Mint Cider in Warsaw

 Somehow ended up drinking mint cider in Warsaw. 

As expected, it was very fresh tasting, not bad at all. 

My One Concert from May

 Only went to one concert in (late) May but it was a cracker:

 

Cool Cool Cool (with Julie Slick) opening with a five-song set (would've liked to have heard much more, as the band was fantastic.

Then after the opening set, Cool Cool Cool (and Julie Slick) joined Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew on stage for a nice evening of Talking Heads classics (Psycho Killer; Take Me To The River; Life During Wartime etc.)

Plus the King Crimson (Mark II) classic, Thela Hun Ginjeet, an incredible song.

Yeah, this was a nice Sunday evening out at the Progresja in Warsaw on 25th May.

Sheltered from the Hailstorm

 While in Eastern Poland, I got caught in hailstorm, you can see the stuff bouncing off the road above.

Thankfully, a bus shelter was just across the road:

 It was just big enough to offer shelter, and small enough to feel part of the storm:

 Ten minutes of raw weather excitement or so.

Turning over the Compost Heap

 The compost heap while being turned over with a rake.

Should help to provide good nutrition for the garden.

An apple tree looking in early bloom:

Small Bird on the Window Sill

 A small bird on the window sill outside the bathroom window, hoping to make a nest during springtime.

Apple Orchard Amidst Yellow-Flowered Fields

 Some nice shots from a small orchard in springtime Eastern Poland.

 Thankfully, a professional gardener has given the place a kiss of life.

 It was great seeing the apple blossom with the yellow-flowered fields in the background.

 The fields of yellow flowers are for local margarine production.

Hopefully, there'll be a decent yield of apples in August/early September.

Bear McCreary - Warsaw Progresja (21-04-2025)

 A few nice shots from the Bear McCreary concert at Warsaw Progresja last Monday:

This gig was a fantastic audio-visual experience.

Bear McCreary and his great band provided a perfect balance of material from McCreary's film/video game tunes and recent Rock album, The Singularity.

From The Singularity, the standout tunes, for me, were Tatarigami; The End of Tomorrow; and, of course, Tears for the Dead Life'.

From the film tunes, Dance of the Druids was amazing.

In fact, everything was amazing on a great night.

Class musicians on stage with two completely different kinds of singers (Brendan McCreary and Morgan Sorne), this worked really well.

And, of course, a great finale with Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult = one of my favourite bands, have been blessed to see them quite a few times).

 Bear McCreary and his band taking thoroughly deserved rounds of applause at the end of the gig:

 Came out of this gig feeling really uplifted, in the night-time air.

Another Buckwheat Meal

Yet another buckwheat meal.

This time, with cottage cheese accompanying chick peas, cherry tomatoes, green olives, camembert cheese, and of course, the tried and trusted, buckwheat.

Palm Sunday 2025

 

Inside a Catholic church in Warsaw on Palm Sunday 2025.

 

The windows around the church show Christ's journey to Calvary, upcoming Easter:

 

  The Stations of the Cross:

 

It's good to be reminded of the real meaning of Easter, of course.

My April Wine Tour T-Shirt

Very rarely buy tour t-shirts but made an exception for April Wine (after waiting for many years to see them).

Was happy to see that the back of the t-shirt was full of tour dates:

The setting where I saw April Wine (with Uriah Heep and Tyketto), Manchester Bridgewater Hall, was brilliant:

The sound quality for all three bands was fantastic.

Healthy Buckwheat Meal

My healthy buckwheat meal here, with beetroot, chick peas, camembert cheese, and olives.

Kotek's Favourite Kipping Place

 Kotek's favourite place for a kip, inside a felt-type, small hut:

Birtle: Passing the Old Policemans' Lodge

After the Pack Horse, I reached the last part of my Birtle-Carr Wood-Ashworth Valley circular walk.

Heading back towards Castle Hill Road, I found myself passing the Old Policeman's Lodge:

The lodge seems to be now, in some way, connected to the new housing development on Elbut Lane.

 With only the housing scheme residents allowed to walk round the lodge.

Turn right at this clutch of houses below, and you can actually walk underneath a house into the Secret Garden:

 Shortly after this, I saw the Old Hanging Barn in the distance:

Have never really found out if the barn was really used as a place for hanging felons in the past or whether this is just an old wives' tale (years ago, a friend used to tell me all kinds of old wives' tales about Birtle, probably passed down from his mother).

Ashworth Valley to the Pack Horse

 After crossing the green bridge and climbing a small hill:

 Getting out of Ashworth Valley was easy:

 A nice walk across the damp fields took me to the Pack Horse pub:

 And a pint of ale was really tempting during a long walk, of course.

Finally Seeing Hooverphonic with Geike

A few shots from a fantastic evening with Hooverphonic yesterday.

This was the third time I'd seen Hooverphonic over the years, but the first time with Geike (I rather foolishly missed the opportunity to see the band with her many years ago).

Last night, it was an absolute treat, as the band started off with the whole of The Magnificent Tree album, with the title tune and Out of Sight really sticking out for me.

 

After The Magnificent Tree, it likewise remained one great track after another (Eden, You Love Me to Death, Anger Never Dies, The Night Before etc.).

 

With Geike singing the songs from all the Hooverphonic eras beautifully, of course.