Jeziorki in May

The second half of May is loveliest time of year. The greenery is at its most verdant, many flowers are in bloom. It's not too hot - it's been a cool May so far, and the rain has brought welcome relief after a bone-dry and snow-free winter. Far more is needed, however - it's painful to watch waterfowl wading in water they should be diving in. Photos from the manor, then. No particular order...

Below: ulica Żmijewska. Yes, a Warsaw street - find it in any atlas*. It heads west from ul. Pozytywki. In the far distance, you can make out the platform lighting of W-wa Jeziorki station, although ul. Żmijewska doesn't reach that far, it just peters out in the fields, just like the next 'street' running parallel to it to the south, ul. Katarynki. This is the southernmost end of Jeziorki.

And to the north - and just across the tracks at W-wa Dawidy - a splendid new and temporary view of the skyline of Warsaw's upcoming new central business district around Rondo Daszyńskiego, in Wola (below). In the foreground, the junction of the S2 and S79; the new S7 extension will connect here with the S79. Photo taken from a huge hill of soil that's part of the new roadworks around here.

Below: ulica Dumki threads its way between the southern ponds (the one on the left is totally dry - you can walk across it. Not even muddy).

Below: panorama of central Warsaw, with a LOT Dreamliner coming into land at Warsaw Okęcie airport. Photo taken from the path of the S7 (under construction).

Below: corduroy field stretching from ul. Dawidowska to ul. Trombity, chimneys of Siekierki power station on the horizon.

Below: view from the far end of my back garden, arable field to the left (barley or oats) and fallow fields to the right.

Below: ul. Karczunkowska.  Memento mori - a roadside cross commemorating the victim of a traffic accident. This is the most dangerous stretch of the road, with no pavement on either side. In winter or autumn or after heavy rains it can be impossible to walk anywhere but on the asphalt, sharing the roadway with speeding traffic.

Below: a threatening sky, sunset not too far; drainage ditch running north-west from ul. Kórnicka, and a southbound train on the horizon.

A much-needed rain shower passing over the last house along ul. Dumki.

Below: part of tourist trail (szklak turystyczny) MZ-5142-z between ul. Dumki and Sarabandy; it runs from W-wa Dawidy station all the way via the Las Kabacki forest to the Vistula at Ciszyca.

* Later in 2020, the City of Warsaw was to 'unstreet' ul. Żmijewska - the sign has gone from the building on the corner of ul. Pozytywki, leaving only a dirt track.

This time last year:

Spitalfields and Smithfields - more from London

This time three years ago

That tune going round your head now...

This time four years ago:
The eyes... the eyes... 

This time five years ago:
New old terminal open at Okęcie airport

This time seven years ago:
Arrogance vs. humility 

This time eight years ago:
Warsaw looking good ahead of the football-fan influx

This time nine years ago:
Heron over Jeziorki

This time 13 years ago:
Present rising, future loading

Keeping warm in January

The last day of the first month, finally a bit of snow although the temperature today refused to dip below zero. Student SGH will correct me if I'm wrong, but on the basis of his comment here last week, this will have been the warmest January since 2007... While it's been warm, it's not been sunny. There's hardly been any sunshine for the past two weeks - dismal.

This has been the first day this winter that snow needed to be shovelled off the drive, though the snow was wet and thus heavy, the covering was thin. Two walks today, the first to Lidl to snap up the rest of the Roquefort (the last four packs, still at 4.99 złotys, or about 89p) and look for an elusive bottle of Neighbour-recommended Burgundy. Below: looking south from ul. Żmijewska (lit. 'Adder Street'), the unasphalted road that allows you to get from Lidl to Biedronka, avoiding the main road.

The second, a longer stroll around the manor - up to the tracks, along Kórnicka and back via Dumki, (below) which has been ploughed into a total mire by drivers who needlessly use this unasphalted thoroughfare.

So - with the month's end time to confront my New Year's Resolutions with reality - and to compare performance to last year. Walking - better. Daily average 10,605 paces (7,647 last year). Less alcohol consumed, with a weekly average of 14.2 units (15.1 last year), and 19 drink-free days (16 last year). More sit-ups (daily average 79 compared to 67 last year). This year, I'm counting my fresh fruit and vegetable intake (4.3 portions per day, less than the 5 recommended, but not bad).

Another tip to make the dark days of winter more palatable - follow our mammalian nature, and sleep in. I'm able to sleep for ten hours without a break at this time of year. Waking up at 05:45 - the dead of night in January - is not good for the organism. However, come May, June - I can get by on six hours' sleep without any problem.

All of this above healthyism has helped me reduce my girth. I have cast off three-quarters of an inch of useless, unhealthy fat from around my middle - from 40 inches to 39-and-a-quarter - or, if you prefer, two whole centimetres, from 101.6cm to 99.6cm. With a loss of bubber around the stomach comes weight-loss - down from 12 stone 0 lbs (76.2kg) to 11 stone 7lbs (73.4kg), my weight at university 35 years ago. This is very welcome.

Only thing that's down on last year, and that's blogging. A mere 12 posts this month compared to 21 last January. I need a return of inspiration.

This time last year:
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it (health, that is)

This time last year:
Sten guns in Knightsbridge (well, Śródmieście Południowe, actually)

This time three years ago:
To The Catch - a short story (Part II)

This time four years ago:
Greed, fear, fight and flight - and the economy

This time five years ago:
Is there an economic crisis going on in Poland?

Evening walk along ul. Żmiejwska

A road that appears on maps of Warsaw, ul. Żmijewska is no more than a farm track that begins on ul. Pozytywki ('Music-box Street') and... and just peters out amid fields before reaching the site of the old Rampa na kruszywa (now a thankfully-abandoned residential development).

Above: looking west, where once the rampa stood proud, dominating Jeziorki's flat horizon. Today it's gone, it was a unique landmark, victim of developers' over-expansive plans laid low by the global financial crash. Ul. Żmijewska is just two parallel lines of earth, the width of a tractor. It's a hot evening, but rain clouds threaten.

Above: most of the land around here is lying fallow, and on this land grows goldenrod (nawłoć) and mugwort (wrotycz). Now in late-summer bloom, the yellow mugwort flowers (below) are characteristic of the fields of Jeziorki; in the background, goldenrod (the State Flower of Nebraska, incidentally).

Below: some fields are put to arable crop. Here's some equally-yellow rapeseed growing in a field between ul. Żmijewska and ul. Karczunkowska.


Left: to the south, along Warsaw's border with Mysiadło, a new development is slowly emerging. Indeed, zoning plans suggest wall-to-wall building across the way. In the foreground grows cabbage.

Whereas Mysiadło and Nowa Iwiczna to the south have rapidly turned from fields to intensive residential developments, the fields between ul. Karczunkowska and Warsaw's southern border maintain their rural character. Long may they do so. Jeziorki Południowe gain so much from the presence of agriculture here.
This time last year:
A stroll through Pole Mokotowskie

This time two years ago:
A Serious Man reviewed (still my favourite film)

This time three years ago:
Funny old cars, 1989

This time four years ago:
The Beskid Wyspowy

This time five years ago:
Another summer storm