recent blogs

when a bargain isn’t always a bargain…

when a bargain isn’t always a bargain…

UPDATE : We sold our Istrian home in July 2024, and are living in Andalucia, having renovated a beautiful,old,traditional townhouse in a pueblo blanco. We never learn... If you're looking to buy a property in Istria - or anywhere in Europe for that matter - you may be...

so, where to now?

so, where to now?

It's not a secret that we're selling our renovated stone house in northern Istria. We are now ready for our next big adventure. We feel that Istria is very much home at the moment, and we haven't regretted doing what we did when we put our West Didsbury house up for...

construction continues…

construction continues…

It seems as if we have once again, shared our home and garden, with builders, for a considerable period of time. But we haven't really - it's only been four months - but we've been so keen and excited to get to the finishing line, that it just seems like we've lived...

pea gravel perfection

pea gravel perfection

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...

getting *for sale* ready

getting *for sale* ready

Previously, we thought our house and garden were the best they could be, and were definitely ready to sell. But, they weren't. We weren't looking at our house through the eyes of a buyer. We were looking at it through our eyes, and of course, we thought it was the...

garden wall construction begins…

garden wall construction begins…

Having lived for six years now with the view out of our living room window being the small stone house we purchased from a neighbour, things are going to be looking very different, very soon. The vine...

april in istria…

april in istria…

We've realised that there is little point in trying to predict the weather in April in Istria. This our fourth April here and previously, we've had fierce Bura winds coming down from Slovenia. Torrential rain. Soaring temperatures. And this year, just to be different,...

vrbnik : krk island : croatia

vrbnik : krk island : croatia

As well as family and friends coming out to visit us in Istria, we now have the opportunity to meet up with people who come to Croatia on holiday. We still find this very exciting as we get the best of both worlds – entertaining and travelling. Good friends from...

project printworks : update 2

project printworks : update 2

2020, as everyone knows, was a pretty unbelievable year, all round. If someone had told me the following, in January 2020, I'd have thought they were daft: that we'd have to have official travel permits to drive to the supermarket that wearing a mask would become the...

then & now…

then & now…

I've been sorting through hundreds and hundreds of online photos, from when we first viewed what was to become our home in Istria to now. To a couple of days ago, when weather stopped DIY play in the garden. We've been sorting because, as we have now decided to sell...