Our dedicated kitchen helper, Amalia, retired on the end of last month and on June 29th we had a party for her. Denver Slagel and I made her this wood planter. He made the box and I did the staining and engraving. Too bad I don't have a picture of the finished product.
Here is the cake from the party!
I also started some sewing with this sweet girl. I plan to teach a sewing class later this month, but she was leaving on vacation during that time, so we found time to do it the last week of June.
We laid out the design.
And sewed it together. It took three 30-60 min. sessions to get to this point. Then I passed it off to Kate Ramsier (summer volunteer) to finish it with her. It's going to be a small patchwork pillow.
On Monday the 28th, I helped Adam Kaeb do a scavenger hunt with the kids. We got sprinkled on! Exciting!
Tuesday we had our first big rain and it's been raining ever since! An answer to prayer.
Yesterday, I whipped up some Jamaica right before lunch. And decided this looked rather picturesque.
Jamaica Recipe
Pour a quantity of Jamaica leaves in a saucepan/pot (the more leaves, the more jamaica!). Let it come to a boil. Strain the juice out and add LOTS of sugar. LOTS! Rinse the leaves and strain again. Add more water and ice.
Of the typical "waters" around here, lemonade, horchata, etc, jamaica is definitely the easiest to make.
Right now, I'm sitting at the Tucson airport with Nicole Knobloch, getting ready to fly to Illinois for the Proclaim and Serve conference this Saturday. Our 7:00 AM flight through Dallas, TX got cancelled, so now we got a 7:30 AM flight through LA and Chicago arriving around 8:15 PM in Peoria versus three in the afternoon.
Appreciate your prayers for my trip! I'm especially excited, Lord willing, to spend time with my nephew and siblings, visit with my mentor Bonnie Dotterer, see the Leman family including Tadeo, and attend a family reunion, all in addition to the conference. I fly back to Arizona next Tuesday.
