Another thaw, but winter's not over

Forecast said rain later; I set off for my walk and encountered only fog. As dusk began to fall, the fog was beginning to burn off. The atmosphere, the klimat, of today's walk was quite magick. But the walking wasn't easy; deep snow, treacherous ice. Shorter steps, harder work; but the rare vistas made it worth while.

Below: by the time I reached ulica Spokojna, leading from Chynów to Piekut, the fog had thickened to the point where horizons disappeared. 

Below: barn, Węszelówka. Very hard going around here, no human footprints to follow through the soft, deep snow, criss-crossed with wild animal tracks.

Below: at the edge of Gaj Żelechowski. Note the red-brick wayside shrine. Turn left for Widok.

Below: fields west of the (as yet unasphalted) road from Machcin II to Dąbrowa Duża. Winter weather has halted work here and on the pavement by the station, but in the meanwhile – marvellous atmosphere as the sun begins to break through.

Below: I cross the main road from Jakubowizna towards Machcin as it runs through Adamów Rososki. Jakubowizna on the horizon is engulfed in fog. This was the only stretch on my walk in which asphalt is fully visible; it has been ploughed and salted. Driving on roads in this condition is not good for a car's undersides, which is why I'll not be using the car until the snow's finally gone.

Below: late in the day, the sun starts to break through the mist. I follow the trail made by countless wild animals (mostly wild boar and deer).

Below: cottage on the edge of Jakubowizna. To the left, an abandoned cherry orchard that has gone to biennial bearing; this year should be a good one.

Left: out of the orchards and scrub, into the old Lasy Państwowe plantation. 

Many trees still bear the 'LP' logo sprayed on their bark, indicating that they had been earmarked for felling; fortunately the 2024 elections spared the trees by replacing the state forestry operator's management – a bunch of party-politically motivated and rapacious exploiters of natural resources – with more sustainability-minded people.

Below: I follow deer tracks, expecting to see more. In through the young plantation, taking me on a route I had not taken before.

Below: back to the familiar; heading out of the woods the usual way.

Below: a few minutes after sunset, a few hundred paces from home.

Paces walked today: over 15,000. But much harder work than over snow-free terrain! The current thaw will last until Saturday morning, not enough for a total melt-down; and then the frosts will return, accompanied by more snow. 

Bonus photo: a 6Dg (modernised SM42) shunting loco in Railpolonia livery running light approaches the level crossing on ul. Wolska, Chynów. Most likely headed to Radom, its movement scheduled around passenger timetables.

This time last year:
Machcin's wetlands icy but dry

This time two years ago:
Right-of-way cobble
[a victory for local pedestrians!]

This time four years ago:
Sunshine, I need the sunshine

This time nine years ago:
Consciousness outside the body

This time 12 years ago:
Sustainability and the feminisation of business

This time 13 years ago:
Lent kicks off (somewhat earlier than this year)

This time 14 years ago:
Feeling at home on the ice

This time 15 years ago:
Wetlands in (a milder) winter

This time 18 years ago:
Railway miscellany

Beautiful wintery Chynów

The clouds rolled away, the frost came back, the sun shone on the snow. Beautiful. Scrapper's on the mend but still in the house; his brothers are continuing to show solidarity by staying in at home with him. So only Céleste and Wenusia (below) want to step out with me and go for a walk in the forest next door. Here we are in the front garden.

The forest next door. My cats see this very much as their territory. We have our routine here; to the fallen log, then onto a stump close to the fence between my garden and the forest, and then back home.

Below: Céleste and Wenusia on their way back, following me home from the forest.

The cats all in the house, I set off to the other end of Chynów, to do some shopping at the Dino supermarket opened in 2022. I've not been here for a long while, but good to see a wider range of products on offer, reflecting increasingly sophisticated consumer tastes in rural Poland. Across the road from Dino is Hotel Chynów; the view smites me with a mid-century Midwest motel vibe.

"Club Tropicana, drinks are free..." Is this the Seychelles? Are we on a Caribbean beach? No. This is the field between Chynów out there to my left and Lasopole to my right. Half past two in the afternoon and the sun is low in the sky.

Cutting back from Dino across the fields behind Chynów, heading towards the cemetery. Hard work in the snow. Every other footstep goes through the icy crust and into the deep snow beneath, yet not all, with the ice supporting my weight every now and then. A strange sensation.

Below: I am on the Czarna river. Is it iced over or is it just bone dry? When the snow finally melts the outcome for Mazovia's water courses will be positive.

Below: Main Street, Chynów, population 1,100. Home to three supermarkets.

Below: ulica Wspólna, looking towards Jakubowizna. The brick house on the left is the local veterinary surgeon. Yes, yes, I know. Castrate the cats. As soon as I can get the car out of the drive.

A lovely walk. Including the forest, a total of ten kilometers, 12,800 paces; two hours in the sun.

This time last year:
The XII Canonical Prospects of Jakubowizna in Winter (Without Snow)

This time seven years ago:
Fairness, simplicity, taxation and a sustainable society

This time eight years ago:
Polish beer cans in the UK: new shit has come to light

This time 10 years ago:
Lent, a time to cleanse and reflect

This time 12 years ago:
It was 50 years ago today... Beatles arrive in New York

This time 14 years ago:
Adventures in the Screen Trade – the truth about Hollywood

This time 15 years ago:
The sad end of Andrzej J.

This time 17 years ago:
Today's dose of wintery gorgeousness

This time 18 years ago:
First intimations of spring

Scrapper's scrape

I was getting ready to go to bed – an early start planned for the morning, listening to MJDJ's Yours Sinsouly show on West Wilts Radio as I always do when at home on a Friday. A commotion on the kitchen windowsill. It's Scrapper. I open the window... he steps in, dripping blood.

 I check him out; two wounds – one above the right shoulder and another behind the left shoulder. First aid – I reach for surgical spirit (spirytus rektyfikowany 95%) and swab both wounds. After a short while the bleeding abates, and Scrapper seems calm. What happened? My first supposition is that he ripped himself on loose strands of wire as he tried to get under the fence to the forest. 

I wake this morning and check to see how Scrapper is. He is up, but moving slowly and in pain. The bleeding has stopped; no pool of blood under where he slept.

I take a clean cloth, spread it on my bed, and lay Scrapper down onto it, gently close the bedroom door and feed the rest of the cats. 

Time, then, to go outside and do a reconnaissance to understand what had just happened... Conditions are perfect. The temperature is just above freezing, there's plenty of snow on the ground. 

I venture north of the house – nothing. East – nothing. But heading south towards the solar panels, I see specks of blood spattered upon the path that has been trampled down into the deep snow. I follow the trail as far as the fence with the next house down the road. The line of red spots goes across the fence and into the neighbours' back garden. I loop round into the access road on the other side of their garden, picking up the bloody trail on the snow. Spots about 1 cm across, with a separation of about 35 to 50 cm. The trail goes over a second fence, across the access road, over a third fence and into the next garden. 

Here, among the trees, I can see plentiful blood and a mess of paw-prints. Signs of a struggle. The family's poodle announces his presence, barking in the distance. He must have been here last night defending his territory against a feline interloper – Scrapper.

The fact that Scrapper was able to clear three fences and make it nearly 100 m and get up to the windowsill suggests no broken bones.

Today it was all rest, rest and treats. Milk from a bottle (bought in case any kitten was abandoned by Wenusia). And lots of attention from his brothers. Significantly, while Czester, Arcturus and Pacyfik were on hand to lick Scrapper's wounds and groom him and generally be with him, neither mum nor sis showed any interest. Solidarity, brothers!

I am writing in the early evening, and Scrapper seems to be better. Raising himself up to look around, relishing the treats he's being offered, feeling safe and secure in the room in which he was born. Czester is particularly attentive, watching after his oldest sibling and cleaning that wound. Neither wound is bleeding; I feel the flesh; it feels OK. A week indoors, like Wenusia after her sterilisation, and I judge he'll be as right as rain.

This time last year:
Cold and windy along the Vistula

This time two year ago:
A to Z of my online world, ten years on

This time three years ago:
Intensity of Consciousness

This time four years ago:
I have measured out my life in coffee spoons

This time ten years ago:
Make do and mend

This time 12 years ago:
The A-Z of my online world

This time 14 years ago:
Life and Death in the Shadow of the El – A short story, part I

This time 15 years ago:
Transwersalka in midwinter

This time 16 years ago:
Work starts on the S79/S2 (completed autumn 2013)

This time 18 years ago:
Crazy customised Skoda

Deer-stalking in the fresh snow

Much less cold last night, with a minimum of -5°C rather than -23°C, but with fresh snow. A light fall continued into the early afternoon. Fresh snow means walking is harder, not having any human footsteps to follow. But I can see animal tracks. Cats and dogs at first, but as I get further away from Jakubowizna pet paws are replaced in the snow by the prints of deer, hare and wild boar.

Carrying on northward towards Grobice, I catch numerous deer darting across the track, out of the wood and into the orchards. Maybe in total eight to ten individuals. Top: two young males, second from top, two older males.

I follow the herd west through the orchards, across another farm track and into the forest beyond. Turning south, between the fallen trees and brush, I can see a couple of individuals moving away from me... I continue stalking the herd, 70-300mm Nikkor zoom affixed...

The herd loops towards Jakubowizna, swinging back east at the end of the forest. I reestablish contact.

Below: two juvenile females cross the firebreak from plantation forest towards the wood on the other side. It's stopped snowing now.

Below: a juvenile male leaps follows on behind. 

I cross the road to follow the path dividing Machcin II from Gaj Żelechowski that heads to Chynów. I have caught hares in my lens a few times here, but today, no sign of them, other than paw prints. Below: more snow starts to fall. Roofs of houses in Gaj Żelechowski across the field.

Below: back home, it looks like the Micra won't be moving anytime soon. Long-range weather forecast shows a slight (+1°C to +2°C) thaw from tomorrow to Saturday before the snows and frosts return until the foreseeable future (18 Feb).

UPDATE 6 February 2026: three more photos (taken in sequence) showing the dash of three deer (two females and one male) across open land between two orchards.

This time two years ago:
Am I a bore? Are you a bore? What is a bore?

This time three years ago:
Town and country in the snow

This time eight years ago:
"Forget about doing 10,000 paces a day!"
[Science now says the more the better.]

This time nine years ago:
Ukraine – fight or flight?

This time 11 years ago:
Room with a railway view

This time 14 years ago:
More than an Iluzjon

This time 15 years ago:
Oldschool photochallenge

This time 16 years ago:
Warsaw's wonderful nooks and crannies

This time 18 years ago:
Viaduct to the airport at ul. Poleczki almost ready

Mega-cold

Just gone seven, ten minutes before sunrise. Inside, it's 14.3°C, outside it's -21.3°C. 

Below: a male pheasant (bażant, Phasianus colchicus) in my back garden.

Two walks today; I went out for the first once the temperature had risen above -10C, and was back home at two. Before setting off for my second walk, I cleaned my lens filter and put it back on the lens in the kitchen. But once out in the cold, the warm air between the inner surface of the filter and the front element of the lens condensed. Interesting effect!

Below: twenty minutes later, the condensed vapour had frozen.

Below: change the filter! I reach my destination, the crossroads between Machcin and Dąbrowa Duża on the road from Jakubowizna

Selfie taken in the traffic mirror on the crossroads.

Below: the sun set today at 16:25, an hour later than the year's earliest.

As soon as the sun had gone done, the temperature plummeted. Overnight, the minimum is forecast to -23°C. And that will be the last of the mega-cold for this winter. I hope!

This time last year:
Up and down with the weather

This time seven years ago:
Justify the buy – Nikkor 10-20mm zoom lens

This time 13 years ago:
The Big Melt

This time 16 years ago:
Waiting for the meltdown

This time 18 years ago:
Warsaw's inadequate airport

Warka in winter

Frosty morning! Minus 17.7°C, but the sun is shining, the air is crisp and dry. On a whim, I decide I'll take a train to Warka and go for a stroll along the banks of the Pilica river. Has it frozen over?

I get off at Warka (rather than Warka Miasto, closer to the town centre), to get a photograph of the war memorial 'to Polish airmen who died fighting all all fronts of WW2' (below) in a wintery setting. Am rewarded.

Below: passing the town square – entirely empty at half past eleven on a Sunday morning.

Below: looking down ulica Mostowa ('bridge street') towards the Pilica.

Below: further down along ul. Mostowa, with a wider angle lens. The buildings on the left appear in pre-war photos of this view.

Below: I reach the Pilica. Looking east. In the foreground, the river adjacent to the left bank has frozen solid, but midstream there's plenty of open water. This view gave me a profound blast of anomalous qualia memory or exomnesia. 

Below: from further downstream, looking southwest towards the road bridge (just visible on the horizon).

Below: approaching Winiary, the eastern end of Warka, I cross a bridge taking the footpath over a minor tributary just before its confluence with the Pilica.

Below: in Winiary itself, I visit the Savannah Café in the grounds of the Kazimierz Pułaski museum; here (having covered over 10,000 paces in temperatures below -10C), I warm myself up with a spiced tea and large slice of apple charlotte before moving on. (Pułaski, the 'father of American cavalry' was fatally wounded at the Battle of Savannah in 1779. He grew up in the house below.)

Below: my favourite street in Warka, ul. Lotników, which in summer, with all the trees in leaf, looks quite Mediterranean. Not quite so today!

Left: Warka Miasto station, three hours after my arrival at Warka station one stop up the line. "Real-time digital arrivals indicator? Why doesn't Chynów get a real-time digital arrivals indicator?" Answer: despite only being opened in 2022, it is already seeing 25% more passenger traffic a day than Chynów. (According to rail regulator UTK, Warka Miasto sees around 2,000 passengers a day, whilst Chynów sees only 1,400. Data from 2024.)

Below: a rare selfie, taken at -12C, an hour into my winter trek. All equipment functioning perfectly! My USAF N3B parka is so warm that beneath it I'm wearing no more than a cotton shirt and cotton cardigan; and my Lowa Renegade boots are performing flawlessly. Winter lined trousers from Lidl and all's good. Two and half hours and 17.5k paces, I felt no discomfort from the cold at all. And my Nikon D3500 performed perfectly too

This time last year:

Cold, gloomy start to February

This time two years ago:
In the run-up to Lent

This time three years ago:
Born between nuclear disasters

This time five years ago:
Yo-yo winter

This time seven years ago:

Plank time!

This time eight years ago:
What happened at the Railway Hotel?

This time nine years ago:
How to annoy the passengers

This time ten years ago:
Zloty symbol - your suggestions 

This time 11 years ago:
The future of Warsaw's public transport
[interesting to see how much of that has come true!]

This time 15 years ago: 

Snowdrifts and trains in winter

This time 15 years ago:

Back to the blackboard

(on the superiority of Polish schools to British ones)

This time 16 years ago:

Greed, fear, fight-and-flight - and the weather

This time 17 years ago:

Where the new expressways will meet

This time 18 years ago:

Early spring in London