Indian Summer

Klik on the foto to see and hear the video.

It was an nice Indian Summers' Day and I had just finished watching the bees dancing in front of the hives and had made some tea. I sat in front og the garden house and watched the little tits busily cavorting about in the branches of the nearby dead Buddleia. I had hung an empty coconut shell there in which I had smeared some crunchy peanut butter. I had also placed some sunflower seeds mixed with some varied seeds for them to eat as well.
They were ever so happy-- twittering in their soft, high-pitched peeping tones. I suppose that the warmish sunny day just made everyone feel pretty relaxed and confident that all was well.

I noticed that there were finches, tits, hedge sparrows and long-tailed tits coming in for the food. I was sitting on the bench in fro0nt of the garden house taking all this avian activity in. The sun shone across my chest and a bit in my eyes lazy eyes. I reached down for my cuppa tea and as I held it, testing the steaming liquid I was thinking--"Heck, sure, there's lots of work still to be done, but I'm just going to savour this remarkable moment".

I took the time to notice the newly-planted little garden at my feet and the patio that I was sitting on (Master Plan projects tikked-off)...my eyes ranged further, noticing the meandering path that I had just worked on and levelled. The steam that curled up out of the cup in the crisp fall air was magical and I blinked and squinted in the warmth.

I saw between the branches, someone slowly biking down the main sidewalk in my direction. I thought--"Yeah they are in no hurry today, they're feeling lazy and enjoying this Indian summer". I couldn't make out who it was, but through the branches I could easily see that the person was biking slowly and direct...suddenly; without swerving or anything, the biker simply fell over sideways!

It took me a second to snap out of my dreamy daze and realize that there was something bad wrong. I jumped up and shouted to my partner to come quickly that someone had fallen over up the path. I sprinted down the garden path and bounded over the fence and onto the sidewalk and raced up to the fallen biker. First he was still, then the upper leg moved a bit. I looked down and surveyed his situation. I asked how he was feeling, if he had pain and how his heart was beating. He said that he did not feel well because he had cancer. I persisted and asked about any acute problems. He looked a bit dazed and spoke clearly but slowly.

It looked alright but he had fallen onto a chicken wire fence which had torn-loose from the fence post and crumpled under his weight...he further came on top of a low hedge and thus was lying on his tight side, the bike on top of his lower right leg. The hand break was hooked into the chicken wire and so he was hopelessly stuck.

My partner arrived and began questioning him as well as I busied myself with freeing the bike so that the man could be extricated from his unfortunate situation.
Once I got the bike off and laid aside my partner and I each took an arm and lifted him up and out of the garden in which he landed.

We talked a bit more and deemed him to be clear and out of harm's way. He said that he had finally come to the garden to visit his wife at the garden and then THIS happens. His wife was not present either.

He again assured that he was fine and turned around to head home. He took the advice to walk up to the clubhouse instead of biking, as the paving was a bit uneven here and there.
No one else was about that had seen the episode and I wondered how long the man would have laid there had I not seen him fall.

Then moving along to a brighter note--this morning, after a long sleep after yesterday's work and excitements I washed the dishes and then I made the morning tea. I had just poured the boiling water into he pot, put sugar in the glasses, thrown the teabag away and picked-up the mat that one places the washed dishes on to drip off. It was on the counter and I turned to go and place it near the heater to dry off completely.... The tea which was sitting on an elevated warmer with a little round candle burning inside to keep the tea warm was on the dining table. I passed by and somehow when I passed between the fridge and the table my hip pulled the tablecloth, the pot fullof hot tea fell off the warmer, the top popped off and I got a liter of hot tea on my tummy, right hip and left foot. I tried to get away from the hot liquid on the floor that was on and under my bare foot, as I pushed off my foot slipped and banged into the radiator and I used my hands to hold the hot and soaking wet cloth of my T-shirt and PJ trousers off my skin as well as control the teapot what was twirling on the table top and eventually fell. I just did not have enough hands.

The acrobatic show was something to see, I am sure...but the real show was me trying to get my clothing off and at the same time extending my left leg up and into the sink where the cold water could run over it as I kept applying a cold, wet dishrag to my tum. Tch! What a drama.

At first my left toes were sort of numbish and felt as though they might be broken, but after a quick examination, I determined them to NOT be broken in spite of either the teapot having fallen on that foot or banging into the radiator when I slipped. There was widespread redness though over the distal aspect of that foot. I kept applying cold water. Eventually I stopped and went into the living room and propped up my foot and just looked at the red foot. I tried reading a bit, but that darn foot just kept asking for attention...as time went by, it began to hurt more and more. I decided to answer some e-mails to distract me.

It never did blister, but remained red and sensitive. I will see how it does by this evening, but I cannot have a shoe on that foot for the time being, so no lottie for me today.

We have a saying here that goes--"Unluckyness sits in a small corner". It just means that an accident can so easily happen when not expected. Who'dve thought that making tea could be dangerous...especially on an Indian Summers' Day.

 

That was quite a day. Did you ever hear from the biker again? A liter of tea is a lot to spill, I hope there is no permanent damage. I liked the bee video. A lot of activity.

Jerry

 

Sjoerd, you did well helping tha man that fell. I hope he is okay after he went home, too.

Sorry to hear about the mishap in your kitchen, too. I poured juice over my hand as I was extracting and bottling this fall and WOW oh WOW did that hurt. I ran cold water over it and iced it and wrapped and aloe leaf on it from the greenhouse all that day. It never did blister but my skin was like leather for a few days afterwards.... I think the aloe was the best remedy for it. I sure hope your foot does okay.

 

Oh my what a time you've had.
"hat's off" to you for being there and helping out.
You'd think "karma" would have been nicer to you at tea time.
Hope the gentleman AND your foot are feeling better very soon.

 

I am glad you were able to help that man Sjoerd. Sounds like he had a bad day too.

Aloe is perfect for burns. It will heal them much quicker.

I once spilled 6 qts of boiling water on my left forearm when trying to drain the spaghetti noodles. I just stood there a moment trying to figure out what to do. I ran cool tap water on it, then I rememberd that someone had given me an aloe plant and told me it was great for burns. I tried it, and it only took two applications. The burn that should have been a severe 3rd degree burn was healed that fast and never left a mark. Your burns do sound severe, they may need medical attention.

 

Hope you are feeling better after your encounter with the hot tea. Burns are just nasty and painful.
Bless you and your partner for helping that poor man who fell. He was fortunate that someone was there.

 

Hi TONI-- Thanks for the reaction to the posting. Yes, it could have been a difficult time for that gewntleman had we not been in the garden, bercause he really could not have gotten out of his jam very easily. The man was quite frail and "tired".
The foot is doing oké, but still sort when I have a sock and shoe on. No blisters so far.

JERRY--No, I have not heard from, the man again. I had never seen him before and his wife and son have not really socialized much since they came to their plot. Glad you liked the bees.

Yeah CAROLYN-- That hot water really had me jumping about. Too bad that I did not have any aloe in-house.

Thanks CHERYL--Yes, the scalding tea water incident brings the whole idea of karma into question for me. hahaha.
I hope the gentleman is fine too.

Hahaha: Too right, EILEEN. I won't be forgetting the incidents for some time to come.
Glad that you liked the bee vid.

Ouch--AANIGHTOWL--That sounds painful I am relieved to hear that you recovered without incident.

Thank you 4-G__ The foot is better now and I hope things are going oké with the man. What a day that was.