Another accident

27.12.2009

Xmas had an unexpected surprise for us! On Wednesday 23rd Edd went off with the ute and trailer to pick up the last of the round balers we had ordered. I was busy in the donga writing the last of the Xmas letters when the phone rang. Edd had been knocked off the back of his ute by a round bale and was injured .

I jumped into my car and drove straight to the paddock. He was in a lot of pain and his friend who was working with him had phoned the ambulance. He had landed on his shoulder, which was visably damaged, but his back was also immovable. I drove the car down to Maroondah hospital where the ambulance had delivered Edd and were then involved in hours of X-rays and other tests.

Bo and Josh joined us and Josh found me something to eat. Edd was not allowed anything in case he needed surgery but he was given enough pain killers to make him very woozie. The doctors discovered that he had dislocated a joint in his shoulder and damaged all the soft tissue so that his collar bone was sticking right up . He would need to have his left arm strapped up for about a month so it could try and heal. At this stage he was unable to stand, probably because of all the painkillers, so I left him in the hospital for the night and came home alone.

Next day after I had milked the goats I rang the hospital and found out that he was ready to come home. He was still in a lot of pain but at least he could walk. I stopped at the shops to buy shirts and trousers that could be dealt with one handed. Needless to say all the plans I had made for getting ready for Xmas were totally stuffed up.

Luckily I was not doing the Xmas meal my daughter in law had volunteered to cook for all the family this year. I was not quite sure how she would do this. They only moved into their new house on Wednesday and the kitchen had not yet been completed! She tells me that the day was complicated further because her friend who lived next door went into labour and gave birth to a son in a pool on the lawn just by their front door!

However, amazingly, when we all turned up for lunch on Xmas day the house was sorted out and a fantastic middle eastern style feast prepared. It was exactly what we needed. We were all having problems staying awake and were not in any state for heavy food. Bo had prepared a trifle , home made ice cream and Summer pudding to complete the meal. The trifle was made of real egg custard and we quizzed Bo to find out how she had got it so perfect. She astounded us by declaring that she had lost her recipe so had made it like packet stuff but added whipped eggs instead of the powder!

All the family including Bella's father and his wife had come and we had all agreed on a new approach to presents where by everyone got designated one other person or couple to buy for. Only the kids got presents from everyone. No one was upset by this and it saved everyone shopping effort and expense.