Just to hold it...

Seriously, I'd do almost anything for an excuse to hold a nicely rounded stone in my hand just this bit longer. Painting them is another wonderful way to stay connected. This one I am really happy with. I use it as one of my "stones to hold", because it sits so perfectly in my hand.

I have a few well proportioned stones that I handle regularly for the good feeling they give me. Painted ones are better than felted, because you want to feel the surface. I always carry a stone or two with me and collect them from anywhere I go.
When I visited stony beaches in England, I used to sit there entranced, touching, shifting, weighing... Last year in the Polish mountains I wandered along the bank of a huge creek choosing a rock. There were so many, all of them round and white! The one that I finally took with me was much bigger than my head. I so regretted not being able to lift a bigger one :)
Now it sits on my windowsill, together with the collection of smaller ones. I love how it contrasts with the furnishings.

A stone for a rainy day

Here it is. Simple, yet has given me lots of good feeling, in spite of the weather.

Basic renovation done!

It took my crew four months to do everything that we agreed upon, according to my funds. And that was: repairing foundations, rebuilding cellars, repairing the roof construction and building an arcade in the front. Here's my cottage's new look, as seen from the yard (the new front):

I fell in love with it all over again. But no wonder, huh...?
The thing you can see on the top of the arcade is a carpenter's "wreath", signifying the end of work, hung up for luck. Here the wreath is actually a wooden sculpture, representing traditional carpenter tools.
A nicer photo of the the front:

The larch wood is a little reddish and will get darker in time. It smells divine :) I will be watching stars, listening to silence and feeling darkness from here - or first warmth of dawn - every day. Let it be so.
The construction of the roof had to be raised a bit and now there's this overwhelmingly huge space up there:

They had a smokehouse here and there was a huge chimney in the middle. The floor was raw clay. All had been removed and the clay used in laying new foundations.
I am planning two rooms and a separate "apartment" here for guests. I felt skeptical about it when looking at the plans, but after experiencing the new space I can believe anything is possible.
Some space will be left "undone" for me to dry herbs, mushrooms and linens. Imagine the smells!
A small roof window was added that overlooks the road. I can see the lake now.

I am told this old pump could be cleaned and used again. Three years ago we had a family of tits nesting inside it. We tried not to disturb them, wondering how they'll manage to get out? Finally, they flew away, all except one that may have been too weak and died there.

And here's the house as seen from the road. The old pine beams closest to the ground unfortunately could not be saved. But in the future the walls will be covered with traditional wooden weatherboarding (vertical) and the bricks will disappear.

I am now well seen from a distance :)

If you're curious about the extent of work that still awaits me, here are some photos that convey it all or more...

I am including them here for the future, when I will look over old posts and wonder, where on earth have I taken a nerve from to throw myself into this...?
But, I am not depressed by the mess - it's glorious! I feel happier than ever before. I am finally realizing a dream. I am showing my mettle like a true man should: building a house, having two sons already; only tree planting left now (planned for spring) :)

And anyway, whatever happens, I have forests around that make me breath again.

Summer 2014

Well, it was still standing. That is how I found the cottage after my return to Poland last year.

Notice the spruces in the front. Beautiful as they were, they had to go. The house front rightly faces south (this is where the "fancy" rooms are, while for example the kitchen is situated from the north). It needs shading during summer, but it should be with deciduous trees that let the winter sun in. The Polish law allows you to cut down trees on your land without permission if they are not 10 years old.

This is how the overgrown vegetable garden looked like. This window will in the future be replaced with a kitchen door.

And here the same space as seen from the house, towards what is left of an orchard. I am a happy owner of a few wild apple and cherry or pear trees. Still bearing fruit!

The yard, overgrown, but with some very old spruces that used to host wild bees some years ago. The brick building, solid and beautiful, needs a new roof that I really cannot afford at this stage. The current one is collapsing. I've tried to rescue it provisionally, but it's just too big. They say it would be best to let it fall, cover the brick construction and wait for better times. But the farthest right part of the building houses a hydrophore plant in its huge cellars. The plant that I share with a few other neighbors. It was a village community system created before the war that has survived miraculously until today.

Finally, the view towards the forest.

And towards the lake.

I sat for many evenings on a bench in front of the cottage this last summer, watching the sky, the swallows circling, the wall of the forest, the eagles flying over, the hares and hedgehogs crossing my yard.

And decided to hire a crew recommended by the architect who'd made the project of renovation.

The Heart of a Naturalist

I've always been a naturalist at heart. This is what made the decision to take my and my family's health in my own hands easier. I've always felt there were other ways to well being than those we're subjected to by modern medicine.
Mine is an informal, but great working practice, that took up roots at the sick child's bedside and slowly became second nature. At some point, I decided I want it to become my life.

I'm a student of herbal medicine at a college of natural healing (see my profile), currently working on a Diploma in Iridology that is a discipline helpful in learning about people's constitutions. Here I will add posts on different herbs and home cures that I practice. Please come back to check it out.

For the time being, I recommend "The Holistic Herbal" by a well known herbalist David Hoffman. A clearly written, well structured book with beautiful, making-sense-of-it-all introduction. Really helpful. Have a look inside here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_15?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=holistic+herbal+david+hoffman&sprefix=holistic+herbal%2Cstripbooks%2C17

Disclaimer: the content is for informational purpose only, not intended as medical advice.

Loving wool and linen

I just love wool. And linen.

My wool comes from the beautiful Tatra Mountains in Poland. This wool is great for felting (been felted there for centuries and used to make traditional clothing).

Tatra Mountains are the enchanted mountains of my childhood. I've slept in an old mountaineer's wooden house above the sheep pen so many times as a child, waking up to a distant, faint sound of "baaaa!" on a clear, frosty morning.

... the old man's wife, the gazdzina, wrapped tightly in an ancient woolen scarf, is just coming into our room with all usual familiarity, without knocking, bringing in the heavy smell of sheep and hay. She is carrying a bucket full of charcoal for the huge tile stove and a mouth full of gossip that we are hardly able to follow, for she is speaking in a local dialect that falls on our ears like music. She knows about wool and she remembers older women from her family spinning and weaving wool from their sheep.

... it is a freezing, pale dusk and we're visiting local craft market with plenitude of wool products, set under the wintry sky. We're so cold, but we delight too much in browsing blankets, mountains of raw wool, sweaters, mittens, caps and socks in natural colors and traditional patterns. There are also slippers, belts and gifts made of local leather, many embroidered with old motifs. I am awed by the softness of sheepskin, by the sharp smell of scratchy wool. Just behind us a long queue of frosted sleigh horses is napping. One of them, pulling impatiently, will take us, hidden under dirty woolen blankets, back through snow and growing dusk to the house - to our room that is like a warm golden box hurled into the dark well of the night.

I also love the texture and hues of linen and cannot resist hand woven pieces. There's so much more involved than just the end product. When holding a piece of linen fabric or a woolen blanket, do you think of the person who's spun, the one who's woven it? Especially those old, worn pieces - they hold material for many good tales.

Poland has a long history in producing and exporting good quality linen and I fully support the idea of contributing to the tradition by using fiber of Polish origin. I'm searching for hand woven linen to order in bigger quantity. 

Think of the delicate flowers of the flax plant that gives such a strong fiber. It's amazing.

There are people in Poland still - mostly old people - who grow flax, gather and process it and then spin and weave linen on an old-fashioned loom. The craft of making traditional woolen kilims is also quite alive, with some patterns used that are centuries old.

"A Misty Morning"

I've discovered a few more books on felting techniques and found lots of inspiration. I am still most interested in landscapes, but haven't yet found my own style!

The work below was inspired by someone's art; I loved the colors and composition and tried to imitate it. The technique used comes from Andrea Hunter's book "Creating Felt Pictures".

After finishing the picture I hand embroidered some details. 

I find the unevenness of the picture edges particularly charming. It wasn't intended, but the effect is quite easy to achieve if the picture is well felted, thin. I had hoped I would be able to use raw wool for the first layer, but it's just too thick. So only merino wool used here.