How do I know? A few reasons…
We had to wear jackets in our yard for the first time since Spring. Luckily, we were prepared.
We could only hunt out a handful of wild strawberries in our strawberry patch instead of the usual weekly bowlful. I recommend a wild strawberry patch for anyone with children. It’s is so much fun to see them happily stuffing their faces with juicy little berries.
Our crazy wild rose bush behind the barn has fruit on it. This rose bush is taller than most trees and has managed to foil all my attempts at taming it.
Our red apples have ripened (the yellow ones ripened last month) and it is cool enough to use the oven for apple pie without overheating the house.
Lastly, we took our annual Autumn trip to the city of Bolesławiec to buy some Polish pottery.
Every year in Autumn, we go to the city of Bolesławiec in South-West Poland and stock up on our Polish pottery. Why is it that we go every Autumn? It is for a simple reason. The city has a very nice festival celebrating ceramics-making every year in August and every year we miss it and then say that we should go soon. Soon means September and Autumn.
I fell in love with this pottery the first time I came to Poland and saw it in a department store all stacked up making a beautiful display. Knowing how I am, I walked around the display in a huge arc not wanting to risk bumping into the dishes and having them crash down like in the old Mr. Whipple-Charmin toilet paper commercials. Later, after marrying and moving back to Poland I decided to start my own collection.
I have visited almost all the pottery shops in Bolesławiec but I have to say I am partial to the Factory Store on Kościuszki 11. That’s where I tend to buy the most and they are open on Sundays too. It is also very popular with German tourists (they were full up this time with a bus on the way to Wrocław) and also with Americans from the military base in Germany. Hey, if I could get the military shipping rate which I suppose is free, I would stock up, too. Sometimes those Americans can get a little rowdy in there so we prefer to speak Polish then and listen to the staff gossip about them after they’ve gone. Once, I tried to reach around an American shopper to take one small cup from the shelf. I was curtly ordered to drop it as she used her body to guard the shelf from further invasion. She was planning to buy everything and I mean everything from the shelves. “Sorry, but it’s my pattern,” she explained practically chewing my hand off.
my girls who did not break anything, thank goodness
Check out their webpage in Polish, German or English. It is really interesting.
http://www.ceramicboleslawiec.com.pl/
We purposely do not buy everything we need so that we have a reason to come back. We also use the tableware everyday so something always gets broken and that gives us another reason to go back. (I am not into having good dishes and everyday dishes. Whatever I have, I use and suffer the consequences.) Also purposely, we mix the patterns. We could never decide what to buy, so we just started buying a little of this and a little of that. I like the effect.
Here’s what I bought.
Here’s what Lizzie bought ;)
a closer look
new things with an old purchase, my favorite coffee mug
This pottery sucks the heat right out of your coffee and soon you are left with a warm cup and lukewarm coffee. Pre-heat your cup with hot water then pour it out and add your hot coffee.
Another part of our annual Autumn pilgrimage to Bolesławiec is going to the restaurant Opałkowa Chata. http://opalkowachata.pl/boleslawiec/
It’s a quaint family restaurant with traditional dishes. The dishes are very colorfully described in Polish in the menu, so much so that I have to check the much simpler English translation to figure out what to order.
The kids of course didn’t want to eat anything after they discovered there is a playground around back but I managed to stuff some pierogi into them. They were good and tired for the car ride home.
What are your Autumn traditions?
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