Thursday 25 September 2014

Autumn Cyclamen

As usual the Chateau Hotel Domaine de la Tortiniere has the most outstanding display of naturalised cyclamen in their park throughout the month of September. It truly is like a carpet under the trees and in the low light they simply glow.

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Eye News: Simon had his final check up with the ophthalmic surgeon in Poitiers yesterday. She is happy with the reattachment of the retina, but unfortunately there are several folds in it which are causing a certain amount of distortion in the vision in that eye. She says it happens sometimes and there is nothing to be done about it. The pressure in that eye continues to be a little high, so Simon has to go on using two lots of drops twice a day -- one an anti-inflammatory, the other the infamous Azarga, containing atropine to give you weird dreams if you are not careful and make everything taste metallic. Azarga is to reduce the pressure to stop damage to the optic nerve and prevent glaucoma developing. He is developing cataracts, as expected, and we must make an appointment with the ophthalmologist in the clinic at Chatellerault for 6 weeks time so he can check on progress. In the meantime, much to Simon's frustration, it is not worth getting new glasses, as the left eye will continue to change every day for several months yet. He copes fine for distance (and therefore driving), but using the computer, pouring a cup of tea or chopping up vegetables are all challenging to say the least.
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Loire Valley Nature: A new entry has been added for sand and gravel habitat.

4 comments:

Sheila said...

Just the other day I was thinking
that it was about time for your
annual cyclamen photo. They are
glorious.
Sympathies to Simon. Eyesight is
one of those things we tend to
take for granted until.....My
husband has macular degeneration
for which the only treatment
really is simply coping.

Susan said...

Sheila: I believe macula degeneration comes to us all eventually. Bummer...

Tim said...

Sympathies to Simon from me, too. I don't think the dilating drops I had to take were called Azarga, and I can't say I noticed adverse reactions, except funny looks from passers by at this mad-eyed person. I used to fold my fingers and make my hand into a pinhole camera to look down, to improve the focus. It looks weird, but it works. One thing to avoid - catching a bus from the middle of Headingley (or Tours) where several routes use the same stop. By the time I worked out what the number was, it had gone past me. Pauline

wcs said...

That's an impressive bed of cyclamen. The château at St.-Aignan has some as well. These look like they come right out of a fairy tale.

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