South Warsaw sunsets

Sunday's sunset (above) looking down Ursynów's main drag, al. KEN. All that's missing is wall-to-wall neon on the shops, restaurants and bars that line each side of the road.

Monday's sunset (below) glints off the side of this EasyJet Boeing 737 coming into land at Okecie.

Storm clouds rising

After a fine start this morning, the sky slowly filled with clouds, until from 3:00 pm this afternoon, we had an hour-long session of thunder and lightning followed by intensive rain. Many local people walking or cycling were caught out, without rainwear, and were utterly soaked. The photo above was taken from the attic looking out over the apex of our garden and across the fields.

Twilight walk between storms

The heavens opened today at around 5:00 pm, rain fell for over two hours. At the end of it the sun popped out between the clouds and created a beautiful atmosphere full of birdsong and the scent of rain on flowers. The garden (above), which had just been mown and weeded today, looked exceptional.


Time for another expedition to catch the splendidly magickal light as the world turns from day into darkness. A journey up the end of the road, along the tracks and back down ul. Nawlocka proved a worthwhile endeavour for the soul.

Looking across towards the south-west, the dusk sky was bruising, rain imminent (below). No sooner had I turned into ul. Trombity did the rain return, bringing relief on a hot and sweaty day. My baseball cap was pressed into use as a camera cover (these things do not like water!)

Giant dandelion clocks

By the tracks at the end of ul. Trombity we come across some giant dandelion clocks. We've noticed these before - always growing by the side of railway lines, never elsewhere. Eddie thinks that the dandelions may have become genetically-modified in some way by electromagnetic forces from the pantograph cables. But then we never see these huge dandelion clocks growing besides railway lines in the UK. Or indeed anywhere in the UK.

Anyone know about these plants?

Poppy profusion as June turns sunny

Back from four days in the UK to 30 degree heat and blue skies. Today is Corpus Christi, I'm home too late to catch any processions. The church at Lady is still decorated when I get there. Across the tracks from ul. Trombity I catch a stunning field of poppies. Worth a few shots.

An article in the Daily Mail suggests that poppies are making a comeback in the UK thanks to organic farming. A positive move.

Poppy fields

I mentioned a week ago the relative absense of poppies from the fields of Jeziorki. A little bit south and they're in abundance, as they are north of Jeziorki. Maybe the soil's not right. Above is a fallow field south of ul. Karczunkowska, to the east of the aggregate ramp. A fair number of poppies is evident, but more is to come...

The weather continued damp and dull all weekend.

Wet start to June

The past few days have been wet; mushrooms have appeared on our lawn, tomorrow not likely to see much sunshine. So far, fears of a long hot summer have been put on hold. Puddles span the width of ul. Trombity and I return from my walk with my trousers wet up to the knee.

Night moves

I caught a late train back to W-wa Jeziorki, arriving at the station more than half an hour after sunset. With ISO sensitivity set at 3200, I took this snap (above) of the Karczunkowska end of ul. Nawlocka. A fifth of a second, wide open, hand-held.

Incidentally, the end of May saw in the new Warsaw night bus numbers and timetables (the biggest shake-up in nocturnal transport in over 40 years). Gone is the old 606 night bus running down to Jeziorki; it is replaced by the new N83. Four buses run each night from the centre of town through to PKP W-wa Jeziorki then back into Warsaw. Below - the bus stops serving ul. Trombity, picture taken in late-April; note the '606' number in white on black. [All the old night bus numbers started with a '6', new ones with an 'N']. There's something magical about these buses running at the dead of night.