Our garden is a haven for many varieties of bees and birds. The very occasional sparrow hawk does rip through to cause untold panic and mayhem. Red kites swoop down onto scraps that we leave out too (they scare our cats ****less!). We did have a rather large rat trying to infiltrate for a while, but he inevitably ended up in one of the cat's mouths.
But how good for my back. I do let the nature run free at my country estates, Stan Acres and the Chateau du Stan. We only have feral bees there. They are difficult to herd, unless you have well trained dragonflies (of course their lifespan is almost all taken up by the training), but it's so much more rewarding than the domesticated variety. And Yves, the travelling gypsy bee whisperer, does a great job.
I can empathise with that, I popped a disc in my back ten days ago in the garden so my osteopath is quids-in and the lawn is beginning to look rampant with all the rain last week and don't even mention the Privets...
I was speaking in general terms. We must look after as many areas as possible for nature, no matter how small or insignificant you imagine them to be.
Ouch. That's a bastard. Are you ok for work? Work colleague/ friend of mine did something similar (herniated disc) recently and finds no way to get any relief. He can't sit down for any length of time. Physical therapy hasn't helped, he's been offered surgery but rightly suspects that is too hit and miss. My sympathies Sooper.
We have a lot of Aquilegia in our garden and the bees love them, mind you all the bees have got overcoats on up here at the moment it's so cold.
Agree Col, in my defence the garden was totally concrete and wooden decking when we moved in. And I couldn't justify a lawn mower for what would have been 9 square yards of lawn had we opted for real grass. The artificial stuff does have real weedy things growing in it as well, which we decided to leave. Borders are full of flowers, grasses, shrubs etc, the bees seem to like the lavender. My work headquarters in the States has 6 acres of land which we have deliberately left wild, right next to the entrance to our soviet style concrete and glass offices. Land is cheap in Indiana.
Thanks mate. I was pole-axed over the holiday weekend, it first happened over 35 years ago and I was recommended a German Osteopath named Herr Bruggermeier in Herne Hill, he really had magic in his hands and I was mobile within a few days but that weakness is always there and I have had several relapses since. I now go to one of his pupils in Forest Hill and he is top-drawer. I am almost mobile again it just takes longer as you get older. Your friend is right about surgery, it's the sh*t or bust option and if it fails you can't 'manipulate' it any more. I don't know if your friend tried Osteopathy or one of the other types of Chiropractor but I'd strongly recommend a good osteopath every time...
My old man had crystallised discs (a form of gout I think) exacerbated by having one leg shorter than the other, a legacy of being brought up in the East End during the Great Depression and not getting enough to eat, or anything at all that hadn't been boiled to buggery (his mum was the worst cook in the universe. I suffered her dishes when I was young, the only time I would ever ask for salad). Laid him out from time to time, he dreaded going to the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital at Stanmore, where the treatment consisted of smashing up the crystals as best they could, by essentially punching his lower back for hours. Came back black and blue.
Sounds excruciating. I'd imagine things have moved on since then. Funnily enough the Osteopath was saying the contortion of my disc had made my left leg over half an inch shorter than my right which was contributing to my limited mobility. Part of the treatment resembles all-in wrestling but it certainly gets results...
It's not all bad Sooper. My dad was a good sportsman, ran 400 metres for Middlesex, and always claimed his imbalance of leg length helped him run the bends. Get in training, only a few week until Rio......
All the best with that Soops, Sounds really painful. I've done my back in at work a few times but thankfully I've never popped a disk.
Just back from a nice stroll in the evening sunshine, walking off our roast pork. Saw the usual collection of Kite, buzzards, Rooks, Crows and Jackdaws. Then, just as it seemed there would be nothing a bit more exciting, a Hobby swooped out from the church tower, hunting large insects and swifts etc. Pure poetry in motion, a Hobby is a fantastic flier.
