As I was working on a thankless job of cleaning the eight elements of the two stoves in the kitchen, [such tasks are good to teach us humility] I glanced out the window and saw a couple of people walking around the monastery grounds. As soon as I had finished, I invited them in and then spent the next two hours visiting with them.. They are on their way to Vancouver Island and decided to drop in to see us. What a delightful time I had with them, potential converts to Orthodoxy from Calgary. At supper Kirill tried to tempt us with an array of forbidden dishes, delicious yes, but very fattening, so we had to refuse a few of them. Vladika Lazar and Andy have set up a scheme to eliminate the wild blackberry bushes that are taking over the area behind the buildings. Although their berries are delicious they nevertheless grow rampantly and are covered with tough thorns that can cause much pain. In fact, they can grow several inches in a single day, so you can imagine what a huge task it will be to eradicate at least some of them. As I was working on a thankless job of cleaning the eight elements of the two stoves in the kitchen, [such tasks are good to teach us humility] I glanced out the window and saw a couple of people walking around the monastery grounds. As soon as I had finished, I invited them in and then spent the next two hours visiting with them.. They are on their way to Vancouver Island and decided to drop in to see us. What a delightful time I had with them, potential converts to Orthodoxy from Calgary. At supper Kirill tried to tempt us with an array of forbidden dishes, delicious yes, but very fattening, so we had to refuse a few of them. Vladika Lazar and Andy have set up a scheme to eliminate the wild blackberry bushes that are taking over the area behind the buildings. Although their berries are delicious they nevertheless grow rampantly and are covered with tough thorns that can cause much pain. In fact, they can grow several inches in a single day, so you can imagine what a huge task it will be to eradicate at least some of them.