Quiet Days in Dobrzyn, which is just what I need to work a bit and unwind from The Albatross. It is wet again today, so the cherry harvest, which has one day to go, began at 5 a.m. but was called because of rain two hours later.
Today’s post will be mammalcentric, so let’s start with a game. Can you spot the cat?
Here she is—crouched underneath the bush by the shed:
Lunch was what Malgorzata called “nursery school food”: “cherry soup”. Cooked cherries are ladled over cooked noodles and topped with yogurt and a bit of sugar. It’s like cherry spaghetti: very tasty. What with that, cherry juice for breakfast, and cherry pie as a snack:
I had two helpings.
We had a postprandial walk through the fields and orchards with both Cyrus and Hili. Here’s a video from the orchard. You can see how Hili comes along, in fits and starts, pretending that she’s not walking with us. In the middle she disappears briefly, but then Andrzej finds her—doing her business among the cherry trees. TRIGGER WARNING: Animal excretion!
Malgorzata and the d*g Cyrus:
Hili became disoriented in the tall grass, and began meowing plaintively. Malgorzata had to pick her up and carry her to more familiar territory. Hili is such a diva!
And a family portrait, with all four mammals in the family (Hili, of course, is diffident):
Lovely – a house of contentment!
PS Why do the outer doors open outwards on continental houses – is it to do with snow?
Building regulations require it for fire safety.
I know that, as Grania says, it’s fire regulations for ‘public’ buildings in general, but I’ve never heard of it being rigorously applied to private dwellings. In fact, the private dwelling we were in last weekend, working as a public hotel (a “B+B” in UK speak, though that may not translate well into trans-Pondian ; Continentally a “gasthof” or perhaps “pension”) where I don’t think any doors followed that rule apart from the main entry door (part of an extension after the business started to operate?).
Likely the vigour of application of the regulations has varied from country to country, and indeed the duration for which the regulations have been in existence has varied.
At fire-training a couple of weeks back, they’d re-built the smoke-and-flames-room so you could see sunlight streaming round the frame of the last door, so unless you were specially careful, you’d open the door from the wrong (non-hinge) side and get blasted full-face with a fire hole. “Pour,” in the words of Voltaire, “encourager les autres.”
Byng!
Brandied Cherry Clafouti is a must if any French influence is allowed north of Grudziądz.
Nice! Looks absolutely idyllic.
It makes me think of the story I read about the bloke who turned orange because of all the carrot juice he drank.
My friend ate so many carrots that her hands turned orange.
My hands turn orange when grating fresh turmeric root.
Never seen fresh turmeric root. Does it look like ginger?
That was probably Steve Jobs.
I thought it was Robert Kilroy-Silk.
(Has he died yet? Disappeared from public life, AFAIR.)
Is that speaker Boehner’s affliction? I doubt he eats carrots though, much too healthy for the likes of him.
Two minutes twenty five seconds of peace to start our Friday. Thanks for that!
Cyrus looks so sweet in that picture.
I once took a dog I had for a walk in long grass. She always wanted you to go first so you could beat a trail for her. She got left in the grass (which was about 4 feet high) & she made her way through but bonked her head on a fence post because she couldn’t see it.
So, I don’t blame Hili for mewing to be carried!
Tiggers everywhere are eyeballing such performance disdainfully.
Looks like Hili’s under a quince bush.
And a couple more cherry questions for A&M. When I was in Munich yrs ago at this time of year, street vendors sold sweet black cherries in large paper cones. People strolled around munching cherries and the sidewalks were covered in pits. Is that common in Poland, too?
And you said that you started the orchard 16yrs ago, in an area where other things are typically grown instead. Is there a story on how you settled on cherries?
No, people are normally not spitting pits in towns on the sidewalks, but I have to admit that we do it while walking through orchard and eating cherries directly from the trees.
There are other orchards in this area, just the land we bought was used for something else. And why cherry orchard? I suspect that Andrzej was influenced by Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard. Even before we moved back to Poland he was talking about living in the countryside in a house surrounded by cherry trees. He got his dream come true.
Nice story re. Chekhov, thanks! From all the pix it looks like an idyllic site.
Never in an eon would I have thought to combine sugared cherries and noodles. Maybe even two eons.
Likewise: Noodles implies savory to me.
I would personally have used a bit of chili or other peppers *with* the cherries – at least to try. A dash of ghost pepper sauce could be interesting too.
That is a very good idea. Go fruity, with habaneros perhaps? Or maybe a touch of smoke, with serranos? I think this would work very well. I am definitely going to try this.
Heck, you could do this with a cocktail as well. Fresh cherry juice, vodka, and a touch of heat from either a bit of muddled fresh pepper, or a dash of homemade pepper sauce. If you want it bigger and more refreshing make it a sparkling drink.
I may be wrong, but aren’t there cocktails which use Tabasco sauces?
Bloody Marys
Her nursery food sounds so comforting, satisfying, and yummy.
Fruit is delicious when an ingredient in a main dish. French cuisine excels at pairing tart, slightly sweet fruit with meat, especially game. And keep in mind Hungarian sour cherry soup is no sweeter than carrot soup, not to mention tomato pasta sauce often has grated carrots or even sugar in it.
Our cat Dayo used to get very disoriented when he would perch up on high on a cupboard under a pergola to escape a sudden downpour. Though I would come racing out to rescue him as quickly as I could, he would have no idea how to interface with me for a few minutes. Then he would snap right out of it.
Big Brother for Cats
http://iknowwhereyourcatlives.com/cat/03426907e7
does not have Hili! (at least in Dobrzyn nad Wisla)
I can’t see Hili in the first picture. I deduce that shes in the cloud of nightjar feathers that I can’t see either.
The “Malgorzata and the d*g Cyrus” shot is a fabulous picture. I dunno, it just seems almost iconic, and enveloping in it’s depth.
kitty cartoon
http://www.gocomics.com/herman/2014/07/25
Hili must have been into the cherry pie too.
Love the family portrait. And though Hili is being diffident, Cyrus still has both eyes on her.
As an aesthetic aside; I like the look of dogs with docked tails…don’t know why. Maybe the same reason I am fond of the look of manx cats…hmmmm.
Poor Hili! Can’t a girl have any privacy?