Birthday party

It was my birthday last month, but due to my sister coming a few weeks later, I scheduled my birthday party for July 17th. It was going to be watery. As in: sightseeing by boat, perhaps renting a small boat ourselves. 

One friend couldn't make it, as she was on holiday. Another couldn't make it as she was due to go on holiday. So, of the 17 people invited: 6 dropped out immediately. My friend in Scotland couldn't make it. Nor could my sister (this virus is slowly getting on my nerves!). My brother called: he was coming, but his family not as they were (going) camping and had travel time. 

H tried to putt, but he overshot

Eventually it was me, my parents and a couple who have known me all (she) or most (he) of my life. I still didn't want to do the Dutch thing by sitting around, having coffee and cake, followed by nibbles and chit chat. But the watery idea I had was doable with a sizeable group, not so much with a small group. 

 I in the 'Ruff'

In the end I had an idea. I had been to this place yonks ago and I thought it might be good fun to go there again. We were going to play golf! Not the Tiger Woods version, but not the Kurt Russell/Goldie Hawn 'Overboard' version either. Pitch & Putt. 

First there would be lunch at home. For this my brother, his wife and two daughters would come. Until that blasted virus knocked it sideways once again. Until they could come anyway. Until traffic got in the way in the form of accidents and roadworks. The other couple had similar problems: an open bridge which then wouldn't close again. 

In the end, everybody arrived. Lunch was eaten and then four cars left again. One car for camping, one car home to son (who wasn't able to come) and two cars for golf. Once there it was busy. Very busy. And due to this virus (have I told you it is getting on my nerves), not enough staff. But we did get our coffee and cakes and then we were told about the course and what to do.

My Dad and H searching for a ball 

The weather was glorious. Blue skies, sun, a bit of wind, 24 degrees C. All around fantastic. Perfect for a nice 18 hole round. Well... In the end it was only five. Due to all the troubles earlier in the day, we started a bit late and if we were to do the whole thing, it would be 10 pm by the time we would finish, as we weren't that good.

It was a lot of fun though. I took some photos with my phone and for some reason it takes short videos at the same time. Normally quite annoying, this time around it was perfect. On our return we visited our local Chinese to round off the day perfectly. Good food, good company. It was a good day, despite...

Video 1: My Mum teeing off

Video 2: My Dad teeing off and failing

Video 3: My Dad's ball had landed in the water and he needed to retrieve it. We were hoping, it didn't happen...

Video 4: Me hitting the ball

Video 5: Me hitting the ball again