The Latest in my Life ☀️
The summer holidays have been a very welcome break and I’ve enjoyed all the time with my family. Since my last Sunday Post, I’ve been out for lots of birthday meals and enjoyed some day trips to the Kitty Café in Nottingham, Springfields shopping centre in Spalding and Skegness. My daughter particularly enjoyed the latter and spent a long time playing on the beach and splashing in the “Fairy Dell” paddling pools.
Kew Gardens
We spent bank holiday weekend at Kew Gardens in Southwest London. It was a long journey to get there (about 4 hours) but we had a lovely time. We stayed at Warren House, a beautiful 1865 Victorian hotel. On Sunday, we got to enjoy the indoor swimming pool all to ourselves, then went out for dinner at a nice restaurant on the banks of the Thames.
Then we spent all of Monday walking around Kew Gardens. It’s a royal botanic garden that houses the “largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world”. I really liked the giant water lilies and the temperate houses filled with tropical plants, even though the humidity nearly finished me off. The treetop walk was fun too as we could feel the platform swaying in the wind. The gardens were a haven for wildlife, with lots of bees, butterflies, birds and waterfowl everywhere. We walked a total of 7 miles and still didn’t get around the whole park!
The last few days of the holiday were quite relaxed. I did lots of reading and baking with my daughter.
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and I’m back at work full time from tomorrow. But at least I have lots of things going on this month to look forward to. It will also be nice to spend some time with my wonderful Literacy team.
Writing ✍️
There are only two weeks left until my writing workshop at Boston Book Festival, so I’m busy preparing for that. Some pin badges and stickers I ordered turned up this week, which I’m really pleased with. I’ll be giving these out along with my bookmarks.
Blogging
Here’s what I posted since last time:
- Working Hard Or Hardly Working? #WednesdayHodgepodge (2)
- Stacking The Shelves (21): Mystery Parcel & Blog Buddy Books
- Back To School Memories, Summer Food & Worries #WednesdayHodgepodge (1)
Reading 📖
I finished Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater a few weeks ago. It was really good and I can’t wait for the last in the series, Greywaren, to come out. I’ve recently started a historical romance novel, New Beginnings on Vancouver Island, by Lorna Hunting. It’s very interesting so far.
I’m also listening to the audiobook of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman alongside watching the TV show. It’s darker and more violent than the TV show and I made the mistake of listening to 24/7 (the café episode) alone in the dark. I like all the references to DC superheroes and villains.
I’ll probably finish reading Encanto: A Tale of Three Sisters to my daughter tonight. Then we have a few library books to get through.
Watching and Listening 📺
- I’m hooked on The Sandman at the moment. The cast are so talented and I love the mythology and philosophy intertwined in the plot. It really makes me think.
- We still need to finish Ms. Marvel, but I’ve quite enjoyed it so far.
- We took our daughter to see Minions: Rise of Gru at the cinema yesterday, which was pretty funny.
- We’ve also started watching The Rings of Power on Prime and I’m impressed with the CGI and cinematography. It’s interesting to find out more about the backgrounds of established LOTR characters like Galadriel and Elrond.
Singing 🎵
I’m practising for our next choir concert at The Beonna Heritage Open Day, which is on the same day as my writing workshop! I’m very nervous but hopefully it will be as fun as last time and I’ll learn a lot from the experience.
Quote of the Week 💬
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 summer? Have you watched, read or listened to anything interesting this week? Let me know in the comments!
I would love to visit Kew Gardens. I’ve been to London but not to Kew. What a treat that would be.
It wasn’t somewhere I’ve ever thought of going before (we went for my father-in-law’s birthday) but I was pleasantly surprised by how much there was to do there.
What lovely photos! I am glad you have enjoyed the summer with your family. It sounds so nice! My daughter was eyeing Encanto: A Tale of Three Sisters at the bookstore the other day but decided not to get it. I hope you and your daughter are enjoying it. I hope you have a great week!
Thank you. We really enjoyed the book as there was lots of extra detail to give some background to the film.
Beautiful photos! It sounds like a fun trip. I’d love to stay in a historic hotel, but we don’t have anything really old around here. (Well, except that hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining . . . .)
We are lucky to have so many beautiful, old buildings. The hotel certainly had a lot of character.