A blog with no pics

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 Polish politics are only now beginning to penetrate my brain. Without the language the subject cannot be closely examined, as British views are just that: seen from the uk.

A fascinating story is unfolding to me, one that has been going on for a while now.

After the war, with the communists in power, it was declared that much property in Warsaw, previously owned by Jews and non-Jews, which did not appear to be under anyone’s ownership now, was to be held by the state.  After some 40 years clever government officials realized there was money to be made, and the idea spread.  Bribes and kickbacks provided all the necessary documentation to acquire a prime property at a minimal price. It could then be sold on the open market for millions. Of course not a zloty in tax was ever paid.  Previous governments did nothing to sort this.

Once this government, PiS, came in, 2 years ago, they started to investigate. Their promise was to clean up corruption and to redress the economy. This they are doing; Poland has never been in such good economic shape.  They have collected millions in back VAT payments, and this investigation should bring them a great deal of income.

They started to investigate and to prosecute, hence the overflowing prisons: lawyers, real estate developers and government officials.

At this moment the mayor of Warsaw, her husband and their son are each under investigation, as the properties they own do not seem, for some reason, to have the required paperwork. The mayor has been on the witness stand for weeks, resolutely refusing to go to court.  Now a new law had been drafted granting the right to fine her heavily for each day she refuses to appear. Poland doesn’t seem to have a subpoena law.  

As anyone who knows me knows my family is very small. To Stefan’s 27+ cousins I have 3. 1 in Vienna and 2 in Australia. The Aussies each have huge families, so the clan by now is enormous. Francis and wife Robyn come to Europe frequently and this time they stayed with us. We will return the compliment and go there to see everyone, in November.

Before that we plan to drive the length of Italy. Stefan badly wants to visit Monte Cassino where the Poles distinguished themselves during the last war, and I want to see Sicily and Naples. We plan to eat well and drink young, local wine.   With luck we will meet up with above-mentioned cousins and spend a tough week doing more eating and drinking, a passion we all share. 

And before that, end March, we have a 16 night tour to South Africa, no less. Terribly exciting. 

In February is a week in Budapest, with a slow drive there and back.  One of many European cities on the list to be explored.  The summer is not yet planned, apart from a week in Cornwall and a week in London with the family.   I am making up for all the time travel away was not so easy. We both want to make the most of our legs while they are still sort of working.  

I have to mention the local spas; not only the swimming pools but the massages and sulphur treatments on offer. Astonishingly cheap and thorough, and doing us both a LOT of good. 

In between more study and lots of reading.  Tough.

Still here

 

After a long gap here we are again.

We went last night to a concert....yippee you think.

Local choir. Stood on stage and sang nicely, sort of in tune. Then the conductor lady decided to sing, on her own. Mike collapsed, then got fixed, then she carried on.

Never been to such a shambles in my entire life.

We left.

Went on one of our regular Sunday trips to somewhere: look at ruins of churches, castles, go for a walk in the woods.... and then food somewhere. We go with a Ukrainian worker if there is one, and /or family. Whoever is available.

Here we have Kola, from Ukraine, and Stefans grand nephew Mateusz, his dad and his grandmother (Stefans sister, Anna). And me looking especially glum. You can see we all look glum, but see also: there is no food. Yet.

Dear old Henry finally took off for sunnier climes 5 October. It was long and was not fun, but he is ok now. I feel good that he was home and cared for as well as we could do it. He loved what he saw of this country; he really got it. The landscape, the food. He loved what Stefan has created with the house (not the one below) and the property and it gave him pleasure. 

Funny being an orphan; I was an only child. I miss them but that is fine, life starts again.

Guard dog, not ours

We travel now. In 2 days we are off for a 3 week trip to family in Geneva, London and Cornwall for several days, but in the spring we will venture further afield, to South Africa!

Let the fun begin.

Is life unfair? You bet it is.

Note before you read:

I have set this out perfectly to read well, with pictures the right size and in the right place. However, when I looked at the preview, the whole thing was well and truly f....d up.  I cannot sit here any more. I am going to publish and hope for the best. If it looks a mess, I am truly very sorry about it. 
PS. I see it IS a mess. This format is so hard to control. I do not have the skills to fix it.  It comes out entirely different from the way I set it up!  

Stefan has a cousin, Basia.

When I first heard about her, suffering with cancer she was perceived to be near death. But she recoverd and is doing fine now. Meanwhile, the husband, through heavy drinking, was suffering problems and is now in the hospital on dialysis with a poor prognosis. One of Basia’s daughters was married, both living and working in Scotland, had bought a new house and with a 7 month old. She had been treated recently for breast cancer. They all came over for Easter, she felt bad with a variety of symptoms, admitted to hospital and within 4 days was dead. The cancer had spread to her brain.

And if my dad knew about this it would only plunge him into misery. 98 and lying in bed month after month….. it IS unfair. As long as he has no pain, which cannot always be avoided, he is fine and remarkably cheerful. He is trying so hard to be no trouble.

Last week Mariusz offered us a chicken. This would be the first live chicken for us and it got me thinking.

Mariusz,  husband of Stefan’s anorexic niece, works on his family’s farm, mostly strawberries  harvested by influxes of Ukrainians, and doubles up as an IT consultant in the local government office, where Anna, Stefan’s sister, is secretary to the mayor. Background info only, no relevance to the subject.

If we accept the chicken, we will need to not only need to provide for her, but for a group of them. How many I have no idea, but you don’t have just one, do you? We have discussed chickens; they were till now in the pending box. I know NOTHING about them.

Now the question is revisited, which area of the garden could they have, what about our absences, the cat, the dog? And so on.

The cat after hunting birds, quite happy.

Garden with Ukrainians at rest

Discussing the matter again, I now see part of me had been holding back. This time I was fully on board; we have the space, we will build a henhouse, we will do a pond where the caravan stands. As there were no apparent problems, I found myself fully accepting the role of smallholder, gospodarka. This is where we live, this is what we do. As long as we can get away for breaks whenever we choose, our job here is to live in this place we have built, to nurture the land, each other and ourselves.

I wasn’t aware of harbouring reservations before. It wasn’t as if I was thinking I could always ‘go back’ if it didn’t work; there is no ‘back’ to go to. But the chicken question has settled it.  After 10 months here, finding our feet, settling into our roles, at last getting a grasp of the language, which of course is vital to assimilation, I now feel fully committed.

I mentioned seeing this wonderful bathroom at a palace

My version, in progress.

Visitors

We have been disappointed recently with 2 lots of UK visitors cancelling due to ill health.  It made me realize how I need to see friends and I cant keep hopping over to the UK evry 5 minutes.  I love to make new friends and now I am looking to next year when my Polish should be good enough for me to venture forth.  I will be researching courses I can do. I think there is (Polish, of course) University of the 3^rd age here so if I can cope, maybe with a practical course rather than nuclear physics, say (ha!) then that would be the answer.

I have always thought of Poland as somewhat overgrown, hairy, natural. Being here continuously I see the daily changes, such as the end of dandelion flowers and the spreading of their seeds with their clocks. The countryside here these days is the brightest yellow. I realize how few dandelions there are around London. How tidy the verges are in the country. How nothing has a chance to go wild; every inch is manicured. I love it here where the insects and birds can flourish. The racket of birdsong is a constant pleasure. I shall have to study their songs so I can identify them.

Plenty of dandelions

Seeding

More dandelions messing up the place

House available

What

We have an adjoining house that is fully equipped and which we would like to make available for short periods of time, as if it were a Residency. The house has 2 rooms which have I double bed, 2 singles and downstairs, a fold out double. There are 2 bathrooms with one shower. A well equipped roomy kitchen/dining area. It is peaceful here; this is an opportunity to think and work.

Where

We are in Poland, 100 km north of Krakow. The town is called Stopnica and can be found on the internet.  We can be reached by bus from Krakow or by car, of course. We have a map as unless your tomtom is right up to date you may find the house hard to find.

Why

We are both makers and understand the need to have space to think. We have this house, adjoining ours, in a lovely spot, and would like to offer this.

Who for

A creative person(s). Could be a writer, musician, painter or something I haven’t thought of. Someone who needs and would appreciate what we have to offer.

What does it cost

Your fare and spending money for food etc. We will make no charge for the house. Costs of living here are a fraction of UK.

When and how long?

The length of time is up for discussion. Roughly 1-3 weeks for each slot.?

What if other people need the house?

We have visitors who use the house. It sleeps up to 5  in 2 rooms. It may be possible to share the house if everybody agreeable. We have other possibilities too should everybody arrive at the same time.

How do we select?

We would like someone who is compatible and we would have to follow our gut when it comes to choosing a person(s). One of the reasons for doing this is to meet new people, hopefully of like mind, so finding common ground is important for us.

We need to have full trust in the person as we may go away during their time here and they would have the place to themselves.