Hello Blog Friends!
It is hard to believe that we have already come to the last weekend in May and that summer is truly upon us.
Last weekend saw the completion of the “Changing of the Decorations”. Saturday, proved to be a real marathon, as with the Feast of Pentecost on Sunday, it was super important to have most of the house sorted so that I could truly participate in all the special Services. Sunday morning, after our little Pod gathering and before logging onto the Festal Eucharist at Canterbury, I did complete more of the decorations, arranging baskets and bowls of sea shells and unpacking the main set of summer china. That afternoon, I blessed each room with Holy Water and then took the photos, seen above.
Monday, with a fresh “canvas” surrounding me, to work on, I returned to regular “programming”, preparing documents for the June DC committee meeting, taking place this coming Wednesday, and designing a flier for the July 3rd Summer Team Gathering. Of course, there are also bits of office work to attend to with daily banking and lots of emails as the churches hosting Day Camps are all gearing up and some are beginning to send in various questions.
The only parts of the Programs still missing are the slide presentations. We had hoped to share them by mid-May, but there was death in the family of the young person who is designing the slides and so we have to give her some space and hope things will soon be back on track. All but one of the camps are not taking place until July or August but the first one starts on June 22nd so it is important to, soon, provide that community with every program component!
By Thursday morning, the TG flier had been shared on Social Media and now I just need to keep badgering until the alumni begin to sign up for the event!
When it has not been raining, every morning has included an early hour in the garden. Over the next few weeks, the Maple trees shed their “keys”, the clearing up of which requires a lot of intensive sweeping and raking. If left on the ground ,each key contains a seed and soon, if not promptly collected, hundreds of tiny trees will invade the lawns and flower beds, EEK! There has been a bit more time for handwork, now that the house is in order and a little sewing has been done. I made a summer skirt from a very pretty piece of fabric a friend had recently given me and hope to wear it on the day of the upcoming Synod as it is always nice to wear something new when facing an arduous day of extensive minute-taking! There is also a little boy about to celebrate his fifth birthday and, I have always made him a small gift so, this year, I decided to sew a small collection of bowties, as there are few things cuter than a small boy in a bowtie; one hopes he can be persuaded to wear them! Next week, I shall be launching into crafting a Birthday Crown as Amelia (daughter of my dear friend, Jillian) will be turning three at the beginning of July. Around that date, their extended family is going on vacation to the Maritimes so I want to make sure the crown is ready ahead of time.
This morning , after a severe thunderstorm last evening, itI took almost 3 hours to clean up the garden! rand then starrt the Bake . Mae Anne was supposed to be coming, for her monthly lunch visit, but has needed to postpone to next Saturday, so, after the baking, the plan is to get on with still more sewing, which has, in recent weeks, been backing up.
As Canada has just celebrated the Victoria Day holiday, I recently made a Victoria Sponge for some of my Teatime visitors. It is a lovely, early summer, treat and really quite easy make, do give it a ‘go”!
Victoria Sponge Cake
- 12 Tbsps. unsalted butter
- 1 ⅓ cups/166 grams all-purpose flour
- 3¼ tsps. baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¾ cups plus 2 Tbsps. raw cane sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 Tbsps. whole milk
- ½ cup raspberry jam
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 Tbsp. icing sugar
Grease and line two 8” cake pans with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in milk, scraping down sides of the bowl. Mix in flour mixture until combined, then divide batter between the two pans. Bake at 350°F, until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.
Place one layer on a serving plate and spread jam on top. Whip cream and icing sugar until it holds stiff peaks. Pile half the cream on top of jam, then top with remaining cake. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately, with the extra whipped cream on the side. Serves 6-8.