On Thursday morning the snow had just started when my general helper arrived and we headed out in the truck to get the remaining hay. There were 5 more bales which we put in the barn and this pile of loose hay.
It occurred to me as I was barely able to maneuver the truck around behind the house that it might be smart to get the heavy 6” pipe lengths out of the cellar and into the truck while I still could. So we dragged them up the steep bulkhead stairs and off to the barn we went.
The storm glass at 6AM on Thursday, yup, a storm is coming…
It will be open for my birthday!
Back at the house we set about sorting out the squashes, etc on the back porch. The watermelons had lasted until January 1st but were all starting to rot now. One of the mystery squashes had gone, and a few of the butternuts. Just 1 or 2 of the acorns had started to go.
We saved 4 butternuts that hadn’t gotten bad and 1 of the mystery squashes to process immediately. The rest were moved to boxes we had lined with cardboard pieces.
Finally the back porch is empty.
Almost all of these empty Christmas tree boxes had some sort of detritus from the unpacking and absolutely no order. So we set about sorting them out.
These 3 were easy and done first, the little lights for the big tree, garlands, and replacement/repair bag.
All packing materials landed on the dining room table.
And finally we designated 2 boxes for the beginnings of the take down of the trees, to happen on Friday.
These boxes were extras of bubble light bulbs and various sizes of plain glass balls. The 2 on the counter were to go to the attic, the rest to the store room.
I got a photo at noon of what it looked like when the snow ended, as it was to start raining through Friday. Then I got the upstairs ones and went to the cellar to get those.
That’s when it got interesting. It was noon, I was coming upstairs with the camera, when I missed a step at step 8 or 9, near the top. I suddenly found myself cartwheeling down the stairs to land at the bottom on my face. Boy, oh, boy, did I hurt!
I yelled for my general helper who was scrubbing away at the copper pot to fill the hour out. Eventually we discovered I was bleeding all over my arm (under my head) and hair (ditto). My left shoulder was killing me, and the knuckles on both hands had taken a beating. My knees weren’t very happy either.
My helper called Tom who woke my intern, who had just completed her EMT certificate 2 weeks before. I was to be her first client/patient. They came out and checked me over, and didn’t really think I needed stitches, but I was concerned about the orbit bones around my eye, as that’s where my not inconsiderable weight had landed.
My body worker friend arrived, Tom left me in her care, and when she had finished, I had started a headache and was slightly dizzy. Between that and the worry about the bones, we decided to head into the ER.
We arrived at 3:45 and it was pretty full in the waiting room, but we were taken back within 45 minutes, had a CT scan an hour after that, and X-rays an hour after that. There was a bit of debate about an MRI as my back lower neck was still hurting, but only if they took the rigid collar off.
Finally I was discharged at 9:30 and went home, checked the fires (my tenant had gotten them going and pulled shades for me) and went to bed. I anticipated a bad night as I was hurting a lot. But I zonked out right away and slept until 5:45AM.
Knock wood, so far I am doing far better than I have any right to be, considering. Hardest thing is my right hand has swollen and it’s hard to do things.
My glasses were ruined and one lens lost, probably under the stairs. Fortunately, I had a new second pair I’d totally forgotten about! We found them digging for an old pair for me to use, as I am pretty blind past 8” from my face.
So taking down the tree on Friday won’t be happening and my helper friend will be here. I’ll have him turn the squash into roasted vegs and run the vacuum around.
Oh, and the other guy just had a drop of (my) blood, that’s it…sigh….
Oh god, I hope you get well soon!
Best wishes for a quick and easy recovery!
Knock wood, so far today I am far better than I have any reason to be. I just look awful.
I am glad to hear that you are better, have a nice day!
Oh! Gosh! You had a lucky escape! Glad that you didn’t break anything. Must be aching and feeling quite sore! I had a bad fall a few years ago so I almost broke my back and arm! But the pain was intermittent for several months!
Hoping that you would take it easy for a while to let the body heal itself.
Speedy recovery and more stamina soon!
The plan was to lay on the couch watching videos, but today that didn't work out. Maybe tomorrow...
Oh! Dear! I do hope you could watch a few videos today.
I got 1 hour in in the evening before bed...
Oh! I hope you did manage to make up on lost hours!
Naw, probably not. Plan to take it easy for several days, so I will miss my deadline of trees down by my birthday on Tuesday.
Get well soon dear @goldenoakfarm!
Hello lovely lady! 😊
So sorry to hear of your fall, just reading about it made me cringe, as I've fallen down a few flights of stairs myself and know how badly your body hurts after you land. Oh, my land, you're going to have some really pretty colours on that side of your face for a while.
I'm so grateful your helper was there and you decided to go to the hospital, head injuries should always be taken extra cautiously, and that you're home mending. Sending you a very gentle hug, positive vibes, and saying a prayer for your speedy and uneventful recovery. 😊
God bless you and your wonderful family. Have an awesome day my fabulous friend! 😊
Oh no!!!! I can practically feel your pain coming through the words of this post. I am so sorry to hear you fell so close to your birthday, geez I can't imagine how sore you must be. I hope your eye heals okay too. Rest a bit even though it is difficult to keep you down for long. ♥
Actually, except for my hand, and as long as I didn't touch bruised things, I didn't hurt much on Friday. Now Saturday.... Good thing it really was a rest day....
Omg babe, I had to scroll through to find this after I saw you were on the mend. Goodness me. Hope you are laughing about it now.
Was laughing about it then, because, what else can you do? Most of the damage has healed except around my eye. Lots of scars and large lumps...
They'll be calling you Ol'Lumpy now... he he he - exactly, what can you do but laugh? It's a fright and certainly painful and an inconvenience as well but all's well that ends well. I seem to injure myself a couple of times a year! I still have a lumpy leg from where I fell off my bloody bike.