Celiosa

A very early start today as Leejohnaire took me to get some lumbar steroid injections. We’re hoping that these might help to make me mobile again. Not only did this procedure involve propofol again (to put me into a partial-sleep so that I wouldn’t move while there were sharp needles in my spine), but they also used some localized numbing medication on the area, so when I woke up, my back felt lovely for a couple of hours. It can take several days for the injections to take effect so it could be a while until I know whether or not they have worked. Some people require two or three rounds, but I’m hoping for just the one set!

Since I’m meant to be resting my back for a day or two, I didn’t want to go far for today’s blip. Sadly, the large numbers of egrets and herons that L had been photographing at our local pond had clearly popped out for the day. There was nothing else interesting for me to see there, so I ended up taking photos of the overgrown Celosia in our front garden. It’s a weirdly difficult flower (for us) to capture. It almost glows and often looks out of focus even when it isn’t. The flowers normally come to a point at the top, but this particular flower has extended upwards with a rippled, fan-like tip so I took this shot from above. I loved the unusual image but it also had the added practicality that I didn’t have to bend to get it! Apparently various parts of the plant can be used for different medicinal purposes. Perhaps I should get L to rub some on my back!

LARGE