recent Lifestyle blogs
roasted butter beans

roasted butter beans

If you are a fan of deliciously creamy butter beans, you might like to try this, if like us, this method of cooking them, has so far passed you by. Roasting. Yes, that's right, roasting then in the oven. And I guarantee, you'll be as in love with this way of doing...

things just got real…

things just got real…

I've been keeping a diary/blog of our journey in our stone house in Istria, since before we moved in, in 2017. We're now so very close, to moving. Yes, after seven years of renovating and creating a beautiful home from the shell of a building, we're hopefully onto our...

eataly : trieste

eataly : trieste

I've always been a little bit sniffy about a place called Eataly, located on the harbour front in Trieste. I thought it might be a gimmicky - and why would you choose to shop and eat in a huge converted warehouse, when you were actually right in the centre of Trieste,...

limoncello spritz

limoncello spritz

Limoncello spritz is a refreshing and vibrant cocktail, combining the zesty flavors of limoncello liqueur with the effervescence of prosecco. It's a popular Italian aperitivo, perfect for sipping on a warm summer day - and with no mixology skills required, it's quick...

bringing sourdough back to life…

bringing sourdough back to life…

Now that we've discovered a fabulous bakery, in Porec, that sells nothing but sourdough bread - many varieties, but all sourdough - we buy lots of it. We're trying not to eat sliced, packaged, processed breads and so often bulk buy and freeze, when we can get to Bread...

garden table upcycle

garden table upcycle

We have an old, rustic wooden table, which we brought out to Istria with us. It used to be a work table, so was stained with oil drops, paint splashes and cuts in the wood. We used it originally, once cleaned up, as a work desk, as being quite long and thin, could fit...

vappeby bluetooth speaker : ikea

vappeby bluetooth speaker : ikea

We've had a Bose Soundlink Mini II bluetooth speaker for a good few years now. It's portable, the charge lasts for quite a long time and the sound quality is excellent. It still looks pretty cool after about ten years, so design-wise, it ticks boxes for us. It's small...

velvet bar : zagreb

velvet bar : zagreb

We have very fond memories of Velvet, on Canal Street, in Manchester, way back in the '90s. Along with bars such as Manto and Metz, these places just seemed to ooze glamour and decadence and opened up a whole new world - definitely a far cry from some of the student...

the start of spring 2024

the start of spring 2024

This winter definitely hasn't felt as long as previous ones we've spent in Istria. When summer ended and family went home after four long, fabulous weeks, we had two autumn visits from friends, when we experienced a really warm October, feeling that summer was still...

super speedy salmon supper

super speedy salmon supper

Saturday evenings often remind me of Azzurro Restaurant in West Didsbury, just around the corner from where we used to live. It was a real "local" restaurant for us - owned and staffed by people we knew and really liked, and often full of people who were either...