Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


Did you finish it? When I was a teenager I used to start books, do a few chapters and never finish them. Most of them were pretty dreadful, very derivative. But a few years ago I started writing again and I managed to finish a book and write a second. Now I'm doing a third and have a fourth non-fiction on the go as well. So if you really enjoy writing, don't give up :)

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


Oh, thank you Paulina! The books I've written are actually humorous fiction. During the pandemic I wrote a short story as a little surprise for my sister to amuse both of us and she enjoyed it so much I wrote a couple more and they just kind of morphed into a novel. After I finished that, there seemed to be more to say so I did a second with the same setting and characters. I'm having a lot of trouble finishing the third though as it's beginning to feel too much like 'work' :)) and I'm trying to write a biography too so the bit of spare time I have, I devote to that which is still largely at the research stage. I would love to finish the third fiction book though and then I'd like to illustrate all three - that's the art project I have in mind.


I just self-published on Amazon so I could send a hard copy to family and a few friends. I'm not trying to be a professional author. But the books have actually sold a few copies and had a couple of reader reviews and people liked them. If I ever get round to illustrating them I'll republish with proper ISBN numbers on IngramSpark. Then they can be released into the wild for posterity 😂


I'm afraid I must graciously decline - anyway I'm not sure they'd be your cup of tea :)

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]

That's the problem isn't it - life gets in the way of living! Maybe you could do a small item first? There are evening classes too, helps to keep you motivated.

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


How tiresome you are. I don't know whose book you found but it wasn't mine.

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


Not true. But your chances of finding a book out of the hundreds of thousands if not millions of titles on Amazon, when you don't know the author's name, are basically zero as you no doubt discovered. You're welcome to keep trying though.


What was on the cover? Leprechauns? Shamrocks? A pint of Guinness?

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


Filters are no use without information to put in the fields. The filters require at the very least author's name (which you don't have) or book title which you don't have. Without those you can't find anything.


Quite.

UK, Ireland / Is it good for Poland as Sinn Fein will win today in Northen Ireland [269]



They've arrested three guys for the murder. Hopefully they've got enough evidence to charge them - scumbags.

UK, Ireland / Is it good for Poland as Sinn Fein will win today in Northen Ireland [269]

Irish - they're a particular type of scum that we have a lot of in Dublin. Teenage boys who enjoy kicking or beating people to death or near it.

UK, Ireland / Is it good for Poland as Sinn Fein will win today in Northen Ireland [269]


Connor Rafferty, 19, of Castlegrange Close, Clondalkin, and Anthony Delappe, 18, of Melrose Avenue, Clondalkin, were both charged at Ballyfermot Garda Station with the murder of Mr Strok and assault causing harm to Mr Družinec.

Dublin's feral youth.


That would probably have been McDonalds in O'Connell Street. O'Connell St was always a bit of a dangerous area at night, much worse these days. The only other McDonalds in the city centre years ago was on Grafton St on the other side of the river, much safer part of town back then. Nowadays, not so much but still better than O'Connell St.

UK, Ireland / Is it good for Poland as Sinn Fein will win today in Northen Ireland [269]

I said 'years ago' Alien. There are plenty of them now. At least they only use Irish beef so the burgers taste quite good.

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


And yet you're still talking about it.

Let me explain search functions to you. I want to find a particular book. I don't know the author's name and I don't know the title of the book. I can't search for it. It really is that simple.

The only fool here is you.


No wonder normal people eventually stop posting here and new members usually disappear without trace after a few posts.

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


No.

Just post the title of the book you say you found and the author's name. I really don't care because it's not me.

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


Deleted what from where? Tell me and I can advise you on how to recover the deleted material. Just specify what form you saved it in.


Extraordinary isn't it, how somebody who saves old posts of members didn't save what he believed to be my 'identity'.

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]

Now back to the topic of hobbies.

Lenka this might interest you :) Another one of my interests is dolls' houses and miniatures. I used to have a Victorian doll's house but I left it behind in Ireland. I gave it to a charity shop and gave most of the contents to my sister for use in her own. I now have a 1970s Swedish Lundby house. I never seem to have enough time to get stuck into the renovations properly but here is work so far in the kitchen- I can say it actually looks nicer than my real life kitchen!

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Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


Ah, that's sweet :) The little tap is gorgeous.


There is actually a doll and dolls' house museum in Warsaw. It has two locations. I've been to the one in the Pałac Kultury. You'd never know it was there unless you knew it was there if you get my drift! It's hidden away downstairs and there's no signage or anything. It's a lovely place, if quite small.


It was probably homemade or possibly from Germany. Most commercially produced dolls' houses came from the UK or Germany. I had a Triang house when I was a child, handed down from my older sister. This is the model. Oh, how I loved it! Gave it away when I was thirteen and we were moving house, thought I was tool old for 'toys' - always regretted it.

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Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [263]


That's what I thought too. 'Letis' is very wrong indeed - especially for a Polish learner of English. Letys would be nearer the mark.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [263]

The imperfectly formed letters in the child's handwriting leave a margin for doubt eg. rice could be read as vice, but I don't see anything that conclusively proves the child made an error in transcription. Pray enlighten us.

Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]

I wonder if she would recognise this? did she have anything like this in her dolls' house kitchen? They were German tinplate toys which remained in circulation for years after they stopped producing them. You'd find them in dusty boxes in the stockrooms of toyshops. We had one like this in our dolls' house. I loved it, but the door of the oven was an absolute bloody bugger to open. It was on a spring and by standards of modern toys it was a death trap to little fingers :)

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Off-Topic / What's your hobby? [164]


For some people it's the intricate workmanship of the craftsmen made pieces which are tiny replicas of the real thing but to me I don't mind if they're just mass produced things from a factory. I love the fact that you can recreate any real life setting in miniature and if you're into interior design it's great fun. I'm also sure that it's partly a hangover from my childhood. I have great memories of playing with my little house, maybe that's what it is.


It might have been Modella or Jean of Germany. I wonder if any of this furniture looks familiar to her.

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Life / Primary Education in Poland - Changes Made to Homework? [15]

Think it's a very bad idea. A no homework or limited homework policy can and does work but only if the national curriculum is designed to support it and teachers are properly trained in how to deliver such a curriculum. It requires major educational reform and would take years to implement properly.

If they really wanted to quickly reduce the burden of homework (which I agree is excessive in Poland) they should have looked at what material they could trim from the present curriculum or what kinds of homework could be reduced in volume rather than simply eliminating it completely.

It was just a vote-catching exercise with no real thought behind it.

Off-Topic / A quick question to Atch [2]

I posted an answer to you on your main thread :) Happy to have a chat about it any time :)

Life / Primary Education in Poland - Changes Made to Homework? [15]


I've often said that they're all as bad as each other in their different ways. I'd rather see PO at the helm than PIS for various reasons but that doesn't mean that PO are universally wonderful by any means. In any case your main problem now is that you have a coalition which is made up of too many parties, a bit of a 'galimatias' in my opinion.


Politics in Poland are populist by nature. It's not a mature democracy and parties are desperate both to gain power and hold it. They'll do whatever they think it takes to achieve that.

What are your own views on the homework thing?

Genealogy / Paholak surname [2]

I would say the original name is probably Pacholak. In Polish the 'ch' is pronounced as 'h' so your ancestors probably changed the spelling when they emigrated so that non-Polish people would pronounce it correctly. You may find some relatives or people to connect with here:

geni.com/surnames/pacholak

Life / The climate for gardening in Poland [224]


Strangely enough, it wasn't but then our climate is a bit weird because of being an island in the Atlantic and having the Gulf Stream warming us. Mind you it's cooling now, the Gulf Stream. If we didn't have that, the weather would be even more dismal! Well, it would a lot colder. We'd be more like Iceland or somewhere because we're so far north.

Anyway I checked and that lowest temp was recorded in Sligo which is in the north west of the country at Markree Castle in Collooney where the elevation is only 62 metres :))

In the 20th century the lowest temp of -18.8 degrees was recorded in Kildare in a place with an elevation of only 90 something metres.

Life / The climate for gardening in Poland [224]


I know what you mean about how it was colder generally in those days and winters were certainly colder, that's true.

The Wicklow Mountains have long been lived in though and there was a British Army presence there because of the rebel hideouts which they were always trying to find. There are also a few great 'estates with the vast country house and some smaller but significant gentlemens' residences, so measuring, observing etc. could have been going on there at least on an amateur level but I suppose there may be no official records.

However, the Wicklow Mountains, as mountains go, are not especially cold or snowy. More than anything they're wet. It rains alot. Mostly you only get very cold temps and heavy snow in certain parts and some areas are known for often being impassable for days at a time in December/January.

Life / Giving flowers for bereavement and at funeral in Poland [5]


Not at all. Lilies are perfectly appropriate though they are perhaps more associated with women or the death of a younger person. Nonetheless they are still a very good choice.

Wreaths are either given by a group like work colleagues or close family. A bouquet is fine from a more distant family member. It really depends on how close you were to the deceased and the size of the bunch can range from small to quite large depending on that relationship.

Flowers have different symbolism but you're absolutely safe with chrysanthemums and carnations or if you know what their favourite flower was, you can choose that. Gladioli are popular too.

As for colour, white and cream are very safe choices, purple is for mourning. I was once told by a florist in Poland not to give red flowers as these would only be suitable for a spouse.

Life / Giving flowers for bereavement and at funeral in Poland [5]

It's perfectly ok to send flowers to the house especially if it is to family. Don't worry. You did nothing wrong. They will appreciate your thoughtful gesture.

What you sent was what's called a condolence bouquet in Poland 'wiązanka kondolencyjna'. These are intended for the family and are sent with an appropriate message of sympathy, exactly as you did. The funeral flowers on the other hand are sent for the deceased.

Food / Polish cakes made in Poland [47]


Fritters are basically stuff dipped in batter similar to the batter you make for Naleśniki. They can be sweet or savoury. When I was a kid my mother used to make apple fritters, slices of apple dipped in batter and deep fried. In old fashioned cookery British cookery books it's a common recipe.


They certainly look identical in the picture you posted but looks can be deceiving :) I'd like to try American biscuits I must say, but only homemade ones. I see they originate in the South so you must have tasted some good ones in your time :) Lifted from a UK cookery site:

What Are The Differences?

#1. British scones tend to contain more sugar and fat - served with jam and clotted cream. American biscuits are typically served alongside savoury dishes such as chicken, soup or gravy.

#2. British scones will use milk instead of cream or buttermilk.

#3. Scones are more dense and rich compared to the light and flaky consistency of American biscuits.

#4. British scones are made with sugar and dried fruit in the ingredients (although scone purists would argue against including fruit as it breaks tradition)

#5. Biscuits originate from the American South whereas scones originate from Scotland, gaining popularity in England during the 18th and 19th century.

The only thing I disagree with here is that scones are always 'sweet'. You can make cheese scones which are delicious.

Easy peasy recipe, try it:

saturdaykitchenrecipes.com/mary-berry-recipes/mary-berry-scones-collection/

Food / Polish cakes made in Poland [47]


Scones don't keep well either. They are best eaten freshly baked. Once upon a time when mothers were at home all day in Ireland and the UK it was very common to have scones at 'teatime'. In Ireland we don't eat them with cream, we prefer butter so we like to eat them warm, straight out of the oven.

UK, Ireland / "Strange " English language.. [81]

I would say that Jon, as an Englishman, is far better placed than you to understand the British social order.