So, last weekend saw us returning to Rovinj to watch the World Cup Final. We’ve stayed in Rovinj a few times since we arrived in Istria and although The Adriatic Hotel is our favourite place to stay, we just can’t justify the prices in high season. But, it gives us an opportunity to explore and […]
It seems like no time since we were in the depths of winter, with no kitchen, a gaping hole in the wall where the new window was being fitted and heavy falling snow. It’s now mid-summer and although, as I type it’s hammering down with rain , thunder is rumbling all around and lightning is […]
We’re loving making the interior of the very traditional Istrian stone house we have bought, much more cool and contemporary, and it’s no secret I’ve been very influenced by this image of a Greek house and these colours, on Pinterest. All of the rooms are now predominantly white, the exception being the gorgeous Hague […]
You know when your car tax, insurance and MOT all fall at the same time? It’s a hassle isn’t it? Getting the car booked into the garage, crossing your fingers that it’s OK, getting online to renew the insurance etc. We used to think it was a big hassle – but now, having just done […]
We know what bad weather is like. We know what winter is like. We’re from Manchester. But, winter just gone has been something else. We’re used to dismal grey clouds, that hang over you for days/weeks on end. Rain that seems as if it will never stop. Fleeting snow – then the return of the […]
Given that work on the kitchen started way back in November, we did cut it a bit fine to greet our first guests last week. Admittedly, the scope of the project grew and grew, but we did think our friends would arrive and we’d still be kitchenless. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case and it was […]
Most people, at some stage in their lives, will embark on a renovation project. Whether it’s doing up a corner in the living room or a full blown house rebuild, it will bring its stresses. We did it fairly recently in West Didsbury. What we thought would take a few weeks, took six months, all […]
In the year that we have lived in The House, the small downstairs bathroom has gone through a number of changes. It’s not in the most ideal location, being right off The Well Room, which will eventually become another living/dining room. However, we know that we are lucky to have two bathrooms, especially with visitors […]
Oh, didn’t I just end the last renovation blog post on a bit of a high. Loving that the undercoating was about to start in the kitchen, meaning we could almost, but not quite, see the finishing line. Well, the undercoating did start, but we fell at the first hurdle… Our house seems to be […]
We think we are now on the final hurdle, kitchen renovation wise. It seems like we’ve been living forever without a decent working kitchen we can call our own – in fact, since we sold our house in West Didsbury, back in January 2017, we’ve been making do in the kitchen area. The one we […]
Of all of the things which confound us in Croatia – and there are many, believe you me – the biggest has to be boundaries. We’ve never really had to think about boundaries before, because when we’ve bought or sold properties previously, the Land Registry has just done its thing. But we’re in Croatia now, […]
To look at our garden now, you’d think we were living on top of a rubbish tip. Which, if I’m honest, we are, as the garden has become the dumping ground for all of the stones and rubble and wood and tiles etc from the ongoing kitchen renovation. It’s actually too awful to even post […]