The surprise farewell party which the Boston ward put on for us was only the beginning of our farewell tour.  Actually, it could be argued that it was right in the middle of the tour.  Our farewell tour really started around April, as that was when Tim and I were joined by his old Judd friends as we attended a big Navy/RAF ball on board a very old and impressive ship (can't remember the name!).

     And after that event, we started touring the country in earnest, seeing Neil and Jessica up north, and lots of Bleakleys and others down south, then seeing Helen and Scott and the Stiles.  Here is another good-bye, that took place in the second week of July.  Verity had to say goodbye to her lovely pre-school teachers at St. Hugh's.  After a year of attending a rather the crowded, inflexible, but very local Jacdor pre-school, I had to look for an alternative pre-school because Jacdor couldn't give me the schedule I needed to work on my academic article.  I called the pre-school associated with the lovely, but private and so very expensive St. Hugh's school.  It turned out that Verity was entitled to 10 free pre-school hours a week, even at a private school, and they could accommodate my schedule.  Thus commenced a blissful couple of months - for both Verity and me - where Verity was able to be in a small, quiet, relaxed, and happy setting for pre-school.  So, we were sad to leave that pre-school.  Here she is with her teachers on her last day: 

 

     And a week before school let out, both Eleanor and Samuel received the 'Superstar of the Week' award.



    
Here they are with the other 'Superstars of the Week'.  Now, every week one child is picked from among the 'Superstars of the Week' to be, well, I guess the 'Super-superstar of the week.'  For the first time in three years, one of my children was awarded the 'Super-superstar of the week, and it was Eleanor!  Here she is with her special 'star' trophy.

     Then, it was time for Tim's big surprise.  I had planned not one, but two surprise parties for Tim for the second weekend in July.  I had no idea how I was going to pull it off, because I had to get a very stressed out and busy husband to leave his house for two days, when he knew full well that he was supposed to be getting things ready to move.  I had to devise a plan to get him away from the house.  Anyway, I wrote him a 'James Bond' type letter, which sadly I don't think I saved on my computer.  I gave him breakfast in bed around 8am, with the letter on the tray.  He was told that he was going on a top secret mission and he would not know any of the details until later on.  He was to be dressed and ready to leave his house in his top secret mission vehicle by 10am, and he would not return home until late Sunday night.  Fortunately, Tim didn't argue and he seemed to understand that even though he had probably lots planned for that day, I was serious about going away for the weekend.  Yes, I think I said something in the letter about how the happiness of many people was dependent upon him following the instructions given to him.
     So, we were going to Alice and Paul Hearne's house first - yeaa!  It was a huge buffet, and Alice very kindly said I didn't have to bring anything.  But insisted on bringing my Raspberry and Lavender trifle.  It had to be perfect.  I remember trying very hard to make it perfect.  Here is the first layer - the lavender sponge cake, made up into sandwiches with raspberry and lavender jam, and then soaked in raspberry liquid, then topped with some just cooked, and some fresh, raspberries: 

     I didn't tell Tim where we were going.  I just told him to go south, and get on the A1.  Eventually he figured out where we were going.  We arrived on a beautiful, sunny, hot July afternoon at Alice and Paul's lovely home, and lots of people were waiting to greet us to bid us a fond farewell.

     

    








     There were Jo and Tom Barron, and Adam and Hannah Hurley, who had travelled especially from Swindon.  And there were Nina and Tony Langston, along with their boys Paul and Nick and their families.  And there were our good RAF LDS friends, Steve and Babs Loveridge.

     But the real surprise was when James Overthrow walked into the garden.  I had invited lots of Tim's RAF collegues from all his different tours, but most of them were unable to come due to the fact that they all live far away from High Wycombe, although there were all of them very sorry to miss Tim's party.  James, however, made the trip from Bristol.  Tim worked with James when we were at High Wycombe from 2003-2005, so it was a nice reunion.

 







 

     Thankfully, the trifle made it unscathed, and everyone was polite enough to rave about it .....

    

     .

     .... most especially, of course, our dear friend Rosemary Harding, whose speciality is giving people compliments and making people feel good about themselves!  She kept saying 'Isn't this gorgeous', and 'Holly's our Nigella', etc. etc.

 

     So while the children played in the garden, having water fights and etc ....

     We spent the rest of the day chatting, eating, singing, and prolonging our goodbyes.  Rosemary had just been to a 'Peace in the Park' event in Oxford and so she talked a lot about the importance of meditating.


 
 

















    Alice and Paul let us stay at their house for the night, and the next day we attending the High Wycombe ward for the last time for a long while.  After church we said goodbye to some of the best people on the planet - Alice, Paul, Rosemary and Nigel, and their families.
 

     Then, it was on to the second party. Again, Tim had no knowledge of this.  He thought we were going to Lynn Watford's house to dinner, because she had invited us a few weeks before.  And we were going to Lynn's house for dinner.  He just didn't know that after dinner there would be many people descending on Lynn's house to say goodbye to us.
     When people started arriving, he was surprised, but he was getting used to being surprised by now, I think.  But he wasn't expecting this:



    

     Bernie Dines walked into the garden, and Tim was truly amazed and happy to see his old friend.  Tim had worked with Bernie at High Wycombe.









     And if that wasn't enough, then Tim's old Group Captain, Gerard Bland and his wife walked into the garden.  I remember Tim saying something like 'I have no idea what's going to happen next.'







     The rest of the guests were the more usual suspects, who came and talked and laughed and ate, etc.  Here's Liz Knight with her boys, and James Kitsell - all gathered around Abigail, as usual!

     Our dear friend and once-awesome home teacher, Arnie Kitsell came:

     Imogen got to say goodbye to some old Brampton friends, including the ever-faithful Katherine Margaret Charmin.

     It was fun to see Richard and Emma Malachowski,

     As well as Emma and Matthew Wade,

     Charlotte and Alex Parker helped to host the event:

     Our dear long, long-time friends, the Knights,

     And our second family, the Dysons, managed to make a surprise appearance as well!

     Here we are with our gracious hosts, Lynn and Bethany and Robert Watford.

     It was a lot of work planning the parties, and I don't know if I could do it again, but the thing about these kinds of special social events is that, in my experience, they are 100% worth it.  They are important, unforgettable, and in this case, they helped us all - including the kids - to prepare emotionally to say goodbye to this lovely land.