The Festive Season Is Near | November at eleonas

It’s November, and I’ve already started working on my New Year’s greeting card.

I actually began back in October, since each card is hand-painted, one by one.

This might be the last time, though, as the post offices in Rovies and Limni are about to close.

When I complained, saying I still send letters by post, people called me “old-fashioned.”

But I decided to prove them wrong: I designed the card with a little… help from AI. After many iterations and careful instructions, the design came out exactly as I had imagined.

Modern or not—what do you think?

Let me know when you receive it.

The icon was generated with AI for this newsletter

During the fall months, I set goals for myself: to sleep more, eat calmly and healthily, and read.

Work doesn’t stop, of course—juggling bureaucracy, the accounting for two businesses (the eleonas hotel and eleonas Vallis olive oil), and efforts to promote them.

And back to being called “old-fashioned”: I rely more on word-of-mouth than on social media or collaborations with influencers.

Stefanos once again appeared on the show PDO Cooking in national TV, talking extensively (though only briefly on air) about the olives and olive oil of the region.

He struggles with the estate, which has yet to recover from the fire.

A lack of rain and wild boars complicate things, leaving the land looking rather neglected.

And finally, I have a little story for you.

Did you know that the place name Rovies (or Orobie, as it was known in antiquity) does not, as many believe, come from pomegranates, but from the humble ervil bean (Vicia ervilia)—a legume known since ancient times as orobos, used as feed for oxen.

After all, it’s no coincidence that the very name Euboea comes from eus and bous, meaning “well-fed oxen,” who ate ervil.

 Personally, I believe the name Rovies – Orobiai might have more interesting roots, connected to the dinosaur Orobia.

Millions of years ago, Pelion and Euboea were joined, sharing the same myths—the myths of the Centaurs.