01/01/2022
A belated Christmas and a Happy New Year to all who came to Solasta (and those that didn’t!) The merriest of Yuletides!
To those who ask if Solasta will reopen, unfortunately not...
I had so many plans for Solasta, trying to find premises in Rethymnon as Litsarda was too quiet, though I knew I’d not find a building as beautiful,
I’d hoped I could continue, I did find some possibilities, but always at the last moment they slipped through my fingers, the final one I’d wanted would have been ideal but the owner wouldn’t allow me to bake as her brother had a bakery nearby... and cakes were my thing!
Wayne Dyer wrote ‘don’t die with your music still in you’ and it feels a little like this...
sometimes we have to let things go with grace.
I see that people still see and ‘like’ the cafe on Facebook , it touches me every time, thank you! I might be biased but I think it was special in its own way!
I feel honoured that I met so many amazing folks through my time there, and though I ran the cafe on my own I was blessed by the unconditional support I received from so many people. I love you guys!
I have so many memories of lovely moments, of customers who became friends, of musicians who enchanted the village, or of the Greek villagers who would peep in the door smiling, calling out Agapi mou,
how lucky was I?!!
When I’d opened the cafe I hadn’t thought about friendships, I was focused on holding everything together, but certain people wove themselves into my heart, one in particular, a spirited little Irish woman who spoke her mind, made me laugh, and despite her diminutive size, she was a force to be reckoned with.
She may have lost the lilting accent of her birthplace but her feisty, stubborn, open heartedness was pure Irish.
When she passed away last summer she left many of us sore hearted,
But we are better people for knowing her.
This Hogmanay I’m on Skye staying with my sister and seeing my parents...
It’s so lovely to see family again. I’ve been breathing in every moment of my sisters company, and seeing my parents. My father recently had major heart surgery (he’s doing fine)
perhaps these times rekindle memories, remind us the importance of those we love?
Certainly as I’ve grown older I find myself in awe at their strength, living in a farm house on a mountain on Skye, without electric, with five children...respect!
They met when my mother trained as a nurse, bright lights after her upbringing on Skye, my father showed her his beloved Glasgow astride his motor bike.
They made a handsome couple.
This year they celebrated sixty years together.
I’ve also been taking care of my grandsons, barely babies when I last saw them, so lovely to have them run into my arms!
I want to collect memories for when I come back to Crete.
Little boys demand connection, contact, the physicality of play fights or the curling up of themselves beneath our arms, for sometimes even super heroes feel vulnerable, tiny, sticky fingers interweave with mine
My reading glasses, almost opaque by night fall.
Little boys ooze stickiness and mischief and fun.
They fall over frequently, they wrap themselves around a misguided bike and they wail inconsolably until picked off the ground, then with the application of a Marvel hero plaster and hug, they are off again, ecstatic as puppies.
There are just back from school hugs, hugs that deflect tantrums, hugs to heal hurts, hugs to hug back.
there are hugs received just for being in the right place at the right time.
Small people hug, generously.
They melt my heart.
This year I’ll slowly figure out my next steps... there is always a touch of sadness that my cafe couldn’t survive this crazy time....I shall follow my heart back to Crete soon!
We need to do what nourishes us, what calls us, to find joy in everything we do. A new year of fresh promises and beginnings,
And good health for each of us.
Happy New Year to all ❤️
