During December we left the house in the hands of Misko and Sergio, the plan being for them to get as much of the dirty work done in the kitchen as possibe while we were away. Although they kept in contact regularly and sent photos of progress, we quickly realised that they weren’t going to […]
We were up with the larks this morning – no mean feat as our builder popped by late last night to discuss some new ideas (wine & beer were involved) – and packing the car as we’ve never packed before. We’re not instinctively organised travellers. We can arrive on a beach with not a flip […]
A few days on from the last reno update and a lot has happened, kitchen-wise. The stones from the kitchen window hole have been saved and the red bricks which were below the chimney have been taken out. These will be replaced by the stones which have been removed, meaning that the front of the […]
Today, the scaffolding arrived. It was brought to us by Edo, a lovely Dutch guy who has really helped us ease into Istrian life, as he did the same thing 12 years ago. He brought the scaffolding to us because he was already going to Sergio’s, as he was taking hay for Sergio’s horse. Which […]
After yesterday’s excitement of taking down the false ceiling – plus removing a dead mouse, numerous critters and a hornets’ nest – today was always going to be a bit of anti-climax in terms of progress. However, in the short time that Misko and Sergio were here, they achieved an awful lot. In order to […]
It seems like no time – although it’s actually nearly four years ago! – that our West Didsbury home was being smashed to bits as we renovated. And, now we’re doing it all again – but this time in Istria, in northern Croatia. When we first arrived we knew no-one apart from the local go-to […]
It would definitely seem that any fleeting hopes we had of temperate winter climes have gone. They went overnight as winter arrived, with a bang. Quite literally. The shutters which we are painstakingly renovating, are nowhere near finished. The majority are still in the state they were when we purchased the house – untreated, […]
When we’re not working and running our business, we seem to spend a lot of time doing the jobs around the house that we can do ourselves. It would be lovely to have a limitless budget and get people in to do everything, but we don’t have such a budget and even if we did, […]
For foodies, Istria (and from what we’ve experienced so far, Croatia in general), is a real treat. If you love your meat, it’s perfect for you. Boškarin, considered to be the true delicacy from traditional Istrian cattle, is usually served in a hearty stew with fresh pasta, generally fuži. Although don’t ever tell a Croatian […]
So, this morning we set off on what we thought would be a quick trip. A trip into our nearest town (20 mins away) to finally increase the amount of electricity we have at the house. But first, let me take you back a few weeks. When we did this trip for the first time… […]
We’ve been so immersed in DIY recently, that we haven’t really taken full advantage of what is on our doorstep this last couple of weeks. But, with autumn starting to take a firm grip, and the temperatures definitely cooling down, we decided to do a mini trip at the weekend. We were already over in […]
We’ve done IKEA kitchens and while they’ve largely been great and just what we wanted/needed in the past, schlepping to Zagreb or beyond Trieste (the two nearest stores to us), just seemed a bit far, this time. It’s OK to do these trips to buy beddings and candles but we needed somewhere a bit closer. […]