Had this wonderful bigos (stewed cabbage and bacon) at an event commemorating the liberation of Szczebreszyn in eastern Poland during the 2nd World War:
The bigos was perfect as it just had the right amount of pepper which fused really well with the salty bacon. The bigos was made by a patriots' organisation:
Quick shot taken while passing the wood pile in the barn in eastern Poland:
Guess that all this wood could come in handy during a rainy day.
Spent much of last weekend chopping down some grape vines that had entangled several trees in the back garden.
This had to be done in front of the barn were some very big trees were being gradually strangled by the grape vines:
With all the trees looking happier and healthier afterwards.
Not far from the geese swimming school, a group of goats were munching the grape vine leaves that I'd chopped down.
Time after time, I went back with the grape vine leaves, with the goats being more than happy to eat them.
A few shots of a swimming school for geese at a muddy water channel in eastern Poland.
Both the infant geese:
Seemed like kind of ages, probably a couple of years, since I'd seen a kind of alternative gig, so seeing Rosa Vertov last Sunday evening was a real treat:
Only discovered Rosa Vertov and their music a week or two ago, but immediately connected with their kind of dream pop-psychedelic sound.
After Sunday's gig, I find myself continually listening to the band's Day In Day Out and Who Would've Thought? albums and Rosa Vertov EP (dusty faces is a wonderful track).
Can't help imagining how Rosa Vertov would've been perfectly suited for doing sessions for the late great John Peel.
What I like about Rosa Vertov is that they have a unique sound of their own. When I think of who they may remind me of a bit, the only band that springs to mind is early period Throwing Muses around the time of Hunkpapa (saw Throwing Muses at Glastonbury in 1989 around this time).
Finally, have to say that I think that Rosa Vertov will go down a storm if they tour Britain (alternative music circles will love them there).
The Jazz na Starówce festival is a brilliant series of Jazz concerts that take place early Saturday evening from early July to late August in the Old Town Marketplace in Warsaw. Last Saturday, I got to see Purple is the Color, from Vienna, there:
Really liked Purple is the Color, with Just Kiddin' and Techno Epic being the two standout tunes for me (loved the subtle melody of Techno Epic).
Over the last 3-4 years, I've seen quite a few Jazz concerts in Warsaw, and now I enjoy the feel of Jazz music without knowing much about it.
Think that the Jazz na Starówce festival is great, as it brings together a mix of genuine Jazz enthusiasts and lay people like myself.
Judging from the writing on the car below, which was behind the stage, I guess that it's the one that brought the band down to and away from the Old Town Marketplace last Saturday evening:
My very simple but effective tomato soup: simmered vegetables joined by aubergine and a tin of tomatoes towards the end of the cooking process.
Tinned tomatoes and aubergine cooked together worked an absolute treat.
Saw this big brown, Yogi Bear at the Wianki Festival in Warsaw recently, he was entertaining people near the fountain area:
Across from the fountains, there was the bar area:
Which seemed well-organised, but sold extremely weak 3.2% Warka beer which is usually 5%, so it had a first taste but no aftertaste.
Having said that, it may've been a good idea to have weak beer with a large group of people drinking together, and I was dehydrated so weak beer was fine while waiting for festivities to resume on stage:
Loved this picture of a chimney-sweep which accompanied a ventilation inspection recently, as it seemed to contain a kind of Romantic, lovable rogue image that many people have of chimney-sweeps.
After seeing the RGG Trio at Warsaw Old Town, I slowly strolled up to the city centre, to the Plac Defilad stage, to catch the Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet offering a wonderful toast to the late/legendary Tomasz Stańko:
It was a wonderful, balmy, late Saturday evening, and I found myself behind a small tree, being mesmerised by some incredible, live Jazz music.
Of course, the enchantment of the experience was amplified by the intimate setting,
Was nice to pay my first visit to the Saturday evening, Jazz na Starówce festival this year, seeing the RGG Trio.
I enjoyed getting a close-up view of how talented Jazz musicians work together on stage:
Really liked the RGG Trio's mellow/subtle form of Jazz, as it was melodic and allowed me to dream about things during the listening process.
Despite having lived in Warsaw since 2003, I only first chanced upon the Jazz na Starówce festival last summer and immediately liked the whole idea of it: allowing both Jazz-lovers and lay people like myself to have free access to great Jazz music in a beautiful setting:
Think I'll be paying a few other visits to the Jazz na Starówce festival before the summer ends:
Saw this Jesus wood-carving while walking around Szczebrzeszyn in eastern Poland a few Sundays ago:
Think it may be an example of the religious folk art that rural Poland is famous for.
Was immediately drawn to this beer, from the Volfas Engelman brewery in Kaunas, Lithuania, through the effort put into making the beer can look attractive.
There was even regal-looking tin foil on top of the can:
And the beer itself was a quite smooth pint of lager:
Was really pleased with how my lentil (and vegetable) soup turned out, it was surprisingly tasty.
Besides lentils, it contained carrots, potatoes, butterscotch, sweet potato, garden peas, and crucially, two vegetable burgers to thicken the soup.
I also added artichokes and salty black olive juice to give the flavour a bit of a kick.
The only problem was that lentils aren't the easiest things to digest, of course, so eating this soup for a couple of days on the trot wasn't a great idea.
Kotek looking comfortable and keeping the bed warm in eastern Poland above.
Below, he is catching a nap on a cushion near a balcony:
Think that this was my first gig at the Amfiteatr Parku Sowińskiego since seeing the Prog in the Park festival with Opeth, Riverside etc. there a few years ago.
Really liked the way Mikromusic broke through the barrier presented by the formality of the setting on Saturday evening, as the audience were invited to connect with the band by moving from their seats to near the stage after the first song Drzewiej, a beautiful, atmospheric piece.
This was the second time I'd seen Mikromusic and crowd-pleasing tunes likes Takiego Chłopaka and Bezwładnie were balanced nicely with atmospheric tunes like Na krzywy ryj and Łajka. All this had a nice, chill-out effect despite being deprived of beer inside the venue.
Will definitely be going seeing Mikromusic again, really like their kind of blend of (dream) pop, jazz, folk, trip-hop, and, at times, prog, with Natalia Grosiak having one of the most beautiful female voices I've ever heard live.
