Goodbye Mina

It was another glorious start to the day today although sadly it clouded over early afternoon but better than it has been.  Thank goodness the weather is cold and bright at the moment because Sheila and Klaus have their family coming over and they haven't seen them in ages.  Cold and bright in February is about the best you can hope for.  Hopefully their accommodation will be warm because at night it is brassic!

John and I are so very grateful for the conservatory.  With the sun shining it reaches respectable temperatures unlike the the lounge where, first thing, it struggled to make even double figures.  I was doing some crochet today.  Both my tablet and John's ancient I-Pad are affected by the cold in the bedroom - I am used to it - I know that half the screen and keyboard on mine fail to function until it warms up a bit.  John has no patience with technology at the best of times so he is always ready to lob said I-Pad across the room in a fit of pique.  He asked me if I could fashion some sort of sleeve/cover to keep it from getting quite so cold so I had some wool left and decided to crochet something.  I was doing swimmingly until I realised that my trusty, and only, crochet hook had developed a weak point right at the hook and so it was in danger of snapping off.  That meant I had to form the stitches very carefully if I was going to complete the cover.

We were out for a late lunch today.   We were meeting up to say our farewells to Mina who is leaving the island on Monday for a new life in the UK.  I had not realised when we arranged to meet today that her departure was so imminent.  Over the last few years she has coped with a divorce, the death of her beloved father, the untimely death of her two dogs and a fire which nearly destroyed her home and her business.  This is far more than most people cope with in a life time.  We have our fingers crossed that her new start will bring her the happiness she deserves.

This photograph was taken 10 years ago on the first day that I met Mina - she had come to help Elena who was hosting a wedding reception in the garden of Orexi HQ in Droushia.  I was the lucky one, I was there just to take photographs so wandered around doing my own thing - Mina on the other hand was at the beck and call of Elena who morphed into Herr Obergrupenfuhrer She Who Must Be Obeyed!!!  We were still laughing about today over lunch.   

We met Mina and her new partner Becky at Fitos and had a lovely lunch together - our treat as a parting gift to them.  We reminisced, we laughed and we shed a few tears.  I know that in spite of absolutely promising to keep in touch that life will get in the way and that will probably not happen but we have plenty of memories of great times - some really epic times - usually accompanied by good food and a bit of red wine!

When we got home I finished John's I-Pad cover.  Time will tell whether it has any beneficially effect but at least when Miss Minnie decides to sit on it she wont scratch the screen.