Poland to London

The house and garden as we left

Guest house with matching roof

From the driveway, quince tree

Front of house  

Back in London

We drove back slowly, stopping in Wroclaw to see a cousin and family, then stopping in Nuremberg to meet up with my son, Laurie and his family. It made the trip home much easier than belting across Europe in 10 hour stints. None of us had ever seen Nuremberg. It is a charming city with a knockout National museum. It would take days to see it all. Exquisite examples of carved and painted Baroque sculpture. The best stuff came from that region anyway: tools, clocks, instruments of all types, carving, gilding…. on and on. So much to see and so little time, we just got a glimpse.

The parents were well catered for. A lady called Karolina (Polish) came daily and cooked not as required: one portion for Henry, with a little more for my mother, but for an army. She couldn’t be stopped. For some reason I found in a drawer a total of 3.5 kilograms of caster and icing sugar. Was she preparing to make several monster cakes?

Two days in, I was anxious to get on with my London cheesecake. I wanted to use the yummy plums we brought back that were on the point of calling it a day. So, in a smaller kitchen than my Polish palace, and with several other things on my mind I nevertheless got on and made it.  It looked good, and smelled good, so when I proudly presented it to my gasping old dad, (gasping for the cake, that is) I didn’t understand when he told me they both thought it was horrible. He does exaggerate at times but really, it was not good. I thought so myself; couldn't understand it. Then I realised, I forgot the sugar.

Father is doing very well. He is so happy to have us back, we eat together each night, with stuff from the jungle that was the garden and he gets drunk.  Mother doing less well. She stays in bed all day, unable to stand or support herself, totally dependent on my dad.  Her Alzheimers is not bad though, in so much as she is complaining of boredom. 

I need to swim every day now, to get fit again. There was the warmest welcome from my lady swimming chums who I had missed and who sweetly had missed me. We meet regularly to have coffee after our swim and Henry is very much part of the group. And good it is to take him by car again, so he doesn’t have to risk life and limb getting the bus.  I understood he would get a taxi while we were away. He has a subsidised taxi card, so he rings the company and in theory they come.  However, he told me that on several occasions, although they had been given the pick up time, they kept him waiting several times. Visiting a friend nearby, but too far to walk, he waited on one occasion 1-¼ hours!  So, for swimming, back to the bus, of course.  

I am looking forward to seeing some of the exhibitions on in London just now. How wonderful to be able to do that.  Top of the list are Ai Wei Wei, Auerbach, Hepworth and Goya. Masses to see. 

Auerbach and Lucien Freud

Auerbach

Goya

Goya

Hepworth

Sad times

16 September

25 years ago on this day my son, Tom, died from cancer. He was 18 years old. At 13 he developed Hodgkin’s Disease.  Unfortunately, acute lymphoblastic leukemia followed, suddenly, five years later - as a result of his treatment. It raced through him and after 12 weeks in hospital we lost him. 

17^th September 

This day, in 1939, the Russians invaded Poland. In Poland there are masses of films, of course, and we watched several documentaries on television.  The history of this part of the world is endlessly interesting. I have refugee parents, from Vienna and now we are partly living there I am more curious than ever. There is plenty of material to research, once I can read in Polish!My good friend in California has discovered the treatment she has been undergoing for this miserable disease is not working. Terribly sad, and for friends, what a dilemma! How helpless you feel. Do I jump on a plane, or what?  Jackie Collins (the author who died very recently) kept her illness from everybody. Even her sister.  But then she would have missed out on a spread of loving support. What would I do? It is terribly sad, for everyone.

Onward and upward

Back to lessons with a new teacher, Dorota, who makes me talk and after 1 hour and 10 mins  I was exhausted!  But it was great.

End of Summer

Archers (Blog version) update

After a week of silence from the relatives, (although I had been sending some of my newest cheesecake over, via the son, Blog) I was wondering what to do as we will soon be leaving. Stef organized one of his famous bbq’s, last of the season, but didn’t plan to ask Nog or Suz. Blog wouldn’t come anyway, we are far too old for him.  So I applied a bit of pressure, and Nog and Suz agreed to come.  When they arrived I was touched at the relief in Suz’s face that it was over. Jolly hugs all round and we are back to normal.

It showed me that all her bluster was just fear…. she is not a very secure lady, and she explodes, on a regular basis, in self defense. I feel sorry for her. Next day she turned up as usual, ate my cheesecake, gave me plenty of conversation practice and took herself off again.  Then, they all turned up, again. No, not all, only a small contingent. Good for language practice but tiring. I said in the last blog it was feast or famine. Well, plenty of feast now.

Just a small contingent

Czarny bez, Black lilac

I have been learning some of the domestic tricks used hereabouts.

A lot of bottling, baking as usual and freezing goes on in the summer, to use all the lovely seasonal produce. The tomatoes have been exceptional due to the dry weather, but I have not made anything with them. Next year. I have watched sis-in-law (Anna, Stefans sister) make sauce to store. A lot of work but worth it in the winter when you need it. But I would have to give up my day job to do everything, so I am doing what is possible. I have learned to make sernik, cheesecake; szarlotka, apple cake; and placek, fruit in sponge thing from sis-in-law, with tips from Anna. 

  Stefan picking elderberries

He has to go deep

Separating the berries

Ready for washing

Boil 20 mins

Bottled

Cheesecake, Szarlotka

Sponge cake thing, Placek

And then there is the distillery. The family is well practiced. Add plum juice to that pure spirit and you are well away.

Update on In the Forest

After a bit of a search we may have found a home at the The Museum of the Gilded Arts, set up by the Society of Gilders, in Pontiac, Ill., USA , MOGA. 

We are still sorting the details, but it has been dismantled and is ready to ship!

It shows it is quite a problem for artists creating their own work, for themselves. Come the time to create some space and some income, too, there can be problems.  I think of the Australian couple who were our neighbours in London as I was growing up. They were both artists and produced mountains of good work. They never exhibited, nor sold, as far as I know. He died, the she died, and I don’t know what happened to it all. Where does all the unwanted art in the world go?

http://www.societyofgilders.org/museum

A note re: stuff.

Furnishing a house requires stuff like the above mentioned and choices have to be made. Taste is involved. Domestic goods available here are different from London, obviously. Looking around here, I thought in my wisdom, oh no, can’t have that. I will have to get my pillows from Peter Jones and my tiles from that poncy Moroccan place in Parsons Green, even though they’ll cost an arm and a leg.  But that doesn’t work. This is a Polish house, and we are ordinary people who live here, who want to support the local economy and who want to fit in. The Moroccan tiled bathroom of my dreams has no place here. The challenge is to find stuff in Poland that will work for us, that is not 1950’s without the style, and that is local. We are somehow managing to do that, bit by bit and as well as being much cheaper, it is looking pretty good.

Back garden, s

Stefan fixing up a flea market lamp 

Front. Note George, who has adopted us.

Hall, so far!

Now we are getting ready to leave.

For me the trip has mainly been about getting my wretched knee better, and learning more of the language. I was very limited physically. Whatever I did around the house/garden I paid for the next day, so that was not good. But, slowly I did get stronger and was able to do more standing and walking, (cooking and shopping)if not a lot more.  Happily, Stefan was patient and though he rushed about all day like a man possessed he was ok with me on my bum a lot of the time, reading.  Much of the material, apart from the Guardian, was of course continuing with that gargantuan American thriller, in Polish/English. I think it will be my life’s endeavor, but I am getting results and my vocabulary is definitely increasing.  I had another go, too, at a stupid romance that I had cast aside as too hard, and found I could sort of do it, with the dictionary of course…. So there is hope, folks!

As far as the house is concerned we (I mean Stefan, the master builder) have/ has done a huge amount.  And the shopping; we have bought radios, vacuum cleaners, cushions, plates, tiles, glue to stick them on… you name it. It seemed to go on and on but, we have a house that is cosy and warm and I don’t want to leave it!