Danger In the Rose Garden

I have always been aware of dangers associated with garderning such as the chemicals we use, exposure to the sun and the presence of tetanus. Before Christmas I discovered another danger through experience. I was trimming one of my bushes of Elina when my feet became tangled in seed tray and I fell backwards into huge bush of Mondiale and it took about 45 minutes to extricate myself. Luckily I only had superficial wounds to my right arm and scratches on my back. When I look back on the incident it could have been quite serious had I sustained a serious cut when I fell due to the time it took for me to extricate myself.

Yes, very serious stuff indeed, these accidental falls. I've tripped and fallen over more bags and seedling trays this season than is reasonable for a normal year., and managed to fall over a palette out in the middle of teh lawn, and damage a suprapinatus tendon. I suspect in my case, it's growing tunnel vision that advances after one's mid-50s.

OMG , Ausrose and Betsy , what have you two been up too , Ausrose that would have been terrifying , 45 minutes tangled up in a big rose bush , well i'm guessing it was a rose bush , don't really know Mondiale .   This morning i was watering with the hose and i had it on full pressure and didn't release the pressure when i pulled it off the tap and copped a face full of water that squirted right in one eye , momentary blindness , but how stupid of me , rush , rush again .    Ausrose , who extracted you and how , and Betsy i think its the big hats we wear now too , can't see properly out of them ....

Guys, ya gotta take more care! It's a jungle out there!

ROTFLMAO, silky

Just don't hurt yourself Betsy. Lol

Oh no Ausrose, as we get older we seem to hit the ground harder and we don't bounce like we did when we were younger (:

Paul I think you hit the nail on the head referring to age as I think this is the crux of the problem.

Maree Mondiale is a rose and the one I have grows like a weed and well over 8ft tall and 4ft across.  I extricated myself by slowly edging down the bush until my bottom was on the ground a distance of about a foot. Once my bottom was on the ground I edged forward until I was out of the rose bush then rolled over onto my knees then was able to get up. All this was rather painful as the rose prickles were sticking into my back as I edged down the bush.

Ausrose that sounds like a nasty predicament to be in. Hope you disinfected those scratches, rose thorns can be tricky. Yes advancing age is a bugger isn't it? Balance, agility, clumsiness, vision...and don't get me started on wrinkles and waistline.

Doug, I have a cure for you......
 
You have to stop looking at African Queen as if your a 21 yr old....that will stop you falling backwards over her......[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

John oh for a return to the good old  days prior to prostate cancer.

Silkie I used antibiotic cream on my scratches and checked with my Dr as to whether I needed a tetnus injection which  I didn't as I had one two years ago.

Don't forget the grey hair too Silky , long, silky ,dark locks long gone now , unless you want to pay a fortune at the hairdresser , and i'd rather spend the money on guess what , my garden and roses lol        Ausrose sounds like you were very lucky indeed cause Mondial sounds like a real man eater ....

Haven't forgotten the grey hair Maree. However my grey I can control at the hairdresser (who is also rose mad) , unlike the creaky joints and increasing clumsiness. Vanity comes with a price though.

Yep , i know about the creaky joints too Silky , lol ha ha , say no more , especially after crawling under the roses last weekend , putting down mulch , groan ... I had a friend who always said the good thing about getting older was that you can become eccentric and get away with it , sounds good to me ....

Hahahaa. That's my theory too Maree. There are some (not many) advantages in becoming "invisible" with age.

Why stop at eccentric? Lest we become easily dismissed as old and therefore harmlessly dotty, let's present as downright DANGEROUS

Ha The Sisterhood lives!  

I'll join in on that one ,  

I'd thought I'd seen it all.. tripping over things (yes, i can even trip up steps), thorns (hate it when they embed in your noggin from a low lying climber), bites (ants biting your toes = annoyance # 2) .. but the one for me this year was a chemical burn up my arm from parsnip leaf juice (stop laughing).. I have this 15 cm strip of angry red blotches, looks like I have scarring from tropical ulcers.. doesn't hurt though but is drawing curious stares from colleagues...  

Have you had your blotches checked by a doctor?

Nah..it happened right on Christmas so I just kept a watchful eye.. apparently it is the exposure to the sun after the juice hits the skin that activates the reaction... coincidentally my gardening friend in town had the same experience with parsnip juice in the same week only he got the blotches on his chest...   which reminds me, i must ask him how he actually managed to get the juice on his chest.. the mind boggles

Never grown parsnips , so thats a real revelation Hariet , is it hives perhaps ?

Nah, it is a serious of burn like blotches.. husband loves parsnips but i will wear gloves now.. first time in 20 yrs that i have been growing them that it has happened though

Caroline, could you expand this a bit for me please, what's the chemical in the leaf which reacts to the sun and the skin. This will test your 'educational background' skills.

@ Caroline....just curious ....what do you use the parsnip juice for and what additives do you put in it