Działka update

Work on the exterior started on Monday and is likely to finish next weekend. As of this week, the entire elevation, on all four sides, has been clad in 20cm (8") insulating styrofoam; it will be plastered and painted white. Below: front view. Alarm system has been dismantled for the duration, will be reinstalled after the plastering has been painted.

Below: from the back. A toolroom has been built under the patio stairs.

Below: the old garage doors (which came from an old industrial lift!) have gone, along with the side door, these will be replaced with an up-and-over style garage door with remote opening. The new door, from Wiśniowski, Europe's second-largest garage door manufacturer, arrives on Thursday. Wiśniowski exports to 45 countries and employs 1,800 people.

Below: the builders are now sleeping over, saving time on commutes. The kitchen sink has been fitted, and the kitchen is in use at last!

Below: bottled gas feeds the cooker. All that's needed now is handles for the kitchen cabinets. These will be added next week.

Below: the first fruit tree is in flower - it's a plum tree. Within two weeks, the entire area will be heaving with fruit blossom.

Below: Jakubowizna from the train as it pulls into Chynów station. My działka is just down the road, down the road a piece, out of sight among the trees on the horizon. To the left in the middle distance, newly pruned apple trees, blossom soon!

I walked to Sułkowice station through Grobice, along a farm track running between orchards. There's a sense of the nature around me being like runners in their starting blocks, ready for the pistol shot that signals a sudden bursting into activity. Any day now.

Approaching Sułkowice, I see the new track bed being prepared. In the distance, a southbound Koleje Mazowieckie train nears the station, while in the far distance (click to enlarge) a northbound one waits at a red signal outside Czachówek Południowy station. A fair amount of disruption on the line right now; my train home was delayed by 23 minutes.

Below: walkers with pram in the spring sunshine; Sułkowice.

This time last year:
Łódź is a film set

This time two years ago
Contemplative imagery, Ealing and Warsaw

This time seven years ago:
Baffled: my first visit to Jeziorki's Lidl 

This time eight years ago:
In vino veritas?

This time nine two years ago:
Are we getting more intelligent?

This time ten three years ago:
Lenten recipe: tuna, chickpea and pesto salad

This time 11 years ago:
Coal train sidings, Konstancin-Jeziorna

This time 12 years ago:
Jeziorki from the air