Is that the time?

Have you ever got up from your seat and said "is that the time?". I worked in computing most of my working life, and done a fair amount of programming. In that, you are always saying, I just need this last little tweak, and, before you know it, you are stiff when you get to stand up and the time has just flown by. Perhaps that is just the male ego, meaning that us blokes can always beat the machine.

Over the last few weeks, it has been like that with me, and I am over a week late in posting this blog. There have been quite a few things got in the way.






The first is that I have moved the caravan over to Holland for three months, and you can see it in its resplendent glory above. The picture below is the view from the window, as it were.

The advantage (supposedly) is that I get a bit more free time and opportunity for archery practice. The practice hasn't emerged yet but I did get to compete at Boekel the other weekend. A dry day with a bitterly cold wind as it turned out, but I managed 1314 with a 350 for 30m. It was the usual civilised Dutch shooting for the early season with archers inside shooting through windows at targets outside. The wind was just in the wrong direction blowing though the windows, so we might as well have been outside. The day starts at 9am, finishes by 4ish and the prize giving is done by 5pm, so there is time for a beer or two after you have packed up.

There was a GNAS Board meeting the next weekend and the AGM. It was my first one and was quite an enjoyable event. The formal (dry) business is done in the morning and the afternoon is an open discussion session in which there was lively debate and frank, but polite, exchange of views. More attendance is required, and people would benefit from that.

The prize giving was the last order of the day and we saw many clubs stepping up to the Clubmark challenge. This seems a sensible way to help to raise standards through GNAS.

Lastly, and most deservedly, Derek Sangster was awarded a life membership for his many years of quiet and diligent work.

I am on my way back to Holland as I write this. First stop off on the way was to see my almost 6 month old grandson who is a robust type. There was much discussion of weaning, the merits of organic baby food and of the evils of mass produced baby food in bottles. When I was a nipper, it was at the tail end of rationing and I can just remember going with my Mum for the bottles of orange juice. The second stop was at Lilleshall for some meetings about IT and the like, and that is where I am writing this from.

We are fast approaching the end of an era with the Archery GB corporate re-branding coming into play. No more GeeNAS or G-NAS, it will be archery GB from now on - reminds me that I need to change the title for this blog.

Take care everyone and good shooting for the start of the season!

Is Spring here yet?

The question in the title is very relevant. I am now living in my caravan in Holland and sometimes I think that I just left Scotland too early, as the weather has been wet and windy since I arrived. But, of course, as soon as you write it down, then the weather improves and it has been sunny today.

I was along at the handicapped training camp at Boekel over the last couple of days. The archers get to stay inside and shoot where the mere mortals like me go to run up and down getting their arrows in the rain (OK, I have exaggerated about the running).

There were archers from the Netherlands, Germany, Israel and Ireland there. As well as getting practice and sight marks, they shot ranking rounds at 70 meters, individual head-to-head and also team head-to-head. Huge quantities of food, of course, were made available as well as the continuous coffee.

Everyone is getting ready for China now. The qualification scores seem very high to me (but what do I know!) with compound being 339 and recurve being 306. They seem to be set from the last year's world rankings and taking the sixth place as the level.

I have added a few pictures for interest.