facebook page

Here's the link to  my facebook page . I don't really know what I'm doing with it yet, so be kind when you go there.  I hope you'll "like" it!! Even if there isn't really anything there to like or dislike.  Unlike??

Category # 2 Friends & Families

Today I'll start with tag "b", kids' activities.  It sort of overlaps a bit with tag "c", volunteering with kids sometimes, but not today.  How about a simple recipe?  This one is for after Halloween:  Pumpkin Soup. 
One child with the help of one adult can do most of the preparation, but if there are 2 or 3 children, the tasks can be divided among them.
Take a pumpkin that had the face painted on, not carved--or the contents of a jack-o-lantern that was scooped out before the candle went in.  Either way, you need fresh pumpkin flesh.  The adult gets it started:  Cook the pumpkin.  If it's still in its shell, an adult can cut off the top and scoop out all the seeds, and bake it in the oven at 375 degrees (fahrenheit) for between 30 to 45 minutes depending on the size of the pumpkin. The child (or Kid #1) can plop the pulp into a big pot, about 2 cups of pulp.  Then, Kid #2 should add 3 cups of milk, about a quarter teaspoonful each of ginger and cinnamon, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar (or 2 tablespoons of white sugar), and 2 tablespoons of butter.  Kid #3 uses a potato masher to mush it all together.  The adult has to supervise the cooking of the soup, because it should just be brought to the boil and not actually boil.  Kids can take turns stirring, though.  Big kids, with adult supervision, can pull out stray seeds or stringy pulp using a big spoon.  You can serve it right away, or put it in the fridge and heat it in the microwave later.  It'll smell like pumpkin pie, and taste a bit like it too.  (If you don't have fresh pumpkin, you can use canned pumpkin without having to do any cooking before you heat up the soup.)

category #1 Faith & Franciscans

It's Sunday evening, and it seems appropriate to start this new style of blogging with category #1, tag "a".  As that would be the first part of my Rule, then it's Eucharist.  Today I did something quite unAnglican: I took communion twice.  I guess it's all right, though, because it was two different communities.  An Anglican priest once told me that it was okay as long as the two communities were distinct.  So, this morning it was with the regular congregation of the Cathedral, my new parish.  Then this afternoon, although it was again in the Cathedral, and many of the people were the same as in the morning, most of the people were from other parishes.  It was an induction ceremony for the Order of New Westminster, a new honour that the Anglican Church in this diocese can bestow on extraordinary people who have given outstanding service to the Church and Community.  Several of the honorees were in their nineties!  I knew about half a dozen of them, out of a total of 45 people. 
Some of you will remember that I left my previous parish at the end of August for very painful reasons.  Now I have to say that the Cathedral is the best possible cushion to land on.  The services are all beautiful, the music is uplifting, the surroundings are bright and cheerful, and the people are very welcoming and friendly.  It doesn't get any better than this.

Category #4 and its tags

Category 4 "Fact & Fiction" is more about my writing.  Tags include: a) story outlines; b) character back-stories; c) settings; d) biographies; e) history and geography; f) bibliographies & other references; g) markets; h) book reviews.  This could even be two categories, with f, g & h being tags in the fifth category.

Major category #2 & 3 and their tags

Category #2 is Family & Friends.  The tags would include a) travel, languages & culture notes; b) Kids' activities: observation, growing things, cooking; c) school visits & volunteering with kids. 
Category #3 is Fire and Flood:  This would be research notes about the Vancouver fire, also London 1666 and Chicago whenever, and California every year; & forest fires; also floods like Noah's Ark, Nile Delta, other floods both good and bad; d) other natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsumamis, volcanoes, etc.  and e) First Aid; Red Cross/Crescent; St. John's Ambulance, etc.

Major category #1 and its tags

At the web presence workshop on Thursday night, we worked on categories and tags.  I thought I'd work on four categories and give each one some tags.  I'm not entirely sure what that is supposed to look like on a blog, and blogging was the topic of this part of the workshop.  I may need a whole new blog to do this right.  For now, I'll just make notes as I usually do.  I can straighten it all up later.  Something like the way I do (or don't do) housework!
Okay:  Category #1 = Faith & Franciscans; tags would follow my Franciscan Rule of Life, most likely.  There are 9 headings in the Rule: Eucharist, Personal Prayer, Penitence, Retreat, Simplicity, Self-denial, Work, Study & Obedience.  If I blog in one section of one category each day, it should work out that I'm not always blogging on the same topic.  It's supposed to be a fifteen-minute effort per day.  We'll see.  For now, I'll add what the other categories are, and suggest what tags there might be in each.

twitter

I've tried.  I know I have an account because people are "following" me on twitter.  But I can't get in.  I have no idea what this thing is for.  Lots of people use it, so I guess it must have some value, but whatever value it has eludes me altogether. I guess I just won't tweet.