Holi Festival, Drone Show and St Patrick's Day!

A busy weekend with a lovely sleepover catch up with my longest friend! 

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

To prepare for one of my longest friend visiting for the weekend, I had a few days off beforehand and was really trying to get back on day shift mode. Having done so many night shifts over recent weeks, it's defintely been a struggling but slowly but surely. I felt it was quite positive as I woke up and started by day at 7am. I tidied the house, undecorated for Valentines and then had a cleaner come to deep clean the main rooms of the house, before I decorated for St Patrick's Day. You can see a little decor haul here. 

I found out the day before that Leicester was having a night lights trail over the weekend so considered going to that. When we looked it up, it was a 50 minute drive just to the parking so it was going to be a very long night and given that Hannah had just had a 3 hour drive, we decided just to stay at mine instead. We talked forever catching up, before a manicure pamper night and film watching The Electric State. By this point, I'd already had a nap before Hannah arrived and fell asleep again watching the film...oops!

The next day was a busy but incredibly fun one! We started by heading to a local fancy pub, The Nuthall, for brunch. It was delicious and hit the spot perfectly. 

Then we headed to Wollaton park. We parked at my cousins house nearby before walking in and through the deer. Hannah hadn't seen them before but they were right at the main entrance today, albeit only one group. We walked through the courtyard and then up to the manor house, before heading into the Holi Festival celebrations, which I shared here. 

The celebrations were a lot of fun, and I finally convinced Hannah to get some colour on towards the end, but my feet were definitely getting tired. We headed back down to the courtyard and went to the cafe for a drink and some cakes, before having a little walk down to the lake. It was getting really cold, so we then headed back to mine for a just under 2 hour break to warm up and chill for a little. The colour was a natural powder paint so it brushed off relatively easily and then when I got my makeup brush on, it blended right in. I got changed and added a little more makeup ready for our evening plans, again outside. 

We headed over to West Bridgford just as the sun was setting, so drove with the sunset behind us. When we got to Trent Bridge for the Wonderful Wizard of Oz drone show, it was already quite busy and the queues for the few open food trucks were long. I had already made a booking at The Botanist for food after the show, but was also open to eating there. Neither of us were super hungry despite the time, because breakfast had been so filling, so we opted for a starter instead with a garlic pizza bread to share! It was a long half an hour wait but that wasn't too bad as we had live music playing next to us which was good, however just as ours was ready, disaster struck and a log burst over the pizza. I checked on it and said it was okay, we would just avoid that bit as by this point, it was nearing the show start time. However, it then happened again and it was ruined so they remade the garlic bread and we got it just in time for the show to start. I'm writing a full review to share for the drone show here. 

After the show finished, we raced out of the venue and quickly walked down to The Botanist. Thankfully it was lovely and warm inside and so we quickly regained circulation and enjoyed some delicious hanging kebabs, whilst listening to live music. By the time we got back, it was gone 11pm and I think we were both shattered from all the fresh air. We were going to watch some television in my bed after getting ready for bed, but by the time I was ready for bed, Hannah had already fallen asleep in the spare bedroom hugging the hot water bottle I'd given. 

Plans for the Sunday were kind of up in the air. I didn't have anything arranged or booked, but I had bought food in to cook at home if needed. We discussed having a cooked breakfast, but ultimately decided on a smoothie and then a Sunday lunch. Online, everywhere was booked so I decided to call and luckily there was a perfect table. We drank our smoothies whilst getting ready and then headed over. 

They were all decorated and set up for St Patrick's Day but sadly, we'd missed the celebrations the day before. Instead, there was just lots of sports playing on the three televisions, however luckily where we were had plenty of space and despite being a bar seated table, the chairs were very comfortable and the food mediocre, but chicken delicious. 

Afterwards, we headed to Martin's Pond. I've been wanting to go for a long time, but have never got around to it. Something always seems to come up when I've been meaning to go. Anyway, it's a small local nature reserve and pond. We had a short 30 minute walk around the lake and then through the start of the forest, but didn't spend too long. 

It was a lovely, peaceful walk though and it was nice to be able to talk to and say hi to the locals. One man even pointed out a heron and some sort of special woodpecker. Next time I go I will defintely try to go for longer to do the other side of the forest. It was actually a perfect easy going walk and really relaxing. I always love going for a walk after a meal, rather than before. I feel like I'm walking off the food I just ate! 

Once we got back, Hannah quickly got packed up and then headed off. It was pretty perfect timing as she left 1 minute before planned. I then started to watch the remainder of The Electric State that I missed when I fell asleep. Honestly, I was quite disappointed. I love the cast, but it was a really poor film and didn't make a lot of sense. 

Of course, things then went downhill. Despite the lovely weekend, I always struggle when I'm alone again. I just hate being by myself nowadays and I honestly thought one of my friends would come round, but sadly no one wanted to or could. Either way, it meant that I was now alone for 5 days straight and the down days started.