Help! Where to buy ladies shoes in large sizes???

I have big feet.  And I wear what is considered a rather large shoe size in Europe (although it is quite common in North America).  I wear a ladies US 10/11  which translates to a European 40/41/42.

Here's the weird thing:  I'm having a heck of a time finding anything for women above size 39.  What's even weirder, if I'm looking for a casual shoe or a running shoe, they will bring me a man's 40 which is HUGE.  A man's 40 is like a man's US size 10/11, which is waaaaay bigger than a ladies US 10/11.
What I need is a ladies 40/41/42.

So, I'm walking around in some pretty old shoes, because I can't find things in my size. 

So, if there's anyone out there who lives in Croatia, or visits Croatia often, and knows where women with large feet can buy shoes.....please leave me a message here.  I would be very very very grateful.

Hvala puno!

Thinking of moving here?

I get lots of queries from people who are thinking of moving to Croatia.   Many have only visited Croatia for a week, maybe two, during the high season, staying in a hotel or renting a vacation home by the sea.  Some have visited once or twice for an entire summer...but stayed for free at a distant relative's apartment or summer home.  While the experience was probably fantastic...it was, nonetheless, artificial.  Life in Croatia is like life in any other place.  You've got work to do, bills to pay, sometimes it rains, or snows, sometimes it gets cold, sometimes the heating breaks down and can't be fixed for a couple days.  Sometimes your car won't start.  Sometimes you've got to go to the doctor or dentist or chiropractor.  Sometimes you sprain an ankle and can't walk up the 45 stairs to your apartment.  Sometimes your company shuts down and leaves you unemployed.  Sometimes taxes go up.   Real life.

There's an additional aspect to life in Croatia that visitors may not be aware of, and it is this:  there is a distinct difference between life in the summer and life in the low season.  Lots of places that are lively and crowded during the summer can actually be extraordinarily quiet during the low season.  Yup.  Especially the islands.  So if your only experience of Croatia is Dubrovnik in July, or Mali Losinj in august, or Rovinj in June....and your idea is to move here and work at a cafe for the year while you bask in the sun...you'd better think again.  many of the cafes, bars, shops, and even some hotels are only open from May-September. 

So, before making any permanent plans about moving here, I strongly suggest the following:
-take an entire month off work.  Yup, you read that right.  An entire month (two is even better)
-rent a place in Croatia in the actual city/town/village where you believe you want to live.  Don't spend a month in Dubrovnik, and then move to Zagreb.  The places are completely different.  Also, if you want to live on an island, then rent a place for an entire month on that island to see what happens during the winter months
-here's the kicker though:  rent a place for a month during the lowest of the low season.  In Croatia, I'd have to say that January or February is about right.  Don't come in the spring or summer or fall.  It is very nice during those months.  Come in January or February.

And stay exclusively in your rental place.  DO NOT travel more than 30 minutes outside of your rental place.  DO NOT go to other countries, or other parts of the country.  Trust me on this:  you cannot judge what it is like to live in Croatia by spending 3 days here, and then spending the rest of your visit in Italy, France, Germany, and a side trip to the UK.  

During your one month stay:
-buy groceries and cook real meals everyday
-buy cleaning materials and clean your kitchen, bathroom and do some dusting
-do your own laundry every few days
-go to the market
-visit a doctor,
-visit a dentist,
-get an eye exam,
-go to the bank to gather information on how to open an account and what type of account you can open based on your status
-go for job interviews
-get a shirt dry-cleaned
- get a hair cut
-check out apartment rentals with an agent
-call on any local friends/family members during the middle of the work-day often to see what they're up to
-check out language classes
-get yourself a public transit pass

You can't do all of the above in a 1 or 2 week visit.  People need 3 weeks to acclimate to a new situation, so it will really be in the 4th week that you start to really feel like you live here.  The 4th week is when you will know if you want to move here. 

Also, hope that there is terrible weather during your stay.  I mean terrible.  The logic is this:  if you can like living in a new place at its absolute worst time of year, then you'll love it during the best time of the year.  But the opposite is not true....you might love a place during its best times....but absolutely hate it during the low season. 

After your month spent here really 'living' like a local,  you'll know if you want to live here full time.  Or if what you really want is to just visit for a vacation during high season.  Nobody can tell you the answer.  Everybody is different. 

I hope this helps anybody out there who is contemplating a move to Croatia.  Come on over.  Slam the doors and kick the tires.  And take 'er for a spin.  And let me know how it goes.

Cat with a personality disorder

There are two types of cat in Croatia:  fluffy cute house-pet cats, and mangy one-eared alley-cats.  The alley cats tend to be pretty fierce.  I've learned never ever to sneak up on one to try and pet it.  Nope.  And to never corner one.  And certainly to never go near its food.  And if encountering one rummaging around in the garbage bin...that I should  back away slowly and then run.

Recently, an alley-cat has been hanging around our neighbourhood and it appears that in addition to ticks and fleas and crazy eyes, this cat has a personality disorder.  I only studied human psychology back in my university days, but I think that I can safely say that this cat has borderline personality disorder, and probably narcissistic personality disorder, and um, he seems to be talking to invisible other cats. 

I also firmly believe that he swore at me and gave me the equivalent of the finger when I caught him lapping away at the cooked lentils I had put outside to cool.  I went outside and yelled at him to get away, and with not one word of exaggeration, he looked at me with his non-mangled eye, sneered, and went back to eating the lentils.  So I had to swat at him with my slipper.  And all he did was jump off the table, growl and hiss at me, then strut off slowly while making nasty meowing remarks at me.


I was shocked.  Who knew cats liked lentils?

So many new things, so little time

You may have noticed that I'm not posting as often as I used to.  You might think that I've settled into life in Croatia, become completely fluent, and have pretty much really become Croatian to the point where I just blend in.  And that I therefore have nothing new or interesting to write about.

You couldn't be further from the truth.  Seriously.  The absolute direct opposite is what's going on in my world.  There are so many interesting things to talk about, so many weird and wonderful happenings, so many stories about people, places, history.  So many stories to tell.  So many cultural and societal observations.  So many things in my daily life.  So very very much.  That I cannot even begin to write it all down.  I've just been sitting here for over an hour trying to write one simple blog entry, but every time I got one sentence down, I was reminded of something else equally if not more important/crazy/interesting, and so I deleted my original sentence and started a whole new idea, only to again have it sidetracked with some other more interesting/crazy/important/hilarious story.

So bear with me as I try to get myself organized.  There just isn't enough time in the day to do everything that needs doing.  What with constant grammar lessons (note to any English-only speakers  learning this lingo:  the grammar lessons NEVER end.  Ever) and hunting down fresh home-grown food, and cooking every single morsel of food that I eat from scratch, and then doing dishes after every meal without a dishwasher,  and doing laundry without a dryer (especially fun during a cold snap), throwing logs in the fireplace every 20 minutes, and a bunch of other things that I don't even have time to write about....well, there just ain't enough time. 

I've been told to think about writing a book about my experiences, which sounds like a fantastic idea.  I'll just add it to my 'to do' list, and see what happens.

But for now, there's 2kg of fresh whole calamari awaiting me in the kitchen sink.  And if I want to eat dinner tonight, I've got to get to it.

Bok bok, my sweet little pumpkins

I knew this day would come eventually, I just didn't think it would happen so soon, and leave me feeling so empty.  I'm talking about the day that my winter-supply of squash finally ran out.  This evening I roasted and ate my very last squash.  And it came out perfect:  sweet, chestnutty, all yummy and delicious.  I baked it exactly the way I like it...just a little browned around the edges, with a bit of sea salt.  And after letting it cool to room temperature, drizzling generously with olive oil.

Back in September, we brought home 25 of these little beauties.  All of them the  Hokkaido variety.  Each one eaten with gusto and gratefulness.

Now, I count the days until I meet my precious Hokkaido once more.

Just 240 days to go.  May the autumn harvest be bountiful. 

Gardening in January!

Today I cooked cabbage and brussels sprouts picked fresh out of a neighbour's garden (with her permission, of course ;-)    I cannot explain the incredible taste of such fresh vegetables.  Sweet.  Lucious.  Tender.  Crisp.  So yummy that they don't even need salt.  Seriously.  Just steam and eat.  What a concept!

Curly cabbage!

Yep, those are brussels sprouts....don't worry I didn't know what the plant looked like either!

New year of possibilities

I often look to nature for signs of hope, and I found it in the Istrian sunset.   Frosty air.  Darkness descending; a sky bursting with ethereal colour.   Entrancing.  Gorgeous.  Uplifting.  And inspirational.  

Happy New Year to everyone.  May 2012 be filled with an abundance of good things for us all.

Merry Christmas 2011

I cannot believe that it is already Christmas!  Honestly, this year has flown by.  I'm wishing everyone a very very happy holiday season, and all the best for the new year.  May 2012 be wonderful for us all.

Thoughts on the language

I get lots of questions from people asking what the Croatian language is like to learn as a new language.  I tell them that it is a lot like the Energizer Bunny (from the TV commercial for Energizer batteries), the language just keeps going and going and going and going.  IMHO learning to speak Croatian proficiently cannot be measured in number of hours or months or semesters.  Learning to be proficient in Croatian is more like growing an expansive garden.  Some plants will be fruitful almost immediately, some will require coddling, and some plants will take years to mature and bear fruit.  Once the entire garden is well established, then the full bounty can truly be enjoyed.

My language is slowly but surely growing.  No longer tender saplings.  And not yet a fruit-laden orchard.  But something in between.  Filled with energy and great promise.   Always reaching towards the sky.



 

Crisp Autumn Nights

Oh, the days are getting shorter, and the evenings are quick to crisp up and get fresh.  Chestnut-roasting vendors are in the streets, and curls of smoke drift out of night-time chimneys.  Fall is upon us.  Put a log in the wood-burning stove.  Get out the tea cozy.  And take out that crocheted zigzag afghan project from last winter, and finish it up by the fireside.

Autumn.  Awesome.

Interesting wildlife...if you are squeamish, don't look at this post!

Today's post is about scorpions.  Yep.  Scorpions.  Who knew?  They live up and down the coast in Croatia and I'm told they are the variety that can sting, but don't kill.  Apparently their sting is as bad as a nasty bee sting (unless you are allergic).  They are pretty small in the Istrian peninsula where I had the encounter with the fellow in the picture above.  This one was about 5cm (2 inches) long and is one of the bigger ones you'll see around these parts.  Most of the other ones I've seen are usually 1-2cm long, and for some reason they tend to be in dark, damp places like the shower door, or the shower floor. 

You might think that your first reaction to seeing your first scorpion is to scream or maybe pass out.  That's what I thought too.  But weirdly, the first time I saw one I was dumbstruck, frozen, paralyzed, and it took about 3 minutes to recover enough to point in the direction where the scorpion had been (I'm guessing he took off so fast because he could sense my impending nervous breakdown).  Then in a tiny whisper I said to my husband:  I think I just saw a scorpion.  Then I sat down.  I think what may have happened is that my brain has never seen one of these things up close and personal, and thus it took my brain a couple hundred seconds to scan through my memory banks to first figure out what it is (not a spider, not a centipede, etc), then my brain had to figure out the correct response (run, scream, cry, employ flame thrower, etc). 

The second time I encountered a scorpion, it didn't take a millisecond for me to react.  Strange thing about scorpions:  they are BOLD.  They don't scurry away like spiders.  Nope.  They sort of sit there looking at you as if to say:  yeah, you caught me red-handed, now what are you gonna do about it, eh baby?  Then they will click their claws a few times and stare you down.  Like the one I found in the shower today.  He was a tiny little fellow near the drain, so I sprayed him with the shower head expecting him to run away or at least get washed down the drain.  That did not happen.  He slowly walked away from the water, then shook himself off, clicked his claws a few times (I think to dry them off and make sure they still worked) and then he sat there looking at me, and I'm sure he was thinking (in a John Wayne voice no less):  you shouldn't have done that little lady.

Um, I'm not proud of what happened next, but it was me or him, and well, let's just say that a wooden clog took care of the situation.  You may think the wooden clog was excessive force, but the other thing I learned about scorpions is that they have a rather hard shell.  If you hit them with a fly swatter or a slipper they will simply laugh maniacally at you.  The only thing that works is something really hard that can crush the shell.  And (here's the squeamish part) it will make an awful CRUNCH sound.

Scorpions like to hide out in warm and dark places like:  the cuffs on your jeans hanging over the chair at night, the socks you left on the floor and thought that maybe you'd wear one more day, curtains, shoes, slippers...I'll stop now.  Before doing anything at all now when I'm in Istria or anywhere along the coast, I shake things out before using them.  And I say a little tiny prayer.

Now, if you thought scorpions were bad, wait until I tell you about the Buick-sized grasshoppers that are so big people hire them out to help move appliances.  I made that last part up.  But they are big.  I'm getting up the nerve to take a picture of one...but my screaming shakes the camera and the pictures end up looking like those smudgy Loch Ness Monster pictures...which I can only imagine were taken while a)  screaming, and b) running away.

But all that is for some time in the future.  Right now, there's espresso to be made and enjoyed.  And hazelnuts to be shelled.

Ah, complete bliss, except for the scorpion part.

Dust in the wind

Okay, I'm noticing a weird thing about dust in Zagreb.  It is somehow everywhere.  No matter how much I dust the furniture in our place, I will turn around and just 2 hours later there is a thin layer of dust.  And if I wait just 2 or 3 days, it turns into a thick layer of dust.  Where does it all come from?

I thought it was just my own little problem, but when I mentioned it a few people here, they also told me about their losing battle with dust.  Some people swear that the dust starts to build just an hour after they finish dusting.  And I believe them. 

I'm starting to suspect the pollen.  Zagreb is well known for its high pollen count.  Some days you can walk down the street and see a thin layer of pollen coating the parked cars.  And you can hear people sneezing and snuffling as the pollen works its way into everyone's eyes, noses, and lungs.  And I'm guessing it is working its way through all my open windows, through my sheer curtains, and proceeding directly to pretty much every surface in our place.


I'd write more, but I've got dusting to do.....and do, and do, and do  ;-)

Some beauties about town

The hibiscus are in full bloom right now, and you can see them in all sorts of colours in just about every nook and cranny in Zagreb.

Here is a gorgeous deep coral coloured rose.  This picture was taken at that magic time just before it gets dark, when the light does something ethereal with the flowers.

And a beautifully fragrant gardenia, just because.  Ah, bliss!

Hot hot hot

We are having a heat wave.  The kind of heatwave that melts the sidewalks and makes the outside feel like the inside of a hot waffle iron.  Pretty normal for this time of year.  In just a few weeks we will all be complaining about the chill in the air, so I'm going to enjoy the heat while I can.

Here's my advice for the busloads of tourists taking walking tours in this heat:

1.  get a huge serving of ice-cream (multiple flavours is recommended)
2.  find a bench under a tree
3.  sit on the bench and eat ice-cream until it is gone
4.  repeat steps 1-3 as often as necessary

Enjoy the last few days of summer vacation!

Baby Olives

 

The olives are growing nicely all over the country, and should be ready for harvest around November.  I took some pictures of olives when they were just wee little babies back in June, and I thought I'd post the pictures now.  These are slightly bigger than a Tic Tac!

I'll be sure to post some updated pictures of the mature fruits later in the year.

Lots-o-beans-n-things

The city is empty.  August is the month when pretty much everyone in Croatia goes on vacation.  So Zagreb is quiet.   Parking is really easy to find.  And the few people out on the hot streets are more than likely locals like me, who love the city in the middle of August.

But I'm hardly lounging around.  It is harvest season, and I've been busy loading up on veggies to preserve for the coming winter.  It might be 33C outside, but inside there's work to be done.  Over the last few days,  I cleaned and packed 20kg (44lbs) of dried beans.  In order to make sure the beans were absolutely gluten-free, I had one of the local farmers dry the beans for me on the stalk, then pick the beans with the pods intact.  And I shelled all 20kg of them by hand.  It took me 2 days in our little kitchen, but I did it!  I got 13kg of dried beans out of the whole thing, and that will be more than enough to keep us going through winter and to the end of next spring too.

And that's not all.  I also trimmed, sliced, roasted, vacuum-packed and froze 25kg (55lbs) of fresh eggplant.   It took 2 days from start to finish.  And I've got another 20kg coming tomorrow, so I'll be busy busy busy.  In addition, I've got 25kg of tomatoes to prepare and freeze.  And I'm planning on roasting and freezing 10-15kg of sweet red pepper.

The hazelnuts should also be ready in a couple of weeks, so I'm clearing a space in my pantry for 30kg.  Those can wait in my cupboard for a couple of months to dry out.  Then I'll crack each one, roast in a hot oven, and grind into hazelnut-butter goodness. 

I'm hoping to get my hands on 30-40kg of fresh locally grown chestnuts this year.  I haven't found a local source yet...but I'm looking.  I'm willing to come out and harvest the little beauties myself if I have to...and will take them with the prickly shells still intact.  My plan is to peel, roast, dry out, then grind the chestnuts into flour so I can make a host of gluten-free goodies with them.

There are so many things I want to grow and harvest and preserve and cook and eat.  I can't wait!

Peka time!

I've heard about peka.  I've seen pictures of peka.  I've had peka described to me.  But for the first time in my entire life, I was able to enjoy peka this summer.

Peka refers to food that is slowly baked in a cast iron pan that is covered with a cast iron lid, and then covered in hot coals.  The cast iron pan and lid is also referred to as a peka. 

Without going into great detail, it is important to get fresh meat or fish, freshly peeled potatoes, some onions, maybe a carrot or two, and a bit of salt.  And arrange it all in the lower part of the pan.

Here, I've cut up one whole chicken, and added a tiny bit of salt and oil, and some fresh rosemary. Then added potatoes.  Then covered it with the cast iron lid (which weighs a ton).  And then placed the whole thing in the outdoor bbq area (known as the rostilj here in Croatia), and covered it with hot coals.  Then baked it for about 90 minutes.

Forgot to mention I also added some onion and garlic.

Really does weight about a ton.

Wood coals have been in the making for about 90 minutes.  This ain't exactly fast food.

Yep.  Looks done to me.

Wow.  The meat somehow comes out roasted and crispy on the outside, but tender and juicy on the inside.  And then there's the potato-alchemy that happens.  They come out golden and crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. 

The chicken worked out great.  So did the goat, lamb and pork ribs that we tried on different days.  I haven't had the chance to try octopus in there...but you'll be the first to know when it happens.

Hope y'all are having a fantastic dinner tonight!  I know I am :-)

Louise & Mickey..where are you?

I don't usually do this, but I'm going to use this bit of space on my blog to try and find my friends Mickey & Louise who I seem to have lost.  If you are out there, send me a message so we can reconnect.  The e-mail address I have (the telus.net one) does not work anymore :-(

All is well on my end of things.  Hope the same is true for y'all....

Figs are fine

The figs are starting to ripen.  Hallelujah! 

This little fellow below isn't quite ripe yet, but I took a picture just to show what the inside looks like at this stage.  The fruit is actually the flower turned inside out, if that makes any sense at all.







And here's what a tree looks like:

Interesting Fruits

Now that  grammar classes are done for the summer, I can get back to what matters most to me:  food!  I've had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Istrian countryside in June and couldn't help but be amazed at the bounty of fruits growing everywhere.  I took some pictures of things that might be pretty everyday for people who live in these parts, but are amazing for someone like me who comes from a much colder climate.

First up:  pomegranate.  This tree is about 4 or 5 years old and is covered in gorgeous saffron-colored blossoms:




A flower that has started morphing into pomegranate fruit:

 

 And one tiny perfectly formed pomegranate fruit that needs about 4 more months before it is ready to enjoy in October. 

 

Here's the one picture I have of a persimmon tree.  These fruits are about the size of a crab-apple right now, and will grow to the size of a grapefruit and turn bright red/orange in November/December.

Here's another interesting fruit:  the quince, a sort of cross between apple and pear.  This quince tree is about 12 years old and the fruits are hard and fuzzy right now.  They will grow quite large to the size of a very large potato, and they will remain quite hard, and will turn a golden yellow color.  Quince needs to be cooked and makes great compote.

 

Fruits amongst the lush leaves:

And a close-up of the fuzzy fruits:

 

I'm off to take pictures of the figs and olives right now.  However, if the early figs are ripe, I will put the camera away and help myself to some figgy goodness!

I made it!

So I wrote and passed all my exams.  Whew!  What a relief.  Now, I'll take a bit of time to let my brain relax. 

Ahhhh, it feels better already.

Thanks to everyone who sent along their good wishes!

Exam logjam

So, I passed my midterm exam with an admirable grade.  But there's hardly time to take a short breather because the next exam is just 10 days from now.!  And this is the final exam which covers everything from the entire course.  Can you hear that weird noise... it sort of sounds like the noise those long skinny balloons make when the street busker guy is twisting them into balloon animals?  Well, that squeaking is coming from my brain which is stretching to accommodate the mountains of new grammar and vocabulary that I take home every day from class, and which need to be studied, memorized and understood for this exam in 10 days.  

Everything is on hold for the next 10 days (including blogging) while I study and study and study and study, with small breaks for eating, sleeping, weeping, then back to more studying.

I'm praying that the jingles stay out of my head for this one.  These last few days of studying have been rudely interrupted by my brain singing Strangers In The Night (Sinatra version) in an endless loop over my dative possessive pronouns.  Why can't my brain sing instrumentals? 

Pronoun purgatory.

I have to write my midterm Croatian exam tomorrow.  I'm studying hard to keep my cases straight, and learning new vocabulary at the speed of light, and trying to remember when k changes to c and when a singular masculine noun is alive vs not alive, etc.  I can store most of this stuff nicely in my brain, but I've got a block when it comes to pronouns.  Seriously.  Don't ask me why I can't remember these things.  The pronouns in Croatian are a bit of a handful.  In English they are pretty easy to keep straight:  I, me, my, theirs, them, his, him, etc.  Simple stuff.  And I study them in Croatian.  Really really study them.  And I feel super confident when I sit down to write a test...and then it happens.  Whammo-bammo, the pronoun section of my brain goes out for coffee and leaves something useless in its place, like a pop tune or an old jingle.

So here's what's going on in my head as I'm trying to write the pronoun section of the exam:

Me:    Alright pronouns! I know this stuff like the back of my hand. Let's see, second person plural locative.
Brain:  we're sorry, all our operators are busy; please hold the line
Me:  okay don't panic, I'll just go to the next one.  Hmm, this one needs third person singular masculine in the accusative.  No problem.  I know this one, it goes like...
Brain:  YMCA, it's fun to stay at the YMCA
Me:  oh help!  come on, I know this stuff.  How do you say 'with her' in Croatian?
Brain:  I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper, he's a Pepper, she's a Pepper
Me & Brain:  wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too!  Be a Pepper, drink Dr. Pepper! 

It's grammar-jingle-dyslexia.  With flying monkeys and hula hoops.

If the teacher only knew what was going on in my head......

Squid for my sister

I'm posting a picture for my sister who has a special place in her heart for squid.  Especially big huge squid with eyes like jawbreakers!  Like this one, which a fisherman caught on a hook in the Adriatic Sea past Porec, and which then made its way to my kitchen.  This fellow was about as long as my arm and weighed about 2kg before I dressed him for dinner.  The suctions on his tentacles kept sticking to the cutting board and to my hands...de-suctioning them from my hands produced this weird SHLOOP noise.  As per usual, we ate every last morsel of this meal before I remembered that I needed to take a photo :-(  But trust me, it was very yummy :-)
Note to sister:  you can double click on the photo for a huge close-up view.

Second note:  next time you're swimming in the sea and you think that's seaweed brushing up against your ankle...think again!

Channeling my inner Nancy Drew

I've been going over lots of the fiction I've written over the years and I've noticed that everything eventually turns into a mystery.  You might think there's nothing wrong with this, and you'd be right.  Mysteries are great to read and I myself have enjoyed reading countless mysteries in my lifetime.  The weird thing is that I never set out to write a mystery.  I start out with something completely different in mind, and somewhere along the line BAMMO!  A mystery emerges.

Think of it this way.  Imagine that every time you get in the car, you end up at the dry-cleaners.  Even if you intend to drive to the grocery store, or to work, or the dentist's office or the emergency room at the hospital.  You end up at the dry-cleaners.  And unless you are living in a Stephen King novel, at some point you'd get a little weirded-out.  Yes?  So, I'm a little weirded-out about it. 

Come to think of it though, I did spend an inordinate amount of my childhood with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators, and my most favourite of all:  Encylopedia Brown!  I even thought about an awesome TV series where Nancy Drew and Encylopedia Brown grow up, get married and have kids who are...(get ready for it) crime-solving teenagers! 

So, I guess I should just recognize the pattern, and go with it.  I'm going to take my current work-in-progress (working title:  The Hypatia Curse...but don't worry, that won't be the real title ;-)  and turn it into a true mystery.  But no angels or werewolves or psychics or vampires.  Okay, maybe one vampire and one psychic.  We'll see how it goes.

I feel better already.  Whew!  Mystery solved.

Cherry countdown begins.

The cherry tree behind our building blossomed last week!  As you can see in my picture, the cherry has white blossoms.  Thousands of them.  And in just 30 days, the tree will be covered in dark red, sweet, fat, huge, juicy cherries.

Strange but true. Honest.

Do you know what Croatians call the "@" symbol?  In English, it is referred to as the 'at' sign.  So we'd give our e-mail address as:  myname AT something.com.  Well, around here, they don't call it the 'at' sign.  Nope.  If you ask someone for their e-mail address, here's what you'd get:

myname MONKEY SIGN something.com.

I didn't believe this at first because I thought people were just trying to pull my leg due to my obvious foreignality (I just made up that word).  But apparently it is true that they call the @ symbol, the MONKEY SIGN and I'm told it's because the symbol looks like a monkey.

Now I've been described as a pretty creative person, but I can't make out the monkey.  Maybe a whale eye, a sort of snail, a squished bagel or a strange donut.  But the monkey remains illusive for me.  I'm guessing it'll all become clear to me once I get a handle on some more grammar (?)

It is definitely more fun to speak e-mail addresses out loud using the monkey sign.  Try saying your e-mail address out loud right now using the monkey sign. 

Tell me that didn't make you grin from ear-to-ear :-)

Granny Square Blanket: Done.

I finished my granny-square blanket a few months ago, but forgot to post the picture.  In case anyone is interested, I used a J-crochet hook.  Final blanket measures about 1.5x1 metres, and contains 24 squares.

Nice and warm.  And washes easily in the washing machine!



Front View

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Homemade Nut Butters---- YUM!

I fully intended to provide a picture of the lovely golden hazelnut butter I made yesterday.  I had the camera sitting in the kitchen.  I put the nut butter into a nice white bowl so it would photograph beautifully.  But then I took a tiny taste.  Then another.  Then another.  And, well, pretty soon it was all gone.  All that was left was the bowl.  And I licked that clean, so there really wasn't anything left to photograph. 

I don't make nut butters often because it is a long process, and I usually eat the entire thing in one sitting.  So I make it as a treat.  Around these parts, nut trees grow all over the place.  Hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts grow in places like parking lots, parks, backyards.  So getting fresh picked nuts is quite easy. 

Making nut butters is simple.  Roast the nuts.  Cool.  Blend in a blender until smooth (I like mine kinda crunchy).  Add a bit of oil to make it blend smoothly.  I like mine plain, but you can add some vanilla or honey or sugar.  That's it.

The biggest nuisance for me is cracking the nuts.  I've got a nutcracker that cracks exactly one nut at a time.  It takes me two hours to crack one kilo of nuts.  After separating the shells from the nut-meat, I end up with half a kilo of shelled nuts.  Half a kilo of nuts will make about half a litre of nut butter.  That isn't a lot.

I only made 200 grams of hazelnut butter yesterday.  So I don't feel too horrible about eating the whole thing in one sitting.  But I wish I had more...so I could take a picture.

Croatian Saffron anyone?

I watched a show on television last night about saffron.  Saffron is the world's most expensive spice at about 3000-5000 euro per kilo.  It is made up from the three thread-like stigmas found in the middle of the purple crocus flower.  It takes something like 225,000 stigmas to make a kilo of saffron.  Each flower must be hand-picked, and each stigma must be gently pulled out of the delicate flower by hand.  Lots and lots of work.  But worth it.

I'm writing about it here, because they grow saffron in parts of India, Greece, Morocco and Iran.  But it is also grown in Spain, and interestingly in Sardinia and the Abruzzo part of Italy.  This last part is very interesting to me because there are many parts of Croatia that would be well suited for saffron cultivation, and yet I don't think it is being done here.  Of course I'll check this out, but as far as I know it isn't being done.  Maybe I'm naive about this stuff, but it seems like an awesome cash crop that could probably be grown nicely on many of the Croatian islands, and pretty much anywhere along the coastal regions.

I've never actually tasted saffron in my entire life.  I'm planning on trying some soon to see what all the hoopla is about!