Ally's Bizarre Mishaps: Nos 2 & 3

Ally's Bizarre Mishaps - No.2 (29th March  2014)

While gettting a teaspoon out of the drawer this morning, to make a cuppa, I was unexpectedly attacked by a larger spoon, which, having somehow got itself entangled with other bits of cutlery, suddenly extricated itself and sprang with some force out of the drawer, landing very firmly, handle first, upon my bare toe, causing what feels like a cracked or at least chipped bone. Can't bear the touch of a sock on it at the moment, although it doesn't hurt so much with shoes on, for some reason. I suppose I ought to go and wrap it in frozen peas, but it's probably a bit too late for that now.

 Ally's Bizarre Mishaps - No.3 (1st April 2014)

Lovely evening, so I decided to go for a run along Hadrian's Cycleway, which is a new path that runs sort of in between, and parallel to, the main Maryport-Allonby road and the sea. I parked at Allonby and went off, jogging westwards. Realised it was too long since I'd done this, and felt a bit out of condition. By the time I reached the wooden footbridge across the stream, I was ready to stop and drink some water, so I leaned on the rail, gazing across to the sea, and took a few good gulps out of my nice aluminium water bottle. And then the bottle cap, that rather important thing that stops the water from falling out, slipped out of my fingers and dropped into the stream below.

My first thought: shoes and socks off - get into the water and retrieve it! But the stream's in a deep cutting, maybe 4 feet down, and although I could probably get down there, I'd never get back up again. Managed to stand on a few nettles with my bare feet, though, before I'd figured this out.

At least the cap had got stuck behind something in the water, and wasn't moving downstream, which gave me time to think.

Oh well, - find a stick! The stopper has a round hole in the top, so it should be easy to catch. Unfortunately, as there are no trees around there, there are no sticks either. I fiddled about with long plant stalks but they were too flimsy and too short.

The only solution was to run back to the car, drive up near the bridge, and use one of my telescopic walking sticks (which live in the car boot) to rescue it. This almost didn't work, as my first attempt just moved the stopper away from the thing it was trapped behind, and it started floating downstream. I had visions of it disappearing into the sea ... and I'd probably have followed it, so determined was I by this time not to give up.

Second attempt, though, worked! Hurrah! I triumphantly brought my walking stick up out of the stream with the bottle cap hanging on it like a bead on a necklace.

It's fine now. I've given it a thorough wash. My feet and legs are stinging though, from those nettles ...