Moving on

Ajahn Go leaning on his newly completed meditation garden wall.

Our Kitchen Manager developed strong feelings of fondness for Italy (as you might have noticed) to the extent that he plans to move there. Meanwhile he has already moved on from the monastery. His service to the monastery is greatly appreciated and we wish him every happiness for whatever lies ahead. Buona fortuna .

As he would say, the kitchen needs continue and this is what would be very much welcomed at Kathina.

• long-life semi-skimmed milk
• long-life whole milk
• dried skimmed milk powder
• soya-milk
• sea-salt
• honey
• eggs

And non-food items

• high-value stamps (£1 and above)
• ear plugs
• long shrine matches
• ecover cleaning materials
• toilet rolls
• 100 gsm A4 white paper
• man-sized tissues
• jay cloths
  

Friary Flapjacks

Whilst England dominated the sport scene last weekend, Sri Lanka held sway in the monastery. Venerable Bhante Dhammavihara, who was with us Friday through Monday, drew a significant crowd of his fellow countrymen and women here for the meal offering on the Saturday. In the kitchen, that meant less cooking for Anagarika David, Seb and I, and clear proof of why the French are surpassed at Potato Dauphinoise, as well as rugby.

...On the other hand they probably make better crepes than anyone else. Certainly better than the Teflon-coated ones I trialled on Tuesday. Luckily, Wednesday came, and saw us back in safe hands with our regulars Sompong and Hall. They unfailingly bring the sunshine with them. Very welcome too – since many in the community these last days have been struggling to fend off the lurgy. That means we're down on Vitamin C powder and paracetamol, and whilst the honey stocks are too large to be noticeably dinted and on Saturday we received a trailer-load of medicinal firewood, we're nevertheless running short on lemons. That's a rare thing. Enough to give the kitchen manager the jitters. And so, yesterday, mid-afternoon, it was nice to receive a box of comforting Franciscan flapjacks, from a fellow friar on a flying foray to the forest sangha. Here's hoping that David serves one or two today as he prepares the midday meal. If not and you'll soon be making a Harnham foray of your own, perhaps you could help settle my nerves with the following offering. They would be gratefully recieved by all:

• lemons

Whilst at the stores Ajahn Go might appreciate:

• high value stamps: £1 and above

• brasso
• man-size tissues
• large non-stick frying pan for non-stick pancakes
  

Kartoffelpuffers

If the blogmaster's not yet firing on all cylinders, he soon will be with the arrival of that motorbike. Meanwhile, other aspects of the repatriation process take precedence: kitchen duties extending beyond sidewalk latte, cultivating the upper body strength necessary for preparing polenta, not just eating it; wondering what to do with the sunglasses. Actually, that last point isn't true. It's also been glorious here these last days. Something I attribute to the recent influx of Scottish raiders who tell me they've been having an Indian summer north of the border. Amongst them, Martin and Jane, our Perthshire stonemason and ?stonemasonette who've been setting beautifully grained capping stones on the walls outside the guesthouse.

Less refined and lower down, but with the speed and clean lines of an Italian motor, Ajahn Go has been building breeze block boundaries. While even less refined and lower down still, our new caretaker Kosta (also likes coffee), has been making tracings so we can get the right size of toilet seats in the guest house.

Which brings us to Sebastian; the latest German arrival and anagarika-in-the-making, who today is in the kitchen. With Ajahn Munindo heading off to the Leeds group, he's got free rein to skip the rice if he wishes. Maybe –like Ajahn Abhinando’s mother Renate who was here recently- he'll make some kartoffelpuffers instead. Something for which we have all the necessary ingredients. Therefore, the following alternative items would be gratefully recieved:

• tomatoes
• sunflower oil
• bouillon powder
• sea salt

Whilst in the stores our Italian motor would appreciate the following:

• wood for wood-burning stoves
• high value stamps (£1 and above)
• earplugs (for sleep not work)
• wood/bark chippings

Thanks also but we've plenty of olive oil and onions, juice and toothbrushes, towels and coffee, spices and biscuits, cake and honey.