One of the things that we've always meant to tackle, but never got around to it, as there always seem to be other jobs which take priority, is the levelling of a number of our window sills. Some are level, but some, including one in the living room, are still in their...
So, our long, hot - but very strange - summer, has drawn to a close. As in previous years since we've been here, I'm sure we'll still have days which are warm and sunny, but the intense heat of the sun has gone. Days are obviously getting shorter and there's a chill...
It was back in May that we finally bought a shed and started the job of building it. We made the initial mistake of thinking we'd bought just a shed, like the B&Q one we used to have in our garden back in West Didsbury, which was functional, but a bit on the cheap...
Our nearest town, Oprtalj, isn't really a town. At least not in the sense of what we'd regard as a town back in the UK. Oprtalj is not much bigger than Burton Road in West Didsbury, but with a couple of restaurants, a cafe bar, a school, a food shop, an interiors...
I'm a big fan of easy-peasy dishes, which include as few pots and pans as possible. And, as little time spent in the kitchen, as possible. Summer here has been very hot and currently we don't have the luxury of air con, so our summer cooking has involved many BBQs and...
For the first year since we've been here, the damson trees around the garden, are absolutely laden with fruit. Maybe they have been in previous years, too, and possibly we've been too busy with summer visitors and renovation work, to notice, but we've definitely...
Although I grew in the semi-rural North East of England, it's been a long time since I've lived in a house and looked out of the windows and seen fields. The move to Manchester in 1985 lasted until we left in 2017. Thirty two years of city living - and suddenly in...
For the first time this year, we made the trip to Pula. Normally, we'd by now, be making fairly regular trips to the airport to pick up and drop off visitors, but this is no normal year. Our first trip, done with a bit of trepidation, was to Bauhaus and Pevex, our...
Like the rest of the world, we've been living the Covid-19 lockdown, here in Istria, since March 17th. This was the day the country offically started staying at home, although we were feeling the effects before this date. Being so close to northern Italy, we were...
When we bought our stone house in Istria, we were advised by the sellers that the little abandoned dwelling, to the rear of the property, could be purchased from one of our new neighbours. We were interested, and with hindsight, should probably have sorted the...