First snow of winter

This week: Split in winter; Plasterboarding; Exploring my new Konoba; ;

It’s been another of those weeks…

I have been busy, but really have little to show for it. On Sunday I bottled 10 kilogrammes of Persimmon fruit, for pies over the winter.

We are in the winter weather period now – mild and damp. As I write this on Saturday afternoon, it is almost warm outside, some 18ºC, but windy with spots of rain in the wind. So not a day for doing much outside.

That said, this morning I was moving boxes and things while the rain held off.

When the sun shines, it is lovely. It is just we have not seen much sun this week.

On Wednesday morning I was down in Jelsa and saw that the first snow of winter has fallen on the Dinaric Alps on the mainland.

The top of Svete Jure is 1,762 meters, and the Biokovo mountains rise almost vertically from the sea, all along this part of the mainland coast.

It was only a thin covering of snow, left by the overnight storm on Tuesday, and the snow line probably only extends down 100 meters. However there was enough of the white stuff to make it clearly visible, even from 50 kilometres away.

I also woke on Friday with the beginning of a cold. I’m not surprised because there are a lot of viruses about at the moment. I am taking my Benylin 24-Hour cold tablets, and already feel a bit better today.

In a couple of days, I will be back to normal. Well as normal as I ever am…..

Split in the winter

I had to go over to Split on Tuesday for an appointment.

Waking up before four AM, the wind was whistling round the wainscot and the rain was beating on the roof.

Checking the Jadrolinija website, all the Catamaran routes had been cancelled and the ferry between Split and Viz.

So with the rain being driven sideways, I went down in the car to the ferry terminal in Stari Grad.

There were a few trucks and a few cars waiting so I joined the queue.

We were soon being ushers onto the big Zadar ferry. However everyone was turned round. Usually it is a Ro-Ro, so you drive on at one end and drive off at the other.

This time because of the wind, is was both on and off using the big back door.

I managed an hour’s sleep on the way over and woke up just before sunrise, as the ferry was approaching the Port of Split. The wind was dead astern, so we were travelling with the waves and white caps. There was very little more than the normal movement of the vessel.

I did the usual stops in Split at Bauhaus, InterSpar, Lidl etc., and was back at the ferry terminal at 13:00. The wind had reduced and the heavy rain had turned to showers.

I have never seen Split look so desolate. There were very few people about, no tourists and there were no sellers in the green market.

Most cafe’s were closed with just one or two people sitting inside some Cafes at the port as I walked past.

On the Riva I bought a pastry to have with my picnic lunch and retreated back to my car.

I was pleased to get back home, where it was still raining.

Plasterboarding

Cvjetko will be here next week, to fix the plasterboard in between the wooden beams in my Konoba.

This has been one of those jobs that has been waiting to be done for a while, however it has not been high on my list of priorities.

On Friday morning he delivered 35 square meters of plasterboard, 13 full sheets in total. We propped them up in the courtyard, ready for cutting.

Because the distance between the beams is irregular, anywhere between 40 and 70 centimetres, there will have to be a lot of cutting to get the board to fit. That will probably mean a lot of wastage and small off cuts too.

Since I finished the wooden staircase in the Konoba, earlier in the year, I have been using the space in the Konoba as an additional storage and working area.

When it has not been nice enough to work in the courtyard, I have been doing small jobs in the Konoba.

This has meant that over time, I have just left materials on the floor and now everything needs to be moved.

Exploring my new Konoba

Now that I own yet another Konoba, I thought I would have a good look round before I started moving things in.

Like the other buildings, the Konoba is just as it was left. I had a peek inside before and it is fairly full.

There are two large concrete wine vats taking up floor space. They are going to go.

In amongst the old ladders and tools, I knew there was the remains of a Mercedes car. It is a “kit” car though and has some bits missing.

I found the tailgate, identifying it as a 280TE, so that dates it to the early 1980’s. There is an engine block and gearbox, seats, boxes with brake and hydraulic parts, and a couple of doors.

I haven’t found the chassis yet, but I can’t get to the back of the Konoba.

This model of Mercedes is an eight wheeler, judging from the hubs and tyres that have been left in piles. Actually here it is still the custom to have two complete sets of tyres, one for the summer and one for the winter.

Although we don’t get snow and only a very occasional frost and icy stretch on the roads, in winter you need winter tyres and the police can fine you if you don’t have them.

In another corner there is the bonnet and parts of the body shell.

If it had been a motorcycle, I would have been over the moon. Somehow I can’t work up the same enthusiasm for an old Mercedes.

I moved two huge wooden wine barrels to one side and cleared space against one of the walls. The Konoba is completely dry. There is no damp and no sign of corrosion on the car.

After laying some pallets on the floor, I started moving things out of the big Konoba, ready for next week’s ceiling work.

I have a rule that I stop work at lunch time on Saturday’s, so I will continue moving things tomorrow. At least I have somewhere snug and dry that I can use as storage… NCG