More from Dobrzyn and surroundings

The weather here is atrocious: a constant cold drizzle from leaden skies, keeping us inside. Fortunately, the house is warm and there’s often a fire. Yesterday afternoon we went to see the progress on Elzbieta and Andrzej the Second’s new house a few kilometers near Dobrzyn. It is coming along wonderfully (see below):

First, though, our cats. Here is the hyperaffectionate Szaron, who has slept with me for three nights. (You may have seen this photo earlier today!)

I have never met such an affectionate cat. I swear, if you start petting him you have to stop of your own accord, for he will continue to demand pets forever!

Yawning.

Kulka, who can be distinguished from Hili because she has more white on her body:

More Kulka. Just this minute she had a violent altercation with Hili, screaming and lashing out at The Princess. They hate each other, and I can’t understand why. Cats!

Kulka at the window:

Kulka looking wary:

Hili in Andrzej’s chair, which she owns. Very often when Andrzej is working on the computer, Hili lies behind him as a kind of feline backrest:

Dinner: A delicious pork roast served the other night with potatoes and a Zubr:

When the cherry cheesecake was gone, Malgorzata made an apple cake, but a cake with a crust made of almonds, butter, eggs and sugar (Splenda):

The inside:

The leftover pork roast was made into a delicious stew, with the meat chopped up and served with stir-fried chopped peppers, leeks, Chinese cabbage, garlic, and soy sauce, along with different spices. It was terrific, and I had the leftovers for breakfast today.

Et voilà: Below is Elzbieta and Andrzej’s new house, which I suspect will be ready to move in by summer. You may remember that this house was eight years in the making, with one contractor or another refusing to take on the job. Finally someone offered to build it using old bricks from a demolished barn and some ancient wood from a house in southern Poland.

When I was here 1.5 years ago, the place was mostly a shell without a roof or second floor. It’s now a nearly completed house with the finishing touches being put on. It came with two stray dogs and a cat, all adopted by these animal lovers. I hope that Leon and Mietek—who remain in the Wroclawek apartment—get along with their new companions.

There is a huge garden outside where Elzbieta and Andrzej the Second are even now growing vegetables, flowers, and fruits.

The resident cat, named Hela:

And here’s Sofia, one of the resident d*gs:

The future dining room. It is all wood inside with exposed beams.  Because there are thieves about, either Andrzej the Second or Elzbieta must sleep in the basement at night, with their partner spending sleeping in the Wroclawek apartment. This will continue until the house is done.

There are at least three bedrooms.

Here is a heating stove, but a regular stove will also be installed nearby when the kitchen is finished. In the background is an inside wall made from the old barn bricks:

Two windows and views outside:

A view outside down toward the stream. Some miscreant destroyed the beaver dam that was there, but the beavers have returned and built a home by the bank:

The upstairs has a large master bedroom, and here’s its attached bathroom (everything is still under construction):

Here are two of the bricks taken from the 100-year-old barn and used inside the house. The first has the footprint of a d*g in it (Andrzej the second likes to display the bricks with impressions on them):

This one records the number of bricks made at the factory on a given day:

One cannot visit the house without being served snacks and tea. There were two kinds of cake (apple and bean) and a herbal tea concocted by Andrzej the Second. He also went into the garden and returned with a kind of pearlike fruit that we ate (it was good, though full of seeds). Does anybody know what this dark fruit is?