by Helen | Jun 30, 2023 | Renovation
It’s only called the Secret Garden because it’s partly hidden from view and it sounds a whole nicer than the back garden. Since the weather broke and we’ve had lovely long days of hot sunshine, the builders have been beavering away, trying to recreate our vision. Back in Manchester this was easy, as we just discussed with our builder, what we wanted. Here, it’s a bit different, as we have four languages on the go between us – English, Croatian, Italian and German – and so we’re reliant on translation apps, long word docs translated and diagrams. We’re delighted that this diagram is being interpreted pretty well, and soon, we should in reality, what we’ve been holding in our heads for a very long time.
So, lots of progress has been made over the last couple of weeks.
- the istrian stone surrounds have been finished around the opening for the French doors;
- a beautiful Istrian stone slab has been laid just inside the doors, in the living room;
- the French doors, after much tussling and manoeuvring to get them to fit snugly against our wonky walls, have finally been installed;
- the concrete platform, outside the living room has been constructed, with a lovely wall around the edges, and the steps going down into the garden are in now in place – the wall has been rendered and tomorrow all will be painted white;
- the digger has arrived and the excavation in the new garden has started to create the two levels which will be joined by wide concrete steps – however, work on this has stopped as more drilling machinery has to be brought in to smash up a HUGE foundation stone (from the old house) which has just been discovered:
But, things are now looking very different and a real shape is beginning to emerge. The attention to detail to which our builder pays is absolutely second to none, and we are so delighted with what is emerging. A particularly lovely feature – which seems very small and inconsequential – is that at the bottom of the balcony (which has been built with a very slight decline), there is a square shaped “hole” and a metal plate inserted, where the rain water will flow into, and off and away. To us, this is a massive bonus, as when it rains here, it really rains, and the last thing we want is water pooling outside the living room.
We’ve also had major progress along the side of the house. This area, when we bought the house, six years ago, was nothing more than a track. Quite pretty in the summer, when the grass grew and we had wildflowers but a complete mess in the winter, when it was bare and it turned into a mud bath when it rained, because the cars churned it up. This access road also made finding the house for anyone, quite tricky, as it did look like part of a field – and who accesses their house via a field?
The house, when we viewed it…
When the rains came…
Mudbath….
This situation obviously couldn’t continue, but we couldn’t just address it ourselves, as this used to be the old road into the village and is owned largely by the local municipality, and also a number of locals. The road is no longer used as a road – there is a dead end and it’s only used by us to access our house and occasionally, one neighbour to access the rear of his property. So, we approached the local council, who came out to see the “road” and agreed that something had to be done about it. The result being that a big lorry load of stones arrived and the road was hard surfaced, all the way from the main entrance to beyond our house. We were very grateful for this, as it happened in the winter time, and so for the first time since we moved in, when it rained, we could drive into our property without fear of skidding, when it was muddy. However, as with most things which are done by other people who don’t perhaps have the same investment as you, over time, it became clear that the road really needed to be “finished off”. Large stones were still at surface level, because they hadn’t been properly compressed and this made walking on it, quite tricky in places. The stones also didn’t go to the edges, and it was starting to look a bit raggedy. So, we decided to complete what had been started.
This week, our go-to-white-stones guy, delivered twelve cubic metres and along with one of our builders, who’s been compressing the stones with proper machinery, we’ve been spreading and levelling…
We’re still not entirely finished – there’s still raking and filling to be done, but wowsers – it’s an improvement from 2016!
by Helen | Jun 21, 2023 | Interiors
In keeping with a lot of the renovation and redecoration work we’ve been doing throughout the house, we’ve taken the decision to revamp the largest bedroom. This is a lovely room, with two windows with views across the fields, and over to the woods. In the winter, when the trees are bare, you can see up to the village of Zrenj and its pretty, illuminated campanile. The room is really spacious, with a very high apex ceiling and beautiful original beams, now painted a very soft pale grey.
I’ve become a bit obsessed with finally living a house that is inspired by those amazing white/neutral houses you see on Instagram. You know the ones – in an impossibly beautiful location, usually on a Greek island. Or Mallorca. Or Puglia. I’ve also become a bit obsessed with decluttering and creating a feeling of space around us. The Well Room has been transformed into a white oasis – perfect in the summer, because the windows overlook a little copse and the contrast between the white room and the lush, green foliage outside is just beautiful. The bedroom was chosen as the next room to be made-over as it’s the one we use most often, and it was definitely time for a change.
- The vines which we’ve had wrapped around the beams for a few years, lovely as they were, have now gone, meaning that the full height of the room, and the gorgeous beams, can be fully appreciated;
- The navy blue floor – gone. Now a lovely satinwood white, which has immediately lifted the room;
- All of the woodwork – door, door frames, window frames and surrounds – are all painted white, meaning that the whole room just feels a lot more balanced;
- Patterned/coloured bedding has been replaced with all white;
- Accessories have been pared back – it’s been quite satisfying boxing quite a bit up, as it feels as if we are beginning to organise our lives for the next big move;
- The one big splash of colour we have added, is to replace the long floor length cream curtains, with the most gorgeous velvet duck egg blue black out curtains – making sleep, especially in the summer, a lot better!
It’s still not quite finished – we still have the new outdoor rattan sofa and twp chairs and a table, for the new garden, sitting in this room – and we’re still stripping back on accessories and throws etc. But it’s getting closer and closer to that white Mediterranean inspired bedroom, I think I’ve always wanted.
by Helen | Jun 19, 2023 | Lifestyle
I’m so glad summer is here for lots of reasons, but one of the main ones, is that our food intake changes. Gone are the stews and heavy soups of winter, which are delicious, but can be just a bit too much on the comfort side of food. Over the past couple of months, these have been gradually swapped out for much lighter meals, which are also generally now eaten outdoors, rather than in front of the fire, watching TV. A delicious summery savoury tart was the order the day recently – very few ingredients and so easy to make, you literally don’t need a recipe for it…
what you’ll need
- one packet of filo pastry
- jar of basil pesto
- cherry tomatoes
- feta cheese
- fresh thyme
- chilli flakes
- salt and pepper
I suppose you could definitely make your own filo pastry, but when you can buy this frozen and just roll out, when needed, why bother? I like cooking when it’s uncomplicated and faff-free, and to me, making your own pastry, is neither of these. And, unless you are a pastry maestro, I’m guessing it tastes just as good as home made. On this occasion, we used a jar of pesto, but this is one thing I usually don’t mind making, as it’s all just blitzed in the nutri-bullet.
what you’ll need to do
- roll out the pastry into an ovenproof dish/tin – keep it on the paper it’s rolled in too, as this is OK to go into the oven and it makes slicing and lifting the tart very easy, Prick the pastry all over with a fork;
- Dollop big spoonfuls across the pastry – leave a little in the jar for later – and smooth out so that the base is covered;
- Slice the cherry tomatoes and feta and squash down into the pesto;
- Sprinkle with the fresh sprigs of thyme, olive oil and chilli flakes and season with salt and pepper
Cook at 180° for about 25 minutes. Slice and serve. What could be easier?
by Helen | Jun 13, 2023 | Slovenia, Travel
Slovenia has just 47km of coastline on the Adriatic Sea, but it certainly makes the most of it. Three seaside towns – Koper, with its medieval core, Izola, known for its good restaurants, and glorious Piran – are full of important Venetian Gothic architecture, and have clean beaches, boats for rent and rollicking bars. That said, the coast is overbuilt, and jammed with tourists from May to September. If you’re looking for solitude, head for the hinterland to the south or east where ‘Slovenian Istria’ still goes about its daily life.
Lonely Planet is spot on about the Slovenian coastline, especially the bit about “Slovenian Istria”. When we drive to Italy – the big supermarkets in Trieste are as close as the ones here in Istria – we often take the longer coastal route, because it is stunning. It’s also so much easier now that Croatia has joined the Schengen Area, as we now just drive through what used to be the manned border points – this all became a bit more stressy after Brexit, but since 1st Jan, our journeys into Slovenia are a joy. The towns on the Adriatic coast – Portoroz, Piran and Izola, as well as the main port of Koper – are all beautiful. Very Venetian, unsurprisingly, as this area was under Venetain rule for many years. Cobbled streets, cplourful houses, loggias, and salt pans. Yes, that’s right – salt pans, established over a thousand years ago, and still being worked, with a very beautiful salt spa in the heart of the Sečovlje Salt Pans.
We’ve rarely stopped here though, as we’re normally on a mission – supermarket, IKEA, diy store etc. But at the weekend, after days of rain, the sun returned and we decided to stop off at the beach on the edge of the of the Strunjan Landscape Park, unique due its location by the sea. As with lots of “beaches” around the Gulf of Trieste and the northern Adriatic, these areas are normally pebbly or man-made concrete structures. Forget your fine sand. But, and this is a massive *but*, the lack of sand does NOT, in any way, put people off sunbathing. You’ll always see, throughout the season, hardy sunbathers, often lying on the concrete on nothing more than a beach towel. The thought of it makes me shudder!
So, on Saturday, when we decided to make a post-Koper detour to Strunjan, I was delighted to find more comfortable options were available. The car park is almost on the beach, fringed by pine forests and along the very lovely front are two or three bar/restaurants with outside seating. An area with sunbeds is also available, slightly away from the bars. This little bay is just so pretty, surrounded by forested hills, a view of Piran across the bay and lovely villas dotted across the hills. The water was clear and turquoise blue, with morning swimmers and paddle boarders enjoying the warm sunshine. A couple of snazzy, but understated cream and navy blue yachts, were moored up just off the coastline – these always make me want to just sail away…
We’ve had some very awful weather recently, with torrential summer rain and thunderstorms which have been accompanied by fierce lightning. We did manage to squeeze in an hour of hot sunshine at the beach, before the thunder storm clouds rolled in again. By the time we got home, the storm had passed, leaving behind some pretty dramatic cloud formations, wrapped around the pink Palazzo in Oprtalj. Which looks stunning at any time of year and in any kind of weather.
Thankfully, the very dramatic weather seems to have retreated and we are back to normal with our summer weather in Istria – hot, sunny, humid and when a cool breeze drifts by, you are very grateful for it. And with these increasing temperatures, I think we’ll be forcing ourselves to spend quite a bit more time by the Adriatic. Although not on a concrete sunbathing platform…
by Helen | Jun 13, 2023 | Lifestyle
It’s definitely red pepper season here, as supermarkets are bursting with them. We picked up a big bag of them recently and made a super spicy chilli at the weekend, full of these flavoursome ruby red vegetables. But there was still an excess of them and rather than letting go off – which often happens – I decided that a soup was the order of the day, for a meat free Monday meal. Soup is so, so easy to whizz up and everyone will have their own favourites and ways of doing them, but this was so delicious, I just thought I’d share what was used to enhance the flavour.
Firstly, the remaining peppers (of which there were quite a few – maybe seven or eight), were roasted in an oven proof dish, with olive oil, salt and pepper, until charred. To speed up the charring, they were blitzed under the grill for a final five minutes.
A large white onion was finely chopped and sauted with a little olive oil until translucent and soft in a large pot. Once it had softened down, the charred roasted peppers were added, along with a few whole garlic cloves, half a jar of sun dried tomatoes and vegetable stock.
This was simmered for about 30 minutes and then blended until completely smooth and creamy using an immersion blender. Plenty of black pepper was added at this point, but only a pinch of salt, as there was enough saltiness from the stock, sun dried tomatoes and pre-seasoned peppers. Once blended to a creamy consistency, the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon was stirred in, to give it a little bit of a tart taste, and to balance out the sweetness of the peppers and tomatoes. It could easily be served just like this, straight from the pan, but a dollop of Greek yoghurt was added and drops of basil pesto – perfect for dipping big chunks of nutty bread into.
what you’ll need
- red bell or pointed peppers (we used 7 or 8)
- 1 yellow onion
- half a jar of sundried tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and whole
- 1 fresh lemon, squeezed to get all of the juice
- vegetable stock (how much depends on how thick you want the soup’s consistency to be)
- salt and pepper to season
- olive oil
- basil pesto
- Greek yoghurt or creme fraiche for topping
by Helen | Jun 12, 2023 | Lifestyle
We decided this summer, with the garden revamp and everything, to replace the wooden sun loungers. Bought when we first moved in, we committed the initial rookie error of never oiling them, and then after the first year, left them outside over each winter. I did try to make them look better, first by spraying them an anthracite grey, then when this weathered, painting them with the same pale blue sating wood gloss that we did the external wood work in. This was possibly their best phase, looks-wise, but years of neglect had made them a bit rickety and far too squeaky.
These were given to a neighbour, as we’d found what we thought were better sunbeds – the wooden, curved crocodile sun loungers. Obviously, not the real deal as these are monumentally expensive – we found our crocodiles in Kaufland, one of our big, local suerpmarkets, which usually always has good summer bargains. Anyway, these looked a lot nicer, and so were purchased.
These have been OK, but not the most comfortable, especially as pads have been difficult to find – the beds don’t go flat, the curve stays, and so these pads from Jysk were the best we could find, as they had flexibility. Although again, not very comfy as they are quite thin. So, this year, I have made a determined effort to get it right. If both the front and rear gardens were being completely redesigned, I wanted to have sunbeds which would last and would be comfortable – and my mind kept returning to those retro, white, plastic beds, with big arm-rests, which you usually hire on Greek beaches. However, it would appear that these are made out of some very special plastic, because the online prices were extortionate. I had to go online, as they also seem to be as rare as hens’ teeth, and nowhere seemed to stock them here. Eventually I did find a UK company which would ship to Istria, but without shipping costs, two of these were £216.00!
Luckily, in hindsight, I received an email saying that the seller was going to have to cancel my order, as the shipping was just too costly. But , as so often happens, good things sometimes come out of disappointment.
At the end of last week, on a trip to Spar, another of our big, local supermarkets, lady luck struck. There, right by the checkouts, were a big pile of exactly what we’d been looking for – and at the bargainous price of €37 each! The car was too full to get them home immediately so we returned over the weekend – and I am right when I say they are as rare as hens’ teeth. There were three left! Two were snapped up immediately and are now sitting pretty in our front garden…
Properly retro and despite them being plastic, they are SUPER comfortable. Spacious and with arm rests at a very good height. Yesterday, summer returned to Istria, with a vengeance – it was very, very hot and these beds were just the ticket. I can’t deny that some afternoon snoozing may nave happened, as I drifted off, on my very own Greek beach, in Istria. And, of course, more trips to Spar are needed, as I now have to have another two, for the newly created rear garden. Especially at those prices!
by Helen | Jun 8, 2023 | Renovation
With a reliable builder finally working with us, we’ve decided that we can’t let him go to waste, and so are adding jobs to his ever-growing list. The weather has been pretty dire the last week or so – rain, thunder and lightning – and so work on the rear garden and window etc has stalled, as he hasn’t been able to get a long, dry run. So, we discussed the construction of a wall in the front garden, and because this is a smaller job, to our delight, he dropped off the concrete blocks on Tuesday morning, and built the wall yesterday!
We decided that, with the house going on the market, we needed to make it VERY clear to potential purchasers, that the piece of land, which is under the green wall, and so technically within our garden, doesn’t actually belong to us. It belongs to the abandoned house. Totally ridiculous, as it can’t be accessed, apart from through our garden – and we definitely won’t be giving anyone access rights. So, since we moved in, we’ve looked after this little piece of land, and currently, it’s looking very gorgeous. Levelled, geotex laid and fixed and covered in white pea gravel. It was on two levels, because it had been used as landfill, presumably when our house was first “renovated” by the people we bought it from. We never tackled this area, simply leaving it as two uneven and pretty unfinished levels and it never looked good. But, we’ve finally done it. All of the big stones have been removed and it’s been dug out and the soil redistributed, so now it looks like a finished area – especially as it’s now covered in beautiful white gravel.
So, absolutely no-one else uses it or has ever tried to access it, in all the time we’ve been here. A handful of the co-owners (there are 25!) live nearby and must be aware that we’ve maintained and improved it, so we’re all good with keeping on doing that. But, we wanted to be absolutely sure that anyone who comes to view the house, knows from the get go, that this piece of land does NOT belong to us. And, this is where the wall comes in.
The wooden beams were placed to prevent the stones from falling, as the patio is slightly higher, but they also mark out our boundary, so it was easy for the builder, as he already had a concrete base, once the stones were raked back, on which to build the wall.
Rather than just have a low wall, at the same height all the way along, we decided to go for something a bit more unusual, and have it raised, in steps, towards one end.
The wall now needs to be rendered and painted white – which we thought would happen today. But then we realised that today (8th June) is Corpus Christie, and so a public holiday in Istria. So no builders today. One step forward and all that!
Those stepped bricks are going to prove handy when we need a bit more height to cut back the vines, which can overhang. But even better than that, as practical as it is, is that they will also become “shelves” for various lanterns. Which of course I now have to and buy, as none of the lanterns we already are anywhere near suitable…
by Helen | Jun 7, 2023 | Renovation
So, finally, the whole of the front garden area – the piece we don’t actually own, but care for and improve – and the concrete patio, are now covered in a thick layer of beautiful white pea gravel. Six cubic metres have been wheel-barrowed and distributed and raked and smoothed over, and are looking absolutely fantastic. The front of the house is gradually undergoing a very dramatic transformation – and it just makes us question why we didn’t do this a very long time ago, instead of spending a fortune on ill-fated projects. Still, I suppose you live and learn.
The small pool has been relocated to under the living room window, so completely tucked away and private, seen by no-one. It’s also now out of the sun, so in a lovely, shaded spot. We’ve planted up the area under the green wall with potted plants, and added the redundant shutters from our house to the lower windows of the abandoned house, which we’ve exposed by cutting away the vines.
The concrete patio has now a total makeover. With new furniture and a bit of a change around, as well as lots of new bay trees planted up for privacy, it’s looking like a proper garden now, rather than something which will make do, until we get around to tackling it. Three palettes have been painted white and made into a table, now looking very pretty, sit amongst the potted olive trees and turquoise 70s retro satellite chairs.
I’ve also been searching and searching for those lovely fringed Bali sun umbrellas, but not finding much that would give me a lot of change from the €300 mark, I’d given up on my Balinese dream. Until I spotted them in my new favourite store – Jysk. €37! Two purchased on the spot. And, although I know the ones costing a few hundred euros will undoubtedly be better made and probably more sturdy, but our two beauts will definitely see at least this summer out. The colours are perfect too – pale blue, white and soft grey.
Today, summer seems to have returned. All building work – rear garden, French windows and balcony and steps – has been held up because of the rain, but today the builders are back. And whilst the rear of the house is a priority, because we currently have gaping hole in the living room wall, covered with plastic sheeting, they are working in the front garden today, constructing a very lovely stepped wall. All to be revealed very soon…
by Helen | Jun 7, 2023 | Lifestyle
If you’re a fan of a dahl, and also a fan of not using lots of pots and pans and creating lots of washing up, this is the recipe for you. It uses one pan or casserole dish, a chopping board, a bowl, a knife, a spoon and a masher or a blender. Plus, whatever you choose to eat this delicious dahl off. Easy to hand-wash, but if put in the dishwasher, you wouldn’t even notice you’d made a meal, the clear up is so quick. The recipe is from this book :
…and is very, very easy.
what you’ll need
- cherry tomatoes
- 140g red lentils
- 3 tsps nigella seeds
- 500ml boiling water
- 1 heaped tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 heaped tsps ground coriander
- 2 heaped tsps ground cumin
- glug of olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice only
- coconut cream (if from a tin, use only the solid part, and discard the water)
what you’ll need to do
- Put the cherry tomatoes in an ovenproof/casserole dish. Add the lentils, water and nigella seeds.
- Dress the sliced onion with the cumin, coriander and olive oil and scatter over the tomato and lentils. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with a tight lid and cook until the liquid is absorbed. (This was about 45 mins and then a further 10 mins on the hob).
- When most of the liquid is absorbed, whisk/mash the lentil mixture so that it becomes more mushy. More like a dahl consistency.
- Then add the coconut cream and squeezed lemon juice.
- Give it a final stir and serve with warm flatbread, or naan bread or rice.
The recipe doesn’t state what the garnish is – chopped coriander, maybe? – but we didn’t have any, so no garnish on ours. However, the taste wasn’t affected in any way, especially as the lemon and coconut cream gave it a creamy taste, with a bit of sharpness. Really, really delicious.
by Helen | Jun 2, 2023 | Renovation
We’ve thought long and hard about how much current renovation we want to do in our Istrian stone house, as it is imminently going on the market, as we have plans for a whole new adventure. However, with the demolition and clearance of the small stone cottage behind the main house, and the construction of our beautiful new, white, rendered garden wall, we have to think about the practicalities of the access to the new rear garden.
Currently. to get to get to the rear of the house, you have to walk along the newly gravelled side access road. Not a huge problem, and this road is only used by us and one neighbour, but it still doesn’t feel quite right that there isn’t an access from the house. So, at the start of this week, we discussed with our builder the possibility of enlarging the living room window which overlooks the rear of the house, and installing French doors, and having a concrete platform and steps down, into the garden, built. Not much ever happens here very quickly – you have to have lots of patience – so we were expecting a good few weeks to pass before we even got a quote for the work. How wrong we were on this occasion!
Quote in the next day. Agreed. And, Wednesday evening spent moving furniture away from the window and re-configuring the living room, so that plastic sheeting could be put up, for the work to commence the next morning…
Very little happens quickly here. It’s just something you have to get used to. Days can often drift by between discussing a job and it actually starting. It all usually depends on availability of materials. Or what other jobs the builder may have committed to. Or the weather – sometimes too hot, sometimes too cold, sometimes too windy, sometimes there may be a threat of rain. Or it’s a public holiday – and if that falls on a Wednesday or a Thursday, definitely discount the next couple of days, as a long weekend will always be had. Or the builder just goes AWOL. They always return, just maybe not when you expect them. So this speedy turn of events has taken us by surprise. At the beginning of the week, we still had a wall and a window and only the start of a plan. Now we have a huge hole in the wall. Although, we have to say, it has been the neatest demolition job we’ve ever experienced, with not a speck of dust inside the house, although much Istrian stone once again, back in the garden…
Our job this weekend is to begin the sourcing of the French doors. We’ve been scouring the internet and know exactly what we want – the challenge now is to find somewhere that sells them, and help us to realise something like the beautiful image below…
