Photos: Park and Nursery School

Having written the notes last time, I went out to get some more pictures.

The nursery school is in Spring Street, so I went to get some pictures of it. The photo of the back view came out best:

More pictures at 2009 04 Nursery School

Walking further down the road, there is a traditional wooden house:

From 2009 04 Nursery School

Although most new houses are standard brick, etc construction, there are two modern wooden houses a little further to compare with the old. Here's one:

From 2009 04 Nursery School

Wandering along further I come across a back entrance (or temporary work entrance perhaps) to the Palace Park. When I went round the park before I was very impressed with the bridge between two of the ponds, which looked very ancient with old brick, no side guards, but a young couple sitting with their feet over the side. The renovation makes it look very different:

More pictures at 2009 04 Mlochow Palace and Park renovation

The Palace and the Environment

Nadarzyn News has two items in the April edition.

The park in Młochów

Works on renovation of the park in Młochów began in August last year. Supervised by the conservator of ancient monuments, the park was cleared of excessive growth and unwanted self-sown plants. The three arch bridge was restored, ponds were cleaned of mud, the existing brick wall was renewed and extended to surround almost all of the rest of the park . Lamps have been installed in part of the park and the first paths are now hardening. There is still a lot to do, but it has to the summer to be finished. The contractor is FLISBUD Building and Assembly Works, who will look after the care of the plants under care guarantee for the following year.

The Palace and two Pavilions: click here for more photos

The front end of the park

Ecological activities - a meeting with a forest warden in the Public Nursery School in Młochów

Care for the natural environment is an all-important part of our work with the children in our nursery school. We teach children to respect nature, we sensitise them to her beauty and we make them realise the necessity of her care and protection.

To help children love and respect nature, we organize a series of activities each year on environmental education to ensure that children have direct contact with nature through walks, excursions, observations and personal activity. One way we have of increasing understanding of nature is periodic meetings with a forester warden. Our nursery school entertained one of the workers of the Chojnów Forest Inspectorate Service on 27 February. He came to the meeting in official uniform, bringing many interesting and little well-known things with him eg. a 'klupe' – an instrument for measuring the girth of trees, and a device by which foresters measure a tree's height. Children listened with interest to stories about the types of trees met in our forests and about the life of its inhabitants. Without difficulty, the pre-school children recognized well known trees shown on coloured boards: beech, oak, maple, lime, rowan, ash, spruce.

Fascinating for the children (and all of us) was to learn that the sound of a dog barking in the forest, might actually be the call of a male roe-deer. During the meeting the children improved their knowledge of the lives of beavers. They learnt a great deal, eg that beavers cut logs to build dams, and they build mounds called beaver lodges from branches and mud. The tail of a beaver is called a trowel, which, by splashing, serves as a rudder to control the depth of immersion. Beavers also use tails to communicate between themselves: splashing the tail warns other beavers of danger. The children were delighted to hear the description of the tusks of the wild boar (the pipe and sabre) and the end of its snout (the snuff-box). The forester said a lot to children about the behaviour of different forest animals (roe-deer, red deer, squirrels) and birds that are seen in the winter. During the session, they children enriched their knowledge of tits (great, blue and crested). They also learnt of two birds whose favourite dainty is the seed from pine-cones: the hawfinch and crossbill.

Children had time to look at and touch the exhibits that were placed around the the room. Among them were insect traps designed to assess the number of the chosen insects in the habitat, a stag's antlers, the bark of a spruce with channels made by the bark beetle, imprints of the hooves of wild boar, roe-deer and squirrels... During the session, children asked questions and showed a lot of interest in the subject. Finally, all of the children gave the leader of the activity a small, personally drawn picture of winter birds, and every child was given a set of ecological coloured pencils. The next activity will take place at the Chojnów Forest Inspectorate educational footpath.

The dark side of life

Nadarzyn News gives a regular list of the local police and fire brigade activities in the month. All I have seen for Młochów before was a haystack on fire, but in March there was some crime reported, as follows:

03/02/2009 The Fire brigade went to look at fire at a firm in Chestnut Alley. No fire-fighting activity required.

20/01/09, about 7.25am the police arrested two men, citizens of Georgia, suspected of stealing a laptop worth approx 2,000 zloty from a firm in Młochów during the night of 15-16/01/09. At about 9.30, the police arrested four men suspected of stealing laptops jointly worth approx 11,125zl on 12/12/2008 from a firm in Młochów.

Grandparents

I was thinking that it might be nice to put some local news items in this blog to give a more general idea of where I live, so I looked in the local newspaper and found this item about the local nursery school. Its one of those heart-warming, "isn't life wonderful" stories, which I rather liked. My translation may not be perfect, but I hope the spirit of the original survives.


Nadarzyn News - February 2009
Local Authority Newspaper

The Public Nursery School in Młochów
GRANNY'S And GRANDDAD'S DAY

"No one else is in a position to give children what grandparents provide:
they sprinkle the dust of stars on the lives of their grandchildren.”
A. Haley

From the beginning of January, the children in the nursery school were already preparing themselves for this important day. After all, grandparents – loving and dear, warm and understanding - forgive their beloved grandchildren for even their worst naughtiness.

We began with the preparation of the repertoire, then we designed the invitations for our special guests:

My dears, the time is near
We want you with us here.
Free time please set aside,
Our door we'll open wide.

Because now we wish to invite you,
There's a show that will delight you.
It will be a very great display
Grannies' Day and Grandpas' Day.

For you shall not regret
Your spare time that you set
Get ready soon to move
To the Public Nursery School
In Młochów (Mwo-hoov).

For two weeks, the children were absorbed in preparing presents - surprises and cards. This year, all the groups prepared 2009 calendars for their Grandmothers and Grandfathers. (Every group according to their own ideas, of course). Then the children created greeting cards. Next came portraits of their darling Grandma, oh, and their beloved Grandpa, of course. A lot of time was devoted to creating the artistic part of the show (songs, poetry, dances).

At last, the long-awaited day came. From 14.00, the invited guests began to assemble in the gymnasium. The nursery school children could not wait to see their grandparents, but at the beginning they had to make do with a quick kiss – only after the performance would there be time to nestle on the shoulders of Granny and Grandpa.

Performances began by the "Middles", after them came the "Little Ones" and then came the "Elders". Every group had in its own repertoire of poetry, songs, dances and instrumental performances. The children did not expect such a hot reaction during the performance: loud cheers, whooping grandfathers. Cries of "Bravo!", Super!”, "Good, Good!, etc" are only some of the calls of joy and satisfaction coming from the guests.

After the performance, the grandchildren could at last embrace their Grannies and Granddads in their own rooms during a shared tea-party. The nursery school children were not a disappointment here either and showed, with good manners, their respect towards their guests – first they found seats for Grandma and Grandpa, and sat themselves down only if there was a vacant seat or they sat on Granny's lap. They treated their guests to sandwiches and tea. Last of all, every child handed over the personally made presents and greetings card.

For the nursery school children, this was one of most eagerly awaited and happy days. Grandparents took the day off on work especially for them, and came from different parts of Poland to view their performance: just so that they could stay with them for these few moments. For these guests, the details were not important (not standing straight, unfinished lines, etc). Of importance was just the grandson or granddaughter, after all they are even more their darlings than their own children.

It was clear that between grandparents and grandchildren there is such a wonderful bond. Grandparents almost always know what it means to bring up their grandchildren patiently and with smiles, to speak calmly and brightly, to joke, to play and to make them happy. The child knows that busy and hard-working parents do not have not time to listen, but grandparents will always will find the time, will listen, will console, will advise, and will simply interest themselves in the problems. It doesn't matter whether the child is nursery or junior school, the child's problem is important, even if it is just about a broken toy car or doll.

Grandma and Granddad are as irreplaceable now as they have always been: ready to sacrifice their own time, to care, be patient, and give their hearts to their beloved grandchildren.

Bożena Grochowska
The Public Nursery School in Młochów

Młochów - Moving House

We have been moving house since June, but it is only now that I am starting to think of it as home and a place to relax in.

This is a photo of the house taken at the end of May. The developers had finished the building (near enough) and the target date for finishing everything including roads, fences, etc was the end of July. The sales rep (a very nice young lady) had hoped for the end of May when we had first spoken to her, but delays are, I thought, quite normal. The internal fitters/decorators were working . I was visiting most days and excitement was high.

At the end of May, this was the view of the dining room and its view outside taken from the living room:

Młochów (pronounced Mwo-hoov) might reasonably be described as a rural suburban village. It is about 10 miles to the south-west of Warsaw. From Google Earth the map co-ordinates of Osiedla Belina, as the developers call the estate, are Lat: 52° 3'42.72"N; Long: 20°47'13.11"E. At the time of writing this, however, there aren't any buildings on the satellite picture. The village itself is about a mile south of us with fields lying in between. The next - not very good - picture shows the Belina Estate looking back along the small road behind our house. The estate is planned to grow up to the ploughed area of land, world economic crises, etc permitting .

Whilst this was the view towards the village from about the same spot. The field in front had corn in it, which was harvested a week ago.

Spring was well under way, the birds were enjoying the sunshine and the hares were running - if you can see the pheasant (picture taken from our bedroom window) and the hare (picture taken a couple of hundred yards from the house):

Come July we had signed a contract with an end of the month completion date, with compensation if this overshot. The end of the month was approaching and we were still being assured of speedy completion, although a lot remained to be done on the site generally although the roads were being done, as can be seen from the following picture taken from the our bathroom after some heavy rain.

We signed the final contract as soon as everything was completed. That was in September. It was only after signing the contract that we could get an electricity supply that was strong enough to make the microwave work or the backup battery for the computer charge. It only went off a couple of times a day for a short time only whilst they were working on the cables. Absolute luxury. Gas for heating, hot water and cooking arrived in November. We had two people inb a row leading the internal work, neither with great. As time passes, I may be able to appreciate the work. Some day, perhaps...

All this will fade... I am taking pictures again. I was waiting for spring and the garden to start growing. However, winter has arrived with its own charms. Misty mornings, a couple of days of snow, followed by sunshine - all in the last week or so. All the following pictures are from the house, with the sunrise being different views from the dining room and the living room.

Misia's First Holy Communion

Misia (pron: Meesha), my daughter, had her first holy communion in May. Some pictures of her and the family - including myself - are on my picassa web site.

The first holy communion is a very important occasion. The children - Misia is nine - dress up in their beautiful white dresses and smart suits. Their families get together to celebrate both at the ceremony and at a dinner afterwards. Many of these dinners are very large affairs, which usually take place in restaurants and halls, like weddings, but unlike most other family celebrations, which take place at home. It is the most important occasion for giving personal presents - wedding presents being less for the individual. Misia's special present was a trip to Paris to visit the Disney and Asterix theme sites - we leave on saturday.

Poland is heavily Roman Catholic and in most places there is no obvious alternative, although Orthodox churches become more frequent closer to the eastern border. Catholicism is fully integrated into the educational and social system here - hence Misia's involvment, so I can only find it amusing when the Minister for Education (who unfortuantely looks like a frankenstein monster) tries to integrate religion into the educational system. One can only admire the energy he expended trying to get the constituition change to ensure that non-existent abortions don't happen.

Democracy here is so strong - unlike the UK or US - that the weird workings of such politicians are fascinating. The Polish President, telling the Germans that they are mass murders that should be paying for their crimes, may not go down well in European Union negotiations, but it is the view of most Polish people, a large proportion of tradtional English people and try getting into conversation with local people working in European and North African tourist resorts about the merits of German tourists. Is it so unfortunate that democracy creates leaders that say what their people think? It is certainly a great deal more entertaining.

Polish Music on the Internet

I was sitting in Bar Lidia, watching VH1 – international music - on the TV and thinking how old I am: all the KAT pop videos just seem repulsive. Surely, thirty years ago, seeing a girl with her legs wide apart showing her knickers would have turned me on. Pop music remains dull and formulaic, but nothing much changes. Suddenly on came Kazik's “Cztery Pokoje” at http://teledyski.onet.pl/10173,790739,teledyski.html

The main Polish “upload you own music" site is http://mp3.wp.pl/p/index/ and the most popular downloads are listed at http://mp3.wp.pl/p/lista/ . Its in Polish, but all pretty obvious. The download icon is a little yellow square with a downpointing arrow. In some cases you have to click on “Ściągaj” to download.

DiscoPolo is light, inconsequential music designed to hop around to. A delight for Polish country weddings where you just want to get up and dance with , after several vodkas, that incredibly sexy girl/boy next to you. Its recent comeback is marred by rap but give it a try at http://www.discopolo.info/ or, for the latest tracks: http://www.discopolo.info/nowe-mp3-disco-polo.php where “Ściągnij wszytkie mp3 w jednym archiwum” means download all the mp3s in one archive.

All tracks are with the agreement of the artist or downloaded from their websites. Sceptical? Try http://www.discopolo.pl/Mp3 or http://www.discopolo.com.pl/download.html for output by groups Focus and Skaner.

Rather different is http://www.jimmyjazz.pl/ekstrasy.html This is a site specialising in Polish Punk and related music. I came across it in a CD magazine, where the music was provided by the company. Some of the music is really good. Again, they do seem to be a legitimate promotional site.

Back in 2003/4, a new pub opened in Kielce and I decided to try it out. I went into the Galeon, as it is called. Suddenly, from the backroom came the tune “What do we do with the drunken sailor”, although the words were in Polish. The Polish folk music site is http://www.folkowa.art.pl/

I was staying in a spa resort in Southern Poland where there was a local festival. Onto the stage came a gypsy family troupe (aged about 7 to 70) of musicians, singers and dancers. Good fun music. The next day I passed them in the car some 5 kilometres away walking to the next town. For wider interest in “New-Europe” folk music, try http://www.dunav.org.il/ and http://folkdancemusic.net/. For those of you who remember English Folk music of the sixties and seventies, but never really thought it was “folk”, discover the roots we never had.

There are, of course, many Polish artist sites with music. I recommend Incrowd's music from the Sidney Polak site http://www.polak.pl/?go=audiovideo. Sidney Polak's current music is at http://sidneypolak.mp3.wp.pl/

http://musicplpt.blogspot.com/ is a site promoting Polish and Portuguese music. It is in English and picks up downloads from the labels' or artists' own internet published works. Largely progressive electronic, although I recommend Pink Freud, which has had some international blogspot exposure Their music is on the WP site, although I can no longer find Pink Freud in the catalogue. There used to be a lot there. Electronic avantgarde is also celebrated in 40 Years of Polish Experimental Radio Studio Warsaw http://www.ubu.com/sound/polish.html

Piotr K has a musicblog with Polish rock music.

Finally, if you have an interest in World music generally, try http://music.topdownloads.net/mp3/. Nothing particularly Polish, but some fun music anyway. Belly dancing anybody?