There’s probably nowhere I’d rather be than at our house in Norfolk for the Easter weekend. As I said in my last post, it is a real retreat and just so much more relaxing than being at home for some reason.

Here are some of the highlights of the past few days –

• Introducing Honey to the beach – she had a great run around and got very wet and sandy.
• Doing a couple of our favourite walks – the six mile one from Brancaster, up over the common then back along the coastal path and the four mile Holkham-Wells-Holkham one – in the beautiful sunshine.
• Meeting our friends, the Woodwards, completely by chance, whilst walking along the coastal path, and then going for a drink and snack with them at The Ship in Brancaster.

• A morning playing board games as a family.
• Seeing six seals playing and showing off during one of our beach walks.
• Talking about our planned summer holiday to Grenada for the whole of our four mile walk!

• Trying out a new recipe on Easter Sunday – orange glazed chicken, with orzo salad and asparagus.
• Homemade pizzas on Easter Monday, all choosing our own selection of toppings.

• Going out for a meal as a family.
• The fabulous weather – some of the mornings have been a little grey but the afternoons have been pretty glorious!

Back home tomorrow, as it’s nearly time to get B ready for his exciting school trip!

Some days, you just know, are going to stick in your memory as so special and such fun – and last Saturday was definitely one of those!

The day started with D taking G and B to the gym, so I had the house to myself to do the fourth day of Adriene Mishler’s 30 day yoga challenge. I am still really enjoying this and it’s a lovely start to the day. Saying that, the sixth day, yesterday, which focussed on abs, was particularly challenging – especially today, when laughing or coughing cause great discomfort – to say the least!

This was followed by the most lovely champagne breakfast – the height of luxury, decadence and yumminess! I had bought this as a gift for one of my closest friends for her 40^th birthday, which was a couple of weeks ago. She bought me a spa day for the two of us for mine last year, so I decided to repay the favour by treating us both to breakfast at the brasserie, which is situated on the balcony at the rear of Bennetts iconic department store, in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter on Irongate in Derby. You get a three course breakfast, with a choice of three or four options for each course, with plentiful tea/coffee/juice and, of course, champagne. I opted for a starter which I had tried before – granola with dried fruit and yogurt, which is delicious, then went for the full English breakfast. Having only recently started eating meat again after not doing so for 18 months, it was the first time in a long while that I had sampled a full English, and it did not disappoint. It included bacon, sausages, black pudding, tomatoes, choice of egg, fried bread, mushrooms, hash browns and toast, and everything was cooked to perfection. This was then followed – after a slight pause, as we were both so full – by apple parfait, which is a lovely light end to the meal. It also has to be said that the service was absolutely fantastic. It is my fourth visit for a champagne breakfast there and I have always been served by the same waiter, who is incredibly polite, attentive and has a fantastic memory, remembering our orders without writing anything down. So we both had a great few hours together, catching up on each other’s news and enjoying a real treat.

As a complete contrast to this, D and I then had a rare night out – at The Lancashire Hotpots! If you don’t know them (and you really should –they are absolutely hilarious and so entertaining!), they are a comedy folk band from St Helens, recording songs about Lancashire and British culture, using plenty of Lancashire dialect. We came across them a couple of years ago and just love them (being Lancastrians ourselves) but it is the first time we have seen them live. It really was a great night out for us – the kind of thing that we never normally do – but we had the best time. The venue was The Flowerpot in Derby, a pub with a great performance area in the back. They were a little later starting than we expected, but when they did, it was two full hours of pure fun – we haven’t sung so loudly, danced so much and got so hot on a night out in, what, maybe 20 years?!? We are still talking about it now – surely the sign of a fantastic night?

Fortunately, especially with the clock change, Sunday was a quieter day, but it really was such a wonderful Saturday – one which I will remember for a long time.

We all know that feeling – the Sunday night blues – when the fun and relaxation (unless you have spent the whole two days ferrying children around!) of the weekend is almost at an end and a week of work/study/demands is within sight. Whatever you have done over the weekend – seeing family and friends, a short break away, family time or just simply having time to do very little other than catch up on some reading and tea drinking – it is hardly surprising that people begin to feel anxious and a little despondent as this time begins to reach its conclusion. In fact, anxiety about the looming working week officially starts at 4.13pm on a Sunday, according to a poll.

However, we seem to have got into a habit of planning really lovely Sunday evenings, which end up being so enjoyable that we don’t even think about the impending week. Hurrah! They generally consist of one of two activities, the first being a family movie night – all snuggled down together, the woodburner roaring away, huge bowls of popcorn (especially now that we have recently discovered the joys of making our own candied popcorn – so bad but oh so good!!) and a great family film. The only challenge to me with this one is staying awake! The second one, which we enjoyed last night, does involve the children having homework to finish off or doing their own things in their rooms – some time alone for me and D, enjoying a bottle of wine and lots and lots of yummy cheese, again in front of the woodburner, and usually an episode or two of our current Netflix series (currently Lie To Me – brilliant!). Both options are so lovely and relaxing– either family time or adult time, both of which involve all the dogs snoozing in front of the fire with us – and they really have stopped all hints of the Sunday night blues.

I have to say that I do look forward to a healthy juice for breakfast on Monday morning though after the popcorn or cheese excesses of the night before! It’s all about balance, right?