Today was another adventure at the monastery. I decided to do a bit of research on the sewing machine I inherited from Vladika Valaam. It is a bit old but one of the last made with all metal parts, no plastic. He knew how to use it and used it a lot but it seems that I lack the special skill needed to make it run properly. As a result, I went on line and found a site that exhibits, in pdf format, the original user manual. This means that for the next few days, I am going to read and study the manual and then practice using the machine. Some things that needed immediate repair, such as loose buttons or small tears, I was able to sew by hand but there are some items that would be well repaired through use of a handy sewing machine.
The second adventure was a culinary one. I love instant oatmeal so today decided to make a large bowl of oatmeal but added to it creamy peanut butter. With the cooking lessons I had received long ago from Mikhail Martynenko, my courage in the kitchen has improved and so now it is not quite so frightening to do a bit of experimenting. Any way, as a result of this, there was a delicious and nutritious bowl of oatmeal which made a wonderful meal, along with a large and sweet orange, and all of it washed down with a large glass of Inka. With this kind of “cooking courage” who knows what kind of interesting dishes might occur in the future?!