Where are they now?

[Primrose]

Funny how memories are triggered. I was reading the other day something about buckthorn hedges and that reminded me of Ricard with an H who was on the forum some time ago who lived somewhere in Wales as I remember him talking about planting buckthorn hedges to keep the wind off his plot.

No news of him for ages. I know he had some health problems and wonder if anybody had any news of him? Or of any of the other regulars who used to contribute regularly on here. It's a shame when regulars disappear and there is no way of getting news of them.

[Monika]

Hear, hear, Primrose. What about Motherwoman (from the Isle of Wight), Parsons Jack (from the Kent coast), glallotments (from Sheffield) and two people whose name I can't remember, one moved to Finland, the other one was in the south of France. At least it was good to see Catherine making a return recently.

I think somebody (OH?) sent Ricard with an H a PM but had no response.

[Primrose]

There is always the possibility that their interests have moved on to other things of course, or sadly that somebody might have died. Often it can be the case that email accounts of a deceased person are not closed down of course and any enquiries just land unanswered into their mail indefinitely or until it fills up and then sends out an automated message.

I,ve had several cases recently when the email addresses of deceased people I've known have been hijacked and seeing an email from a deceased friend suddenly land in your iN box is very spooky

Is there any way the administrative team could send out emails to everybody on their list asking them to give us some kind of update or sign out or is that technically not possible?

[alan refail]

glallotments are still going strong.

http://glallotments.blogspot.com/

[Westi]

I miss Ricard with a H as well, loved his bread interest, his challenges where he lived & his solutions to problems were always creative & he actually looked like he was taming his little piece of paradise. Glad to hear glallotments is still going strong as well, & Motherwoman was close to me (give or take a big stretch of water) so I was interested in her growing season because of that! But they left for some reason or another, but now we have new people joining & I'm enjoying their posts & questions as well! Growing is not a stagnant type of thing but evolves, becomes more creative to overcome challenges & we are very lucky to have these guys sharing these with us & opening our eyes to other possibilities! Our choice obviously whether we go with them but great to hear about their successes!

[Catherine]

I'm still around and gardening, but I have had a more than a year of ill health, I went to the doctor with pains in my breast and then I was on a treadmill of test after test. One of my tests was so stressful that the injection gave you three and a half years of back ground radiation, which could give you cancer in later life!!!! and you had two injections over two weeks. Really not happy but do you do it and make sure you are okay or do you don't do it and hope everything is okay.The specialist told me I probably was okay but thought I should have the test. Everything was OK but not happy that I had to go through it. I have acute arthritis in my feet and struggle to walk on a day to day basis. BUT I am still gardening and enjoying it, I retired a year ago and our allotment is coming on in leaps and bounds. But I am back

[Primrose]

Good for you Catherine. I think we all start to struggle with health issues of some kind as we get older and I know there a number of people on this forum battling one health issue or another. I think the secret is to get up in the morning and be grateful for the body bits which still work and be thankful for the positive things we still have in our lives.

Gardening may be hard work at times but its very therapeutic, both physically and mentally so let's hope we all keep going at that, even if we sometimes have to throttle back somewhat. There is no shame in taking those regular tea breaks sitting in your kneeler stool. I couldn,t do without mine these days!

[robo]

My wife had an appointment for the pain specialist last week ,after an hour of discussions about what he could not give her and why he said to her "as long as you are in pain you are alive enjoy it "I thought it was a silly statement from a professional and I would say he is underestimating the pain my wife is in

[Primrose]

I sometimes think training in an empathetic bedside manner is often sadly lacking in Medical training, or perhaps some people in the medical profession are not naturally that way inclined. . Sadly few people realise just how much being in constant pain can suck out much of the pleasure one gets from life. Do hope your wife manages to find some kind of solution to this robo. It must make you feel pretty impotent when you're unable to do anything practical about this.

[Catherine]

Good morning everyone. Well I am still around and just about gardening. We have had a very tough four years. My daughter died very suddenly three years ago aged 46, we became estranged with my grand daughter who went on to have our first great granchild who we have only seen three times. Then my husband found he had prostate cancer and had to have an operation. He is twelve months post op and doing very well. Then I fell in the garden and almost all last year I could hardly walk. After xrays it turned out I have arthritis in my lower back. I did no gardening or anything in the allotment all last year. I am slowly getting back into sowing and gardening. We have got rid of our fish pond at home and are making the garden more user friendly for my abilities. We have also halved the allotment (covering all the other bed up bar three large ones and I am back to sowing seeds to plant out) I am hoping that this year we will be on the right side of health and well being. Glad to be back on here and hope I can contribute something.

[oldherbaceous]

Good morning Catherine, lovely to see you back on the forum.
So sorry to read of all the problems you have had to deal with over the last few years.
I had Prostate Cancer a few years ago, so know all that goes with it….so really pleased your Husband is doing well!
So glad you are back to sowing seeds, as that alone can give you a huge lift.

I’m afraid to say we have lost so many of the long standing members, so things are very quiet on here at times….so good to see back on here.

[Westi]

How nice to see you back Catherine & glad you are growing. We have been asking for a long time where everyone had gone & then you popped up. Maybe others might be having a read as well & will also be encouraged to post.

A bit off the welcome back side but do ask a therapist at your GP practice as they can assess to see if you are entitled to help, especially in helping you make your garden user friendly, but can put in ramps & stuff inside so no stairs etc. It is something you are entitled to but not highly advertised but it is a prevention & will offer reassurance to both you & your husband & they will know you are safe at home & won't need to intervene after the event.

[retropants]

Lovely to have you back Catherine.

[Catherine]

Thank you OH, Westi and Retropants I think gardening is the thing that keeps us all going. I am so thankful for our garden and seeing things growing now. We are redesigning our garden to make it more user friendly and plan to bring the glass green house from the allotment as it is only a small one. Then making 8 raised beds and making smaller flower beds on the right side. I think is is a really exciting time in our garden. We have paid for our allotment for the next year but we have some new allotment holders in the plot next to us and they are really strange and not growing people. Building two huge sheds, electricity and lots of music and not our kind of allotment holders. So we are calling it a day after 25 years. Our bodies tell us it is time. Shame but necessary. On to the next experience. Onwards and upwards...

[Westi]

Catherine, funny you mention folk on allotments not playing right, there was a right issue on another forum where someone was building a huge structure made out of doors with & without glass. It was huge & definitely not allowed in their regulations. They had a warning which was ignored but was eventually evicted. The responses on the forum were very interesting & quite surprising how many folk were of the belief at least she was working the land which surprised me, they would be screaming if she was their neighbour blocking out their light etc.!
Just thinking as you have payed for another year it could be worth mentioning it to the committee? Whose paying for the electricity, what does it say in the contracts? The thing I note is if one person does this & gets away with it others follow making it worse.
Looking forward to seeing your future posts.