved to Ontario will be in the city for a few days next week in order to prepare their house her for sale. They have asked if they can visit next Thursday afternoon and then another friend who has a very complicated schedule and has just returned from a month in Europe, walking the Camino , asked if she could visit late next Friday, to share photos and stories with me. Somehow, the decorations will get changed and it is so much more important to make time to welcome special visitors.
All of which means i that, today, I need to do some extra baking!! Usually, it is possible to prepare the Bake on a Friday afternoon but yesterday was rather like a revolving restaurant door around here as Jillian and baby Clara came for morning coffee, my friend Barb for lunch, and the young Deacon whom I mentor, for supper, EEK!! Needless to say, it was out of the question to include Bake prep so, this morning, after a short garden whiffle I have launched into that task. I had really hoped to be able to make a Lemon Drizzle Cake for the Thursday visitors but this week’s fruit panier did not yield any fresh lemons so a different type of cake will need to be sourced, perhaps a Victoria Sponge. This is a Saturday when the GF loaves are on the list so they are a priority, along with shortbread and a batch of muesli. It is definitely time to get started so let’s finish off with a recipe! Last week I made a very tasty smoked salmon salad and thought it would be a good dish to share…
Smoked Salmon & Fusilli Salad
- 1cup fill fat plain yoghurt
- 8oz. fusilli pasta
- 8oz. smoked salmon, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1clove garlic, smashed and chopped
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2cups packed baby spinach or fresh sorel
- 1tsp. dried dill
- Coarsely ground black pepper
Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, drain, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water. Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, combine the yoghurt, lemon zest and juice, dill and garlic. Fold in the smoked salmon, green vegetable and pasta, adding some pasta water, if needed, to make a creamy dressing. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately. Serves 4