I’ve just come back from Holland. My daughter is moving into a new house. I was talking to the neighbours. They had lived there for ten years. They told me that their house use to be the last one in the row; that across the road was woodland and that beyond that was nothing but fields. I looked down the road at the long row of houses, across at the tram line and over to the new town.
In my village there are new houses springing up on waste land, the odd tree being chopped down, ditches culvetted, ponds filled in. Hedges disappear, gardens are concreted.
Across from my school there was a spring which was designated as a site of scientific interest. I used to take my classes across in the summer to see the water voles, frogs, newts and tadpoles. We even found grass-snakes and slow worms. It is now a new housing estate.
All over the country there are new roads, houses and buildings. There are hedgerows, streams, ponds and trees being eradicated.
It is slow, steady and relentless. Nature is fought back, habitat destroyed. A slow creep.
It is the same story all over the world.
It is not just about the graphic deforestation. The steady creep is wiping out wild animals even more effectively.
It is dreadful, here Farms are sold off the land destroyed as far as Wildlife is concerned, houses and more houses go up, hate it all.
Good morning Anna – I hope your shoulder is feeling better today.
Too many people. We are encroaching more and more and leaving less and less for the rest of the wild-life. I hate it.
I had to see Dr, can’t remember if he said pulled or torn tendon but he did say if no better in two weeks he will give me an injection. Pain early this morning, it was like being in labour just wave after wave of pain. Hit my shoulder on door frame before but this time I really must have crashed into it.
Environment, I hate what people do to their garden, cut down trees etc, this morning it was so funny watching the five little baby squirrels we have jumping from barn roof to tree and chasing each other up and down.
That’s not good. Have you got to rest it?
Labour is not so bad. I was there for all four of ours and I didn’t feel a thing.
I don’t think most people have the slightest idea of what they are doing. They don’t seem to like nature at all. The animals are inconsequential and insects are just a nuisance. I think they’d like to eradicate them all. For me I could spend hours just watching wild things. They fill me with delight.
You rest up that shoulder of yours and let it heal – and stop beating up poor door jambs!
No he didn’t say anything about resting it, but I just keep walking into things, my balance because of Meniere’s is bad, although I suspect people will think I am drunk. Just take Nurofen he said but then that causes probs with Warfarin – you can’t win. I was lucky going into Labour with the Boys, Jonathan 1hour 10mins and David 1hour 20mins but they were gowned up ready to go into theatre as baby was in difficulty, great Midwife I had she told me “come on we can deliver this baby ourselves”. Was Liz lucky with quick delivery. At last I am getting my hair cut, my friend the hairdresser said could I go into Salon, so have to go to Colchester next Tuesday, not looking forward to that, but will be glad to get my hair cut. Does Liz still have her long hair.
Well very gentle exercise is the order of the day – nothing that causes pain. Let it heal.
Liz’s births were not too bad but took about eight hours. You were incredibly lucky with yours being so short. We have a friend who had two babies and they both came in twenty minutes. She never got to hospital.
Liz used to have long dark hair but now she wears it quite short.
Twenty minutes brilliant, we would all have lots and lots of babies if they came that quick, yes I was lucky. I am going to have my quite short too, maybe Pixie style have to see. Thing is Opher I am trying to learn the new laptop Boys got me at Christmas, I am only basic in Internet, really worrying now about managing in San Francisco on my own – internet/phone/camera airport, so much to do and it’s middle or nearly end April already. The other afternoon, Tuesday I think, the pain was so bad I just couldn’t cope with it, I laid on my bed for an hour, that hour went to 8.55pm I was so shocked the Boys left me there until that time, but it did give me a break from the pain.
Is there nothing they can give you for the pain?
Don’t worry about San Fran. You’ll love it. There will be so much to do you’ll find the time flies. You’ll love it.
Nurofen and he has given a prescription for some gel to put on, 2 weeks if still in pain he will give me an injection. Just grip your teeth as I normally do and hope the pain will pass off for a while, the other day I told the Dr the pain went from my neck to my fingertips, that’s the day I went to bed I think.
Sounds like you’ve done something to a nerve. How about a cold compress?
Jonathan has been spraying you know that freeze spray, but it made little difference. You might be right about the nerve because around 5 this morning it was like something jumping in my neck and shoulder and that could be a nerve.
Probably. An ice-pack might help take any inflammation down.
Hello Opher, Dr has given me Ibuprofen Gel, apply 3 times a day. Really helped gone 3 this morning had a really bad fall (again) straight onto left shoulder, hitting legs as well, got some bruising coming out, but pain really annoying.
Hi Anna,
How did you manage that? Were you dozing on the sofa again? I hope you didn’t do too much harm.
Glad the ibuprofen is helping.
I don’t have a sofa in the bedroom I have a nice chair which I don’t sit on, I have bears etc on it and Jonathan keeps warning me if I don’t sit on it he will take it away, I have an ottoman and after my bath I sit on that, don’t go to bed till 4am, I nod off without realizing it and bang I am on the floor, only I landed on my sore shoulder that’s all I needed. Jonathan went out to get my medicine but he has such a dreadful cold, coughing for days. Probably noticed I have done no blogs can’t put much pressure on left side, at least everyone has been saved from me. How is your car, repaired and home. It’s pouring here and very cold, put heating on, what’s it like with you. I have noticed I have lost that little box you tick on the left side is that to receive your work, I have only “post comment” button left to press, does what I say make sense to you, it’s confusing me.
Don’t know what has happened to your box on the computer. I’m not brilliant on computers.
Car is still in the garage and might be for a while. A real problem.
It must be a real nuisance to have a sore shoulder. You can never get comfortable.
It’s not raining but it’s cold. I’m having the logburner on every evening.
What’s gone wrong with the car. Log burner sounds lovely.
Not sure what is up with the car. It could be a blocked filter or a failed oil pump. It could have messed up the engine big time!
That’s a damn nuisance and most inconvenient, what make of car do you have.
It’s a real pain. We are stranded without a car. But it does mean I can do more writing! There is an upside. I’m just hoping it is not going to be something big!
It’s a Citroen Picasso.
How are you managing to buy food, you will have to do “Ocado” like me or one of the others.
We’ve got the freezer. Hopefully the car will be fixed before we starve.
So sad. Habitat disappearing by the second.
The trouble is that I can’t see an end to it.
No….something would have to happen that we can’t even conceive of. Otherwise…
……….otherwise we end up in a plastic/concrete dystopia devoid of wild-life.