Holiday in Rutland, Easter Eggcitement and Finding My Voice (#TheSundayPost)

The Latest in my life 🌤️

I’ve not done one of these for about a month due to the Blogging from A-Z Challenge.

I had a lovely two-week break at the beginning of April, during which I met up with friends, attended my virtual writing group and treated myself to an Indian head massage in an attempt to cure my chronic tension headaches and shoulder pain. It did ease it for a while, and I managed to go for quite a few days on just one dose of painkillers, which was a great relief. Physio also helps a little for a few days after each appointment, but I must admit that I’ve not been very consistent with doing the exercises at home.

We went on a family holiday to Rutland, which is only about an hour away from where I live. We stayed in a cheap and cheerful hotel amidst hills filled with frolicking lambs. It was our first holiday since my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, and there were a few hiccups with her blood sugar, but it was otherwise fine. The weather was beautiful, and we went on lots of walks in the woods. Fineshade Wood was particularly lovely and there was a Superworm trail to follow, which my daughter loved. We had some lovely days out to the gorgeous town of Stamford, a tranquil nature reserve, Hammerton Zoo and Sacrewell Farm. I would highly recommend all of them! Hammerton Zoo had a wonderful range of interesting creatures, and Sacrewell Farm had cute animals, a river to splash about in and the most amazing play area I’ve ever seen! We had the best time.

On the last day of our holiday (Easter Sunday), we went to my family’s annual reunion meal, which is usually hosted by one of my mum’s aunts, uncles or cousins. It was a smaller gathering than usual due to some of the family coming down with Covid and others being away, but it was lovely to see those that did make it. I wore my “Dorothy” Rainbow dress from Popsy Clothing in honour of my late grandmother, as it’s her namesake. The Easter Bunny paid us a visit on Easter Monday, and my daughter enjoyed collecting all the eggs in the garden.

Then it was back to work on Tuesday 19th April. I’ve been training up a new member of my team (a lovely lady whom I seem to have a lot in common with) and starting up some new Literacy groups. I’ve had another cold/sinus infection for the last couple of weeks and almost completely lost my voice last week. Only being able to whisper made teaching a little challenging, but thankfully all my students were kind to me! I’m nearly better now, just feeling a little run down and my headache is back to full strength again.

The funfair has been in town all week so we had a day out to enjoy the rides and the sweets on bank holiday Monday. My daughter was so excited as there has been no fair for the past couple of years due to the pandemic. She wanted to go on everything, so of course, we burned holes in our pockets. We also managed to get our car locked in the multi-storey car park and had to walk home! Believe it or not, it’s the second time we’ve done that!

This weekend, my husband has been having the time of his life away in Birmingham on a stag do. My daughter and I have been having lots of treats and spending some quality time together. We’ve been out in the garden in the sunshine quite a lot, spring cleaning, dancing around the kitchen and watching films in bed. It’s been great and is making me look forward to the summer holidays.

Writing ✍️

This weekend, I updated my list of anthology submission calls that I’m interested in entering and drew up a plan of which order I’m going to tackle them in and how many words I plan to write each day, plus time for breaks and editing. I set up pages for each one on WriteMore, and I’m hoping to get back into a regular routine again. Wish me luck!

Reading 📖

I’m so behind with my reading! I’ve just started Maggie Stiefvater’s Mister Impossible and Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, so hopefully, I can post a proper update soon.

Watching and Listening 📺

• I’m really enjoying Moon Night and still have the final episode to catch up with tonight, as I was waiting for my husband to get home. So far, I’ve loved Oscar Isaac’s portrayal of DID and all the awesome Egyptian mythology.
• Likewise, I’ve still yet to watch the final episode of Picard, but I’ve been loving this series. It’s been great to learn more about both Picard and Guinan’s backstories.
• My daughter made me watch Sing on Disney+ and I actually found it pretty funny.
• We’re booked in to see Dr Strange, Multiverse of Madness on Tuesday. I can’t wait!

Singing

Since singing is my new and unexpected hobby, I thought I’d give it its own subheading. I have no real technique and am still learning how to breathe properly. But whether I sound any good or not, it’s bringing me a lot of joy, and I’m taking all the serotonin I can get!

I also went right out of my comfort zone this weekend and uploaded a little clip of me singing on TikTok! I’ve been caring a lot less about what people think of me lately, and it feels good.

@curiousdaydreams

#duet with @corps_meteore #dreamalittledream #kareoke #notasinger

♬ son original – Corps Météore

Quote of the Week 💬

I just had to share this wonderful poem by Brian Bilston:

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer.

It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies. Link up once a week or once a month, you decide. Book haul can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books..share them!

~Kimberly

How was your week? Did you have a good Easter last month? Does your town have an annual fun fair? Do you enjoy singing? Let me know in the comments!