Beatrix pottering: The End

It’s been a little while since the last post, but I still have the end of our adventure to tell. So here goes...

Thursday 12th April was party day! Lots of preparation first: Jemima and I went to the butcher to collect the Scotch eggs I'd ordered, then the English supermarket for the Pimms, then the normal supermarket for the food... And after a brief Chameli's lunch, I made the sandwiches and cooked the sausage rolls and cocktail sausages (I've realised English picnics are heavy on sausage meat). Then Jemima, Kevin and I took the food, drink and beach towels through our building complex and set up camp on the beach, ready for the 4pm post-school arrivals (Jemima's class had already gone back for the summer term).

The usual slightly tense pre-party wait followed, exacerbated by a few "sorry we can't make it after all" messages. Finally, our first guests arrived! Alicia and Juliana, plus their mums - the only two that don't really speak English... But they said yes to the Pimms (which I described as "English sangria"), and things were soon relaxing. And then streams of adults and children arrived: the Pimms was flowing; the various sausage snacks were a hit, even the Scotch eggs, although the most popular were the cocktail sausages, in Jackie's (Kevin's ex-wife's) special marinade - I had requests for the recipe; and before long there were eight naked children splashing in the sea. Jemima's three main teachers even turned up: the wonderful Miss Oliver, her form teacher; Miss Kingerley, Miss Oliver's assistant and the PE teacher; and Miss Rodriguez, her Spanish teacher.

It was a lovely afternoon: Jemima couldn't have had more fun, and all the adults and kids enjoyed it. Every drop was drunk, every scrap was eaten, and we finally packed up past 7pm when it started to get a bit chilly and the last revellers went home. Jemima's farewell English picnic was a success! Kevin put Jemima to bed while I unpacked the bags, then we both got into bed and went straight to sleep...

Friday morning started slowly, after the excitement of the day before. It was also pretty grim weather - cold and rainy (after a cold and windy Wednesday, and terrible weather again on Friday, we had been so lucky that our beach picnic day was warm and sunny). We put our coats back on, and went to use up our last pass at Katmandu: the crazy golf.

This was a fun way to pass an hour or so: it was an elaborate course, with lots of water features and fake rocks, and gave Kevin lots of scope to show his superior putting skills. I was pretty rubbish, but Jemima enjoyed being taught by Daddy and did some good putts by herself by the end.

Final plan for the day: I needed to return a library book to school, so Jemima had been invited to come along for the last half an hour of the day. Kevin, waiting in the car on the road, could hear the shouts of "Jemima!!!" as we went in the classroom; she was nearly knocked over by an avalanche of children. I have a lovely image of Jemima looking back at me with a surprised and happy smile from the centre of a massive multi-child hug. It's so wonderful to know that she's made good friends over the last few months (and the parents were all even more friendly too, after our picnic efforts the day before). After school we went with a few of the mums and kids to the playground down the road (which we'd only recently discovered), and Jemima had a final play with Quico, Sara, Juliana and Nicole. Then back home for beans on toast before bed.

And then it was the final weekend. I started packing on Saturday morning, before a final breakfast in Chameli's (a lot of "finals" now...). Then the packing continued, while Jemima was playing at her friend Lili's house (Lili's mum Olga had offered to have her so I could get on, which was very kind of her, and Jemima had a lot of fun). I finished a few (final) jobs, while Kevin had a rainy run; then I collected Jemima, and made a special (final) meal - steak, chips, mushrooms, salad, and peppercorn sauce. Two sleeps to go...

The Last Day started with (final) pancakes, then more packing. While a Kevin watched the Grand Prix, Jemima and I went for a (final) scoot/ run in the marina - I ran while she scooted for 10 mins, then I pushed her a bit as a rest, then we repeated it - there was some complaining, but it worked reasonably well. And the reward: a (final) marina ice cream. At 2pm, we went down to meet Femi for a goodbye lunch in Chameli's: pimientos de padrón, jamón, and lobster paella for Kevin and I; and carbonara for Jemima. We played a lot of games and chatted; then it was back home for the last push on the packing: four hold suitcases plus one cabin suitcase, plus my rucksack - it's a lot of stuff. Thankfully though, because we're coming back in May, there wasn't that panicky "will it all fit?!" fear. And, true to form, I did bring too much stuff - there are clothes going home that I didn't wear once...

A fairly early night, and then a 6am start to get ready for our taxi. And then that was it - it really was all over. Muchas gracias Mallorca - it's been AMAZING. And hasta luego - see you soon...

PS thank you to anyone who has accompanied us on our journey via this blog. I hope you've enjoyed it too...

PPS Aaaarrrgh the photos didn’t publish! I’ll have to put them all on again. Watch this space...

Party preparations...

And in full swing!