"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Monday, April 15, 2013

Seized Up

Gardens are never finished are they?  Every year there's some expansion or transplanting or change that occurs.

SM went and picked me up a load of compost the other day.  He started to help me unload it but I waved him off knowing that he had other plans and that I could take my time shoveling the dirt from point A to point B.

I took my time and enjoyed feeling the stretch and pull of muscles that have hibernated since last year.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday I had a very unhappy back.

It's all muscular, thank goodness.  Some massage, some ibuprofen and things got better.  Not good enough to continue with all the garden projects I had lined up, but good enough that SM didn't hear me squawking every time I moved.

Until this morning.

This morning I am seized up tight.  I hitched around a block to give the dogs a bit of a walk.  Not my usual mile or two but they got a bit of sniff time.

Now I'm trying to stretch it out, mentally calling to SM to "wake up" so he can come and rub the knot out of my lower back.

Until then, I'll gaze upon my new flower beds.




I transplanted some hosta and daylily's here.  One of the neighbors split rail fence broke so I'm using it here as a brace for the soil.  I'll plant a petunia or two for a POP of annual color.

This is my new baby, though. 




Inside the garden fence to protect it from the voracious bunnies we have around here, sits my new cutting flower garden.  I've seeded it with about 6 different varieties of flowers.  Zinnias, carnations...stuff like that.  The black plastic landscape edging was left over from the fellow who lived here before us.  This stuff is 15+ years old.  I finally found a use for it! 

At some point I'll buy some decorative brick to outline the bed.  (Not anytime soon with this back!) 

Oh good...I hear SM moving around now.  I'll let him get a cup of coffee first and then get a back rub.

Lesson learned.  Next time I'll let him help me unload the compost.

5 comments:

  1. It looks fa-boo!

    Where do y'all get your compost?

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  2. I know how you feel. I get so excited about gardening after such a long winter that I go full blast and pay for it big time. It hurts! But you are doing so good and it all looks so good. I'll be checking in to see your progress. I hope your back gets better soon so you can get back out there!

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  3. Tami, I hope you back gets better soon. I too am sore as the dickens from working in my plants yesterday but thank goodness to real back pain, must tired arm, leg & side muscles.

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  4. Ouch, sounds as if you really did overdo! I know it's hard when you're on a roll (and everything does look wonderful) but you should have paced yourself a little more. I'm not one to give advice though 'cause first of the year gardening always makes me a tad bit sore, too. What doesn't kill us . . . ?

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  5. Ow! times a thousand. Second only to the common cold, back pain drives doctor visits the most. Since you were repeatedly bending forward to scoop, then not fully standing upright, you really need to stretch backward, but because I'm waaaaay too late on the advice, you hopefully are recovering already. 80% of such back pains are self-limited, but if not, try lying prone (face down) for a few minutes, then gradually prop up on your elbows, holding that position for maybe 10 - 20 seconds, then lie flat again, and repeat that move about 9 or 10 more times. If the pain is smack in the lower back, it likely will get easier to stretch without so much pain, so you could then do a couple of "lazy man's pushups", using only your arms to raise your shoulders, leaving your hips and belly relaxed. 10 more of those, and with any luck, you'll be able to get upright (try to avoid bending forward to do that) - roll to one side, prop on an elbow, and come up to sitting. Keep that lower back from bending forward, and once you can walk about, try doing some easy back bends, keeping your knees straight. Do 10 or so several more times a day, and you might be able to treat your own back! This little trick can work a miracle, and for the over-doer's backache, it is far safer than overdosing aspirin or getting an over-enthusiastic back rub.

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