Guapa!

She was being amazing today, my lovely mare Kira. She gleamed in the autumnal sunlight and cocked her ear towards me indicating she was listening to what I wanted her to do. She relaxed and softened her pace, bringing her neck lower and trotting with her nose to the floor - stretching all the muscles over her back. She looked and felt lovely until all of a sudden she screamed a high pitch whinny and spun to see two horses and their riders coming down the track at the side of our arena.

I gave up, she had lost all concentration and was prancing with her tail kinked like an Arab horse, nostrils flared and keen to meet the new ponies.

Hola! I shouted and made my way over to the man and woman, they had obviously come to say hello.

And there started a conversation about horses. Five whole minutes, it could have been eight, of talking in Spanish. We talked about why they had ridden here, who they were and did I know the woman across the road. They asked me about Kira, what breed she was and if I had a trailer we could meet and ride on the beach. We discussed food for horses and how to get muscles on their back end and they consistently praised my horse.

Guapa they called her. They kept calling her guapa. And when they turned and said goodbye I could hear them continuing to call her guapisima as they rode away. My once skinny little mare, with the wonky hips and chopped-off mane had turned beautiful, not only beautiful but really beautiful.

I was insanely proud, I'm not sure which meant more - the little mare's perceived beauty or the fact I didn't once apologise for my crap language skills during the whole conversation.

Onwards and upwards.

A date with demons

They don't appear until 10pm, so we kept the kids awake with pizza, brownies and anticipation. Dimonis (demons) in Mallorca are hugely popular characters with their festivities dating back to the twelfth century. The origin seems to be religious where the demons represent evil and mischief - always accompanied by fire.

They weren't sure about going, having been told scary stories from children who had been before. Even the adults seemed a little reticent.

Where are the demons?

With just the right amount of red wine inside me and excitement building in the streets, drums started banging and kids swung fire about their heads. Not sparklers, great big balls of fire.

And then the demons, who shout in your face menacingly - accompanied by dancing and drums. The noise was insane and even the kids seemed to be thrilled to be so close to this incredible spectacle.

There was fire, and roaring, fireworks, whizzing, screaming, and shouting, banging and wildness.

We all loved it, there was no fear at all - we screamed back in the face of the demons and were just a little tempted to dance with evil for the night.

**Turn up the video loud**

Autumn

The days are shorter but still the geraniums flower. 

The air is fresher but a late sunflower blooms.

The peaches have gone but the oranges are ripening.

There is rain, but always the sun.

Mallorca in Autumn lifts the soul. I am deeply content on this Mediterranean island of light. The language is developing, the ponies are gleaming, the cats are beginning to sleep and the mountains change daily. 

There is no place on the earth I would rather be.

Half term

We all needed the break, especially little P with bags under her eyes so dark and ingrained. I needed a pause from the driving, the girls needed a few homework-free days and he just needed a holiday. So we all took last week off and had multiple days out exploring the island and falling ever-so slightly in love with it.

You see, there was no one here. We had the beaches to ourselves. We found a parking spot easily in Palma. We found a table for lunch in Alcudia. We saw no other cyclists on our bike rides. There were no supermarket queues. And still the sun shone.

Discovering Biniagual

Morning cuddles with Spot

Swimming in the sea in November

Lone palm and just us

Palma days

And just as the children returned to school, and he returned to work, the skies turned black and the temperatures dropped - just as it should be in November after all.