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min33

accidents in the garden

this afternoon i managed to trip over a low pot and i landed face first on a garden stepping stone. i look like sylvester stallone after a fight and am hoping i don't get black eyes too because i am going out to lunch tomorrow.

some years ago i ran full steam into a forehead high rope tied between a tree and a fence which knocked me back on my rear on the edge of a low rock wall. ouch! old butts aren't all that pretty but purple ones look much worse!

anyone else have garden accidents or is it just clumsy old me? min

Comments (14)

  • soxxxx
    12 years ago

    After several backward falls and backing into trees, I have tried not to pull the watering hose acrosss the yard/garden while walking backward. I have tried to keep this to myself because I felt so foolish. Now I have confessed.

  • sanitycheck
    12 years ago

    I just move to fast and forget that im not as young as i used to be. Since im self-employed i have to remind myself that i dont have any disability to fall back on, slow down girl!

  • cindysunshine
    12 years ago

    We were in high gear working in the vegetable garden this spring and I ran back to the garage for tools made a beeline back to the garage around the path thru the borders when I caught the edge of a support trellis I had pushed in to hold up some iris that were sprawled. That thing had two big metal ends sticking out that made a terrible gash in calf just off center from the shin. I still have big purple spots where it is healing.

    I guess my poison ivy doesn't count but I was a horrible mess for three weeks all over my arms and legs.

    My forearms are always scratched and my classic response is I have been doing battle in the garden,

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    12 years ago

    Ha, a couple of years back I really dinged myself, sun in my eyes, tripped over something, maybe it was my own big feet. Ended up a real mess, impaled myself on a sharp piece of gravel. DH rushed me down to our doctor's clinic where I ended up with stitches between my eyes and down my nose. It's a good thing the doctor warned me how my face was going to look the next morning, he was right I kinda looked like the bride of frankenstein only worse. I wore BIG sunglasses for the next two weeks. Yup, gardening can be dangerous to one's health, be careful out there people.

    Annette

  • christinmk z5b eastern WA
    12 years ago

    Oh Min! Hope you arn't too banged up from the fall ;-(

    I always manage to poke myself in the face on sharp (newly cut) branches or get scraped up from them somehow.
    No really bad garden related accidents, although a couple years ago I had heat exhaustion from going too hard and long at weeding (my garden and the neighbors who where on vacation) on a hot day. I can't tell you how many times I was sick that night- plus fever/chills. Now my motto is take it easy! There is no rush ;-)
    CMK

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    12 years ago

    Min times like this, BIG sunglasses are you're best friend.

    Annette

  • jakkom
    12 years ago

    In 2004 I fell on a concrete stair and managed to hit the edge of the stair just right - broke both leg bones just above the ankle which also dislocated the ankle, doing a fair amount of nerve damage which continues to bother me to this day.

    The only good part about it was I had been fighting with my HMO to get a bone density scan, because my sister had been diagnosed with severe osteoporosis due to high blood-calcium levels, and they thought it might be a heredity factor. As I was under 60, the HMO was refusing, but I did so much damage to myself from a 6" fall, that the surgeon agreed I should have the scan and authorized it.

    Fortunately, the scan was fine and her condition was eventually diagnosed as malfunctioning parathyroids. But I must say, it's a lot harder to recover from injuries when you're 55 than when you're 25!

  • mytime
    12 years ago

    After reading these, I don't feel bad about my clumsiness in the garden. By fall I am always covered with bruises, cuts, scrapes, bug bites all over...Whenever I have an autumn doctor appointment, I have to convince the doctor all over again that my DH is not abusive towards me!

    The most irritating thing I do, because I do it several times each year, is to eventually forget that I am weeding under the edge of the deck, raise up, and smack my head right into the deck edge, or worse, one of the metal brackets that holds the benches on the deck. I have come close to knocking myself out doing that.

  • wren_garden
    12 years ago

    I just walk across the garden and I am already in a sweat. So, I have no protection when I am in the garden,with short sleeves and shorts. I never make a point to work with the roses where I would suit up. Roses are tended to as part of the tending sweep through the garden for some weeding here, some staking there etc. I have had a major raking across my arms, legs, and hands. Not to mention the thorns in my hands. My husband is alarmed many times a season. You think he would know by now instead of asking what happened. I just say, Oh Long John Silver, Buff Beauty or who ever bit me.

  • flora_uk
    12 years ago

    Fingers crossed no accidents but near misses with canes. If you are focussing on something in a flower bed it is easy to put your eye out on a bamboo cane supporting something. I try to use cane toppers if I need to stick in a cane.

    Here is a link that might be useful: cane toppers

  • sanitycheck
    12 years ago

    And remember to update your tetnus shots if your anything like me.

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    12 years ago

    Yes tetnus shots, I've got a few years to go before I need another one. All gardeners should keep these up to date.

    Annette

  • Min3 South S.F. Bay CA
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    annette, jkom and cindy- you guys were hurt much worse than i was and cmk, you were in a lot of danger from that heat exhaustion. i guess we have all learned to be more careful when we think we are 'just playing' in our gardens.
    so that i don't make my lunch companions lose their appetites, i will have to put a bandaid on my torn-up nose and i will look SO classy! too bad i don't have one of the kids' printed kinds, 'hello kitty' maybe.

    i still have a big scrape on my forehead that can't be hidden- sunglasses don't come that big. i try to always wear glasses in the garden so that i don't put my eye out on something- probably that would be a good idea for you too, flora.

    everyone be careful out there in your pretty gardens- they are just waiting to get you! (-: min

  • tressa
    12 years ago

    OH MY GOSH, guys, what terrible mishaps!!! I am going to show this to dear hubby cause he thinks I am the most inept and careless gardener/worker around. I hurt myself no matter what I do! However, he will ask for my helf (you know, like lifting 100 lb bag of cement or something on that order) and then says "can you hold this for a minute? then watches my face to make sure I'm not turning too red!!!!!

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