OK, you may have guessed that there is no way that I’m going to catch up unless I come up with a radical solution and so, for one week only, I’m heading into a new format to enable me to provide an overview of progress over the last three weeks without having to rely on […]
I’m determined to try and catch up on July before August arrives, as I can see the slippery slope getting steeper and I’m loosing my footing; even so the catch may still be instalments as I’m relying on dates of photos and the calendar to try and get things in order, not that it matters […]
It’s probably the best weapon we have to make changes, but it’s also the probable cause for many of the problems that we face; I know it’s all a bit philosophical for me and I don’t blame you if you don’t read any further, it’s just another hippy rant; so be warned! I used to […]
Well that was what I thought last Sunday when all the snow disappeared in Rzemien, just the odd bit hanging about where the wind had gathered the dusty flakes into a drift; that and the slush left at the side of the road by the snow ploughs was the only evidence left of the last […]
I just love hearing some of the stories of how people used to cope when they lived under communism, todays tale of a women who learnt how to knit with nails, as knitting needles weren’t available, put a smile on my face. It also spurred me on to write a post; although I’ll probably have […]
Which, as it turns out, works in my favour; not being able to speak Polish is one of the reasons why I landed a job teaching English. Although I have to say that the word teaching should be used loosely in this context. With no experience what so ever in teaching, a mediocre grade C […]
As you know my days are filled with dog walking, blogging (reading more than writing) and more recently trying to watch the film recommendations of Beetleypete. The list that I was working to expanded today with another list from Curnblog, who’s blog was recommended by Pete, getting more work is not an option: i don’t […]
It’s not actually that cold, but it is true that my MP3 player stops working when the temperature is below zero. It took me a while to work it out as I thought the battery was on the blink and the unit was no longer holding a charge, but then after several experiments it appeared […]
I know, it’s another post about the beavers, I’m sorry, but other than telling you about what time I got up, went to bed or carried out the usual bodily functions (although I admit to discussing the latter in the past) very little is happening. The snow seems to keep coming and the temperatures remain […]
It’s about the only Chubby Brown joke I can remember that doesn’t have an ‘F’ word in it, and for whatever reason its a joke that always runs round in my head when it snows, as it is doing right now. You may have noticed that my pledge to head over to the house to […]
I keep mentioning the dogs as I seem to spend so much time with them, at least two hours a day walking them, if not more, especially now I have lots of free time! I think I’ve also mentioned in the past that I am in a minority in the village, not because I’m English; […]
Well not so much alone, but without Gosia. That’s right, she has left me! I know its hard to believe after all these years, the ups, the downs, the dreams we shared, the plans we made. How could she do it, where has she gone? Holland, that’s where, to earn some money to keep me […]
As we arrived back in Rzemien last week from our two day trip to the house, we were greeted by Gosias parents along with two of their grandchildren (aged 14 and 17); all sitting round the table, armed with knives, shelling walnuts. The task at hand was to come up with 3Kg of shelled walnuts […]
I have now settled at my winter weight of around 85Kg, helped by generous portions of delicious food and copious amounts of alcohol; well maybe not copious; but more than enough! I no longer need to wear a belt when wearing several pairs of trousers (not all at once) and when I do it looks […]
It’s nothing to do with the weather, although we did wake up to snow; which is fitting for the time of year. Low pressure as in no pressure, that’s the general feeling I get about Christmas in Poland. The children have already received there presents back on December the 6th, St Nicolas’s names day and […]
As the smells from the kitchen drift through the house I type contentedly, smiling to myself; in the knowledge that my belly will be full of wonderful, traditional, Polish food, sometime soon. Pierogi (ruskie and kapusta), golabki, sznycel, krokiety, kotlety, krupnik (not the honey vodka), bigos, kapusniak, to name but a few of my favourite […]
After such a long break back in Rzemien we had started to go a little crazy, thinking about all the things we should be getting on with back at the house: walls to trim back ready for the electrical cables and fittings, internal walls to build which will then allow us to start on the plumbing, […]
I may have mentioned that the cold air and snow is now here to stay in Poland, certainly beyond the 10-day forecast that I check almost every day, yesterday we woke to -16ºc (outside) so the prospect of walking the dogs didn’t fill me with the usual joy! Mind you by the time I’d had […]
I know that the norm is to have lazy summer days, but we were busy, so as the snow piles up and the temperatures drop, settled in the warm comfort of Gosia parents home in Rzemien; we thought we would have a lazy week. I say lazy as we haven’t done any physical work or […]
The three things that any food wholesaler should be importing into Poland, because try as I might I can’t find them, not even in Tesco; I’d like to make it clear that Tesco was a last resort as I hold them and many other supermarkets responsible for the demise of country life and community, so […]