Saturday 2 May 2020

Back to the działka after eight weeks

So good to be back at Jakubowizna after eight weeks! So much has changed; late winter has turned to spring, flowers are back in bloom, and all is well. I was expecting the place to be full of cobwebs, but this was not the case (apart from one rather large spider that I found in the garage). In winter, my first job was to switch the heating on - now, it's throwing the windows open to let in the warm air and sunshine. Below: should be getting cherries within the next four-six weeks...


The journey from home to Chynów was perfect. Before setting off, I bought my railway ticket online (Koleje Mazowieckie has caught up with PKP Inter City at last), printed it off and put it in my wallet. Checked the train on TropKM (it was on time) and arrived on an empty southbound platform at W-wa Jeziorki. The train had six carriages, each with about five or six passengers. Everyone was wearing a mask. The notice below restricts passengers to one per two seats. Certain parts of the train were roped off and out of bounds.


Twenty-nine minutes later I alight at Chynów station, where the new southbound platform is taking shape, as well as a new signal box (below).


Below: also taking shape is the passenger tunnel under the tracks. Having said that, the project had already been facing a six-month delay before the Covid-19 lockdown struck. Today, a Saturday wedged between two public holidays, was still a normal working day for the builders.


Below: looking down towards the tracks from outside my działka. Lots of agricultural work in progress, the local farmers are busy - it could be a great year for them.


Below: from outside my działka looking south - the Electrification of the Villages.


Below: from the north-east corner of my działka, looking south. My lovely acre.


Below: looking south from my upstairs room.


My first task on arrival is to check the electricity meter and to put the result onto Google Sheets. It turns out that over the past eight weeks, the daily electricity bill has run at 40 grosze/ 8p a day. This is the electricity needed to power the burglar alarm, the internet router and and monitoring.

Another start-of-season job is to fire up the motorcycles and get them running. Worked well!

This time four years ago:
The Network vs The Hierarchy in politics

This time last year:
45 years under one roof

This time seven years ago:
Pozytywki ponds after refurbishment

This time eight years ago:
Mayday in the heat (don't exaggerate with the suncream!)

This time ten years ago:
Bike ride across rural Poland

This time 13 years ago:
Into the mountains

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

A wonderful sense of returning to a personal idyll of rus in Urbe. The winding lane to long-awaited poetic contentment and commitment. A new 'coming home' in these difficult times.

Perfectly evoked thru prose and pics.

Frater rutted lane III