Sunny, snowy Jeziorki

A glorious day emerged from a dull dawn, time to grab the camera and get out and about. Above: Just across the railway line, looking towards Zgorzała. Note the texture of the snow.

The snow has grown an icy crust; this is not the virgin powder of a few days ago. If the Inuit have 16 words for snow, surely the Poles should at least have four; today's snow, like sugary icing on a meringue pie, is quite different from last week's soft, freshly-fallen snow. May I suggest lukiernica? Right: trees and drainage ditch on ul. Karczunkowska, near W-wa Jeziorki station.

Above: At the pedestrian level crossing, the footpath at the end of ul. Kórnicka. A classic Jeziorki view. An osóbka from Radom bound for W-wa Wschodnia, between Jeziorki and Dawidy.

Above: An express (pośpieszny) headed for Kraków from Suwałki.

This time last year:
Eddie's giant soap bubble

Fieldfare in midwinter

I spotted this bird in our garden from the ground floor study - this is somewhat rarer than the brown-all-over common-or-garden thrush. The grey head and speckled belly struck me as unusual.

Thanks to reader Mis for identifying the bird as a kwiczoł - fieldfare - which according to Wikipedia is a migratory bird that normally winters in the south.

And a propos of our garden, two molehills appeared overnight, great brown heaps of soil on the virgin snow. This being midwinter, I'm not going to be reeling out the hose to flush the vermin out. I hope there'll not be too much more mole activity before the spring (!).

Winter itself is turning miserable, with temperatures rising above zero. It's still a long, long, long time until spring arrives in this part of Europe. I hope for another freeze (never mind the gas bill!)

UPDATE: 16 January and there are now five molehills on the back lawn.

This time last year:
Kraków beckons once more
Melting snow, disappearing winter

Winter drivetime, Jeziorki North

Above: The scene just after sunrise on ul. Poloneza, between ul. Ludwinowska and the metro link spur. This is Jeziorki Północne. The road is as passable as it gets - packed snow has filled the biggest potholes and a hard frost keeps the whole thing together. No mud, no dust. As long as you have winter tyres, you'll make it OK. The convoy of vehicles puts me in mind of the ice road across Lake Ladoga that kept supplies running into Leningrad during its WW2 siege. Below: Towards the top end of ul. Poloneza, as it runs through Grabów, just before it reaches Platan Park and ul. Poleczki. The weather is still great - today we had a daytime high of -8C, clear blue skies and plenty of fresh snow all around.


This time last year:
Warsaw well prepared for winter
Spring comes early to Poland?
Another visit to Kraków

Winter in its finery

This is what it's all about. First thing this morning and -19C on the car thermometer. No wind at all. Dry air, clear sky. If this be winter, may every day be like this through to mid-March! Right: The end of ul. Trombity. Trees on the footpath between ul. Kórnicka and the railway track. To think we're less than eight miles from the very centre of Warsaw!

The trees just across the road from us. Shortly after sunrise this morning. I hope this weather lasts until the weekend - the need to photograph such beauty is great.

The gas bill arrives next month.







This time last year:
Snow fences keep trains running

This Charming Man

Here's Aleksander Kosterski in front of his first Christmas tree, nine and half months old. Button-bright, inquisitive, confident and affectionate, I predict that this little fellow will go far. Here he is again, aged three weeks.

Aleksander was fascinated by my camera. Flash! Snap! I turn it round - and there's a little picture on the back. Each time I took a photo, he beckoned to me to show him the result. I'd turn it to face him, he'd point and gurgle.

This time last year:
Five departures from Okęcie

Zamienie in winter

Zamienie - the story so far. Back in communist days, there was a factory here manufacturing vaccines. It closed in 2004. Above: the guarded entry to the complex, today owned by Biomed Warszawa Sp. z o.o.

Before the war, Zamienie was a manor house, with many outbuildings. Most of these remain, situated to the left of the roadway above (view looking east; in the distance the Action warehouse). To the right, fence posts show where the closed-off manufacturing facility was.

Above: This is where the vaccine production buildings were, long, single-story blocks. At the far end of this complex were stables complete with haylofts, where cattle was kept. Is this usual practice for a vaccine plant? The buildings are gone, Biomed last month auctioned two plots of land (details here in Polish) in Zamienie. One, 1,710 sq m., had a starting price of 185 zł per square metre (43 quid), the second plot, of 1,272 sq m., was cheaper at 144 zł per square metre (36 quid). Did Biomed find a buyer, I wonder? If so, what are the chances something will get built here in the near future?

Above: The fire station. Tyre tracks in the snow suggest that at least the right-hand bay is still in regular use. Behind the building is a mobile phone mast.

Above: One of the manor house's outbuildings. Beyond it, a small pond. Past that and to the fields beyond, where the landscape is rapidly changing.

Having passed through Zamienie, one comes across the Osiedle Polnych Maków ('Poppies of the Fields') estate. A development of 36 terraced houses. As yet, all are empty, 29 still for sale. The credit crunch may slow down the pace at which people move in, but I'm sure that before too long, this terrace (one of two currently completed) will have gardens full of trees, bespoke fencing and cars in the drive. Behind these houses - fields, stretching on to Dawidy Bankowe and Łady (pron. "wuddy"). The houses are being sold for 855,000 zł - 988,000 zł (200K - 230K quid). Interesting to see how quickly they'll go - and for how much.

Now that's what I call winter vol.12

What a beautiful sight met my eyes as I opened the curtains this morning: winter as it should be. Time for breakfast, scan the paper, some light household duties, and off with the camera to snap some Jeziorki winter magic.

Sunshine and snow; the perfect winter combination. I stroll to the north end of ul. Trombity, turn left into the footpath that is the continuation of ul. Kórnicka and cross the tracks, headed for Zamienie.

The wind is from the north-west; it's beginning to cloud over. Air temperature is -2C, slight windchill (-3C). Overnight low was -6C, so not one of the coldest nights I've experienced in my 12 winters in Poland.

This is a view along ul. Kórnicka, across the tracks. As I mentioned last month, the far end of this road, where it joins ul. Dawidowska in Zamienie, has been renamed ul. Sikorki. Just about visible in the distance are large mounds of earth, delivered to the building site on Dawidowska.

Returning from Zamienie by way of Dawidy Bankowe. Above: fields between Dawidy Bankowe and ul. Trombity. Splash of green in the field on the left is spring onions.

Left: On the pedestrian railway crossing on ul. Kórnicka, looking towards ul. Baletowa and W-wa Dawidy station. A Belavia Boeing 737 approaches Okęcie airport.










This time last year:
Winter train
The day becomes noticeably longer
So cold the lock freezes on the inside

Welcome to 2009

The New Year, welcomed in with a firework display at Pod Skocznią, the rather posh district of Mokotów (most famous resident: General Jaruzelski). This year's barrage lasted just over 20 minutes of full-intensity, non-stop explosions, some five minutes longer than last year - a useful indicator. But everyone is expecting a significant slowdown in the economy. Let's hope it's not too dramatic in terms of job losses.

This time last year:
2008 welcomed in with fireworks