Jakubowizna and Jeziorki

A trip to Jakubowizna to see how the work is going on my house and działka, my first visit in two weeks (much travel); a lot has been done since the windows went in. I learned however, that owing to previous commitments, the builders won't be able to do the external thermal insulation and plastering this season, and it will have to wait to spring. Work is on budget but behind schedule due to the long wait for windows (factory could not keep up with orders) and a fortnight's heavy rain which delayed the digging around the foundations for the ground insulation.

All this is now complete; inside some finishing is needed; the biggest remaining job will be the kitchen (cabinets, cooker and oven). And the garage, which will be done last as that's where the builders store their stuff.

Left: the perimeter paving is going in; it's nearly halfway there by area. Should be finished next week.

Below: view of the back of the house; under the stairs leading up to the patio, there will be a closed-off storage locker for garden tools. There is a profusion of grapes in the garden, nearly ready for harvesting. Sadly, they are of the Concord variety, thick of skin, with large pips, and sweet; yes, you can make wine from them, but it will taste like Mogen David.

Below: view from the upstairs patio through the large upstairs room. Skirting boards need to go in, lighting, and that's about it - ready for shelving and furniture.

East side of the house, below. Old grills still hanging on the wall, now that security glass is in (the new windows being triple glazed), these old iron eyesores can go. Paving will go down on this side of the building this week.

Below: perimeter paving on the west side of the house is done. The property line's marked in white; the fence with the neighbouring plot has been temporarily removed to do this work.

Below: front room downstairs is almost ready. Skirting boards and power sockets are in place. Window sills are required for all seven windows, shelving and lighting is needed. The furniture can be moved in very soon! I was pleased to feel how warm it was in the house, despite the chill outside.

Below: meanwhile, in the neighbourhood... the next few weeks will see the cumulation of this year's apple harvest; apples are nearly ripe and there are so many of them this year that prices (for farmers and consumers) will be low. This is a good, well-tended orchard.

Below: another orchard, across the road. The apples look nice and red, but in close up it's evident that almost all of them have been affected by apple scab.

Below: an untended orchard, Jakubowizna. The apples drop; no one picks them, they rot and decompose to return into the soil.

I wrote previously that the second phase of the Warsaw-Radom railway modernisation has just started. The 'up' line has been closed to traffic. Below: work is going ahead (on a Sunday!) on the 'up' line; services are now using the remaining line in both directions. This means fewer trains; after the 10:34 departure from Chynów to Warsaw, the 11:40 has been cancelled for the duration, the next one being the 12:09.

Below: the 'up' train on the 'down' line. The Warsaw-bound train continued on the 'down' track from Chynów until just short of Czachówek Południowy station - the end of the first stretch of the modernised line. Note the pile of ballast to the right - this is intended form the new trackbed.

Below: back to Jeziorki, just under half an hour by the train. Work on the viaduct over the railway line has hit an obstacle. The weight of earth packed down on the on-ramp has damaged sewerage piping, so it all has to be dug back up again and made good. So no re-opening of the temporary level crossing on 25 September (the already-delayed date for this). I chuckle. The longer without a flood of speeding motorists along Karczunkowska the better.

And along ul. Trombity (below), a second layer of asphalt has been laid. Lovely new road surface. Still some tidying up to do - in particular the speed bumps are needed. There's a lack of pavement, pedestrians must share the roadway with drivers; despite the profusion of 30 km/h signs (prominent in the photo), cars are hurtling along here at unsafe speeds.

Finally - on the corner of ul. Nawłocka and ul. Dawidowska - wild hops have grown all over this no-through road sign! I'm back in hop-gathering mode; I collected some 25 or so hop-cones; these will be boiled for 25 minutes in a litre of water, the essence being allowed to cool, then mixed one part to two with chilled, sparkling mineral water to make a thirst-quenching, non-alcoholic beverage of India Pale Ale-like bitterness.

This time last year:
Autumn comes early

This time two years ago:
Kriegslok passes through Jeziorki

This time six years ago:
A little way west of Jeziorki

This time seven years ago:
The Old Sailor's Tale - part II 

This time eight years ago:
Prague-Jeziorki-Moscow

This time nine years ago:
The passing of Lt. Cmdr. Tadeusz Lesisz 

This time 11 years ago:
Summer ends, autumn begins