Twenty years in Jeziorki

On 6 February 2002, I returned from a day-trip to Kraków with the children to our brand new house. We had just moved in that day, some two and half years after buying the land and having the house built. It was not yet ready - for the first few weeks, the builders were still living downstairs finishing the kitchen and bathroom.

Twenty years... the longest under one roof ever. Here's where I have lived - with the exception of my student days at Warwick University (and off-campus in Coventry), I have lived around ten miles (16km) from the centre of a European capital city.

• Croft Gardens, Hanwell - 12 years 7 months
• Cleveland Road, West Ealing - 6 years 5 months
• [Warwick University, on campus and off - 3 years 9 months]
• Cleveland Road, West Ealing - 2 years 4 months
• Ribchester Avenue, Perivale - 14 years 9 months
• ul. Gajdy, Pyry - 4 years 6 months
• ul. Trombity, Jeziorki - 20 years today [including three summers in Jakubowizna]

This milestone is spiritually significant; for me, it shows the depths of roots, and my attachment to place. Five-eighths of my life in the UK, three-eighths of it in Poland. In my dreams, the two become blended; Pitshanger Park with Warsaw's skyline beyond, the other night, or taking a bus from Ealing to Jeziorki with my dad, via Acton and Shepherd's Bush. I'm from here and I like it here.

Below: photos from above - spring 2011, summer 2021. Note photovoltaic panels on the roof, one car less.

After 20 years in Jeziorki, the house feels comfortable. There was a small remont in 2017, mainly focused on the attic (much thicker insulation). Kitchen appliances - fridge, freezer (Bosch) and clothes dryer (Miele) still OK, washing machine (Bosch) replaced by an LG two years ago, and Bosch dishwasher replaced by another Bosch at Christmas. The new appliances are far more economical on energy than the old ones. The central heating boiler (Junkers) is due for replacement soon. No other problems to report. Furniture - most of the Ribchester Ave stuff has gone (with the exception of the sofa bed, beautifully refurbished in cream leather by Verson of Nowa Iwicnza). Kitchen chairs, scratched to pieces by cats, will remain (as any replacements are also likely to be scratched to pieces by cats).

The garden's still lovely, the moles still at bay.

Jeziorki itself has changed over 20 years but not radically; no major housing developments - either small estates of up to 12-15 houses, or individual detached-house builds. We now have town sewers (since 2013) but still lack a pavement along ulica Karczunkowska. Public transport is decidedly better, but the rapid expansion of Warsaw's exurbs, beyond the city's borders, mean traffic jams are just as bad as they were.

The planned development of some 2,500 flats under the government's Mieszkanie Plus scheme seems to have come to nought; I worry that its scheme to build a massive airport a third of the way between Warsaw and Łódź in Baranów might mean that Okęcie is closed, and with it the reason for the special zoning of Jeziorki (no buildings over 12m high) will disappear. Still, this is in the far future, and this government's track record on major infrastructure projects is poor. I hope that in 20 years' time, Jeziorki will be as green as it is today.

This time last year:
Winter walk around Jakubowizna

This time two years ago:

Holidays delight me not

This time three years ago: 

Smolna, Tamka, Skarpa in B&W

This time five years ago:
15 years under one roof

This time seven years ago:
Białystok: Ipswich of the East 

This time eight years ago:
Sadness at the death of Tadeusz Mosz 

This time nine years ago:
Interpreting vs. translating vs. explaining

This time ten years ago:
More than just an Iluzjon 

This time 11 years ago:
Oldschool photochallenge

This time 12 years ago:
Warsaw's wonderful nooks and crannies

This time 14 years ago:
Viaduct to the airport at ul. Poleczki almost ready