A House In Poland

Dried Mushrooms

2011-09-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

The house is filled with the smell of mushroom drying in front of the fire. There are garlands of them hanging from the shelves in the kitchen. The mushroom season is here in Poland at last, the first sign of autumn. We’ve been making trips to the forest every few day but we try and avoid the weekends and the crowds of foragers. The best time to go is on a Thursday or Friday morning because there’s a good chance no one else has beaten you to it. “The Polish love their mushrooms” I personally prefer them dried added to risotto or a good stew and Iza wants to make Pierogi with them for Christmas.

Staining the Siberian Larch

2011-09-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last month we decided to stain the Siberian Larch it’s been up about a year now and it’s starting to bleach from the sun. The contractors should have put four coats of oil on the Larch but I’m not sure if there was any.

During the two-year construction of the house (it should have been built in one) we hired a team of project managers to look after the build while we were in the UK. “What a waist of time and money they where” so many mistakes made its unbelievable, the biggest and the most stupid is the timber cladding was put on upside down. The idiot that allowed this to happen ask my wife “what are we going to do about it” as if it was our fault. This month we will have to pay for a local carpenter to correct the mistake.

The new stain looks great and id’ like to thank our neighbors and friends for helping.

The Wild Garden

2011-07-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

The garden is full of wild flowers, dominated by Corn Marigold and Chamomile. Great for the butterfly & bees.

Wild Blueberries

2011-07-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

I've just been picking wild blueberries in the rain. I'm making pancakes with blueberries for breakfast tomorrow morning. Its hard work picking them but apparently worth it. They grow deep in the forest on small bushes very close to the ground and they're a lot smaller that the ones you see in the shops. Lots of bending and kneeling, these days I have a problem touching my toes. I was luck this year, no mosquitoes or insects because of the rain. I only needed a few handfuls for the pancakes anyway so it didn't take long.

Our Garden

2011-06-28T03:44:00.000-07:00

I have to admit the garden is a little daunting, there's so much to do. The first big job is the fence, drive and bridging the culvert. Then top soil, a lawn and fruit trees. This is all going to cost a lot of money which we don't have at the moment.

My first ever courgette

A Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni)

A Fiery Copper butterfly (Lycaena thetis)

Our neighbor helping out with the gardening

In search of a good Polish Beer

2011-06-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

I’m missing a good pint of English beer, so much I brought about fifteen bottle back with me the last time I drove from the UK. Stupid I know! Too think that would be enough to quench my thirst; all it’s done is remind me what I’m missing.

When I try to explain my desire for an English beer to a Polish person they all look at me with a blank expression and tell me Poland has good beer. I’m sorry be that’s not beer its LARGER there’s a big difference. I’m talking about "Ale" Newcastle Brown, Bass, Mackeson Stout, Marston’s Pedigree, Bishop’s Finger, Fuller’s ESB, Fuller’s London Porter, Greene King’s Abbot, the list is long. Just thinking about them makes me want a pint.

"If anyone knows of any good polish beer / ale please let me know?"

Ales are made with "top-fermenting" strains of yeast and Lagers use "bottom-fermenting" yeasts. The taste of the ale comes from the high amount of hops, malt and roasted malts giving them their bitterness.

The Staircase

2011-06-27T04:33:00.000-07:00

Finally our staircases are finish. It’s taken three months waiting for the balustrade and we had to tell a small lie to push them to fit it last Friday. We told the carpenter that Szymon had fall down the half finished staircase.

I’m happy with the look but not the detail. I expected the newel posts to be turned and have a little mounding or routed out detail. Still I shouldn’t can’t complains they’ve done a good job considering the mess that was left from the last builder. I'll take a few more photos when the pictures are on the wall. The carpenter also wants a few shots for his portfolio.

This is what the last builder left us with.

Spring in Poland

2011-04-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the first true day of spring here in Poland “Its official” The morning sun was warm enough to go for a walk free from hats and coats. We headed for the forest looking out for hares along the way. As soon as we reached the tree line you could see flashes of yellow, Brimstone butterflies (Gonepteryx rhamni). They were especially attracted to the bright colours of Szymon’s Toy Story rucksack. The Brimstone is the first butterfly you’ll see after winter and I sign that spring is here. The week before it was snowing and two days later I spotted one struggling to fly against a cold wind.

Szymon looking for Hares & Rabbits.

The road at the back of our house that leads to the forest.

Czacz in search of wardrobes

2011-03-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

We still need furniture for the house so we decided to take the day off and head for a small village call Czacz in search of wardrobes. I very pleasant 45 minute drive on the first warm day of spring through the Polish countryside. If away one have been to Camden market in London, Czacz is very similar but minus the tourists and the hippy crap. Lots of shacks selling pretty much everything you could imagine. I noticed there seamed to be an overabundance of ice skates, crutches, plastic toy tractors and cat baskets!

Iza won the prize for the best bargain, a set of Susie Copper “Corn Poppy” cups and saucers. They had no idea what they're worth, she paid 10zl about £2.5 for six and on e-bay one cup can sell for £12. They’re not everyone’s taste but they must be worth at least £60 “good find Iza” They now sit on display in her Welsh dresser awaiting guests to drink coffee and eat homemade cake on the veranda.

Our first fine in Poland

2011-03-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

Today was a very eventful day. We arrived in Poland five days ago and in the morning I decided to try and tidy up the garden. Our inconsiderate builders had left a mess everywhere, several large piles of building rubber, old paint pots, polystyrene, wire, timber, broken tiles and lots of plastic bags. Now the bags were scattered all around the garden often close to trees. I knew what to expect but I still can’t believe what I was clearing up. I paid those men to build our house and now I'm walking around the garden with a large bag of their excrement.

When first arriving at the house we were told by the project manager not to use the bath or toilet because the sewerage pipe from our village wasn’t connected to the next village (this was meant to be done in December 2010) If we desperately needed to use the toilet there was a fifteen-minute drive with our legs cross to the mother in-laws house.

So it was a bit of a shock when two official looking men with red faces and ill fitted uniforms came onto our land telling us that we had the pay a penalty for using the toilet. The wife translated and told me that it could cost us anything from 50zl to 500zl. So you can only imaging how I felt after the morning’s events. Izabela explained to the two officers that we hadn’t been using the toilet, but they said they could see our BUILDERS or ourselves had and there well be a penalty of 50zl to pay. Luckily the fine was the minimum amount, if it was more I would have posted the bags id collected in the morning back to the builders.

“You have to laugh at life and what to throws at you”

Vegtable Garden

2011-02-22T06:39:00.000-08:00

All that I've ever growing it my life is a few tomatoes and a dismal attempt at peas last year bought from the local DIY store. This year i have great expectations but to achieve any results I'm going to need to give the garden a lot of love. I'm also hoping for advice for the neighbors, a lot of family's in Poland have allotments so I'm sure help will be at hand. All the gardening books i have are in English and not written for the Polish climate. Spring and autumn are sort the summer and winter seam a lot long that the UK.

If anyone knows anything about growing vegetables in Poland I'd love to hear from you.

Here's a list of the seeds that i bought last week over the internet.
Basil Sweet Genovese
Kitchen Garden Herb Seed Collection
Sweetcorn Marshalls Honeydew
Squash Hunter
Radish Amethyst
Pepper Joe's Long
Parsnip Gladiator
Pak Choi Summer Breeze
Lettuce Little Gem
Salad Leaves Baby Leaf
Lettuce All The Year Round Seeds
Leek Neptune
Kohl Rabi Lanro
Florence Fennel
Courgette Tuscany
Carrot Sugarsnax
Carrot Ascania
Beetroot Chioggia
Beetroot Baby Beet Action
Onion, Shallot & Garlic Trio Pack
Dwarf French Bean Supremo (Borlotti Bean)

Wild Flowers

2011-02-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking about the garden, it resembles a lager muddy field at the moment after all of the building work. I need a fast growing solution, something that’s low maintenance for the first year. The idea is to spend my time on the vegetable patch and forget about planting large boarders. The garden will be broken up into five areas.
1. A small nice lawn for Izabela

2. An area for the hens and compost

3. The vegetable patch

4. The Silver Birch Trees

5. The Wild Corn Field

I field of wild flowers with a path winding through the middle, I was inspired from the walks in Kew Gardens we used to take. My theory is it will cover a large area and look good, I hope it pays off. I bought enough seed mix to cove about 800Msq from Emorsgate Seeds wildseed.co.uk

Corn Cockle.

Corn Chamomile.

Thorow-wax.

Cornflower.

Corn Marigold.

Field Forget-me-not.

Common Poppy.

Corn Buttercup.

Night-flowering.

I’ve also collected seeds from my mother’s garden in Wales “Welsh poppies” They're yellow and about half the size of the common poppy.

Octonauts Toy Kwazii

2011-02-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

It’s amazing what parents do for their children.
It’s been a long time since I picked up a needle and thread but last night I found myself making a soft toy, all hand stitched (with a little help for my wife). This is not just any toy, its KWAZII the daredevil cat from the Octonuts . Believe me if they were available in the shop, id buy them all because Szymon adores them.
Octonuts is an animation that’s shown on CBeebies everyday. For ten minutes a day Syzmon is glued to the TV imagining he’s one of the team. I know its not in Poland at the moment but I’m sure it will be soon. I recommend it, much better that In the night garden”http://www.octonauts.com/octonauts.html

Polish House update

2011-01-27T04:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a few new shots of the house. There's still a few bits and pieces to finish off on the outside. At the moment they're fitting the boiler and radiators. Once this is done the timber floor can go down and then the kitchen and bathroom can be fitted. Then "BYE BYE BUILDERS" and hello Poland.

A New Year & A New Start in Poland

2011-01-04T06:48:00.000-08:00

"Good news" PKO Bank has finally released the money so we can finish the house. Very existing but also a little scary for me “we’re on our way”
Because of all the problems with the contractor PKO was reluctant to hand of the cash unit things were resolved. The only solution was to break the contract and give the case to our lawyer to sort out. The stress the contractor coursed our family is unacceptable, this man should never be building houses. I really hope he doesn’t put other family through such a horrible ordeal.
Back to the good news: The bank e-mailed us the news on Christmas Eve, this was the best present anyone could have asked for. We now wake up with a smile on our faces knowing the house will soon be finished.

“ahahahahaha” Christmas Canceled in Poland

2010-12-13T04:00:00.000-08:00

We’re meant to move into our new house on the 17th December but this isn’t going to happen for the foreseeable future. This is all because of the main contractor that’s building the house. Thanks to them we’re not going to enjoy a very happy Christmas and New Year in our new home, something both of us were so looking forward to it.
We’ve been let down so many times over the last 18 Months by this company, our only option now is to get our lawyer involved and brake the contract with them as soon as possible.
At the moment all sorts of emotions are racing around my head, I’m a very positive person but the situation is really starting to get me down. Their incompetence has had such an effect on our lives and it makes me angry knowing how rude and disrespectful they’ve been to my wife. On their web site they boast they can build a timber house in six weeks, its taken over 18 months and its still not finished. This is why I haven’t written anything for such a long time. I’m going to try and forget about our problems in Poland and focus on my family. “I promise you Iza that we’ll have a good Christmas and everything’s going to be resolved soon”

Paint

2010-10-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

I can’t understand why it was so difficult to get my hands on a few paint swatches & samples in Poland. You would think that paint is a booming business with all the new houses being built around Srem. In the UK the range of colour and paint brands are extensive. I find something therapeutic about picking paint finishes, thumbing through swatches & imagining what the rooms will look like. When we returned to the UK the next day we headed to the local B&Q to buy a number of samples. Looking for the perfect base colour Iza painted small squares of each shade with great excitement. I love the names they come up with enticing you to buy “Apricot Crush, Cookie Dough, Almond White. Buttermilk”

Floor Finishes

2010-10-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Szymon at the airport watching the planes.

We’ve just come back form Poland, a ten-day trip that was frustrating but productive. Frustrating because again we’ve been let down by the contractor, productive because we choose a lot of finished.
1. The Living room, Hall and Dinning will have a beautiful solid timber floor.
2. The Master bedroom will have a white painter timber floor.
3. The Kitchen & Entrance Hall will have a ceramic stone tile.
4. Szymon’s room will be carpet & the Spare room.
5. The Bathroom will have a lovely cream ceramic tile

The Keys

2010-09-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

We fly to Poland at the end of the September with the hope of picking up the keys for the house. The house is almost finished but I’ll believe it when it happens. I’m expecting a call saying there’s some sort of problem or just another excuse delaying our move.
Once we have the keys we still need to fit the kitchen, bathroom and also decorate. The topic of conversation at the moment is colours and finishes, this is exciting and a sign that the end is in sight.

Terracotta Tiles

2010-09-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

The tile we've picked for the kitchen is called "Alicante" A beautifully hand-made terracotta available in both square and rectangular formats. Spanish in origin and mellow in appearance, The kitchen units will be white so we need to compliment this with a warm colour. The company that will supply this is called Mandarin Stone based in the UK. They have so many beautiful floors to choose from.

Wild Mushrooms

2010-09-03T01:15:00.000-07:00

“Very existing” I found 6 Boletus Edulis Mushrooms in the garden & now I’m obsessed hunting for more. My mother told me that they always grow there and she just kicks them to one side. I find this so amusing that the English have lost the knowledge to forage and are missing out on natures tasty treats. This is what happens after two generations of fast convenience food. I’m off to the woods this weekend to look for Chanterelle mushrooms.

Retail Therapy

2010-08-28T01:33:00.000-07:00

Woke at 6am this Saturday morning to work on a 3D model of a new airport in India. A very frustrating three hours trying to import someones drawings into the 3D software in use and focus quitting more times that I can count. So I decided to stop work for the day and write an entry in the Blog.

Yesterday our son was enjoying the park with my sister, so the was the perfect opportunity for some retail therapy. The intention was to check out some antique stores in Cardiff. Arriving too late we headed for the big blue building with the large yellow letters on top “IKEA” My wife was in a very funny mood loving everything “retail fever” I think its called. One of the many things she pointing at was a lovely chandelier. I liked the look and the price so we bought it for the dining room. It will look great with the timber beams and table.

Siberian Larch

2010-07-24T06:57:00.001-07:00

This is what I’ve been waiting to see for so long. Finally the builders started the cladding this weekend. We were told that the house would take six weeks to build. It was support to have been constructed in a factory somewhere in Poland, delivered by lorry and assembled on site. What a joke that was, a year later and its still not finished.
Iza booked a ticket to Poland six weeks ago after the main contractor promised it would be finished. Unfortunately this was a slit fabrication of the truth " A tall tale, a fair tale, a fib, incorrect information, fictional, a dream, a fantasy, simply just another lie" however they've stared the cladding and for me this is worth celebrating. So I'm intended on drinking a few glasses of beer for the Siberian larch that’s now hugging our home.

The Shed - My office

2010-06-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ive been working from the shed now for the last two weeks. I was finding it hard, cold in the mornings and roasting during the day, there's also the smell of petrol than didn't help . Ive always been motivated when it comes to work, i looked forward to it and not a lot of people can say that. But the shed just wasn't doing it for me, it lacked a working environment.
Izabela was in Poland last weekend this meant I had the opportunity to do something about it. So on Saturday I bought some white paint and a brush to try and improve things. I'm now starting to feel it's more like home.

We moved to Wales

2010-06-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Last week we moved to Wales, it feels like we’re getting closer to Poland. Our plan is to spend the summer here with Szymons grandmother. I’ve lived in London for over 25 years and Iza 7 years we’ll both miss the city and I’m sure it’ll take time to adjust. The great thing is we found a lovely nursery for Szymon in the same village. He also loves the open spaces, the large garden and the fields at the end of the lane.
Personally I’m finding it hard working from home. The journey from the office in London gave me time to unwind, which meant I didn’t take my work home with me. Now I leave the shed at the bottom of the garden and 30 second later I’m in the house.

Antique Furniture

2010-05-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

Chiswick Auctions is really close to where we live in London and I’ve wanted to go for years. They sell all sorts of Antiques but my reason for a visit last weekend was to look for furniture. We want a mix old and new furniture together in the house. The kitchen is going to have white country style units and a rustic tiled floor. Izabela also loves the idea of an old Welsh dresser in the dinning room.
So on Sunday we headed off to the auction house hunting down bargains and inspiration. It didn’t take long to find all sorts of amazing stuff, we were like kids running around a sweatshop. We left with a list of about ten pieces and lots of ideas. At the time I didn’t think we’d actually buy anything because the auction is every Tuesday when I’m at work.

But last Tuesday was quiet at work so I took the afternoon off and found myself nervously bidding for Lot 627 “An antique pine cabinet on stand with chip carved detail swan necked pediment above two stepped fielded panelled doors and two drawers on bobbin turned supports’’ To my surprise I won the bid. I love it but not to sure where we're going to put this in the house. I then went on to buy Lot 721.”A colonial teak blanket chest with fitted candle box and brass hasp, raised on squat bracket supports.” and Lot 697 ”A late Victorian pine dresser, stepped cornice above three glazed panelled doors, and three drawers over an open compartment flanked by panelled doors, raised on turned supports”

Chickens

2010-04-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

One of the first jobs after we move in is to buy some chickens and build a coop. I've never had chickens before and know very little about then. My wife keeps on reminding me that they're not for eating "eggs only" We need to buy a hardy breed that can stand the Polish winter, Ive been told "kury zielononózki" are the best. I'm not sure how many to get, perhaps four i think. I really need to talk to someone that knows there chickens. If anyone has experience of rearing chickens in Poland please help.

My dream office

2010-04-22T02:02:00.000-07:00

I've started dreaming about my own office at the bottom of the garden, a place where I won't be disturbed with a creative environment. This week I’ve been working with my laptop, sat on a psychedelic Ikea sofa in the spare room at my mother-in-law house. “I need a desk of my own “
In June we’re moving to Wales to spend some time with my mother before the big moving to Poland. The idea there is to take over one of the spare rooms but I’m concerned about this. Based on this weeks experience I need to be out of the house without any distractions (My Wife) So I have my eye on the garden shed, it’s large and already has a table I can use as a desk.
The long-term plan's when we're in Poland is to build a small office (shed) at the bottom of the garden. I can’t wait for this and I've been dreaming about it for a long time now. Six months ago I bought a book called “Build your shed like a pro” Everyone at work laughed, hopefully because of the title and not me.I found this photo on Flickr to give you an idea what I'm thinking about. My Mothers shed is a little more practical, filled with garden tools, two lawn-mowers, the smell of petrol and lots of memory's of my father.

On the move

2010-04-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

I’m glad that my fight was canceled and I’ve got to spend another week here. Iza and Szymon are so happy here. We visited the site yesterday late afternoon, Szymon played in the garden and Iza showed are new neighbors proudly around the house. The garden is so big and we have beautiful views across open fields, the sun was setting, I wish we could move in tomorrow.
When I started this Blog I wrote my reasons why we wanted to move to Poland was “in search of a better way of life, family values and a more tranquil existence” Well I saw a glimpse of that life yesterday.
We would never be able to have such a great garden & big house back in London. Last week we gave notice on the small one bedroom flat we’re renting there. The plan is to move to Wales for three months in June to my mother’s house and try and save some money. This will also be good for Szymon, a place to run free and be a boy. He’s such an outdoor boy, there’s a saying in Poland “a dirty baby is a happy baby - brudne dziecko, szczesliwe dziecko ” He hasn’t stopped playing in the mud since we arrived in Poland.
He also has a fascination with Red Longhorn beetles, on a warm day there's lots of them in the garden.

Flight Canceled

2010-04-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

My Flight was canceled on Sunday due to the Icelandic Volcanic ash cloud over Europe. Anything that's not visible the the human eye is hard too believe. The earliest flight I can take is next Saturday but there's roomers that the invisible cloud of ash with hover over head for up to 6 weeks. If this is the case I'll have to take a 24 hour coach ride back to London.

The Windows

2010-04-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Windows were delivered and installed this week, We're both very happy with them. They're timber, painted white and have a cross in the middle dividing the panes into four. This isn't normal in Poland and took a lot of selling to my wife. I've taken lots of photos but frustratingly forgot the dock to download them on the computer, so you'll have to wait until we're back in the UK.
As promised here's a few Photos. Szymon in the garden Iza by the kitchen window
View from Szymon's bedroom window

Cladding the house

2010-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

I haven’t written anything for a long time because of the recurring delays. Most of them are the fault of the contractor and his obvious lack of management skills. Recently there’s been yet another delay, he started cladding the house the wrong way in a vertical direction. He ignored the architect’s plans and my 3D and then tried to convince us that his way was best. So after several calls we got him to correct this problem which cost about 4 days work.

The stairs

2010-03-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

All the snow has gone and the house is progressing slowly. It looks like they’ve started work on the stair. About six months ago I did a quick 3D for them showing them what we want. Hopefully they’ll produce something that looks close. I think that a staircase is an important feature within a home. Our last house in Chiswick had a small industrial looking steel spiral staircase and the house that my parents built in Wales has a lovely stairs. This is one of the reasons way I feel the need for something special, I plan on putting lots of photos of the family on the walls.

Let there be light

2010-02-21T08:31:00.001-08:00

The first faze of the electrics started last week, so the contractor showed us the light switches they were about to install. As soon as my wife saw what he’d proposed she started to laugh, followed by a call telling him not to bother. We’ll buy ourselves in the UK and take out to Poland next time we visit.
The contractor’s choice only cost about £2 and the ones we picked average around £8. Such a small detail but the big white plastic just won't look right in a timber house .

Our choice is the switch on the left.

PKO mortgage

2010-02-17T13:55:00.000-08:00

PKO Bank and the Contractor are making this project extremely difficult, almost painful. Unfortunately we needed a small mortgage to finish the house and the only bank willing to lend a Welsh man any money was PKO. We almost had to go down on our knees and beg, which is a joke because my last mortgage in the UK was ten times the amount we’re now borrowing. They asked so many ridiculous questions and the amount of red tape was crazy.
They final approved the money and released the first payment two weeks ago but now the Contractor needs more. Because his price list is very sketchy and his lack of paperwork the second payment has been withheld. So its now up to the Contractor to prove to PKO that works been done “fun and games” I'm sure this is the start of another long delay.
Good job we’re in no hurry to move in to the house.

Be Positive

2010-02-10T13:47:00.000-08:00

When I visited the local school in Srem lots of students asked me the same question “why are you moving to Poland”? No one can understand why we’re moving from London one of the world’s largest cities it the world to a small village in Poland. I explained that there wasn’t just one reason and it was a good time in our life to try something new.
My wife’s friend and family also ask the same question and often the reaction from people is very negative. My observation is that Poland is a very negative country. They believe they with lose or something will go wrong before they start. I was brought up to believe that anything is possible, don’t look at the negatives but embrace the positives. My mother is an eternal optimist and has always encouraged me to follow my dreams.

So my advise to all Polish people is to stop worrying, stop asking why, stop saying it can’t be done, we don't do it like that in Poland and try being a little more optimistic. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results”

keeping up appearances

2010-02-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

I’ve noticed how important for the Polish it is to have a beautiful garden, with a grand entrance / gate and a lush green lawn. It’s essential the house looks good from the outside because it’s all about what the neighbors think. My mother-in-law is a good example of this, Okay she likes gardening but it’s all about keeping up appearances.
I wonder if I’ll have the same view once we more in! The contractor e-mailed a selection of front doors over asking use to pick one we liked. They were all very opulent looking and over detailed, so we went for the simplest. The plan is to paint the front door and shutters in a green paint and the balcony balustrades in white.

A reminder

2010-01-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

My friend Karl took a look at the Blog and wrote this on my facebook page “So glad your making your dream a reality, (for many the dream remains just a dream)” Thanks Karl, building a house can be very stressful and sometimes I need to be reminded why we’re doing it.

The Snow

2010-01-02T04:27:00.001-08:00

Are all children the same?
We were worried about the fireplaces here in Poland. None of them are open, their set into the wall behind a glass door. We assumed that a red glossing light behind a tinted piece of glass would be an irresistible attraction for Szymon. But after one / two “Ah Ah’s” he got the message. I think that we all have this primal instinct about fire and heat.
Unfortunately the same instinct doesn’t apply to the cold. Its taken use a few months, a lot of cold days and many tantrums too convince Szymon to wear a hat. Final he now brings use his hat before venturing outside. The gloves are still a problem even if we just show him them, there’s a high-pitched scream, stamping of the feet and lots of tears. He loves being outside, but his little hands get so cold in the snow. We have to try and hold his hands to warm them up and make sure he doesn’t touch the snow. This means NO snowmen on snowball fights at the moment.

Chrsitmas gifts

2010-01-01T04:31:00.001-08:00

Szymon got a wheelbarrow for Christmas off his grandmother and I got a hosepipe off my brother-in-law. Two great presents that I’m sure will come in very useful in our garden. It’s so big I mustn’t be over ambitious in the first few years. The priority if a large vegetable patch and loves of fruit trees. We planted two trees last year but they died because the site had on water at the time.
Thanks you all for the lovely presents – Szymon is going to have so much fun.

The roof

2009-12-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

The Coat

2009-12-24T05:11:00.001-08:00

Last week my mother told me a story about my cosine Victoria. She’s having problems dressing her little girl, wanting to walk around naked all the time. Well all children are individual and unpredictable. You have to love them all for their eccentricities.
This week our son has decided that he has to wear his coat everywhere, yes all the time. If we attempt to unzip it there’s a massive tantrum. Luckily we’re in Poland and the mother-in-law’s house isn’t exactly warm.

The roof

2009-12-23T04:22:00.000-08:00

After another weeks delay because of snow and frost the roof tiles are being laid. We went to visit the site this morning and there are four roofers hard at work. This is a photo that the project manager sent us last night. I took a few more today and will upload them when i get a chance.

School Again

2009-12-22T03:25:00.000-08:00

This Monday I visited the school again in Srem Poland too talk to the English classes. As a native speaker I’m meant too talk to the pupils and encourage them to talk back. The easy part was doing the talking; in fact they did very little. I had great expectations and but to be honest i came away a little disappointed. A few of the more confident pupils did engage in conversation. Not sure if thier silence was because they’re shy, scared of making a mistake or it’s just not cool to talk to the teachers.
I showed them photos of London and two of my trips to Vietnam and Nepal. They all seemed interested even though there was a slight lack of interaction.

The roof

2009-12-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

The house is final starting to look like a house. They have put the roof batons on and on Monday the tiles should start being laid. We can’t wait to see the house next weekend, finally with the roof on.
I’m desperate to get the house water tight because the winter in here and I’m sure snow is on the way. We just have to patient, there is not way we can ask the contractor to work faster. They’re a law unto themselves; every thing takes time in Poland especially our contractor.

Apple Pie

2009-12-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Last night I baked an Apple and Blackberry pie.
Is it wrong to have pie for breakfast and lunch ?
mmmmm it was good

Italian Chocolate cake

2009-12-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

On Friday Iza took Szymon to the doctors to cheek his reoccurring ear infections. They waited over an hour to see the doctor. During this exposure to sick people we think he caught some sort of stomach bug. Late Friday night Szymon was sick in his sleep and carried on throwing up every half hour until about 4am. This was only the start of a very long weekend nursing my son and wife, who also fell ill on Saturday morning. Szymon is very much a mummy’s boy when he’s sick and spent Sunday watching Sesame street with his mum on the computer. I also contracted the virus but before I did I cooked this great cake.Don’t let this story put you off I really love this cake, very festive and very easy to make. I found in an old Sainsburys magazine December 1998 Italian Chocolate cake

Italian Chocolate cake

8oz (225g) Belgian dark chocolate
8oz (225g) walnuts
8oz (225g) blanched hazelnuts
2.5fl oz (65ml) brandy
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
1oz (25g) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
7oz (200g) golden caster sugar
5 large eggs, separated
5 drops of vanilla extract
Peel of 1 large orange
2 round tablespoons fine breadcrumbs

Butter up a 8 inch tin and then sprinkle the breadcrumbs around the edges. “Make sure you use an 8 inch tin, I used a 12 inch and ended up with a flat cake” Cut up the chocolate and nuts into very small piece, if you want use a food processor. Melt the butter and allow too cool for a bit. Add the nuts, chocolate, brandy, cinnamon, melted butter, caster sugar and orange peel very finely chopped to a bowl. Separate the eggs and add the yokes to the bowl and stir into the mixer. Whisk the egg whites into sort peaks and fold into the mixture a little at a time using a metal spoon. Poor into the tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 10min 350ºF 180ºC

House Progress 2

2009-12-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

Last week they started work on the house again after a long break. The reason this time was that the subcontractors / builders were sacked by the main contractor!!! He said that they wanted more money. I’m really fed up of all these excuses. If I had known how unprofessional Taniedomy were I’d never have used them. They started in September and told us that the house would take two or three weeks, NOT four months. They promised last week that the roof would be on by the 20th December “I have my doubts”
To take my mind off the house the last to days I’ve be working hard preparing a presentation for the school in Poland that I hope to teach at. The pupils want to see and talk about London. In the mornings on my way to work I’ve been taking photos, still have a lot to do though. Also a second presentation is of a few trips that I’ve been on; I picked Nepal, Vietnam but not sure about the third yet, maybe Mexico.
Here’s a few shots showing the progress on the house. Its really good to see the roof start taking shape.

House Progress

2009-11-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Here’s two photos showing the progress on the house, they were taken last Wednesday. Unfortunately we don't have anything more up to date, it took a lot of texts and phone calls to get the project manager to e-mail these.
The agreement was that the contractors would work the weekend and not go home until the roof is on. So this Saturday morning we were shocked to find out that everyone had gone home form the weekend. There was also a bank holiday in Poland last week so since September there has been a grand total of 4 days work on the site. My faith in the Polish worker is diminishing very fast.
Its times like this I wish I could speak Polish so I could communicate my disappointment.

Welsh Cakes

2009-11-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

Today I made Welsh cakes “very therapeutic” just what I needed to take my mind of the house. You make them using a flat iron griddle but a cast iron frying pan could be used.
The traditional Welsh Griddle or Bakestone was once an everyday tool in kitchens across Wales. It’s a heavy round 29cm diameter black cast iron plate with a handle on one side. They often have been in a family for generations and I acquired mine from my mother about two years ago, it means so much to me.

You may ask yourself how could a cooking utensil have any importance?

It has a lot of memories attached to this griddle. My mother would always make Welsh cakes in the kitchen when I was a boy. We would pack a Tupperware container with the cakes rapped in Clingfilm whenever we embarked on family trip in the car. They where often there on a family gathering, also cooked by my auntie Marry. But the biggest reason why the griddle means so much is because my father made it. He worked in the local steel works Llanwern and over the years he'd bring home various steel objects he'd made at work. So I'll always think of my happy childhood while making and eating Welsh cakes.

below is a basic recipe, this time i also added a little nutmeg, lemon and cinnamon and half Lard and half Butter.

Welsh Cake Recipe
Pice ar y Maen (Welsh Cakes) Ingredients:
(250g) 8oz self-raising flour
(75g) 3 oz butter
(1/4 tsp) pinch of salt
(75g) 3 oz currants
(75g) 3oz caster sugar
1 egg
little milk (to mix)
extra caster sugar (to sprinkle)
¼ tsp of spice (optional)

House worrys

2009-11-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

“Ok take a deep breath” the contractors started back on site this Monday after a month’s absence. I’ve not posted any blogs about the house for the last three weeks because I just couldn’t believe what was happening. I can't elaborate on exactly what's going on but I’m sure all will be resolved within the next week. I’m so worried / disappointed with the company we employed to managed / build our house, they're unreliable. The distance and language barrier really doesn’t help. Izabela is doing her best to interpret exactly what’s going on and translate every conversation, it’s so hard on her right now and the pressure is starting to show.
We where send a few photos today by the project manager, which shows exactly what was achieved yesterdays and in four weeks "not a lot"

A Toy Story

2009-10-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

sLast week we decided to make a trip into town to one of the large toy stores. Our plan was to get some inspiration for a present for Szymons birthday. I want to buy him a toy garage for all his cars. We ended up driving and the closes large store was Harrods. Szymon wasn’t in the best of moods because we got there 20 minutes before the store opened. Once we finally arrived in the toy department he grabbed hold of a Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and wouldn’t let him go. So of course we had to buy it for him. Buzz also came with Woody and now their his best friends.

Excuses excuses

2009-10-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Since our trip to Poland there has been on progression on the house. The contractor keeps coming up with excuses why, he must think we’re idiots. In fact he started with excuse but now he is simple lying to us. Our project manager reassured us today not to worry. Hopefully all will be resolved over the next few days.
You have to laugh at the list of excuses.
1. No power on the land “they could have used a generator”
2. They ran out of timber “Why didn’t they order more while we were in Poland”
3. I won’t send the men because it’s raining.
4. I won’t send the men because it’s snowing
5. The foreman has a cold
6. The car broke down.
7. My girlfriend is giving birth. "good job she's not the one building the house"
I personally like the one about the rain “next time I’m in Poland I’ll buy them all umbrellas”

Flavored Vodka

2009-10-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

I took this photo for Emma at work "Flavored Vodka"
This is a kitchen window in Srem with lots of flavored vodka. She tasted a raspberry vodka that i took into work a few weeks ago and loved it, saying that i should bottle it..

Mushrooms

2009-10-09T03:55:00.000-07:00

It’s mushroom season here in Poland and there should be lots because the last few days its been raining. The thing is everyone goes mushrooming here and because of this there was slim pickings. It’s often a big family day out. Before I became sick with a stomach bug we managed a trip with our neighbors Jacek, Jacek and Jacek. Armed with a wicker basket each and a knife to cut the mushrooms we headed off into the forest. After about two hours of hunter we all met back at the car to compare our finds. None of use managed to fill the baskets but Iza, Szymon and myself had enough for a few risottos.

I also searched our land just in case there was mushrooms hiding amounts the silver birch but all I found was Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the “fly agaric” it’s poisonous and a psychoactive basidiomycete fungus.

I told my friend Jim I would bring him some back “Sorry you will have to wait until next year ” unless you fancy a few red fairytale ones.

The House

2009-10-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

The last meeting on site was two days ago and things really didn't go that well. Attending the meeting was my wife, two project managers, the main contractor, three laborers and my son Szymon. There where a number of mistakes made and a distinct lack of communication by all. This wasn't because things were lost in translation, just simply because no one was doing their job correctly. I walked away from the meeting feeling very disheartened. I just hope that our dream house that i talked about so much with my wife one day will come to fruition.
The only person that wasn't standing around scratching his ass that day was Szymon, playing with blocks and nails..

High School

2009-10-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

Today I went to High school “Generala Jozefa Wybickiego” in Srem to talk to two classes. I was invited by the English teacher Agnieszka Dembska and the Director of the school Piotr Mulkowski to talk about our move to Poland. The school is 150 years old with a very high pass rate, its considered the best in Srem and surrounding area. It has a beautiful interior that was renovated last yeas.
A presented myself and talked about my career as a designer and the reasons why we're moving to Poland. I hope I didn’t bore them too much I’m not used to talking to such a large audience. I’m looking forward to the feedback from Agnieszka, and my visit in December. My colleges at work find this very amusing and will undoubtedly take the p--- when I’m back at work.

The house

2009-10-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

We have now been in Poland for four days and I should have been busy posting bolgs everyday, “BUT” things here move very slowly. We once again was let down by the electricity man and the project manager, so the construction was delayed. They started work over the weekend, laying the slab and finally started erecting the ground floor walls. I imagined that they’d prefabricate a lot of the walls of site like in the photos on their web site. That’s not the case they’re building from scratch on site, so it’s going to take longer than I thought. We have a meeting with the construction company on Monday, I guess we have a lot more information then.

Electrics news update

2009-09-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

"Well" today the electricity was meant to be on the land. The man responsible for installing it promised us that it would be there today but he let us down. He was aware that a team of men and two lorry's where due on site tomorrow. When we called him and asked why didn't he manage to keep this promise? his answer was "well things happen"
The ironic thing is that on our land in the far corner there's an electrical pillion. I'm hoping this is not a taste of things to come. He now promised it will be sorted on Monday.

Electrics news

2009-09-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

The house has been on hold now for a few weeks becaues we've been waiting for the electrics to be installed on the site. The news is that we should have power this Wednesday and as a result the house should be delivered the next day. Dealing with the Polish Water and Electricity board has been a bit of a nightmare, lots of red tape, lots of surveys and lots of payments. The final payment will be a bottle of whiskey for the guy that's rushed the installation through.
My wife's helped the process with lots of calls and a little persuasion. If your not a native speaker, you'll need a good project manager and be willing to wait as long as it takes.

Saffron Risotto

2009-09-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

This is a dish that my wife loves, It' also a favorite of mine. My tip is to make a good stock and cook it slowly adding a ladle at a time, in fact this is the secret to all risottos. Its hard to find a good risotto rice in Srem / Poland so i expect we'll take a few boxes with use when we move.

The Plans

2009-09-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

It was pointed out to me today that I've forgotten to post the plans of the house on the site. At first we where thinking of using a different construction company to build the house.This company had about 10 different designs to choose from, but after meeting them twice I lost confidence in them. We decided to go with Taniedomy and buy a set of plans off the internet. I'm not going to change much on the exterior, just the window on the stairs and an additional door to the garden. The interior, I'm planning on removing a few walls, the office and opening up the downstairs as much as possible.

House Foundations

2009-09-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone that's sending us photos of the house foundations. This was taken yesterday, it shows how fast things are progressing. The contractor also called me wife on Monday announcing the house will be delivered on the land this Thursday "I just can't believe this, very exciting"

Reasons for moving

2009-09-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Below is the main reason for moving it Poland. We made the decision not to bring our son up in London. Szymon education was the biggest deciding factor. We couldn’t afford to put him into a private school here in London and there was no way we wanted him to go to a state run comprehensive school. My sister’s kids went to a good school in Wales so at one point this was an option “well we contemplated it for about five minutes” the obvious and inevitable division is Poland.

The house

2009-09-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

This is a Sketchup Model that i did of the house. Once i started the model i noticed the upstairs coridor had no window or skylight, no natural light at all !!! "this is ridiculous" So we just added a large window halfway up the stairs and sent it to the project manager / contractor. I hope the cost of this additional window won't be too much. At least we won't have to turn the light on every time we walk upstairs now.

Tomatos

2009-09-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

I took this photo today to prove to my mother that I can grow tomatoes. It wasn’t the best crop in the world but it was our first, grown in a small walled concrete gardened in Chiswick.
I can’t wait until we have our own garden and start planning out what we’re going to plant. I'm not sure if we will there in the spring, possibly early summer, so our first Polish grow will be a taste of things to come.

The Land

2009-08-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

On Monday the contractor started the foundations for the house, very exciting. Finally things are starting to move in the right direction. All we need to do is sort out the finance, so far we have had 4 meetings with the PKO bank. Its a very frustrating process. Hopefully everything will be sorted next week and we will have all the endless reams of paper work that's required.

Mushrooms

2009-08-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we drove down to Wales to see my mother and while we were there we went hunting for mushrooms. I know a place in Wentwood where chanterelle mushrooms grow so headed there first and sure enough there they were. Wales is no comparisons to Poland when it comes to mushrooms, you can walk out of the forest with baskets full.

we also picked two baskets of blackberry’s, Iza made jam and i made a Blackberry and apple pie. Two if fact one to eat that evening and one it take to work. They went down very fast, the recipe was from Jamie Oliver mmmmmm

The Land

2009-08-24T15:00:00.001-07:00

We submitted the plans for our house to the local authorities about 6 weeks ago. The first application was rejected because we didn’t show where the business, shop or office was going to be. We don’t want a business on the land just a house !!! However in the deeds of the land we’re allowed to build a shop, so we have to show where its going even if we don’t want to run a shop !!! The second set of plans show the shop that we will next build and last week they where approved. This means that we can now start building the house.

Tomato Plant

2009-07-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is the first thing that i have ever grown, eight large tomato plants on the table in terra-cotta pots. All of the plants are doing well, every evening i go out to the yard and check their okay. My wife thinks that I'm i little crazy. I have a lot to learn when we move out to Poland I'm planning on growing all our own veg. I've started reading lots of books and reading the odd gardening blog, any advise is welcome.

BooBoo

2009-07-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

This is our son we call him BooBoo because this was the first thing he ever said. He's a real out door boy and loves his Grandmothers garden in Wales. He prefers to play in the mud and sand rather than with any of his toys. BUT the best, most wonderful thing in the world for BooBoo is a puddle.

He's going to love our Polish garden.

Black Currents

2009-07-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend we picked all the Black Currents from the garden in Wales. We made Black Current Jam and Black Current Vodka.

Black Current Jam Recipe.

1kg fruits750g Jam Sugar
Bring the fruits to the boil in a large saucepan and simmer for a few hours.
Then add the sugar and simmer for another hour.

Black Current Vodka Recipe

½ L Vodka 70%
½ kg fruits
Sugar Syrup
½ L Water and ½ kg sugar
Add the fruits and vodka to a self-sealing jam.
Store in a warm place or windowsill for 4 to 6 weeks.
Then add the sugar syrup and leave in a dark place for 3 to 4 months.

The Vodka should be ready for my sons second birthday.

The House

2009-07-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

We decided our house would be Timber House. When we tell people this usually the first question is why? “We both feel that a timber construction has more sole” we like the look that’s it no other reason. The company that we’re going with is called Tanie Domy, which translates as “cheep house” taniedomy.net not the best name but I like the web site and what they offer.

This is an example of their work, i'll write a post showing you what our house is going to look like.

The Land

2009-07-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

We plan on building our house this year, fingers crossed. In 2007 during the Easter festivity we started searching for a building plot. To my amassment estate agents are thin on the ground. The most common way of advertising a building plot is simply a handwritten sign in a field displaying a mobile number. There’s also Allegro.pl a Polish style “e bay” but I felt that the land on this site where over priced.

We decided to borrow the mother-in-law’s car and drive around the countryside, knocking on doors and writing down any numbers that we came across. On the last day after a weeks searching we chanced upon a small village. The local farmer had teamed up with a developer selling a number of plots and there was one left 1950 Meter. I can’t remember what the exchange rate was at the time but the price was great so we bought the plot the next week.