Sunday 6 September 2015

September 2015 - Man vs Hedge year 3

Well, you might imagine that after all this time, I'd have mastered the art of hedging wouldn't you. Not quite.

As it was bank holiday weekend last week, it was the traditional hedge cutting weekend, but in fact it was never going to be that much of a hedge weekend because in fact I needed to spend time around my Dad's house clearing it out before the final house clearance on Thursday last week. So I only had one day at cracking the hedge and one day was never going to be enough to do it all. So in my own inevitable way I went at it with some vigour.

The good thing was that following last years false start when the shears I was using proved utterly useless we bought some new one's and these came out of the shed in pristine condition, razor sharp and raring to go. So I did the main face of the hedge and hacked away at it with quite some speed. In fact within about 3 hours I had completely finished the whole side of the hedge. It was a never seen before feat to be honest, I felt absolutely fine and a massive bag of conifer rubbish was produced in no time. Definitely a sign that my body was fitter than it was and my Cortisol was lasting pretty well.

On the Cortisol front, I haven't had a serious energy crash since I can't remember when exactly, I think it must have been early June. The hedge activity became a subject of my yearly blog because it was the one thing absolutely guaranteed to run me out of Cortisol but it certainly didn't on this occasion. However, the hedge wasn't finished yet....so it could prove to bite me before the end. But the big positive is the way my Cortisol levels are holding up no matter what I throw at my body and this is good news. I'm not exactly sure why, but I assume my body is used to the Hydrocortisone regime I have got myself in and the drug is being absorbed correctly.

So today was another few hours, and whilst doing the side of the hedge would have done me in once upon a time, the top of the hedge is an absolutely killer. When freshly cut the hedge is about 6.5 feet tall, it puts on between 1 to 2 feet every year and more than that in places. I am 5 foot 6. So there I am balanced up a ladder leaning across the top of this hedge with secateurs, pruning saw, lopping shears and a 'long-arm' aluminium pole trimmer thing. It is physically tiring at the best of times and this time although I didn't have a full on Cortisol crash I did start to feel the beginnings of one. So a sit down mid afternoon with a bite to eat and a cold drink (squash!) and I got though to my tea-time dose of Hydrocortisone without a big deal. It was a close call between being normally worn out and a Cortisol event. But I didn't push it and stopped at around 4.30pm and took the spoils to the tip. The top of the hedge still isn't finished, but there was significant growth, so not surprising. Growth not just of the hedge, but of ivy and next doors brambles growing up through the hedge.

So the hedge does take a slight win today, with my win on the bank holiday weekend, we'll have to call it 1-1. With all to play for when the final part of the top is done, maybe this coming weekend depending on the weather.

So the learning? I still need to get a bit fitter!

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