Events of the winter

Life is quiet, though busy, but winter is pretty uneventful.  My London friends  seem to be gallivanting all over to concerts, theatre etc….. seems a long way off.   But on a recent visit, staying with Sandra in her 50’s? period flat, I was SO cold!  The winter in the UK is damp, as we know, but friends who always complained about the English winter now have my understanding. They just don’t know how to build houses there! 

We are very toasty in the house.  The winter here is profound. There is nothing green, but in the sun the landscape is beautiful. In the UK there is always some green, but here I can only imagine that when spring eventually arrives, the whole place will burst to life.  Looking forward to that very much. I love the snow but the icy is treacherous and scares me when walking.

Quince tree with feeders for birds

Winter mist, from the bedroom

Garden with well

Senior group at it. Lovely ladies.

Senior group

I had given it up. I couldn’t stand the playgroup stuff; though the ladies are clearly intelligent, and very welcoming, for some reason they think playing with plastic and wire for two hours is ok.  I had skipped some meetings but this time I was told they would be, wait for it, painting on glass!  I had to go. Who knows, maybe I could pick up a few tips.  I packed up my computer with the 5 min. video I had made, my book, a few examples and showed up. They immediately set the computer up in the hall where there was a large screen, and obediently watched the video, twice. Much applause and smiles, no questions.

Back upstairs they looked at the book and the examples I had brought. Again no questions.

Then we set to work. Each were given a wrapped sheet of plastic, straight from the shop with hanging clips and card, the whole business. Horrid brushes and tubes of the most disgusting glass paint (no solvent and spit didn’t work). Then we were given what is known as a Riss, that is a pattern or template. They were icons or flowers or some such. The two ladies in the pic had the same as each other; I had an icon. This was placed under the plastic and we were to paint on the plastic following the template. I just took the outlines as a guide then dispensed with the pattern very soon, but the ladies kept going, colouring in. I was so uncomfortable, I really did not know where to put myself.

I left as soon as I possibly could.

What is going on here? In the UK or the US the same ladies would be learning French or be members of a book/knitting/cookery club/group/open university or volunteering……..   still a lot to learn.

A death in the family

We have made the 5 hour (each way) trip to Poznan several times recently. One of Stefans many cousins, Anna, did not keep in touch with anyone much, but Stefan is good and we always visited when passing through. She was a heavy smoker and didn’t stop even though she latterly needed an oxygen tank. One day her former neighbor and good friend called us to tell us there had been an emergency and she was in hospital.  She lay in an induced coma for 6 weeks, then was revived and she lasted some 3 weeks more, and then she died.   Her organs had all failed. So we visited at each stage, and then we had to get the immaculately clean but smoky flat redecorated and all her stuff sorted and removed. There were tons of sheets, blankets, knickers, irons…..every cupboard jam packed.  She had her sick mothers stuff, and her dead brothers stuff, receipts from 1996, you name it, all in a one room flat.  Stefan organized the funeral and went with his sister last week. Just one night away. I had a cold, which we all have now, so got out of it.  But a lot to do!

We should go next week to continue, but I am not sure if it will happen.

The cat waits at her door, in the warm, and then pounces. 

Henry has been increasingly short of breath over the last 6/8 weeks; he is going down. His heart is giving out and he has some other stuff not working properly.  Now he is in bed with a cold, quite cheerful, but we all know what will happen.  I am beginning to send out warning noises to family. We had booked (reversible) a holiday in Lanzarote for 1 March. I cancelled it. Oh joy.