I was up the garden today, planting runner beans as I have done for many years. I grew the bean plants from seed in little pots in our front bedroom and then hardened them off outside for two or three days. It is possible to experience frosts in South Yorkshire right up to the end of May and baby runner bean plants are very tender so it's best to wait until this particular time until you plant them outside.
After six weeks of dry and mainly sunny weather, today has been quite rainy and I had to dodge the showers to do my business with the beans. First I erected a wigwam of ten long bamboo canes on ground that I had previously dug over with well-rotted manure before sprinkling a couple of handfuls of chicken pellets on top. I used a couple of long plastic ties to secure the canes, standing on a little step ladder to reach the topmost point. The presence of rain in the air meant that I did not need to water the beans in. God was doing it for me - unless of course God delegates this menial task to his angels.
Two weeks ago I was up the garden installing a new wooden gate. I had made the previous one myself over thirty years ago but this time I got a fencing company to make the new gate to my measurements for the very reasonable sum of £32 ( $AUS 67 $US 43 Indian rupees 3,689).
The new gate is considerably heavier than the old one. During the installation process, I had it propped up on bricks before I screwed in the hinges. Maybe there was a gust of wind or something but anyway, when my back was turned the gate fell on my left calf. It was one of the pointed filials that hit me and it was quite a blow - like being stabbed with a wooden sword.
I was very glad that I had chosen to wear long trousers that morning for even through my trousers the gate managed to cause bleeding and the wound hurt like hell.
Over two weeks later and I am still conscious of the injury. Just over a week ago, the bruising migrated to my ankle and toes but that seems to have gone now and gradually I think my body is dealing with the matter as it has so often done with past injuries. Isn't that wonderful about these ape-like vessels that we live and move around in - they are so good at self-healing - especially when you are young.
I wanted to make this a simple, "domestic" blogpost without politics, poems or promenades in nearby countryside. Just a little window upon my little life in a little house on a long street in the suburbs of a northern city, in the month of May, in the county of Yorkshire, in a country called England, on the edge of a continent named Europe, on a planet called Earth in a faraway galaxy that we call The Milky Way.
P.S. The Milky Way we live in is 105,700 light years in diameter and contains between 100 billion and 400 billion stars. But hey, who's counting?
It's so hard to just Blog about the ordinary stuff of life these days when so much else is consuming us, isn't it? I try to do some fluff posts to give balance to some of the heavier ones I might write about.
ReplyDeleteSome bloggers are very good at focusing on mundane things while making those blogposts very readable.
DeleteIt's amazing how the body can heal itself in so many ways. We take it for granted all too often, ingrates that we are.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are young, most people expect their bodies to function in every way necessary without complaint or forethought.
DeleteYou ended this post with a flourish of detail and facts. that's better than a gate hitting you.
ReplyDeleteFacts about the Gaza situation certainly are like a gate hitting you.
Delete"galaxy that we call The Milky Way"!
ReplyDeleteThough I saw "The Meaning of Life" when it first came out, I had totally forgotten that song and dance scene. Quite brilliant!
DeleteI like simple, domestic posts. I'm glad that your calf is healing and that you got your beans planted. I planted my scarlet runner beans on May 19th and they're coming up, as well as my carrots, garlic and chives.
ReplyDeleteI did write the poem. I'm glad you liked it.
The poem was so good that for several lines I thought you had just copied and pasted it!
DeleteYou need to take a break from the world as it is or go nuts!
ReplyDeleteGlad you weren't seriously hurt and are mending!
If we follow the Trump saga too assiduously we will all go nuts. Sometimes you really need to look away.
DeleteThe Milky Way is a pretty galaxy and the milky way chocolate bars are nice too.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to grow my own beans again but the critters here defeat me so I have given up. These ape-like bodies do heal well don't they? Nature at work.
Why did they name our galaxy after a small chocolate bar?
DeleteOuch. Poor YP. I can imagine you whimpered a little.
ReplyDeleteWhimpered? I howled like a wolf!
DeleteThat sounds a very reasonable price for your gate, even though it did you an injury!
ReplyDeleteIt was my own stupid fault.
DeleteI'm always tripping up or bruising myself gardening or moving livestock.
ReplyDeleteShould have gone to Specsavers!
DeleteVicious gate - a life of its own! Healing seems to be slow but happening. I collapsed on the last visit round the garden and had to sit on a chair for half an hour but now have stronger knees from all that walking.
ReplyDeleteAs we grow older, the ability to heal naturally becomes slower and less reliable.
DeleteThe conclusion of your post reminds me of how in my childhood we (children) sometimes used to expand our addresses beyond what was really necessary for the post office ... I.e. after name, street and village/town also adding the name of the province, and then Sweden, Europe, The Earth, The Milky Way, The Universe... ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly why I did that at the end Monica. We did it in England too.
Delete…and kids in Germany (myself included) did that, too.
DeleteNo one is counting. It is an estimate.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I estimate there are fourteen stars in The Milky Way.
DeleteThat injury sounded like it really did hurt. I like how you ended your post. From Michael, in the suburbs of Richmond, VA, in the county of Chesterfield, in the state of Virginia, 2 hours from the Atlantic and 2 hours from Washington, DC on the North American continent.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. Hope your leg heals soon. These things happen in an instant and the fall-out last weeks. I managed to scald myself when the steam of the kettle blasted into my arm as I was reaching up above it to get a mug. Five weeks on and I still have a burn mark the size of an apple on my forearm.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to mind on seeing your blog post title was, 'Beanz meanz Heinz,' so apologies for that.
ReplyDeleteThat was a nasty injury, but at least you know that the gate is sturdy.
Thank goodness you didn't pay for that gate in Rupees.
ReplyDeletere your injury: Stop being such a fuss-pot.
Stay away from falling gates, and let us know how the beans are doing.
ReplyDeleteI HATE injuring myself. Life is good enough at that without my help. I'd love to see some photos of your garden sometime.
ReplyDeleteOuch! Garden Gate (get it?) sounds painful.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of post is all I am up to. Politics and other controversial subjects have appeared on my blog very rarely, because I want to avoid trollish comments and most of the time do not feel that I have anything meaningful or constructive contribution to make. When you post about politics or other very serious matters, I always read everything, comments and your replies included, but usually do not comment for the same reasons why I do not post about them on my own blog.
Call me cowardish if you like.
Glad you are healing from the gate accident. Hope the beans grow after all of that.
ReplyDeleteWe don’t bounce back as we once did
ReplyDeletethe garden gate incident very much reminded me of a concrete block in a stile that i clattered with my shin the other day...... why it was there i don't know but a series of scrapes and scratches it caused are tender and every time i shower i think back to the moment when my eye was not on "the ball"
ReplyDeleteYes, easier to injure, takes longer to heal and doesn't heal quite as well. I am amazed how babies can fall down on their bums over and over again when the are learning to walk. It's not a great adult experience.
ReplyDeleteYikes! That gate injury sounds like it could have been bad. Good job having the gate made at such a reasonable price.
ReplyDelete