New Year Bottle Drive

This blog is supposed to be about my training and fund raising adventures and so it's probably about time that I get you all caught up on things!

Fund raising is clicking along, albeit a little slower than I had hoped. Personal events of the past few months have thrown me off my game, but there's nothing like a new year approaching like a freight train to get you re-focused!

I have my third Bottle Drive scheduled for the 5th of January and this has been a fun way to fund raise and train at the same time. I deliver a flier to the mailbox of about 500 homes in the little pocket of Markham that I live in, announcing the date of the bottle drive. On the day of the drive, I go door to door and pick up boxes of empty wine, liquor and beer bottles that are then sorted and returned to the local Beer Store for refund. I follow up the Bottle Drive with a second flier that gives me a chance to thank my neighbours for their contributions and to bring them up to date on my fund raising campaign. This flier also gives me the opportunity to spread the word about arthritis and the work being done by the Arthritis Society.

Delivering the fliers takes about 6 hours of steady walking which falls nicely into my training plans. I now have an amazing appreciation for Canada Post mail men/women and many new ideas for redesigning my front garden! There are some very beautifully designed gardens and front walkways in my neighbourhood.

These bottle drives have also given me a wonderful opportunity to meet many of my neighbours that I wouldn't have had the chance to in the past. We are all probably quite familiar with the people who live next door to us or within a few doors of us, but thanks to our busy lives that is just about as far as the circle goes. Thanks to walking door to door in good weather and bad, I have met a wonderful group of people who have come to know me as "that lady that's walking to Everest", or "that Bottle Lady". Several of them even joke that they are "drinking for Arthritis"! All of their comments, words of encouragement, (along with their contributions of course!) make the whole effort seem to be more of a team effort. I now feel like I am training and fund raising with the support of a great group of people that have become in a way my Everest training team.

So I'm sending out a great big "Happy New Year!" to everyone and a special thank you to all who put aside their empties in support of the Arthritis Society's Joints in Motion Training Team Everest 2010 Trek!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and best wishes to you all for the New Year and beyond!

In memory of my Mother and as a little gift to everyone I would like to share her Christmas cake recipe. Now, I know that in the world of Christmas fruit cakes there are basically 2 camps; those that love them and those that hate them. So even if you absolutely hate them you may have a friend who loves them and you can bake this up as a gift for them next Christmas.

A word about Christmas cake traditions ... my Mother, Mary was Welsh and it was her tradition to bake this cake in early November. We would all take a turn stirring the batter and making a wish as we stirred. The cake was then slowly baked and the warm aromatic scent of Christmas slowly filled the house. When the cake was done it was anointed with liberal doses of sherry or port and then lovingly wrapped in cheese cloth, waxed paper and then finally put in a tin and placed in the linen cupboard to await Christmas. In later years when we were scattered across Canada with our own families, Mom would bake 7 of these cakes and mail one to each of us, keeping one for my Father, herself and any lucky visitor.

So here is the recipe ... enjoy!

Cacen Nadolig (Christmas Cake)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sultanas
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup currants
• 1/2 cup glazed cherries (or dried cherries if you hate those nasty little green and red things!)
• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• brandy, port, sherry, rum or whatever your preference.

1. Soak fruit in alcohol of choice for 24 hours.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Beat eggs and add slowly, beating after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, sift all dry ingredients together and add grated lemon rind.
5. Add flour mixture to soaked fruit.
6. Fold the flour and fruit mixture into the creamed mixture.
7. Add milk a tablespoon at a time until the batter falls easily from the spoon.
8. Grease a 9" spring form cake tin and line the bottom and sides with greaseproof (parchment) paper so that the paper comes about 3" above the sides of the tin. Regrease the paper.
9. Turn the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spread evenly and make a slight dip in the middle.
10. Bake on the bottom shelf of a cool oven (300 deg. F) for about 3 1/2 hours, until the cake is a rich brown and firm to the touch.
11. Allow to cool in the tin and then turn out.
12. Prick the cake all over and pour the alcohol over the cake.
13. Store in cheese cloth or greaseproof paper and then in an airtight tin.
    

Heading to Edmonton

My mother passed away on Monday morning from pneumonia; a common complication of late-stage Alzheimer's disease. I will be joining the rest of my family in Edmonton this weekend to celebrate my mother's life and to honour her memory.

To be quite frank, her death has left me feeling disoriented and empty hearted. She was the stabilizing force in my life and even though we lived thousands of miles apart for the past 18 years she was always there; just beyond my fears and doubts, cheering me on when I needed the support and calmly reminding me that no matter what was thrown my way, I could handle it. She had an elegance and personal strength that gently shone on anyone fortunate enough to know her. A gentle sense of humour, coupled with the patience of a saint and a blindingly bright intelligence.

I miss her and honour her with every breath I take.

I love you Mom.