Reading posts about pierogi with truskawki (strawberries) or jagody (bilberries)and other delights such as fruit soups posted recently, I have been savouring the wonders of summer produce and how somehow...
June 15, 2018
"To Moscow, to Moscow" said the sisters who languished at home, bored of their country life in Chekhov's "Three Sisters". The long days of June do seem to go on...
May 11, 2018
International Nurses Day is celebrated annually on 12 May, Florence Nightingale's date of birth. My great-grandmother's sister was a nurse during WWI and there are medics in my wider family,...
May 3, 2018
It's a lovely sunny day and it's the Third of May, the day the Polish Constitution was born in 1791. It's a national celebration so in Poland no one is...
March 29, 2018
It's time to hunt out the basket for the annual Święcone (Easter basket blessing). This tradition dates back many centuries when priests would go round homes blessing all the Easter...
March 9, 2018
My mother told me she was going to polish church this week to get a real feeing of Polish Lent, which made me think about how the whole period of...
February 3, 2018
My English childminder carried out a vote amongst her children as to whether they’d like to celebrate Chinese New Year, Pancake Day or Fat Thursday and guess which one was...
January 27, 2018
Last year John Lewis declared that the tablecloth is on its “dying out” list. In store, many are permanently on offer. Clearly there are fewer families eating meals together at...
January 13, 2018
Among my New Year's resolutions, is one to carry on getting a grip on my tidying abilities - in fact, to relearn how to tidy. Tidying a home (particularly if...
December 27, 2017
Carollers (Kolędnicy) on the whole sing about the Nativity, but in Poland the tradition of Kolęda doesn't just focus on the birth of Jesus. From 26th December, St Szczepan's (St Stephen's)...
