Too busy running around and making cider!

On my 65th birthday, I woke at 4am to be in Gliwice for 9.30 for our HR workshop for the automotive cluster there; I was back in Jakubowizna at 7pm for supper and writing the previous blog post. On Friday I also woke at 4am to be in Kraków for 9.30 for the 3rd Carbon Footprint Summit and was back on the działka at 10pm. I spent all of yesterday engaged in making cider (a demijohn for Moni) and the same today - apples that aren't harvested now will rot by next weekend. Cider-making takes up much time, but hopefully it will all be worth it when bottled for secondary fermentation.

My first demijohn popped its cork some time today, leaving a frothy mess of apple pulp on the cellar floor, fortunately the apple juice hasn't spoiled or developed a vinegary taste. It's dry, and at present about 0.3% alcohol by volume. I have used copper wire to 'cage' the corks shut - all the CO₂ goes through the airlock tubes that passed through the corks, as you can see below. In total I've made 40 litres, plus another five litres with Moni, a total of 90 half-litre bottles-worth. And the cellar smells great!

There are still apples left on the trees, hopefully I'll find time to make another five litres. In the meanwhile, no walk today, only a short walk yesterday morning, little time for photography and writing. So - a few local snaps.

Below: path between the apple orchards that leads from Jakubowizna to Grobice. Fruit-picking is in full swing, the sound of apples going into pails is all around. Daytime highs have been around 18C when the sun is out, falling a bit next week.

A propos of sun - the tipping point in the year has been reached at which the shorter hours of daylight and colder temperatures mean that I am now using more electricity than my eight panels generate. I have a large surplus built up since the panels were connected to the grid in July, with August and September producing much more power than I consumed. This should keep me going until mid-winter, after that, I'll be drawing credit from the surplus generated in April, May and June. It's all calculated to balance out precisely over the year.

Below: late afternoon on my rear balcony. Leaves are starting to turn, by mid-November, they'll have all fallen. To the left of this shot is one of my two grapevines; I hesitate to try my hand at wine-making (cider being the main focus now), but I am juicing the grapes daily. They are the Concord variety, known in America in all manner of grape-flavored things. And the taste of Mogen David kosher wine. Not my favourite grape variety (central Poland's too far north for all but the most robust), but the juice is good when drunk fresh - sharp and sweet.

The cottagecore aesthetic is taking off as an antidote to the hectic city grind; a trend that I believe will pick up as more folks choose to cut their carbon emissions and adopt a simpler lifestyle.

Left: Is this Nevada? Are we at a nuclear test site? No. This is where the DK50 crosses the Warsaw-Radom railway line, the tower holding mobile telephony aerials (hence such good reception in Jakubowizna). Across the DK50, still Warsaw's de facto ring-road, despite the opening of the S2 tunnel under Ursynów and the new bridge across the Vistula, is Sułkowice, famous for its police-dog training school. I must say that I cannot discern any reduction in heavy goods-vehicle traffic along the DK50 - I thought that the S2 and sanctions on Russia and Belarus would have led to the road being noticeably quieter - it isn't.

Below: peak apple. By the end of next week, most of the apples will have been harvested, the collection points (punkty skupu) are piled high with large crates of apples. It turned out (after a dry spring) to be another good year for the farmers.

I owe you all, my readers, some photos of Kraków - I walked to the conference venue and back (21,000 paces in one day!) and the weather was perfect. Will post if there's time this week...

This time last year:
All together, saving our planet

This time four years ago:
W-wa Zachodnia Platform 8 to reopen

This time five years ago:
Learning to fly (swan pics)

This time seven years ago:
Scotland's answer to the Hoover Building

This time nine years ago:
In which I don't vote in the mayoral referendum, thus helping to save HG-W's job

This time ten years ago:
Gorgeous cars from Czechoslovakia

This time 11 years ago:
Donald Tusk and Co. get re-elected 

This time 12 years ago:
Poland's wonderful bread

This time 13 years ago:
An October Friday in Warsaw