Archery Reunion, Game Night and Jurassic Cove!

I finally went back to archery after a long 3 and a half break. Plus, my annual leave started off with a lovely visit from an old school friend with lunch out, game night, mini golf and Sunday lunch! 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

Archery was something I loved before I met my ex, but it became something we loved together, so the thought of doing it without him was very difficult for me to process. I struggled to overcome the emotions linked to archery and him but I told myself I would start in July and that's exactly what I did. I started back at a local club about 10 minutes away from my house which is nice, however it took a lot longer in rush hour. I've now shot twice. The first being at 10m and going very well. The weather was a bit dreary, but afterwards, Harriet and I headed to the pub for a lovely lunch...traditions! 

For the start of my annual leave, I headed to the hairdressers and got my hair cut for the first time this year. It's been a long time coming and I was excited to get a treat and trim. 

I headed straight to archery afterwards, for the second time. The weather was absolutely glorious. It was so hot and sunny. I wore sunglasses for the first time ever whilst shooting and perhaps that was linked to the terrible shooting. I increased by distance to 20m but wasn't doing very well. Prior to this week, I hadn't shot for 3 and a half years so it may just be that I am very much out of practice. It didn't help that I was also on edge. Every time I heard a car or someone behind him, I thought there was a small chance it might be him which would be worse case scenario. 

On Saturday, my friend camera came up from London. We went to school together, then Greenhead and London for university too. It's been lovely to stay in touch over the years. I picked her up from the train station and gave her a tour of my house. It was nice to feel like I was showing it off a bit for once. We then headed out for lunch to Strelley Hall which was so yummy, before a small walk in the drizzling rain. We were going to go through the Bluebell Forest but decided against it and watched Leo Grande instead. It was an off film but hilarious and weirdly good! 

In the evening, a couple other friends came over for a little games night. I did pizza as well as nibbles, then we played Skyjo and Colour Brain. We were going to do a few more but just kept talking instead which was actually lovely and it was nice that everyone got on. I couldn't believe it was almost midnight when they left! 

The next day was meant to be a little overcast as well, but the weather was beautiful. We headed to a new mini golf near me, called Jurassic Cove. It was so much fun and we both had a blast. It's such a photo op scenery surrounding the course too. We were so close and literally drawing the first 11 holes, and then Katherine started to go a little downhill a bit after I got a hole in one. I ended up winning by 11. 

Afterwards, we headed to The Botanist for the yummiest Sunday lunch. I am usually so impressed and apart from a small mix up of sides, the rest of it was perfect. They also had a little indoor market going on which was interesting. Afterwards, we walked off the calories with a short walk around the two parks nearby in West Bridgford. 

I took her to do a few errands on the way back, but I didn't think we had much time to go for another walk, nor to go see some friends in an archery competition unfortunately. We came back to mine instead and sat in the garden having some lovely drinks in the sun. I dropped Katherine off at the station just in time because as soon as I got back, it started pouring down with rain! 

I spent the rest of the day, completing the first draft of my essay for the third module of my master's degree. I will be sharing all the details of the module very soon so I won't go into too much detail here, but it's been really enjoyable to write and I can't wait to finish it.