Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2010 | Page 84
Tony Ridd with the latest countryside news
local countryside
country life
Compiled by TONY RIDD
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Island Life - August/September 2010
what to
look out
for...
Wild Hops
Hops began to be used during the late
Middle Ages as a preservative and flavouring for beer. Plants are either male or
female identified by their clustered flowers.
They climb over hedges, shrubs, trees and
fences and become more obvious late summer when their fruit turns golden in colour.
Hop pillows are said to aid sleep!
back to nature
A countrymans diary
Friends in the
woodland and
countryside industry
sometimes take me to
task for ‘glamourising’
our job! I think
it’s fair to say that
most of us benefit
from a higher rate
of job satisfaction
than monetary
re-numeration!
As with similar land
based jobs, our work
is very hard on the gear that
we use, and although I’d like
to think we were very careful
of our equipment; breakages,
punctures and damage to kit
sometimes cannot be avoided.
One thing I don’t dwell on too
much is the dangerous elements
of our jobs. Probably because I
don't want to be reminded too
often. No, I’m not claiming we
are all stuntmen (and women).
The terrain we work in, weather
conditions, parameters of the
job and just plain old ‘the
unexpected’ can sometimes
conspire against us and keep us
on our toes.
Cuts and bruises are part of
our everyday office work, and
occasionally something a little
worse comes along! After a
couple of nasty falls last year
and dislocating my shoulder, my
number finally came up at the
NHS. So, last month I went in
for a ‘Bankart Procedure’. An
operation, to help, stabilise my
shoulder. Basically, I think it
consists of a few rawplugs, some
elastic, pain killers, arm in a
sling for 4-6 weeks and off work
for four months! Along with
some very dedicated, talented
and patient surgeons, nurses,
orderlies and other hospital staff
from the Alverstone Ward, who
I would like to thank for making
my stay at St Mary’s Hospital a
very pleasant one.
The only trouble is, on getting
home I found that someone had
pinched the ding-a-ling thing
from my bedside bell…typical!
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