Last evenings in shirt-sleeves?

The heatwaves have passed, the nights are getting cold. Yet when the sun shines, it's very pleasant outside – but this is about to change. Temperatures will struggle to get into double digits over the next few days. Golden autumn may well yet return – one can hope! In the meanwhile, I made the most of the reasonable warmth over the weekend, warm enough to venture out in the evening without a jacket.

Below: a slow shutter-speed of a full coal train heading (unusually!) south, taken just before sunset yesterday. 

Below: looking south towards Chynów station in the distance, the sun has set. but the afterglow illuminates the western horizon for a while.

Left: twilit horizon with electricity pole. This is one of my favourite spots for catching sunsets; I hope the rail redevelopment work I wrote about yesterday won't spoil the character of the area around here (between Chynów station and the DK50 main road).

Below: ulica Owocowa, at the Chynów end of my lane. Magic hour approaches its end. This is the Sublime Aesthetic.

Below: I look around one last time before turning into my drive and home. "When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls/And the stars begin to flicker in the sky..."

Below: from today's walk; orchard awaiting the fruit pickers, under a fragmentary double rainbow.

Below: I get up closer to the trees to bring together the red apples illuminated by strong sunlight against a rainbow on brooding skies. Photo taken with polarising filter to make the rainbow stand out more.

The downdraft from the approaching rain-clouds signal that I should be heading home, sure enough, 300 metres from my działka it starts pour, and me in my shirtsleeves... 

This time last year:
Anomalous landscapes amid local forest

This time five years ago:

W(h)ither the DK50?

This time six years ago:
A change in the weather

This time seven years ago:
Zamek Topacz classic car museum

This time ten years ago:
Curry comes to Jeziorki

This time 11 years ago:
Why we should all try to use less gas

This time 12 years ago:
Polish supermarket chain advertises on London buses

This time 17 years ago:
Well-shot pheasants

Big rail news for Chynów

Two stories popped into my social-media feeds today, both concerning local rail travel. The first is about the CPK project, the second about planned station upgrades for Chynów and Sułkowice. I'll start with CPK, the airport part of which I consider unnecessary. Summary: two successive Polish governments have decided to build a brand-new airport southwest of Warsaw (about a third of the way to Łódź). This will be the 'centralny port komunikacyjny' or CPK, linked to the rest of Poland by upgraded roads and high-speed rail. The rail element interests me. The new airport is to be built west of Chynów, and today's news concerns the rail link from Chynów and the Warsaw-Radom line to the airport. 

Below: the chosen variant will not see new lines built, merely the upgrade of existing ones. The junction at Czachówek will take on strategic importance, as trains from Chynów, Warka, Radom and the south will swing west here towards Mszczonów and the new airport, along the Skierniewice-Łuków line (which itself is due for a major upgrade and reinstatement of passenger services along its length). Also worthy is the modernisation and extension to Grójec of the Piaseczno narrow-gauge line, which is intended to be a commuter route from a satellite town neglected by the rail network.

Looking up close at the local plans, I can see that the project will entail significant changes for Chynów, Jakubowizna and Widok. The level crossing in Jakubowizna is slated for closure! It will be replaced (as will the one on ulica Spokojna between Chynów and Krężel stations) by a viaduct, carrying a completely new road that is planned to run between and parallel to ul. Spokojna and ul. Wolska, emerging halfway through the village of Widok. The closure of the level crossing will mean having to walk an extra 250m (plus 250m on the way back) when walking to Chynów. By car, it will mean an extra 3.2km to get to the shops in Chynów. The station itself will see the number of tracks double from three to six. Two new tracks are to be laid to the west of the current line, and one new track is to be laid to the east. The number of platforms will remain the same (two), the 'down' platform will see another edge, the outer two tracks will be for non-stopping expresses to pass unhindered.

So – swings and roundabouts; local inconveniences traded for the ability to travel east-west by train as well as north-south.

The second story concerns Poland's rail infrastructure operator, PKP PLK, announcing a major project to modernise 181 stations (of the total of over 2,500 across all of Poland)... and among them, Chynów and the next one up the line, Sułkowice. Below: the map, from the press release (in Polish, here). Right-click to open in new tab, then click to enlarge for full detail.

The fact that Chynów found itself on this list generated local surprise, given the recent modernisation of the entire Warsaw-Radom line that resulted in a massive improvement in service. However, as one observant local citizen pointed out, despite the new platforms and infrastructure, the actual station building hasn't changed. 

If you're asking me, I think that Chynów station needs three things: a lot more bicycle stands (especially on the east side); electronic display boards to show arrivals and departures and any delays in real time; and asphalt/paving for the car park plus convenient passenger access to it (it's currently just the rough ground left after the demolition of the old goods yard). Below: ample space to park cars, but there are no steps from the far end or the middle of the platform to get to them. Shortly before taking this photo, I saw a man jump the fence to save himself going all the way round the other side of that ochre-coloured building at the far end of the platform. 

Below: on the Jakubowizna (east) side of the station, there are just four bicycle stands. Yesterday afternoon, I counted 17 bicycles there; eight attached to the stands (two to each), the rest chained to the fence or the railings. Rather than chide cyclists for chaining their bikes where they shouldn't be, PKP PLK should just place another ten or so bicycle stands here.

Warka station now has digital indicator screens working on all platforms and in the tunnel that links them, as well as in the station building booking hall/waiting room. Chynów is due to get them soon. This will be a valuable addition in terms of keeping passengers aware of delays in real time.

I walked to Sułkowice to have another look at the station. To my surprise, it actually has a booking hall/waiting room that's still functioning! Open until 4pm, I managed to buy a ticket for the 15:56 service towards Radom, just one stop to Chynów. The ticket cost 2.73 złotys (55p with my 35% seniors' discount). I fished out a five złoty coin, but the ticket lady had no change. So I grubbed about in my wallet until I found a two złoty coin and assorted small change so I could offer the exact amount. What a faff. Normally, I'd always use the Koleje Mazowieckie app, but because the ticket office was open, I thought, why not use it? Below: climbing the steps to the small shelter, there are no obvious signs that there actually is a ticket office here, let alone that it's open...

Below: it most certainly is open and functioning! Old school but absolutely spotless. I wonder how many people actually use it. I often take the train from Sułkowice to Chynów, but wasn't aware that this place still functions. A buffet would be handy here. And in the booking office/waiting room in Chynów too.

Minor gripes aside, it is actually wonderful that the Polish state is investing so heavily in its rail infrastructure. This really is the way forward – not more motorways and airports. However, how long will all this take? September's nearly over and Warsaw West's new underground passage (it was meant to be ready for 1 September) is not yet open. Everything takes ages. I remember that when the Elizabeth Line (or Crossrail as it was originally called) was first announced in 2007, my father joked that he'd not live to see it actually working. How right he was. It opened in May 2022, two and half years after his death. Will I get to see the CPK project completed and working?

UPDATE SATURDAY 27 SEPT: Rynek Kolejowy has an article about how the CPK project will improve rail communication between Warka, Chynów and Grójec.

This time two years ago:
Pilgrimage at day's end

This time three years ago:
First steps in cider-making

[Only in odd-numbered years – biennial bearing trees]

This time four years ago
The glories of a sunny day in early autumn

This time nine years ago:

On conservatism

This time 14 years ago:
Heritage or high-rise?

This time 14 years ago:
Shopping notes

This time 15 years ago:
My grandfather

This time 17 years ago:
Surreal twilight, ul.Karczunkowska

This time 18 years ago:
From Warsaw to Seville, via Munich and Madrid

Equilux – the physical triumph of light over darkness

Today will be 12 hours long, the night 12 hours also. The sun rose this morning at 26 minutes past six, and will set at 26 minutes past six this evening.

Below: sunset over Chynów, Tuesday 23 September.

But wasn't equinox on Monday 22 September? 

Yes, dear reader; that was the moment when the sun passed directly above the equator, heading into the Southern Hemisphere. This year, that particular astronomical event indeed occurred on Monday 22 September., at 18:19 GMT. But here in Chynów, that day was 12 hours and 12 minutes long. The exact 12 hour day-night split is not due until three days later. That's today. And that is... equilux.

In spring – it's the same. Equilux is due two days before the vernal equinox. The former falls on Wednesday 18 March and is the first day of the year longer than 12 hours. The latter occurs on the afternoon of Friday 20 March, marking the sun's return to the Northern Hemisphere.

Whether you live on the equator or near the North or South Pole, the story is the same; equinox and equilux do not fall on the same day. It's just that the difference between day-length between the two is much greater at the poles than at the equator.

So wherever you live on the globe, you get more daylight than night time over the course of the year. We're not talking a lot, but enough to notice. 

There are 188 days of the year (51.5% of the total) with a longer day than night, and 177 days of the year (48.5% of the total) when night is longer than day. That's a 3% advantage. Not much, but there, definite, observable.

Why is this?

There are two reasons: the first being that the sun is a disc, not a point; its sinking over the horizon takes a few minutes. The second being refraction of the sun's rays through the earth's atmosphere. And here we see the difference between our perceived reality and absolute geometric truth. There is more light than is geometrically available because of how our atmosphere bends light. Are the truths we observe fundamental, or are they shaped by our existence and our observations?

The physical truth that light slightly outweighs darkness across the globe leads me into metaphysical thoughts. Classical dualist philosophy pitches light against darkness. They stand as proxies for good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, life and non-life. Light's 3% advantage over darkness can be taken as a sign: a subtle, pervasive bias towards creation, life, and goodness that's baked into the fabric of the universe. From the non-dual perspective of Eastern philosophies, light and darkness are not in conflict – they are two sides of a single, balanced unity. The slight bias towards light can be seen rather as a beautiful imperfection. Perfect symmetry is not a universal rule; harmony can exist in a state of constant, gentle tension.

One way or another, rejoice, give thanks, make the most of this, the last day of the light side; we slip into the shorter dark side for 177 days, re-emerging into the light on Wednesday 18 March 2026. I hope we all make it. May nothing bad happen. Today also happens to be World Dream Day. Left: on my way down the lane to catch yesterday's sunset. The road runs east-west, so at this time of the year, the sunset aligns with its far end.

This time last year:
Equilux: the struggle between Light and Dark

This time four years ago:
S7 construction update

This time five years ago:
Covid – we still really don't know where we are

This time 11 years ago:

Thoughts occasioned by today being equilux

This time 14 years ago:
The magic of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand's Marlborough region

This time 15 years ago:
Grandson of Poles elected to lead UK's Labour Party

This time 17 years ago:
Give me sunshine!

Mińsk Mazowiecki

Today, 22 September, is European Car-Free Day, and as happens every year, Koleje Mazowieckie allows ticket-free travel all over its network. This spans the entire Mazovian province, with many lines extending beyond. I had planned to visit Siedlce (pop. 75,000), to complete the set of former voivodship capitals prior to the 1999 territorial reform that cut their number  from 49 to 16.  To date, I have blogged the other three, Radom, Ciechanów and Płock.

However, because of delays, I missed the connecting train at W-wa Wschodnia (Warsaw East), and rather than wait an hour for the next Siedlce-bound train, I decided to visit Mińsk Mazowiecki (pop. 40,000) instead. Which proved a disappointment. I look for the good points and the bad points in places I visit and reach a balanced conclusion. The city that Mińsk Mazowiecki reminds me of most is Białystok, another place originally established and owned by one family in the 18th century and lacking a mediaeval market square.

Until 2012, Mińsk Mazowiecki lay on the main road from Warsaw to Moscow. In that year, the new A2 motorway bypassed the town to the north, diverting a significant amount of passing trade. This is visible in the number of investments made in the 1990s that today look shabby and tired. Below: a row of commercial and residential buildings, just off ulica Warszawska, the main town's east-west thoroughfare.

Below: the bus station building, dilapidated but still functioning. Another reminder of how Poland looked in the 1990s. Probably around the last time I used a Euronet cash machine...

Thoroughly trashed by the war, most of Mińsk Mazowiecki is made up of communist-era buildings of modest architectural merit. Below: mixed-use properties from drabber times.

Over the railway station, a lovely old-school sign; the neon no longer working (sprayed over it seems). It reminds me of the sign over the old Łódź Fabryczna station. The weather was perfect; the last day of summer, indeed.

Below: another sign bearing the name of the town. This one on ul. Warszawska, by the Park Dernałowiczów. [I googled "what should I see in Mińsk Mazowiecki?" Number one was Park Dernałowiczów. Now, if the answer to "what's a given town's must-see attraction" is a park, beware, brother, beware...]

Some Tsarist-era buildings remain – most of the ones I saw were in poor good condition, such as the one below.

Left: a plaque mounted in the pavement is the only reminder of the old Jewish cemetery, that served 'from the second half of the 18th century until the end of the 19th', and 'existed until 1945'. Some 7,000 Polish Jews were imprisoned in the Mińsk Mazowiecki ghetto; most were murdered at Treblinka, but 1,300 were killed in the town's streets as the ghetto was liquidated in August 1942.

Below: the town hall, built in the 1950s, served as the local headquarters of the PZPR (Polish United Workers' Party) until 1973.

Below: here and there, you can still find wooden buildings from the 19th and early 20th century. Not as well maintained as in Kazimierz Dolny, but still bearing a certain charm.

Below: what have we here? A pristine BMW 535 (E34, third-generation 5-series). I remember road-testing one of these for CBI News in 1989! Note the 21st-century buildings to the right and the crane on the horizon to the left... change is happening.

Below: there is hope. Mińsk Mazowiecki station is just 45 minutes away from W-wa Śródmieście (by Koleje Mazowieckie local services) and 35 minutes from W-wa Centralna (by InterCity). Property prices are about one-third lower per square metre compared to Warsaw suburbs like Ursynów. Developers are starting to notice, and putting up apartment blocks like the one below, situated a mere 200m from the railway station. To the right, you can see cranes working on new blocks.

Something tells me that Mińsk Mazowiecki will experience a revival by reinventing itself as a dormitory suburb rather than as a local hub. Having said that, the town has one flourishing enterprise, the railway rolling-stock refurbishment firm, Pesa Mińsk Mazowiecki. The works now refurbish trains for multiple railway operators from across Poland. and employ over 700 people. In the photo below, taken from the footbridge at the western end of the platform of Mińsk Mazowiecki station, you can see rolling stock belonging to Koleje Dolnośląskie and PKP InterCity.

Mińsk Mazowiecki is also home to the Polish Air Force's 23rd Tactical Base, which is there to defend Warsaw's airspace from the east. While waiting for my train back, I heard the characteristic howling screech of a jet fighter; I looked up to see a South Korean-built KAI T-50 Golden Eagle blasting up into the sky. This multirole light combat/trainer aircraft based here would be on the front line for downing Russian drones that 'stray' over Polish territory.

This time last year:
Car-free day 2024 - Łowicz

This time four years ago
Into darkness

This time seven years ago:
Summer's end

This time eight years ago:
In which I lose a lot of data from my old laptop

This time nine years ago:
Konin – town of aluminium, electricity and coal

This time 12 years ago:
Car-free day falls on a Sunday

This time 13 years ago:
Vistula at record low level

This time 16 years ago:
Car-free day? Warsaw's roads busier than ever

This time 17 years ago:
The shape of equinox

This time 18 years ago:
Potato harvest time in Jeziorki

Catch the sun, make the most

Astronomical summer is coming to an end. So whenever the sun shines, make the most of it. I woke this morning before six, to catch cloudless skies that would become overcast by 10 (according to the forecast on my phone). Feed the cats, eat breakfast (scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on matzos, coffee, pressed apple juice), and set off.

Below: early sun streaming through forest – that is exactly what I want to catch this morning. The crunch underfoot of dry leaves and twigs. It's good to realise that I'm minutes by foot from the woods. A contrast from yesterday's urban post.

Below: the track from Machcin II to Grobice, under a gorgeous mid-September sky.

Below: forest crossroads, unasphalted track. To the left: Machcin. Straight on for Rososz. Right for Dąbrowa Duża, and behind me – Adamów Rososki.

Below: the edge of town, where the villages meet.

Below: the way back home. Thinking about lunch. 

Below: I get home to find Wenusia still feeding the kittens (not so small any more!). the 14th week is approaching an end... She looks a bit pissed off, if I may say so...

This time six years ago:
The City (of London) in its morning glory

This time 14 years ago:
Waiting for autumn

This time 15 years ago:
Made in England to last

This time 16 years ago:
How the S2/S79 looked back then...

This time 18 years ago:
Endless summer, Park Łazienkowski

Flying the flag in Wola

"Pałacyk Michla, Żytnia, Wola, Bronią jej chłopcy od Parasola..." we'd sing this song of the Warsaw Uprising insurgents in Polish scouts; few if any of us back there in 1970s London imagined the street to which the lyrics referred (though the 'pałacyk Michlera' was actually on Ulica Wolska, not on ul. Żytnia, over half a kilometre away). The ongoing diversion of trains from the Radom line to W-wa Gdańska via Wola means I've come to know this western district of Warsaw very well, especially now that my cardiologist is here. A visit was arranged for today, so I went. I decided to walk along ul. Zytnia from one end to the other to catch the Wola vibe. The first thing that struck me – all these Polish flags flying! 

Yes, it's 17 September, the 86th anniversary of the Soviet Union invading eastern Poland, the stab in the back two and half weeks into Poland's defensive war with Hitler. The road to the Wola massacre started here. 

Walking along ul. Żytnia, I am struck by the total lack of pre-war buildings; architecture is uniformly moderne, 1950s and '60s in style. Here and there, memorials pinpoint sites of mass executions. 

The scale of the German massacres of civilian population, conducted by SS and police units, was staggering. Historians today assess the number of civilians killed at around 50,000, far outnumbering the deaths of armed combattants, Polish and German combined, during the 63 days of the Uprising. The Wola massacre happened on 5-12 August.

Right: on the corner of ul. Żytnia and Młynarska, another cross marks the location of the murder of around 150 local residents on 5 August 1944.

Wola will never forget. I found today's display of flags deeply moving. I'd guess, based on my previous walks through Wola, that some people keep national flags flying for the whole 63 days commemorating the Warsaw Uprising.

Below: public buildings also keep the flags flying today. This is the post office on the corner of ul. Plocka and Żytnia.

Well, if there's demand, there must be supply. Below: a shop selling flags and 'propaganda articles' on the corner of ul. Okopowa and Żytnia.

This time last year:
A further step towards energy autonomy

This time two years ago:
Plenitude in the Year's Fruition

This time three years ago:
Behold the wonder of the commonplace

This time four years ago
The force-field of fate

This time five years ago:
Hot in the city

This time six years ago:
Resting with the heroes

This time eight years ago:
Polish employers' demographic challenge

This time 12 years ago:
The rich, the poor, the entrepreneur

This time 13 years ago:
Food: where's the best place to shop in Poland? 
[I'm still boycotting Auchan for remaining in Russia]

This time 14 years ago:
Bittersweet

This time 15 years ago:
Commuting made easy

This time 16 years ago:
Work starts on the S79/S2 

This time 17 years ago:
Warsaw's accident-filled streets

Stand by for take-off

{{ Jet powered, swept wings, Mach numbers. Century series. Guided missiles. Time over target. Congress. Rocket-launch tests. Telemetry. Research and development budgets. Radar. Computers. Transistors. Bell Labs. Air defense systems. Guided missiles. House Defense Appropriation Committee. RAND Corporation. 

{{ This, ladies and gentlemen, is the future speaking. And I am receiving it loud and clear.

{{ Black midwinter sky, Greenland. "When will we be ready? Will we ever be ready?" New equipment's coming into service, we're constantly unpacking large wooden crates. Sleds. Bitter cold. Then the warmth of the officers' mess, and a beer. Esquire magazines lying around on the coffee tables. Viscose rayon threads. A continuous pipeline of innovation. All over the place, everywhere you look! Defending the free world, shopping at Macy's. Best standard of living in the world. Buick or Olds? Few years ago, it was easy. Now – there's so much choice. 

{{ That sky. Soon the sun will rise to shine so briefly, no clouds. Dawn and dusk together – beautiful. Kodachrome. Built-in light-meter?  Uh-huh. Bought it in the PX in Yokota. Another beer, buddy? Sure thing. Saratoga Springs. Ever been? Nope – but I'd like to go. "Hey! Haiti! Been to Port-au-Prince? I have! Show-off. Newfoundland, man, yeah, and a trip to Europe. Squeeze in some business. Defense procurement. Show off some new gadgets to the budget-holders. We have the edge. Europe's all bomb-damaged, from England to the Iron Curtain. They'll buy from us. Malenkov and Khrushchev are the threat. Technology. Thermal imaging. Transistors. That's the future. Russia's way behind". "There's a whole world out there – and who better to see it with than the U.S.A.F."! "Drink to that, bud!"

{{ We stood outside in awe of the Northern Lights. "Was that a...? That, sir, was a meteor. Seen 'em before. Russia wouldn't dare, would they? Well, they have the bomb, they have the bombers. We have radar-guided supersonic interceptors. They'd stand no chance of getting through. Chicago's safe. My baby's safe. Kentucky's safer. Damn that's another beer – nope, some still left in the bottle. Rolling Rock. Reminds me of home. Bowl of potato chips and peanuts. Remember those Japanese snacks? Yup. Kinda miss them. Good with a beer! Seen the Republic XF-103? They say it can fly at Mach 3 and will fire nuclear guided missiles. Nah. It's political. Convair will get it. }}

This time last year:
Touched by Boris

This time two years ago
Clinging on and letting go

This time five years ago:
Out in the mid-September heat

This time six years ago:
Poland's ugliest building?

This time 11 years ago:
Weekend cookery - prawns in couscous

This time 13 years ago:
Draining Jeziorki

This time 13 years ago:
Early autumn moods

This time 15 years ago:
The Battle of Britain, 70 years on

This time 16 years ago:
Thoughts about TV, Polish and British

This time 17 years ago:
Time to abandon driving to work!

This time 18 years ago:
Crappy roads take their toll

The kittens at three months

 I couldn't be without them! They grow up so fast... out of the phase of peak cuteness, now looking more like cats than newborn kittens. And yes, this was (plus-minus) the age their mother Wenusia was when she walked into my life. And now, I think nothing of having six cats. 

Every morning, the same routine. Opening my bedroom door to see who's in and who's out. Having left the kitchen window slightly ajar, so that Wenusia can open it easily enough with her paw, the kittens can go outside – but as yet, cannot leap up to the windowsill. Today was typical. I enter the kitchen, and only one kitten, Scrapper, is in the house; everyone else is outside. I fill up their food bowls and call out to them. One by one, they come charging home; first Céleste, then Czestuś, and then Arkcio and Pacio.

Gosh! It was three months ago, in mid-June, when Wenusia gave birth to new life. And now here they are, all five doing fine, no mishaps, no health problems – long may it continue this way.

The first-born, Scrapper, left, has an aggressive temperament. (Scrapper's responsible for 80% of all the scratches on my arms and legs and will not be told what to do; if there's a fight between two or more kittens, Scrapper is always involved). With wild eyes, a black nose and black chin, this is the alpha.

Céleste, left, looks like a supermodel in a fur coat. Her fine hair is long and silky smooth. Céleste really should have her own brand of perfume, so that she can walk within a fragrant cloud. She is class, she is refinement; hard to imagine that she and Scrapper are twins, biologically speaking; one shrieks 'alley' while the other embodies feline élégance. Having said that, Céleste is an accomplished mouse-catcher. Watching her eat a mouse that's she's just killed is not for the faint-hearted.

Arkturus (Arkcio), left, is standoffish. He is most likely to sleep alone in the round cat-bed. Arkcio is mature in behaviour, wyważony, neither a leader nor a follower, inclined to make his own way. Not one for biting or scratching, but neither one for petting or purring. 

Czestuś, left, likes to sleep, eat and be petted. Mummy's boy. He takes it easy, but wants to be in on the fun. Here he is fast asleep at the the top of the cat tower, head over the parapet so as not to miss out on any action (should it occur). Czestuś is not particularly competitive; he knows that there's always plenty of food around, so he tends to let the others eat first. The only one in the litter with a regular, long, straight tail – for which the others make him suffer by pouncing on it as if it were a long, ginger mouse. The other four have short kinked tails resembling crank-handles.

Pacyfik (Pacio), left, is another one for the easy life, almost identical to Arkturus, but with less white on the underside. During their first weeks they weighed exactly the same to the gram. Pacio is easy going, not showing any signs of aggression (hence his name). I'd say that along with Czestuś, he's the friendliest of the five. Czestuś and Pacio are very affectionate; these two will approach me for cuddles and start purring almost as soon as they are stroked. Scrapper is likely to want a fight when approached; Céleste and Arkcio tend to be indifferent when it comes to being petted. 

Five kittens, same mother, different fathers, caused by heteropaternal superfecundation. This happens where a female cat mates with two or more different males during a single heat cycle, leading to a single litter of kittens with different fathers. Since cats are induced ovulators, multiple matings are needed to trigger ovulation. If these matings occur with different males within a short period during the same oestrus cycle, multiple eggs can be fertilised by different males, resulting in kittens with varied traits such as coat colour and character from the same litter.  

The five form a unit, there's a tight bond between them and their mother. They play, they play-fight, they groom each other, they usually go out together and return together. For now, I do not intend to give any away, they are welcome to stay as long as they want. Below: mum grooms daughter. Céleste's long hair requires regular attention as it attracts seeds and other bits of vegetation. Wenusia is the perfect mother. When I put food out for them, she will wait until all her kittens have eaten before tucking in herself. When they're all outside, Wenusia's head darts this way and that, keeping an eye on the kittens.

On to the thorny question of sterilising Wenusia: she's still feeding, into the 14th week! Until she stops, I won't call the vet. Below: all five still at the nipple. How big they are compared to mum! You should hear the thunderous purring of them all feeding at the same time. A houseful of happy felines. I give thanks.

This time five years ago:
For or against?

This time 11 years ago:
Weekend cookery

This time 12 years ago:
Laying down the sewers

This time 13 years ago:
Still awaiting the official opening of viaduct on ul. Poloneza

This time 14years ago:
Fixie composition in blue and red

This time 15 years ago:
What's the Polish for 'guidelines'?

This time 16 years ago:
Ul. Rosoła's cycle path – new route to work

This time 17 years ago:
First apple

This time 18 years ago:
Late summer spider-webs