sit or lay, do it your way

NEW NEW, two resting places in the gardenhouse have been made.

And yes, I made it with pleasure, I did it myselve and I am proud of it all.

It took a bit of thinking, but the result is just what we wanted and needed.

Two beds, for those who visit and don't know the way back after a drink to much.

And in case of falling asleep, both are perfectly shaped to sit ánd sleep.

For someone who used to work with brains and mouth (telling dentists that they could do a better job after listening to me for once), I absolutely enjoy to work with my hands and tools.

Wood, especially what they call here "brodski pod" from Baumax *) in Kastela, is great to make whatever I need or like to make.

*) Bricostore came, Bricostore went, Baumax came, followed by Bauhaus and also Baumax went home.

As like with chickens, there is only space for one good rooster, so Baumax left too.

Leaving Bauhaus as thé rooster for all us chickens.

Anyway, after a few trials (and errors) I might call myselve "maistor", which in croatia (sometimes) tells you you're dealing with a skilled person.

 (And sometimes it means nothing else but: "let me grab your money").

So, do call me maistor if you like, but do keep in mind that I am NOT looking for a job.

And certainly NOT for your money, I just do things because I like to do it all, teaching myself how to put nails into wood the proper way (straight forward, no mistakes).

And once in a while I hit myself hard enough to dance around a bit, singing the famous "jebenti"song.

As singing, under whatever conditions, is what keeps Dalmatians happy Dalmatians.

Whatever.., you can be sure now that when you visit us here in our hidden paradise, you can sit or lay down.

Your only job here is to enjoy life in a beautiful hidden valley, like we do already.

the bigger the better

never had the intention to have a fireplace like this.
really, I was one of x-million dutch that where used to burning meat on a simple weber-grill.

until, until we had our gardenhouse almost ready and the workers said: "nice place, but how do you cook".
to keep a long story short, they offered to build the fireplace, and three days later there it was (and still is).

anything from a trout to an entire lamb and everything you can think of fits into it, and on romantic nights or cold days (yes sometimes I am romantic, and yes it can be cold here in winter) a big fire can warm your bones or your soul.

lucky us, and lucky visitor, you don't have to step outside into the rain to finish your meal, there's enough space to sit down and enjoy the view, sitting around the table with us.

the sad part of it all could be that we're now burning our cherrytrees, but they where in bad shape anyway.
even more sad, as cherries here around the Cetina and in Poljica area are more than excellent, but that's another story.

even in the dark it's nice to see

plans ?
much to much and even more !
some things are not even planned and still end well.

because we lacked space in our little hideaway, one day I said it would be great to have some extra room to put away the gardentools and some machinery.

started with a simple 4x4 mtr. plan, it turned out to be 8x8 meters, but who cares.
we do have some extra space now for our belongings, I do have my gardenshed annex workshop, and what's more, we've got a fantastic gardenhouse to enjoy under any weathercondition.
(click on picture to enlarge).

enough space to even have some guests sleep their drinks away, enough space to sit down with a bunch of friends, a giant fireplace to grill or heat, and, I can't stop telling, also from here this fantastic view on Mosor and Omiska Dinara, both mountains.
and on top of it all, this is Svinisce, where stress and noise still have not been invented.

come and see, come and feel, but be aware, once here, you're lost forever.

inside out

here it is, our gardenhous.

in any type of weather we've got a perfect place to relax or enjoy company of friends over a drink or some food.

with Omiska Dinara and Mosor mountains in front of us, it's just fantastic.

the place is almost finished (floors, walls, windows) and most of the things I wanted to create myselve have been done.

seated at the table, relaxing on one of the two beds/sofa's, or preparing some food on the workplaces, I wanted to make them and so I did.

its all just perfect to enjoy alone, together with Nives or with a bunch of good friends.
and let's not forget there is a huge fireplace to grill, heat or just to look at.

3/4 of the place is living area, 1/4 is my temple, where I have all my tools, machines and materials to work with.
still working on things that we need, I wish in due time to be more creative, sculpting wood, steel or stone just for the fun of creating "arty" items.
not to be an artist, nor to show or sell, just for the sake of pleasure.

an inspiring scenery all around us, no stress, no noise and no need to do things for the sake of money, thats what I call a treasure.
inside looking out I feel rich, and everybody in the same mood is most welcome to share it all.

you're welcome, proud and happy to share what we've got to share.

one of thousand reasons

can you imagine, after a hot sunny day, we spend in our hidden valley, this is what we go for in the early evening when the daydreamers have gone home ?

no ?
well, I guess that you, my dearest blogvisitor and I, have different look at the world as it should and can be.

spending our daily life in our little place called Modris, part of Svinisce (which is a part of Omis), watering the plants, finishing our gardenhouse or just being lazy, we are in love with our silent life here, with hardly ever any noise other that of peoples voices.

so going to the beach is not our thing during the day, as the big bunch of tourists do so, so we don't.

having the possibility to choose is a rich thing, and we prefer to go to the seaside at the end of the afternoon (popodne they call it here).
it's a ten minutes drive to our beach, giving way to loads of tourists returning from the beach while we go to it.

our favorite place is a small beach (small pebbles), a superb clean sea, a fantastic terrace with friendly restaurant where we eat whatever we like to eat, or just have a refreshing drink after a long refreshing swim.
not only us, but also the locals frequent this location, as it's a bit further than the more crowded tourists beaches.

one thing leads to another, there is always some connection to close friends of us, sometimes even familyties, as this is (before and after the main season) just a small society, where about 10.000 people live in the town of Omis and around.
so we know the chef who's preparing those nice dishes, and yes, the waiter (konobar) is called johnny and he's also a good friend (maybe because we are nice people, (after having some pints of cold beer) and always appreciate good service with a fair tip.

so if you still want to have your holidays in Switserland or Kenya, fine to me, but I have a thousands reasons to go to Croatia, Dalmatia, Split, Omis, Svinisce, and especially Modris.
above is one of many and if you read well, you see more than one.
so get going, and help me count if you like life as it is in the middle of nature, close to the Cetina river and the Adriatic.

if not a car, you can eat it

just kidding, croats enjoy eating, especially togehter with friends.
anything from nature, growing, walking, flying or swimming that looks like food is welcome.
and being springtime, the young vegetables are excellent company for some fish, meat or snails, often from the grill, sometimes in a juga (soup).

this season is the best to taste a young sheep (janjetine) from the grill.
fresh springonions, salade, bread and domaci wine, and most important: FRIENDS.

I was invited to party with the neighbours (the men !!!), so a young sheep was turning around over a fresh woodfire for about three hours, untill it was excellent food for a group of about twelve men.

gathered around the table we spent a great meal together, accompanied with local wine, until the first songs were sang.

the only croat that does not sing is a dead croat, so each and every moment they sing.
working in the fields, sitting together over a well deserved cold beer, after dinner, you name it, they sing.
"klapa", the croat singing tradition goes far back into history, and hundreds (thousands ?) of songs are an important part of cultural tradition.

many songs are shared, known and joined by each and everyone, recent ones, older ones and to my surprise (what do I know of it all) from various parts of former Yougoslavia, and even from far back from history.
especially those golden oldies, sang by older men of women, I like very much, as they are pure and unpolished.

this afternoon , standing onder a cherrytree, after an excellent meal, the singing went on and on and on, and when moved to the local cafe of Mali Ante, it went on till late in the night.
(somewhere later in the evening I decided to quit, as to me enough (drinks) is enough).

thanks folks, you're a great bunch !!!

potatoes, the domaci way !

Coming from Holland, where all potatoes grow in straight lines in large fields this is what I like more, much more !

Small patches of furtile land, with cherry and walnut trees in and around it, I am certain that these potatoes will have a happy life, ending as french fries in hot oil, or as the company of some true meat under a peka.

This is not the mass agriculture our Dutch farmers fill supermarkets with, loaded with furtilizers and chemicals, this is the traditional "domaci" agriculture, in our hidden valley of Svinisce.

When the seasons get hotter the owners start to spray water from a genuin natural well, and if there is a problem with what they call "colorado's", those striped beetles the trick is to check each plant for small eggs of that little bastard and kill them manually.

No chemical sprayings, only once in a while some old sheepshit (gnoj), and lots of TLC (tender loving care).

I was (again) surprised by this little polje, almost like a cropcircle from "outerspace", but no, this is just human activity on a tiny bit of land.
And those cherrytrees, well, they are just there to offer a handfull of juicy red spring delights while working around the potatoes.

If you want to eat potatoes, than keep in mind that what you put into it is what you're gonna eat from it, no less, and much more !
And if that is a genetically modified chemically grown thing, well, the choice is all yours.
(But I prefer to have my fries from these brown buddies growing under a cherrytree in Modris, part of the community of Svinisce).

Think further, think DOMACI !!!!!

communication is a great thing

Sure there is much more to tell, as we just arrived in our little bowl.
Still the view is fantastic, and the sea close to it all.

However, time is limited and so is the connectionspeed of our pc in Svinisce.
Happy to have internet for sure, but with a signal coming through the air in stead of a fast cable, it takes a while to get pictures into this blog.

And more important, as time is limited (with loads of things to do on daily basis), I will not enter as many things as I do when not "here" but "there".

Getting organised, connecting water and electricity to the new gardenhouse, and still a huge amount of things to plan and do, mostly a pleasure, but still on the list "to do".

Well, for the moment this is all, and MOST important:
PLEASE MAIL ME AT GMAIL (and forget about the planet one, as it takes hours I rather use reducing the to-do list or just relaxing in the sun).

land, wind, sea and man

One of those early spring days in Croatia.
Bura, the fresh wind, is blowing, waves even behind the island still breaking.
Picture taken on Ciovo, the island that is connected to the small town of Trogir by a bridge.

Overlooking the baye of Kastela, with deep to the right the big historic town of Split, and like most of the Dalmatian coast enclosed by mediumhigh mountains.

Even in winter this area is protected from the cold coming from the Dalmatinska Zagora (dalmatian hinterland) and the Bosnian freezer, where wintersports are in close reach.

Here, between sea and mountains, temperature hardly ever goes under freezingpoint and if it does it never takes long.

Which is why there are so many palmtrees, oranges and lemons there.
Which is why this coast is more than fantastic to spend your holidays, at one of the most beautifull coasts of Europe, with a clean and clear sea and very pleasant summers, hardly ever "cooking hot".

Still, at the very moment of this picture, it's early in spring, which lucky for us staying there a great deal of the entire year, is THE BEST SEASON to enjoy.

In the Zagora, the hinterland, immense fields of wild flowers, orchids by the thousands and allready a fair temperature for die-hard swimmers like we (no, most Croats wait till the water is plus twenty, with a maximum of twentyfive in full summer).

Can't wait, as still the sea is pretty fresh (12 C) but getting warmer every day !

one, two, many

Ovce (sheep) and janjetine (young sheep), to many to count and if you try you'll probably fall asleep.

For those who like to lay in the sun at one of those milion beaches of our Adriatic coast, and do nothing than that, stop reading here.

For those a tiny bit more adventurous, eager to get to know true life of Croatia (HR) and its neighbour Bosnia Herzegovina (BiH), get going, as in less than an hours drive you'll see more than you thought possible.

Whatever direction you go, except south (where the sea is dummy), you'll discover loads of real life in what's called Zagora, the hinterland of that glorious coast.

The picture here was taken in Bosnia (uhhh, that mine-poluted country), driving from Split/Omis/Makarska to Livno or Tomislavgrad in BiH.

I've seen my bit of the world, trust me, but here I found, AND find my peace, my inspiration and the stories I want to share with you.

Sheep to many to count, peacefully eating till they are eaten (and fantastic they are here), in a panoramic landscape you would not even think it was possible like it's here, just over the border at Arzano or Kamensko (no sweat, passport and insurancepapers of the car).
And talking about sheep and what they give to us, do try some Livno or Kupres cheese, tasty as can be and cheaper than the industry-stuff you may be used to.

Oh, and before I forget, driving this marvelous scenery, left to Livno or right to Tomislavgrad, you pass a giant lake called Busko Jezero or Busko Blato, that invites for a swim on a hot summers day.

Go for it, and about those mines, yes there are and no, not all around anymore, and in case there are, or you want to go hiking cross country, each and everyone has info, and in each town there is information available.

But don't let it stop you from visiting, as I am still alive and complete, and so are these sheep.

winter olympics Svinisce style

Four days of snow in our hidden valley, normally baking in the summersun, and our Svinisce Winter Olympics had a go.

Most people stayed away from work, school and shopping, due to the dangerous driving conditions, so time to have fun !!!

Wherever there was a slope (rampa they call it) or a downhill road the Croatian bobteam was going for gold medals.

Those cookingplate covers are excellent bobsleighs, and for those still needing them to cover the cookingplace, plastic bags were almost as good as anything else, as long as it was of "racing quality".

And GOLD they won, far away from officials, crowds and hymnes.

they don't shoot horses, do they ?

No, if you see a horse here, its used for riding, so its not being shot at.

But anything else that lives in our surrounding nature is prone to meet a bullet or at least a hunter, as hunting is one of the things that is in the genes of the locals.

Not wanting to dispute if hunting should or should not be banned (being cheaper and better than sex I am a pro), I respect and accept everything that's been part of local life here for centuries, and hunting is just a part of that.

Besides, when these wild boars (black pigs as they say) enter your tenderly maintained potatoefield, taking your winterstock in one night, you'll probably shout "if I had a gun, I'd kill the bastards".

Well, they have their guns, stricktly legal, well regulated and organised in huntinggroups, and what's better on a weekendday than going into nature during the huntingseason and harvest some of the wildlife around you together with some good villagefriends.
(Some illegal hunting or even shooting at nasty flies earns less of my respect, but okay, some drivers ignore red lights among most others doing things by the book).

One of those days, returning from shopping in Omis, I drove up along Cetina river, to our hidden valley, and spotted this group after a succesfull hunt.
All except the boars were still fighting adrenalinelevels down, the dogs biting the fallen enemy to check if they were dead as dead should be, which they were.
Half liters of Karlovacko Pivo (beer) were handed around (not on this proud picture), to celebrate another day in pure nature.

And that's exactly what life is all about here, only ten minutes behind a fantastic touristical coast at Omis, great to spend a holiday, but not showing what true paradise living is about.
Life here is easy going (polako), helping eachother, sharing good and bad moments together, being a party or a funeral, picking grapes, potatoes or olives, fixing a hole in the road or building a concrete wall for a neighbour together.

As always, after some job together, there is pivo or homemade vino, as there is dryed ham, cheese, some pickles and bread, or even better, a fair amount of excellent meat from the grill (perhaps a peace of boar ??).

Life sucks (but it only sucks the suckers).

running from the cold ?

If you think Svinisce is great to hide from the wintercold, well, sorry to say, but you'd better keep running south and don't stop till you see camels flying.

With the intention to tell the truth, the whole truth and much more about living (or having holidays) in Croatia, I would be cheating if I did'nt tell that during winter at least our hidden valley is cold.

Thyme, rosemary and lavender under our laureltree show nothing else but their snowy branches, their normal delicious smells waiting for some sun.
There is a chemical explanation to that, as odors are gases, and below some temperatures those gases become sleepy (so freeze your armpits in stead of using deodorants for once).

But things aint as bad as they look or seem, as our snow only kept us of the roads for four days, being to dangerous to drive up or down our mountainroads.

During those days most people in our neighbourhood stayed away from work and school, having loads of fun sliding down roads and hillsides on anything usable to slide.
Garbagebags filled with eggboxes (great isolation), plastic bags taped around shoes and pants to prevent snow coming in, you don't have to be wealthy when you are able to improvise (and improvise they can here !!!!).

The good part of this snowy item is that after four days the snow melted away, the road was safe again, and ten minutes driving down along the Cetine and into Omis, the Adriatic was quietly giving some heat to the air, helped by some wintersun, keeping oranges, lemons and such in good shape.
The difference in microclimates here is amazing , due to hills, valleys and surrounding mountains with corridors between them, keeping the area connected to the harsh winterconditions in Bosnia (where you go if you like to ski a bit) and the Adriatic on the other side of our mountains.

So, like I told before, many days you can drink an excellent espresso in the morning, sitting under a palmtree in the wintersun at the Adriatic Sea, and get your ski's under in less than a two hours drive.

So if you like variation in your daily meal, this is the best place to be.
And the slice of lemon on your schnitzel, well, just pick one in stead of buying them.

grapes ?

Somewhere in our neighbourhood, having a walk on a fair winterday, I crossed this wineyard, empty, as the grapes turned into wine months ago already.

As rough nature is all around here, the owner of this patch must have been "pissed off" as birds were robbing him from his drunken nights, singing klapa with friends.

(Klapa is THE local traditional of singing songs together, most songs about the sea, lost loves, fishing and sun).

And as this man had a wife that went shopping day after day after day, she got loads of plastic bags, he gladly took in return for her spending his money.

So now this wineyard is looking terrible, but so is the face of this man after another drunken night, singing klapa while drinking his local wine (which most of the time is nice and mostly very nice, but stubborn as a donkey).

Drink these wines during daytime mixed with water, as it's got so much flavour it's taste and character are not influenced by adding some water.
At our daily diners however, I take one/two glasses, and believe me, watching television at the woodfire after diner never was nicer :-)

Still I hope the guy will not just dump his plastic shit, preparing his yard for new grapes to grow, as they still have the nasty habit here to drop much of their useless materials in this lovely pure nature (but that's another story to tell, and I will !!!!).

banak i mali stol (sit down and enjoy)

A while ago I was walking along the coast after stormy weather, knowing as an old sailor that in bad weather always something is lost from a ships deck.

Walking over the rocky cliffs of the Adriatic is always a great thing to do, after stormy weather its even nicer, as the sea spits out wat it does'nt eat or need.

Sad enough, most is plastic garbage, bottles (always empty), shoes (never a pair), lighters, bags, shit, shit, shit, loads of shit.

However...., most of those moments I find something that's of use to me, just funny, nice or really usefull.

From some ship they have been missing a peace of wood used to cover the cargo, but sorry guys I found it, and thanks for losing it, as it became what they call in Croatia a "mali stol", meaning "small table".

Especially the true old used character of that peace of wood, tumbled and washed in stormy waves, iron bands around the edges and handles with rosty grips, I just loved it from the first sight.

Not being a carpenter by profession, I teached myselve recently how to make sturdy strong connections in wood, using strong glue and as little metal parts as possible.
So I created some good legs under it, did some sanding and painting (not to much !!!) and had myselve a nice little table to put my glass of local wine on after a day of true pure joy in Croatia.

Well, is that all than ?
Hell no, as a little table is nice, but one's got to sit down to, so again I started to work on some old broken wood, left behind by the constructors of our little gardenhouse.
They did'nt need it anymore, after loads of stones and concrete had been rolled over it, split in two halves, dropped aside for the fireplace.

For me hoewever, also these two parts can be united again with good glue and some splinting, and after brushing loads of cement off, shaving and sanding and some painting (not to much !!)two legs were made and there it was, the "mali banak" /little bench, solving my sitting problem.
So now that's all done, I can finally sit down and enjoy the panoramic view in the late afternoon sun.

Stop......first there's more work to be done, as the outside walls of our new gardenhouse/workshop have to be finished as they are still uncovered and ugly grey, and sure, also the floor will have some finish, but polako (slowly slowly), that's for another moment in the near future.

Lots to plan, lots to do, lots to enjoy, lots and lots and lots, but all just for the fun of it, so POLAKO, as you only live once !!!!!

dream or do ????

Everything has a reason, even the unexpected.

Having the land we have but not to much space to put our gardenstuff, chairs, tools and much more away, one day last autumn I said "why not build a little gardenshed on the new peace of land we bought"

With the help of some good friends , we started to do “something”, guided by just a small peace of paper with some "idea".
So, out of the blue, this little 8x8 mtrs. gardenhouse grew within four weeks, with a radionica (hobbyspace) for myselve, a huge fireplace for everyone to enjoy just like that or grilling whatever there is, and lots of space to sit and relax on even a shitday with bura or jugo(strong winds), pooring rain, but still that view on Mosor Mountain.

Must still finish in- and outside, the small roof over the terrace, tiles on the floor to be done, and maybe even two glass doors on the terrace "just in case", but its already a great new part of fullfilling our dreams.

wild Livno horses

First I must admit both pictures are taken by other people, of which the one with the swimming group is part of a series of pictures taken by the photo-club in Imotski and the winter one by the organisation that was taking care of the protection of this magnificant wild bunch.
www.fotoimota.hr/gallery/displayimage.php?album=244&pos=9 and www.divljikonji.org, both highly interesting and worth a compliment.

To tell a bit more about these horses, a group of about 200 wild animals, they live in the rough nature near Livno, a traditional and interesting town, not so far over the Bosnian border.

Coming from Croatia it's a good one hours drive from Split to Livno.

Like I told before and will tell over and over again, there are a lot of hidden treasures in the neighbourhood of Svinisce, and this is one of them.
Not only is Livno a highly recommendable goal for a day behind the Adriatic coast, with many old mosks, and a river coming out of "nothing", where "nothing" is a high cliff dominating the panorama of Livno, with high above, on top of the cliff the remains of an old Ottoman tower.

When small farmers in the last century (+/- 1970) where heading from the countryside to the cities to find jobs, many gave their horses back to nature, where they surprisingly well survided the harsh climate of hot summers and freezing winters.
At the moment the group totals about 200 animals, coming together or splitting up in smaller groups depending on season and circumstances.

Recently the town of Livno decided to start a protection programm, as these noble animals are fantastic to observe in their natural habitat, the impressive plains and mountains around Livno, and an excellent tourist attraction.

So if you're visiting Croatia and you love nature in its most natural shape, spend a day (or two) heading for Livno, and the horses that live there.
The trip is taking you up Dinara Mountains, leading into Bosnia-Herzegovina along Busko Jezero, a beautyfull large lake with thousands of birds.

If you plan to make it a one day's visit:
enjoy ending the day coming "home" at the Adriatic coast, looking at the sundown, drinking a glass of local wine, smelling the herbs around you, listening to crickets having their Mediterranian summerparty.

You won't be disappointed, you'll have once in a lifetime experience and just like me, you'll have another reason to come back to either Croatia or Bosnia time and time again.

PS :
(crossing the border in your private car (check allowance on leased cars) is no problem at all; just take your passports and international green car-insurance papers with you).

best wishes to all

However still a lot of new developments have to be showed (and there's a lot to show and tell), this is the moment for best wishes.
So here we go: best wishes to all, for Christmas as well as the year 2010.

Enjoy these days in happiness, friendly intimacy, reflection of a year gone by and a new one to get started.
A child was born, a new year is awaiting with 365 days, each day getting born again when the sun goes up.

Today rapidly turns into yesterday, so don't take anything for granted.

Merry Christmas and a happy Newyear to all.

waterballet

once the potatoes are growing and rain fails to fall, people come to their acres to add some water to their beloved plants.

with the well a few hundred meters way they pump this natural springwater up to their land and start spraying their crops.

only two sounds are heard, namely far away/below a soft noise of the motorpump, and closeby the falling of waterdrops spread in wide curves, almost like a ballet for man and waterhose.

the moment I saw the beauty of this simple and basic action I waited till the sun was behind Ante, the man spraying, and started to picture one shot after another, and this is the one shot I like most.
if you think life is only beautifull when there is ACTION, you're wrong !
the lack of "real" action and the relaxing sound it makes makes me feel happy.

which goes for almost every moment we spend in our little paradise in the valley of Svinisce, just behind the Adriatic coast.

ah, and yes, those potatoes taste better than any other.
which goes for everything they grow there.

mate (nicola) moi priatel

Nicola is his name, Nicola Tafra, but everyone calls him Mate.

mate is our neighbour, and a very special character.
in his young days he and some friends played with a german explosive, which ended in a severe injury.

he misses one arm, is blind at one eye, and has a load of other marks on his body telling the story without words: after the war is over only innocent die.

anyway, here he stand in a tree, cleaning it from ivy, and in case you wanna know, the tree was ours and we cut it down later.

sorry Mate, but thanks for the help, than and later on till now.
a special character, a good teacher to me, and a great friend to us.

puno hvala !

there, deep down in the middle

one day, at Sveti Vid's day (one of the many holy days in roman catholic Croatia) we walked up the mountainridge between us and the Adriatic Sea.

walking up the mountain on a hot sunny day, climbing about 500 meters, took us a couple of hours of hard swetting work.
there hardly is a path, only what seems to have been a path, and even that "path" is rather a passage through bushes, over rocks, as it actually was the walk goats from the village used to make, till the "goats union" decided about ten years ago that where people started to use cars it was unacceptable to keep goats walking.

so these footpathes (or should I say "clawpathes") slowly disappeared in nature, as only once in a year they're used by pelgrims and I to walk to the tiny white chapel on top of the ridge, where a priest stood waiting in the open air, valley on the left and deep down on the other side even more deep the blue sea.
not being a churchgoing believer I stayed a bit aside, while a crowd of about hundred joined in his service, singing and listening to his good words.

and even the priest showed to be all human, as once finishing his "job", he took of his official clothing to join in a marvelous picnic, as each of the crowd had taken some drinks and food to this gathering.

fried chicked, roasted courgettes filled with melting cheese, home made dry ham, local cheese, good bread and of course, white and red wine from everybody's own wineyard, and even worse, the strong rakia and local derivates, with herbs, walnuts, cherries managed to get to the top of the mountain.
holy shit, no booze for me please, some small bites, a tiny bit of wine, a gallon of fresh water, that's all I needed, as going up was already heavy, but going down was double as long and twice as heavy, as I knew because I like to study detailled maps in advance.

a strong advice to hikers/walkers in croatian summersun is to at least take one liter of water, of possible even two, some sweet stuff, and a little handtowel, to soak and hang over head, neck or shoulders to cool a bit when things get hot and water is far away.

returning after an extremely nice social event, we walked the ridge, wide, rough and full of herbs for alcoholic picnics to come, slowly descending along a little mountainrefuge, following a rocky canyon filled with giant boulders and broken trees.
recently we had a massive rainfall during the night of about 150 liters per meter, creating a lot of problems, sliding hillsides, blocked roads and clearly visible here, a thundering stream of water gushing down to leave a chaos of rocks and wood.

all together going up and getting down again took an impressive five hours walk (ex. picnic), with somewhere in the walk the moment that I took this picture (click to enlarge), where deep down in the centre lies our own little hidden paradise, right to that white house.

anyway, great day, fine people, marvelous view, fantastic experience.

hvala na Sveti Vid *)

*) thanks to Saint Vitus, who died 15 of juni 313 AC under the rule of Diocletianus, who's palace is still a major monument to visit in the old Roman town of Split.

this is not our cat

how to say a cat is not your cat but is your cat anyway ?

she and her brother are so to say free cats, born in the wild, living a wild life in the wild.
and where her brother, a black and white slightly distant male, gets his attention a couple of houses away, this lady turned out to be charmed by our looks/smell/attention/food, and however I am not a cat's person, she decided otherwise.

being nasty during a couple of days, pooring water, making noise and silly movements, even not taking a shower for a period of time, nothing helped, so I finally fell for her persuation.

she liked us, came back and back again, and finally adopted us (not us adopting her, mind you), and forced us to give her a name.
so we did, and therefor she's now Sissi, after that princess once played by the late Romy Schneider.
(her black&white brother got the name Macho, which he is not, but he carries his name with pride).

I won't go into catstories, so this is an exception, as the picture was sent to us by our family overthere, showing she lost a bit of weight.
not due to a lack of food, we take our responsabilities serious, so we left three bags of her favourite catfood together with instructions to our neighbour, thanks Mate !!, to at least once a day provide her a nice meal.

the reason for her weightreduction is that she finally got rid of a bunch of youngsters she was carrying during our recent stay.
we witnessed the intimate loveconnection between her and "William of Orange", a red male from a couple of houses down the road and however it was wham, bam, thank you ma'm, it was bullseye as well, as we saw our Sissi grow over a couple of weeks, and wondered when and where she would be a mother, and how the kids where looking.

dozens of times she tried to sneak into our little appartment, but each time I managed to prevent a total take over.

enough is enough, but a man's got to stand for his principles.
nevertheless we offered her many secluded spots, where she could safely give bearth, but never saw it happen as she was still going heavier with no birthmovements, and we had to return to our "beloved" NEEderland, cloudy, wet, noisy, flat, crowded and ongoing intolerant.
so finally she gave birth, under a golden sun in Godgven nature, with the tender care of us, even when we're "here" and not "there".

so, nice place, nice cat, and nice look over the base of our terrace, the sunny shadows and the smelly rosemary on the leftside in the border.
and of course, the newly placed suncover (thanks Richard and team), wrong colours perhaps, but hey, it was a bargain and its very practical.

so your up to date again, as much as I am.
ahhhh, those lazy summerdays in Croatia with no news, no nonsense, just nothing but a cat, fantastic...................

what you grow is what you get

it took me some waiting for a dry day, when the potatoes started crying for some water and as always, a bit of luck with my camera.
however, what's luck when you wait for that specific moment, look and look again, move in several directions till the light is right behind the object, and finally see what you want to see in the picture you want to tell the story of.

having agricultural neighbours working their small pieces of land on terraces up and down our own piece of land, growing potatoes, onions, olives, cabbage and melons, they take great pride in taking care of the best crop to get from it.

hardly any synthetic fertiliser being used, but ripened sheepshit in stead, combined with excellent ground and a bit of help to mother nature spraying the plants with water from a true natural well when the ground gets dry and the weather hot.

it's all there is to it, with a lot of tender love and care, of course !!!
everone regularly comes to his land in the afternoon, to work for a couple of hours to keep everything nice and tidy and growing well.
but it's all worth it as you get the best food you can eat, and so they care, like everybody in our valley including us, for their plants.

your foodquality is not something to get from european regulations, labels and loads of industrial nonsense, wrapped in plastic and commercials.

good food comes from good people taking good care of good plants on good ground !!!
if it looks like a melon, be sure that what you eat here IS a melon, and not it's green sister, "killed" before it even grew up to be a real tasty, sweet, sunripe, gorgeous melon.

stop reading here, go to your supermarket and tell those idiots that by killing your food they are killing you as well !!!!

plitvice ? krka ? no, it's Svinisce !

To tell the truth, its not in the centre of Svinisce, its about a ten minutes walk away.

If thats to much trouble for you, there's a road real close to it, so if you prefer to be driven, that's ok with me, as we've got a car on croatian plates waiting to be used.
Come on !
If you'r coming to Svinisce, at least be prepared to go walking.
And with walking I mean WALKING, as there are numerous walks, well marked and right through the middle of nature and on Omiska Dinara (the mountainridge between us and the Adriatic).

Wanna stay close ?
Our surroundings are pure nature, even with some ancient Roman footpath, and if you prefer a mix of nature and history, some stone structures from the pirate history of Omis (called Almissa in earlier days) are still to be seen.

What's more, above Omis there are two remains of castles, so enough to choose crossing nature over and towards historic remains.
And well, since I mention Omis again, its at the Adriatic, with a large sandy beach, and one small stoney bay after another if you do not like sand between your bums.

The picture shows the waterfalls of what they call a "potok", which means a small seasonal flood.
During the wet season they take the water from fields, hills and mountains into the Cetina river, once the summerseason starts they dry out to a miserable less than nothing.

However, wet or dry, the structure of it is most interesting, and the scenery where it goes down to the canyon is most beautifull, which made filmmakers use it for some famous Winnetou films.

In earlier days (before carworthy roads) a footpath brought the men from the village down to the town of Omis, where they worked for a bit of money in a couple of factories (carbid, cement and such, of which most have disapeared).
And after a hard day of industrial labour they walked up the footpath again, sometimes even with heavy loads on their back, to home for a meal and a bit of rest.

Was that the day than, hell no, as each had his own peace of land.
The work in the field was waiting for another bit of hard work. And as I write below (see item about domaci products) the only way to have the best of the necessary food and wine is by taking care of it themselves, so they did, and still do.

Compare us "overstressed" modern technocratic people to those folks than (and still) and you'll understand that it was'nt or is'nt an easy life under the sun.
Still I am certain that although life's not easy, it was and is of a much higher quality !

And THAT is still a fact nowadays in this and many other valley around, being the reason for me to like life here so much more !

Pick your moment in the seasons, as whatever moment you take, it will conquer your heart, just like it did mine.

As this is life as its meant to be !!!
(not easy, but fullfilling).

"domaci"

One of the commonly used words in Croatia is "domaci", meaning its home made, traditional, organic, non industrialised, e.g. pure taste.
As an example of how domaci braid should be baked traditionally, one must start with the best flour, and this is how that is made.

Walking sevenhundred meters upstream of this watermill on three spots the clearest natural springs erupt from under a steep rocky mountainwall.
And when I say the clearest, I truly mean THE CLEAREST, ready to fill bottles with.
Hard to get in a picture, I could look through the surface of that water into the deep and clear blue, coming straight from inside the Dinaric Mountains.
In no time these three wells feed a small river leading to this traditional watermill, in the family for hunderds of years (the friendly man told me).
For those who want to know, the place is called Grab, and lies close to the upstream section of the Cetina river.

Here between waterpowered millingstones the flour is milled in such an authentic and slow way that as a result the best thinkable flour is produced.
Why ?
Because the whole grain is milled, really slowly, and as it goes slowly there is no heat involved that "kills" the quality of the grain.
That's why !

And that's why from this flour the best bread can be baked in a traditional oven on a stone floor, heated with a woodfire. And doing so, its with every right to be called DOMACI (meaning traditionally homemade).
Sad enough, the word "domaci" nowadays is also in use for industrial machined foodproducts that have NOTHING to do with its original meaning.
Believe me for once (if not always), once you tasted that bread, you'll never pick one of those sponges packed in a plastic condom from a superstore again.

And that goes for a lot of TRUE domaci products, being meat, vegetables, fish or drinks in Croatia, simply because Croatian people like to do a lot themselves, keeping chickens for eggs, having their own vegetables and even once in a while their own pigs. (not to mention producing their own olive-oil, wine, and after the wine destillating their own pure rakia, basis for many strong drinks).
Just ask for it, as everbody knows and is gladly sharing with you where to get the real stuff (like I just told you).

So if you're looking for something else than Mc. This or That or "more of the same" wrapped in a fancy paper and empty phrases, just follow me to DOMACI CROATIA.
Cause if you like real life this is the place to be.

ps:
Sure there are highways, airports, internet and airco's too.
But not only that, thank God.