Blog Feed: A House in Poland

Dried Mushrooms

Published on 2011-09-27 15:20:00

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 person [..] > read more

Staining the Siberian Larch

Published on 2011-09-09 13:38:00

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 [..] > read more

The Wild Garden

Published on 2011-07-12 07:59:00

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

Wild Blueberries

Published on 2011-07-02 08:37:00

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 th > read more

Our Garden

Published on 2011-06-28 05:44:00

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 mom > read more

In search of a good Polish Beer

Published on 2011-06-27 07:22:00

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 > read more

The Staircase

Published on 2011-06-27 06:33:00

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 t > read more

Spring in Poland

Published on 2011-04-05 12:50:00

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 li > read more

Czacz in search of wardrobes

Published on 2011-03-22 15:44:00

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 > read more

Your first fine in Poland

Published on 2011-03-09 16:14:00

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, > read more

Vegtable Garden

Published on 2011-02-22 08:39:00

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 als > read more

Wild Flowers

Published on 2011-02-18 10:47:00

I’ve been thinking about the garden, it resembles a lager muddy field at the moment. 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 plantin > read more

Octonauts Soft Toy

Published on 2011-02-07 15:20:00

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 > read more

House update

Published on 2011-01-27 06:01:00

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 fit > read more

PKO mortgage

Published on 2011-01-04 08:49:09

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 kne > read more

A New Year & A New Start

Published on 2011-01-04 08:48:00

"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 we > read more

“ahahahahaha” Christmas Canceled in Poland

Published on 2010-12-13 06:00:00

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 > read more

Paint

Published on 2010-10-09 09:04:00

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 br > read more

Floor Finishes

Published on 2010-10-09 08:44:00

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 > read more

The Keys

Published on 2010-09-07 12:07:00

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 d > read more

Terracotta Tiles

Published on 2010-09-04 07:58:00

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 > read more

Wild Mushrooms

Published on 2010-09-03 03:15:00

“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 k > read more

Retail Therapy

Published on 2010-08-28 03:33:00

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 > read more

Siberian Larch

Published on 2010-07-24 08:57:00

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, delivere > read more