Cold nights, so starting the day means: FIRE........Februari and march are not part of what they call summerseason, so starting up a winterday means starting a fire first.
(If you prefer sun at The most beautifull Adriatic Sea, stay away till may).
Cleaning that nice glass window of our charming little woodstove is easily done by using one of those "nylon" kitchenpads used to clean dirty dishes, slightly moistured in advance and dipped in a bit of last nights ashes.
A couple of minutes later the window is a window again, the cold ashes taken out to create space for a new day of warmth, especially when strong stormy winds and rain are keeping us inside.
Some firestarter, a peace of Slobodna Dalmatia (the local newspaper), some thin dead cherrybranches (even better: grapecuttings), and a block or two of oak, and there we go again.
With ventilation- and smokechannels of the woodstove wide open, within fifteen minutes our small and well isolated house is in "sauna condition".
Than the airinput goes back to its lowest point and by adding a block of wood each hour or so, we create an atmosphere where camels and coconuts can easily survive and so do we.
So close to the Adriatic winter aint realy harsh, so surviving winter aint a big thing here.
Snow does sometimes drop but never stays long, and getting your balls frozen of is not the best reason to visit this part of the planet (but it's worth a try).
If you're coming over to see snow however, that's easily arranged, since only half an hour away lies Biokovo Mountains (National Park), where thick snow covers its top and icy winds blows not only your balls of in less than a moment.
Lucky part is that you can melt down again between the palms of Makarska after returning (see Google Earth for details).
And about an hour away, over the Bosnian border, there's much snow and even good downhill skiing is a realistic goal for a day of fun.
So liking it hot or cold, the choice is yours.
For those interested, good readily cut and chopped (oak and similar) firewood, delivered free of charge, costs about 60 euro's per "meter" (not exactly a cubic meter, but who cares since four of those meters take us through winter in a mild way.
And NO, I aint gonna bargain about that price, as its a fair price for a lot of work, certainly on a cold and stormy winterday !
So I gladly pay that price.
(Some Croatian language: shout VATRA in case of a FIRE).
