In the highways and the hedges

Today - an optimal day for cycling. I managed 50.65km today between meetings, lunch and home. And on the way, took time to stop off and photograph the beauty of the wildflowers that grow alongside Warsaw's minor roads and byways.

Below: poppies (mak) along the edge of a wheatfield, ul. Poloneza, this morning. Pause, dismount, snap, mount, continue.

Below: thistles (osty) on ul. Sztajerki this morning. Look upon these photos, ye motorised commuters, feel the texture of reality! Realise what you're missing out on in life!

Below: wild chicory in flower (cykoria podróżnik) along the side of ul. Hołubcowa this morning. A beautiful day, almost cloudless. Thanks to AdtheLad for correct identification!

Below: Corncockle (kąkol - sounds similar enough to 'cockle' to make me suspect it's a loanword - but in which direction?). Photographed this afternoon on Kępa Oborska. To the left, Wał Zawadowski, the flood defence wall on the Vistula's left bank. Thank you to Ania for identifying these flowers.

Below: daisies (stokrotki) this afternoon in Okrzeszyn, between the Vistula and Powsin. This is the ox-eye daisy, which is tall, not to be confused with the lawn daisy, which is short.

Tomorrow's looking like a fine day too. More cycle commuting is required; 'while the sun shines, you'd better make hay'. Summer's finery must be savoured in full.

Update, 8 July: not just out in the sticks, but in town too. Above: the corner of ul. Puławska and Domaniewska. The beautiful summer weather abides with us. To the right, a cycle path starts here, going into town, though stopping short at the junction of ul. Dolna. Can anyone identify the yellow daisy-like flowers (they're about 50cm tall...)

This time last year:
How Warsaw's public transport authority communicates with passengers

This time two years ago:
Farewell to separate alcohol tills at Polish supermarkets

This time three years ago:
Twin turboprop cargo planes at Okęcie

This time four years ago:
To the countryside, Czachówek

This time six years ago:
Why I feel freer in Poland than in the UK

This time six years ago:
Stormy summer night

A beautiful Sunday south of Warsaw

For much of today, we had lots of bright sunshine broken every now and then by small clouds drifting across from the west. I went for a longish walk across the tracks to Dawidy Bankowe, then onto Łady (pron. 'Wuddy'), Nowy Podolszyn, Zamienie, then back home. (Above:) Many new houses have just been completed on the road from Dawidy Bankowe to Łady, as has the road itself and electricity infrastructure. (Above:) A field of cornflowers, still in full bloom. I was quite amazed to see them still flowering so vigorously at this time of year. Although visually late summer lingers, the daytime high today was +9C, quite chilly. (Below:) At Nowy Podolszyn I came across a riding school and stables; the white fencing and distant trees lent an air of bluegrass Kentucky to the scene. Once again, a sudden past life flashback has been triggered. (Below:) Between Nowy Podolszyn to Zamienie, the road is being dug up for new drains. Beyond the excavator in the distance, the road is closed. I wonder whether it will be tarmacked all the way through to Zamienie; if so, another bit of rural atmosphere will go for good. Rural scenes again; (right) a cow in a field near Zamienie. It was mooing at me in the hope that I would milk it; evidently it had not been milked today. The cow danced around in discomfort. Maybe its owner had had a heavy night! (Left:) In the next field, I found some pumpkins growing, reminding me that in two weeks time it will be the eve of All Hallows. Look carefully at the pumpkin in the foreground and you will see a harvestman spider. (Below:) Back in Jeziorki now, having crossed the railway track. The little hillock in the mid foreground makes a great vantage point for taking pictures of trains, ideally before noon when the sun's not behind the subject. The path curving off to the left takes me back to ul. Trombity via Nawlocka. (Below:) A stand of birch trees beautifully illuminated by the mid-afternoon sun. Time to get home and cook up some prawns, fried in butter with garlic, cognac and fresh coriander. Accompanied by Basmati rice, fresh spinach and courgettes in tomato sauce.

Late May reflections

A week on from Thomas Bewick's "most beautiful day" and the year has turned; the air is hot and sultry, the grass decidedly yellower than a week ago, swarms of insects (thankfully not biting ones) infest the air. More summer than spring now, nature is mature, fecund. Warsaw is full of seeding poplars, their white down blowning into urban corners like snow. Not much around Jeziorki, nor of poppies, much in evidence around the city's green verges. Here, cornflower in blossom is the predominant sight.

In the UK, the cornflower is endangered due to overuse of herbicides. Here, it is abundant. Above and below are two fields on ul. Sarabandy, the road running parallel to ul. Trombity.

Like ul. Trombity, ul. Sarabandy has the same mix of suburban and rural and is a charming street to walk down at dusk, the air full of the scents and sounds of summer.