Winter's on its way

Woke up this morning to sunshine and snow lightly falling, a gorgeous sight after nine grey days. Two walks are needed - one to the shop, one to catch the dusk. Below: the Kolberg InterCity train heads south towards Kraków. I just love this Canonical Prospect.

Below: the reverse view - sun and clouds doing battle.

Below: ulica Wspólna, connecting the centre of Chynów, to the station and Jakubowizna across the tracks. Fields on either side of ul. Wspólna are now in winter mode; the orchards mostly picked clean, the straw baled.

The last of the apples are still being picked, the last teams out dropping ripe (and chilled) fruit into pales. Trucks head off to the cold stores. These are supermarket-grade apples below - visually attractive, tasty - but sprayed; best to eat after peeling. My apples, unsprayed, can be eaten together with peel - however, they don't store; what's not been turned into cider is now bruised to the point of inedibility.

Below: sunset's getting earlier and earlier. Barely enough time to wash up after lunch before going for my second walk. Sunset today in Chynów was at 15:39; the earliest is quarter of an hour earlier, from 8 to 16 December, when it sets at 15:24. Looking back towards Jakubowizna.

Below: logging has been going on around here for the past week and half. A pile of tree trunks and branches is visible in the distance. The chainsaws, heavy logging equipment, tractors and trucks have scared off the wildlife, so I don't hold out too much chance of seeing any today. 

Below: out of the forest, into the orchard. This is the one in which I snapped an elk the other week. Today, I came across a young deer at the far end of the row of apple trees - it fled before I could raise my camera to my eye. Incidentally, last week I spoke to a local farmer about seeing the elk; he told me that he hadn't had a sighting in ten years. A female elk and her calf found themselves in his orchard. The mother managed to leap over the fence, the calf couldn't - in the end the farmer used wire-cutters to make an opening in the net fence, allowing the calf to make it back to its anxiously waiting mother on the other side.

Below: these forests are, however, for logging. To the left, three rows of young birch, to the left of them, dense rows of not-so-young pine. An older, mixed, forest to the right.

Below: another of the Canonical Prospects; photographed many a time - but with fewer trees now after the logging. Straight on for Jakubowizna, bear right for Grobice. From here, I'm 15 minutes from home.

Just outside my działka - as the key slips into the lock, there's a sense of elation of being home, into the warmth, into the light. Onto the stove, a leek, potato, tomato and red-pepper stew with lentils, flavoured with Chorizo sausage, cubed Parmesan cheese rind and chives.

A quick check-up on electricity usage. Since the panels were connected to the grid on 12 July, they have generated over 1,050 kWh of power, whilst I have consumed over 650 kWh, which means I can use another 400 kWh before I start borrowing from next spring and summer's surpluses. Yesterday I received 4,000zł subsidy from the government, reducing my capital outlay of 27,500zł for the eight-panel array. A quick glance at my Solis Home app reveals that today's sunshine generated more electricity than the past four days put together - sunny days are profitable as well as good for the soul!

This time five years ago:
Kolej grójecka by Bogdan Pokropiński

This time seven years ago:
PIS, thinking wishfully about the village

This time nine years ago:
An unseasonably warm autumn in Warsaw

This time ten years ago:
Shedding light on an unused road

This time 11 years ago:
S2-S79 Elka from the air 

This time 12 years ago:
Fish and chips in Warsaw

This time 13 years ago:
Spirit of place - anomalous familiarity moments