Cooking in Summer

Summer is rapidly approaching, unless that week of very hot was it; in that case, fall is rapidly approaching! I think, though, that we'll get more summer soon enough.

I don't like cooking much in summer because my apartment gets hot quickly and cools off slowly, and turning the oven on is not helpful. I have the stovetop, microwave, toaster oven, and air fryer to help (the air fryer is new; it was a Christmas present). Still, I prefer not cooking much.

The normal plan is to have things cooked and ready to be heated up or added to salads or something simple like that. 

The challenge right now is that the freezer is full. Some of it is for the kids (frozen juice boxes and treats for Sunday School and parties; as a side note, the fridge has a case of pop for the kids as well). Some of it is about 20 cups of rhubarb, several small bags of partly cooked potatoes (to be spiced and thrown in the air fryer), and some of it is just stuff: bread, meat, large bags of frozen fruit, general stuff that can be found in the freezer. Also, I don't have a deep freeze in my apartment, just the fridge freezer.

So cooking ahead, beyond what is already done and in the freezer, is out for now. 

On the other hand, it's still cool enough to cook regularly. Today I made a stir fry for this week's lunches. It was beautiful: yellow bell peppers, orange carrots, red onion, green celery and tomatillos, and white mushrooms and chicken. I've been trying to eat vegetables regularly and I love the variety of taste and colour. Pretty food makes eating even more enjoyable.

For summer....well, we'll see. I tend to rely on salads, anything that can be cooked in the toaster over or air fryer (the benefit of living alone is that I only need to cook one serving at a time), and maybe more stir frys. Basically, easy and not too much extra heat in the apartment. 

Another Young Teacher

Another one of my former students has joined the ranks of Sunday School teachers. Officially, he's a helper as he was unsure about teaching this year. I spent the summer trying to recruit him (while the music leader was also trying to recruit him); I was sure, from teaching him, that he had the makings of a good teacher. He learns well, thinks well, and communicates well.

For most of the year, he's been taking care of the attendance chart, keeping score during quizzes, helping children find Scripture passages, and once or twice getting things started when I was called away to deal with various Sunday School issues.

In April, I brought up the final missionary lesson of the year. I gave him and the other helper the option of teaching it if they wanted to; otherwise, I would make it a homework lesson. My young helper said that he wanted to teach, and I was very pleased.

He taught this past Sunday and did an excellent job. He was clear, engaging, and linked ideas from the life of Adoniram Judson to what we've been studying. With more practice, he's going to be an excellent teacher.

That gives me 4 young men and 2 young ladies who were in my Sunday School class once upon a time and who are now involved in teaching Sunday School. I'm quite pleased that the next generation is stepping up. 

May

There were so many things I wanted to do in May, and instead I was tired and didn't accomplish as much. I did finish work reports and my professional growth plan and emails and all things work related, so that's nice.

The best part of May was one lovely Saturday when one of my former Sunday School students got married! It was a wonderful wedding and the bride was radiant. 

We finished women's ministry near the end of May. We're looking at doing renovations at the church, so there won't be regular Wednesday ministry next year (the renos are to the classroom area to add more room for students, but that means no childcare for the first part at least). It works nicely so we can all get a break. The leaders are planning some events -- maybe our regular fall/Christmas/spring teas. They will also be encouraging other people to do some practical sessions in baking, gardening, whatever they like. It will an interesting year.

The very end of the month was more painful. One of the men at the church, one who has been there for at least 15 years, passed away yesterday. He has had health issues for as long as I've known him, but things pretty much came to a head this spring. I'm happy for him; he's free from pain and illness, and he's with the Lord. I'm sad for the rest of us, and especially his wife and son.

So it was a mix of a month. 

Summer Already?

Spring seemed to take forever to get here. April was nice, then snowy, then nice, then snowy... Winter just kept coming back. Spring finally came at the end of April, but it still felt like forever before the leaves were out and the grass was green.

Now here we are, the end of May, and it's suddenly summer. The weather report keeps promising thunder storms this week, but none have made an appearance. Instead, it just keeps getting hotter and hotter. It feels more like July than May.

I don't enjoy +30 any more than I enjoy -30!

On the other hand, the trees are in leaf and the one by my building is in full bloom of beautiful pink flowers. My plants are growing. The birds are singing loudly. It seemed like almost overnight everything started to grow.

It won't be "summer" hot for long; the heat is set to drop a lot next week. Maybe the rain will finally come. I'll enjoy that.

Spring Fever

Spring fever has struck Sunday School!

The little ones have been excessively chatty. One wee girl who hadn't said a word to her teacher all year has suddenly found her voice and become rather voracious.

Many of them have become more forgetful and can't remember the lesson by the end of the hour. This is probably in part because of the constant interruptions from children who have something very important (and irrelevant) to say.

One young student took up whistling during the lesson. 

Even the older kids are affected. They seem to be forgetting how to think. We read a verse, ask them about the verse, and they have either forgotten what they just read or heard, give an answer that has nothing to do with the verse, or just read random words from the verse.

We spent the entire hour talking about glorifying God, and they took turns reading a verse (or a couple verses) followed by the question "How do we glorify God in this verse?" Many students answered some version of "worship Him" regardless of what the verse said and had to be prompted to look at the verse.

The 12th student read 1 Peter 4:10-11: "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

When asked how we glorify God in this passage, she did not say "worship Him". No, she tried "the manifold grace".

Three more weeks until we break for the summer. We can do this!

Garden Time!

It is spring, and getting warmer, and time to garden!

My garden is a row of planters on my balcony. It's smaller this year, although that may change if I get more soil for the other boxes (and the plants for them as well). 

I have a small pot of perennials. I grew them last year and left that lot to see if they would return this year. There are several seedlings that are growing well, so that answers that question.

Next is a box of Cosmos plants, grown from seed. They sprouted quickly and are growing well; I've already thinned them once. They likely won't bloom until August.

I have a long planter that I sowed with Pink Queen Spider Flowers that I got at a bridal shower last summer. They took longer than normal to sprout and I was about to give up and buy some plants when some seedlings appeared. Only I'm not sure if these are the seeds I planted (they're not all in the nice row I tried to plant) or some of the perennials from last summer. I mixed some of the old soil with the new, so you never know. Time will tell what's growing there.

The end of the row has a round bowl of tomato plants. They are also coming along nicely and just getting their second leaves. I'll have to thin them when they get a bit bigger.

Today I was shopping and purchased a small pot of purple Balloon flowers. They're pretty and already blooming. I like having some colour while I wait for the others to grow! Also, they're perennials, so they should keep coming back.

I quite like my little garden.

An Update

 Hello world (or as much of it as reads this)....

Why yes, I am still around and writing sometimes! I've just come out of my Very Busy time and spent some time catching up on things that were neglected over the past couple months. And it's finally time to get back to blogging again!

March was mostly meetings, meetings, and more meetings. Such is the life of a homeschool facilitator in the spring. I also started more work for a friend. She does websites and marketing stuff, and I'm learning to run reports for her. It's new and interesting work. It's also fun to tell people that I do tech work now, because no one sees me as a computer person!

The only other event was a baby shower for a wee bit of adorableness who appeared at the beginning on February. She's a sweet, lovely little thing, and growing rapidly. 

March also brought the very early arrival of another sweet baby. He's spent his life in the hospital, but is getting stronger and better and we're all pleased with how he's doing.

April was mostly meetings, meetings, and more meetings! And then, on May 1st, the meetings ended. April was also spring - then winter - then spring - then winter.... But now it's nice out, definitely spring, starting to be summer. 

There were two events in April: baptisms at the church, and a bridal shower for one of my former Sunday School students. I think I'm getting old; the children are all getting married!

Oh -- and one of my former students published a book in April! Miss A. Frose, When All Isn't Right in the World: Letters from Golden West Farm. While it is technically fiction, the stories are based on the real-life adventures of her family. You should go read it.

That's pretty much it. May is moving along rapidly. Every week I tell myself that I'm ready to get back on summer schedule, but there's always something that comes up. It's good though, and I'm starting to feel rested and ready to deal with all the summer stuff (starting in June).