Ochota and surrounds

Recently we have had some really stormy weather. Quite violent at times. It is sad to see the trees getting smashed and breaking up. Big beautiful old trees, that have been weakened by disease and time. The area we live in is really beautiful because we have many old trees. This is a main reason we decided to move here. Greenery softens the city and brightens the soul.

Night storms

Brewing.

A tree that has turned to honeycomb with a disease.

That is why it fell in big winds recently.

One of the coolest parts of town, Filtry.

One of the best coffee shops in Warsaw, on Filtry street, next to the Filtry installation called oddly Filtry.... creative!

I snapped our baristas tattoo, as it fitted in well with the theme of our work. Burza = Storm.

małe przyjemności - small pleasures. A reminder of all the little things. Like nice handwriting.

Więcej czułości - more sensitivity, it's the little things. Hold hands more. Hug. Smile. Be good.

I actually like these little garages, I would love to have one as a workshop, if I had a skill I could perform there!

Light and shadow, the little things.

Little windows, it's the little things.

I prefer the older number to the new.

Glass windows.

The chrysalis. 

Are we storm clouds? Nope.

Corners and clouds.

Corners and clouds.

Glass windows to the sky.

More wooden details. It's the little things.

I Heart Old People Reading in parks!

Moving house? When a bird house is blown down in storms.

The cool details of an empty ramp.

Folks hoofing it along the ramp. Happy puppy, too.

Some recent storms

What is the default topic in most countries and in most situations? The weather. Studies show that this is the most common theme of conversations to break "awkward" silences, so..... recently there has been some up and down weather, it is quite traditional for us to have these summer storms. This is always a danger for many, especially farmers, it can destroy crops quickly.

As you can see, we were spared. Our first riverside tomato was picked and it was delicious. The funny thing was that the woman told me these were cherry tomatoes when I bought the seedling a few months back.... I am guessing her labels need an update.

That said, back to the weather. We have had some really spetactular day time storms, they have been great fun to watch, but are hard to capture on the ol' camera. It is much easier in the evening when fear of over exposure is lower. So I only have one lightning bolt for you, some pretty clouds and sunsets too. Enjoy.

One side of the apartment

And this was the other.

A big ring of clouds, there was earlier a rainbow as well, although I didn't capture it so well as it was still raining at the time.

I do think simplicity is one of the greatest forms of photography.

No editing here, this is actually how it looked!

Pop into Łazienki to see the Chinese pavillion

Then celebrate surviving the storms with a world in a glass.

Wawa and storms

Warsaw in summer is funnily tropical. Well, it is to someone from an extremely dry country. This year, we had some torrential rain, which reminded me of the "knock em down" (Banggerreng in the local Aboriginal dialect) storms I experienced in my 6months in Darwin way back in 2000. Then later we experienced lots of lightning and thunder, some really near to the house feeling like we were having a religious experience. You can imagine why people of past generations felt that their gods were angry when they heard such loud sounds. The advantage of all this patchy weather of course is that you get some really pretty light shows. Either as lightning or as bursts through clouds or the ever fanciful rainbow.

As we start our, hopefully, slow slide into Autumn, I thought I should get back to the good old sweaty days in Warsaw. With some photos of the stormy times.

What has been happening in this hemisphere recently?

Spring is finally here, it has come to the Eastern Plains of Europe, to share all its wonder!


Over the last week, or so, there has been a huge amount of rain, and not spread over days/weeks, but mostly condensed into short burst of monsoonal style downpours. Scary if you don't live on the 5th floor, luckily we do! So these such storms didn't really change our days apart from the entertainment value of lightning and racing clouds.

We popped back to Sokolka last weekend, and it reminded me of one of the things that I truly adore about Poland. It is even evident when living in the capital, and that is meadows. Meadows of beauitful flowers are abound in Poland at this time of year and probably through till about October, or maybe if the weather holds out till November. It is amazing, I can be standing at a tram stop in the middle of the city or in the outskirting suburbs after one of my classes and stare at the bumble bees lazily bouncing from one flower to another. Through a waving sea of pinks, purples, yellows and whites. It is the same in Sokolka. Beautiful flowers everywhere, along with a million mosquitoes that you only notice in the afternoon when the sun loses its heat.

We took out a couple of old trusty bikes to have a look around the fields near Sokolka
And we certainly weren't disappointed when it came to meadows;
Flowers with sunshine in a blue sky;
And the surrounding environments.
Of course there are always plenty of dandelions popping up around the place, and I am thinking of making some beer from their roots..... but we will see. Yes, I think I am becoming Polish as they love to brew anything, normally they do it to make bimber, which is the pretty name for Polish moonshine. It can be made from literally anything. From fruit and potatoes, through to children's lollies aka candy to Americans.
Crazy cat lady or is it a Chernobyl mutant?
Oh we were right, it is just the cat lady, taking the cat out for a walk through the newly planted birch forest in Sokolka.
Yes, Spring is in full swing here in Poland. I just hope that the early inconsistencies don't have an impact on the apple crops, etc. Which is going to be important to us in August as we want to try to make a good quantity of Cider and in at least a couple of varieties of flavour. We were also thinking of makeing some preserved and dried apples too. So we will have to see how my "handy" skills go with these new challenges. The next post will tell you about the interesting beer I am making at present.