The end of the Teenage years – Part 2: 2015 – 2019
This week: 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; 2019;
In Part 1, I looked back at 2010 to 2014. In this edition I will cover from 2015 to 2019.
Looking through the before and after photographs, even though I am still waiting for the extension to join my buildings together, there has been a lot of progress.
Just seeing some of the “before and after” shots, the difference is incredible. Changes which are incremental, are of course not necessary remarkable until you see the big picture.
2015
The winter of 2014/2015 was quite mild and sunny. I started the year by building an Arbour. First job was to cement anchor points beside the path.
![Arbour anchor point](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-arbour-1.jpg)
It required several trips to the mainland to get the timber which was not available on the island.
![Mainland timber](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-arbour-3.jpg)
It looks a bit bare, but now has plants growing up and over the framework, which was what I had in mind.
![Completed framework](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-arbour-4.jpg)
I had protected the new orange, lemon and grapefruit saplings with bubblewrap and cardboard.
![Heath-Robinson protection](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-citrus-orchard.jpg)
However a cold Bura killed of my mature lemon tree. This was my introduction to the different cooling requirements of the citrus family.
![Dead lemons](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-cold-lemons.jpg)
Inside I started to renovate the bathroom. A large breaking hammer was needed to remove the 30cm thick concrete floor, held up by old railway track underneath. Don’t you love the yellow tiles!
![Breaking a concrete floor](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-bath-removal.jpg)
I used the dry spring to burn dead shrubbery.
![Roaring bonfire](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-burn.jpg)
Dismantle Biily’s home before it falls… The goat shed had developed a bit of a list. Good job the goats had gone!
![Leaning walls](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-leaning-wall.jpg)
This was the start of my architectural salvage pile.
![Architectural salvage](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-architectural-salvage.jpg)
With the goat shed gone, I laid a concrete base and then assembled the garden sheds which came from Abu Dhabi in the container.
![Foundations first](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-storage-1.jpg)
![Under construction](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-storage-2.jpg)
![Storage complete](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-storage-3.jpg)
The perceved wisdom is that when you move somewhere, wait for a year to see what grows. Here Iris burst into fdlower in the spring.
![Purple Iris](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-spring-flower.jpg)
I also had to try and get to grips with all the different flours in the supermarket. I was used to just two, plain (all purpose) and self raising…
![Different kinds of flours](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-flours.jpg)
More building work started in late spring. Remove the decaying dining room floor and create a new one, then the ceiling, build a new roof and decorate.
![Remove the floor](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-new-floor-1.jpg)
![Check the walls](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-new-floor-2.jpg)
![Mind the gap](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-new-floor-3.jpg)
![Remove the ceiling](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-fire-mark.jpg)
![Then rebuild](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-diningroom-1.jpg)
![Paint everything](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-dining-room-2.jpg)
![Install the wood stove](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-dining-room-3.jpg)
Add the wood stove in the corner and then light it just before Christmas.
![Then light the fire](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-fire-lit.jpg)
I bought a big rotorvator to till the soil in the orchards.
![Industrial size rotorvator](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-rotavator.jpg)
It looks a lot better without the weeds.
![The dig the weeds in](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-seed-bed.jpg)
I needed to design, create and install a modern ring main system for the electrical supply to the buildings.
![Left over right then right over left](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-wiring-loom.jpg)
In the autumn I designed and built a lean too greenhouse – somewhere to propagate plants.
![Lean to greenhouse](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-greenhouse-1.jpg)
As boxes were opened and unpacked, I used the cardboard to suppress weeds.
![Nothing is wasted](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-weed-supressant.jpg)
As winter approached it was time to protect the trees again.
![Bubblewrap protection](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/15-winter-protection.jpg)
But I now had a finished bathroom and shower.
![The finished bathroom](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-bathroom.jpg)
2016
Early January was quite cold.
![Cold January morning](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-cold.jpg)
In February, I made my first visit to the Tree Fair, held in Split every year at the Dioclethian Palace.
![Split tree fair](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-tree-fair.jpg)
I started to explore around my home more. I discovered there is a problem with Processionary Pine Moths.
![Processionary Pine Month](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-caterpillars.jpg)
The exploration led me to start looking at and identifying the local native trees.
![Leaf identification](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-forest-leaves.jpg)
![Tree bark identification](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-forest-trees.jpg)
I was experimenting in the orchards. Here with a Green Manure crop.
![Green manure](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-green-manure.jpg)
Everywhere there are small shrines, known as Kapelista. I began to photograph all the inscriptions I could find.
![Ancient Kapelisata](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-inscription.jpg)
There were decisions to make about the existing trees. This very old white Mulberry, Morus Alba, had been badly pruned.
![Old white Mulberry](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-old-mulberry-rotated.jpg)
When I examined it closely, it was diseased, going rotten from the centre.
![Dying from the inside out](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-diseased-wood.jpg)
In the forest I could find Prickly Pear cactus and orchids in profusion.
![Prickly Pear cactus](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-prickly-pear.jpg)
![Wild orchids](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-wild-orchids.jpg)
A chance encounter in the village led me to being able to explore the cobweb festooned village still. A museum piece if ever there was one…
![The village still](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-village-still.jpg)
Mediterranean summers are hot and dry, so I installed an underground irrigation system to water the newly planted fruit trees.
![Installing underground irrigation](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-irrigation.jpg)
I also tried my hand at artisan cheese making in my new kitchen.
![Dol artisan cheese](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-cheese-making.jpg)
I dismantled the old stables and outhouses, saving all the materials and making space for my new building.
![Dismantle and save everything](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-stable-roof.jpg)
![The old donkey stable](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-stable.jpg)
The roof of the old cottage leaked. Not surprising really. At well over 100 years of age and with nothing more than stone slabs laid on tree trunks, rain was driven in through the not insubstantial cracks. It was added to the list of jobs to do.
![A leaky roof](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-cottage-roof.jpg)
2017
The first week of 2017 was bitterly cold.
![Frost on the soil](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-big-freeze-6.jpg)
![And on the paths](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-frost-2.jpg)
A strong Bura blew, resulting in a windchill of -15ÂșC being recorded on my weather station. Everything froze.
![Bed was the only warm place](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-big-freeze-3.jpg)
There were more than 1,000 burst water meters on the island, including mine.
![When your water meter freezes](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-big-freeze.jpg)
I had 14 burst pipes, because the idiot local plumber had used indoor grade copper pipe and insulation, for outdoor pipe runs between the buildings. Then he claimed an “act of God” and refused to repair his shoddy workmanship. Another lesson for me about the level of local craftsman skills.
![Frozen pipes burst open](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-big-freeze-4.jpg)
![Fourteen in total](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-big-freeze-8.jpg)
More than ten of my citrus trees were killed out right, including a mature Washington Orange.
![Frozen orange tree](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-big-freeze-2.jpg)
The Mulberry tree was felled, ready for the long awaited building work.
![The felled Mulberry tree](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-tree-felling.jpg)
The contractor arrived and started digging.
![Another tool I need](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-work-starts.jpg)
Then the local council stepped in and stopped all work. Despite employing an architect, the paperwork was not in order. It took two more years to sort that problem out!
![Work comes to a halt](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-work-stops.jpg)
Spring came late, but there was a profusion of blossom when it did arrive.
![Plum blossom heralds spring](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-blossom.jpg)
I started to see new species in the forest and orchards.
![Tiger moth](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-tiger-moth.jpg)
![Wild Cyclamen](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-wild-ctclames.jpg)
![Blue chaser dragonfly](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-blue-chaser.jpg)
![Orchard katydid](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-katydid.jpg)
The summer was hot too…
![Lazy days of summer](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-summer-siesta.jpg)
I started renovating a room to turn it into my study. The ceiling was properly insulated first.
![Proper ceiling insulation](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-ceiling-insulation.jpg)
Then the walls were papered with lining paper and I laid a new, level hardwood floor.
![Varnished hardwood floor](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-new-flooring.jpg)
We had a forest fire on the border between Dol and Vrbanj.
![Forest fires are a constant danger](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-forest-fire.jpg)
![Small fires quickly grow](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-forest-fire-3.jpg)
What could have grown into a major conflagration was stopped by the rapid intervention of the Canadair water bombers. But a large area of the forest was destroyed.
![Airborne firefighting](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-forest-fire-2.jpg)
Throughout the year, I find evidence of garden visitations which I don’t see at the time.
![Skelitalised snake](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-wildlife.jpg)
In the autumn I got a contractor in to remove and replace the roof of the cottage. Plastic sheets was no substitute for a proper tile roof.
![New roof required](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-cottage-roof.jpg)
Thinking ahead, I installed underground services to the building, so in the future it will be connected to the central heating system.
![New services](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-cottage-wiring.jpg)
![Completely underground](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-underground-services.jpg)
The loft space which had existed under the stone slabs was made into useable storage.
![Loft taking shape](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-cottage-refurb-2.jpg)
![And the new roof](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-cottage-refurb3.jpg)
![Then fill the available space](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-storage.jpg)
I also had the opportunity to see the pressing of olives to make the oil which the island is famous for.
![From this...](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/16-olives.jpg)
![To this...](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-oilive-oil.jpg)
Finally it was time to winterise. I replaced all the sub-standard copper pipework with plastic. The loft header tank was fully protected.
![Hep2O replaces copper](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-new-pipework.jpg)
![Insulating the header tank](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-insulation.jpg)
The pipework on the solar water heater was double insulated. I was ready for winter!
![Removing the old insulation](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-solar-pipework-1.jpg)
![And replacing with new](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/17-solar-pipework-2.jpg)
2018
People are starting to talk about climate change. In Stari Grad, the sea is starting to regularly come over the low walls and flood nearby properties.
![Rising sea levels](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-03-flooding.jpg)
In February we had a one in a 100 year event – snow.
![First snow in decades](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-01-snow-1.jpg)
![A February covering of snow](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Der-Stodts.jpg)
Not a lot by northern European standards, but enough for people to enjoy.
![Cats will play](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-02-snow-2.jpg)
It also showed where I was losing heat from my buildings.
![Melting snow](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-04-snowy-day.jpg)
While it was winter outside, I started another indoor job. I renovated the guest room, installed central heating, a new hardwood floor and re-decorated.
![More hardwood flooring](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-09-bedroom.jpg)
April showers
![April showers](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-12-rainbow.jpg)
Bring forth May flowers. I had bought some Spider Lily bulbs, not as large as the ones I had in Abu Dhabi, but nice none the less.
![Spider lily](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-14-spider-lilly.jpg)
For the first time I saw at close quarters the Mongoose who have colonised the island. Brought in the last century to control the venomous snake population, they are now year round residents.
![Mongoose in the grass](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-10-neighbours.jpg)
Outside renovations included turning a wine vat into a container for strawberries.
![Wine vat repairs](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-10-barrel.jpg)
I also planned where I would like to have a small ornamental pond in the top orchard.
![Pond shape](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-pond-plan.jpg)
In the summer I installed a rainwater harvest system, to take the rainfall from the courtyard, to where it is needed in the orchard.
![Courtyard drain](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-06-courtyard-pipework.jpg)
This was followed by the realignment of a path and the removal and rebuilding of a dry stone wall.
![Laser level to align the path](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-15-level.jpg)
With the realignment complete, I built a new wood shed.
![New wood shed](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-wood-shed.jpg)
November 2018 was the centenary of the end of World War I. In the churchyeard there are three war memorials listing the names of villagers who did not return from WWI, WW2 and the Balkan War. There was no memorial service to honour the fallen though.
![WWI War Memorial](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-11-1918-remembered.jpg)
The wood stove in the dining room puts out a lot of heat, but the flue filled with ash and cinders and needed emptying every two weeks during the burn season.
![A sooty pipe](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-13-flu-pipe.jpg)
I invested in a chimney fan, but had to design a metal frame to support it’s weight. It has worked extremely well though. Once again I was ready for winter.
![Flu extractor fan](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/18-12-fan.jpg)
2019
I have already written extensively about 2019. All the blogs are available, month by month using the tabs on the right of this page.
I started the year experimenting with hydroponics. I grew tomato plants, but they were the wrong variety and had very few fruit. Must try harder in 2020.
![Hydroponics - learning a new skill](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-01-hydroponics.jpg)
I started the year by building steps out of reclaimed stone, down into the orchard. When finished and with a gravel path, they look really nice.
![Constructing stone steps](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-02-steps-1.jpg)
![Completed steps](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-03-steps-2.jpg)
The dry stone walls have been extended. There is much more to do in 2020.
![Extending the walling](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-05-walling.jpg)
I discovered that I had a damp problem in one of my stores.
![Rising damp](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-06-damp.jpg)
So I built an outside store to take some of the boxes, but also all the materials I have had in store for the building work which I desperately want to be done.
![Design and build a shed](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-07-shed-1.jpg)
![Then fill to capacity](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-08-shed-2.jpg)
I’ve continued to find new species throughout the year.
![Peacock Hawk Moth](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-11-moths.jpg)
And plants which I have grown as bulbs have flowered for the first time.
![Fox Tail Lily](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-12-fox-tail-lilly.jpg)
Not everything that grows is welcome however. Ivy is a major problem. The birds eat the berries and seed new plants everywhere.
![Ivy everywhere](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-09-ivy-1.jpg)
![The roots destroy stone walls](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-10-ivy-2.jpg)
I have started experimenting with extreme closeup lenses. Watch for more examples in 2020.
![Extreme closeup photography](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-13-closeup.jpg)
When I was talking to one of my neighbours, I was invited into one of his store rooms. It is an “Ala-din’s Cave”. He no longer has any donkeys, but still has the saddles, bridles and carrying frames from when these were the only means of transport. I wonder what else is lying forgotten?
![A donkey saddle](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-14-donkey-saddle.jpg)
In October the family increased by one. Gizmo, a tiny frightened kitten, desperately calling for his Mum appeared outside my gate.
![New arrival Gizmo](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-15-gizmo.jpg)
A little over an hour later when I returmed from town, he had invited himself in (or may be it was Risha?) and was making himself at home.
Now properly vaccinated he is a fully paid up member of the family.
![Growing into a lovely house cat](https://hvar-digital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/Dol house 19 week 53/19-16-gizmo-2.jpg)
So as the last teenage year comes to an end, I wish you all a very Happy, Prosperous and Healthy 2020, where ever in the world you may be.
See you next year! NRCG