I moved to my present locale around the Spring of 2022, The first few weeks were far from ideal, I had felt somewhat unsettled, if not homesick for the small rental bungalow that had been my previous cozy home,. After those initial first few days, I began to do my utmost to turn the cold stark white walled apartment into a place of warmth and welcome..not always so easy when you just long to run out of the door and never look back.. But i was out of options, this was it, and I had in truth been lucky to find it, (the rental market here being horrendous,) Never being one for looking on the downside too long, I began making the best of a bad situation…

One way I achieved this was to take short strolls each afternoon about the neighbourhood, never very far at first, for I needed to find my bearings, explore. Having little to Zero sense of direction, I took to noticing small landmarks, The tall green larchwood fencing with spiky Lily leaves poking through, a patch of sulphur yellow winter Jasmine, budding purple lilac with its heart shape leaves, the unruly sprawling plum tree at the end of the alleyway, hanging Bowers trailing across the path., Random patches of furry leaved wild violets fighting to see daylight between blades of grass…Each walk bought these tiny gifts for me to exclaim over excitedly, making Jesse look up suddenly from hes work😁…not only were they welcome distractions, but real focal points in the map I drew in my head, to locate home eventually…

About the third week in, (because yes it takes me that long to increase what small confidence I have,. I decided now to venture forth, outside my comfort zone a little, This day changed things most dramatically for me … I hadn’t walked more than about five minutes or so before coming across a large field, still recovering from long haul Covid, I didn’t chance walking all around it, just followed the well trod path across, from one side to the other.. There directly In front of me was a large thick hedgerow of thugish Hawthorne, sloe bushes, at their base, tall frothy white flowering cow parsley,. Walking through a gap between them, to my infinite delight there was yet another field, equally as big if not larger, . Down along the right edge, standing like so many guarding sentries grew tall shady trees …this was about to become not only important to me,but essential ….

As the weather improved, I found myself drawn more and more to the fields, it took some weeks of breathless practice to cover both on the same day, but with some determination and a lot of encouragement from Jesse, I finally managed..On rare occasions all in one go, more often than not though I would find a sheltered unseen spot, sit upon the grass, my back leant against an obliging tree, there to release my sore aching feet from the confines of shoes and socks, Childishly wiggling my toes in the cool grasses, letting the sun rest upon my face..listening to birds chattering high up in the trees, the buzzing bees, shutting out everything around me for a time, eyes closed, Jesse calls this my recharging my depleted batteries time..and it’s so very true…

It was as I walked regretfully home, slowly on one of these occasions, that something new caught my eye, not much escapes me😊, there at the base of a rather grand old Sycamore tree, nestling safely amongst its gnarly roots sat an unusual plant, One I had not remembered coming across before, it’s leaves a deep green, similar but at the same time slightly differing to an ivy leaf…for some reason it caught my eye, and I began looking out for it daily, Sure in my mind, it was a garden escapee, a wildling, self set, watching it’s steady progress, while all the time waiting for someone some eagle eyed gardener to come by and dig it up for themselves…Around a month later though these long cylindrical buds appeared giving it a rather exotic tropical appearance, I looked forward eagerly for the buds to unfurl..which to my delight didn’t take very long…

The following week one cream waxy trumpet like flower making a rather bold statement amongst its dark olive coloured leaves, I was equally amazed how it thrived in such an odd place, we were having a particularly hot dry summer, so it was without water, but there it stood flourishing….I admired it for its fortitude, looking stunning surrounded with its more native weed cousins… I was admiring it daily, but all the while one name kept reoccurring in my head, over and over, I wasn’t sure why at the time, so ignored it….

A year on…..

On one of my last walks, I looked for the hardy little plant, hoping it would make another welcome appearance this year…but I was to be sadly out of luck unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised thinking it had died over the bitter winter months here. … That was until weeding a patch of garden earlier this year alongside of my apartment, there up against a neighbours fence in the shade, grew a rather weedy specimen of that self same plant…I pulled the mass of strangling bind weed, thrip, and grasses from about its roots, hoping in doing it would be free to grow stronger, which over time it in fact has, now standing an impressive bushy shrubby three feet, covered in a mass of musky scented cream trumpets…an exotic vision of loveliness in this cool damp grey summer, its vast contrast a beauty to behold one I’ve enjoyed seeing on my way to hang the laundry out..bringing me cheer to the dullest day, I talk to it in passing, Jesse has grown quite accustomed to this very British eccentricity 😊, I oft can be found talking to the local bees, the impressive gang of pigeons hanging about on the roof😁😁😁😁…Yesterday though I decided to introduce Jesse to my plant friend, holding the phone up close and personal so he could also admire it beauty for himself…

Before going about checking my own arrangement of planted up tubs for stray weeds, within a few minutes I began scratching at an area on my right arm, it didn’t take long for three inch long raised angry criss cross welts to appear, these not only irritated but felt sore simultaneously…I found myself scratching at the area unconsciously for the next hour or so…until the itch became increasingly unbearable… later on that afternoon my throat grew hot and scratchy, my nose feeling stuffy, thinking it was just the beginnings of a summer cold I carried about my days tasks, Making my bread, vacuuming throughout while it proved(it rose spectacularly by the way, pushing off the pots lid later😊) , Still having some time until I had to bake the lovely Artisan bread, I felt the almost sudden need to lie down.. gripped with an overwhelming tiredness, it’s was like someone had pulled my power cord😁, I was totally floored…My head now began aching, my chest growing tight, but still exhausted I dozed in and out of a restless sleep…when I woke up I scratched away at the by now even bigger angry welts,

In fact my whole arm felt hot, itching not only topical but the only way to describe it, is as if the flesh under my skin was crawling with bugs…and or eww Aliens ready to burst forth and zap my mind!!!, Calm down Theresa first they would have to locate it, where’s Sigourney weaver when yah need her…. 👽. Touching any area on the whole arm made it itch terribly, it was all I could do not to tear the skin from my arm..I slathered it hourly in cream, even this set off another bout of clawing at the arm..by nine o’clock that evening I locked the door, turned off the lights giving up all pretence of being active, I lay upon my bed feeling pretty darn miserable, I have to say, the cold and flu symptoms increasing by the hour, there were bouts of chills only to turn into fever the second I covered myself, I felt stiff, my heart raced intermittently…when I stood up my head swam like some guilty sixteen year old raiding the parents drinks cabinet😁 ….but thinking it was still a cold I settled in for a rather long drawn out night….

Around midnight I glooped up my arm again in the white gunky but cooling Sudacrem, there to note not only was my arm very stiff and hot, but the welts were now very impressive looking water blisters…Touching them even, however slightly induced another round of endless scratching, so I dragged myself still semi conscious into the sitting room, thats where I keep my medical drawer…filled with none other than,, torture devices aka, medical stuff😁, I’m nothing if not practical…you learn to be when your an accident prone, allergy sufferer, likely to wound ones self at any given moment…Any how I digress,.. stop it Theresa!!!!, No I’m the boss of it and I can ramble on if I want to…do I want to? Mostly yes 😁, … But after a spell of pulling the once neatly organised drawer apart, carelessly tossing things across the room as I went.., Until I came across a rather sticky odd lone Jakeman cough sweet, (a treasure indeed), plus a crepe bandage..logically in my sleep deprived mind, if I covered up my arm, cutting of its circulation…no no I mean the air flow😁, yes the air that’s it, this in turn would reduce the blooming insane amount of itching right? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Only now I couldn’t scratch though oh well😊.

Sleep even as tired as I felt didn’t happen, first the chills, then cold sweats…I was drinking water like a woman walking through the Sahara desert…hell I felt like it too come to that., attempting to watch a series on Prime was no more successful, as I lay awake I tried somewhat in vain to remember the name, the same one that had gone on in my head for weeks previously, Only for it to mysteriously vanish..it was Latin sounding…what was that thing!!!…?…then finally I remembered, … And while it was still fresh in my mind, I googled the name…Datura!!!!….

Deadly darling Datura…😊

This is what information Google gave me…Datura is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous vespertine-flowering plants, belonging to the nightshade family(Solanaceae) …they are more commonly known as thornapples or Jimsonweeds, can also go by Devils trumpet or mad apples….other names are equally delightful like moonflower, devils weed, and hells bells…All species are extremely poisonous, can cause respiratory problems, arrhythmia, fevers, delirium, hallucinations, psychosis and or death…..oh good!!!!!!!😮

This is I might add normally if ingested though, so I was fine right?….but the post script went on to say in very small print at the end.., some more sensitive people can be allergic to its touch….oh the joy..that will be me then.sighs…That dear sweet Angelic looking plant had attacked me most viciously without rhyme or reason….not only is it stunningly beautiful, it left behind a forever impression on both skin and mind,…the water blisters now each have large red dots in them, also surrounded by round circular red rings…although I don’t feel as bad as I did Tuesday evening/night, I am however still feverish off and on…still fighting the cold and flu like symptoms…the itchiness has somewhat abated but the area is still hot and tender…as a warning folks these plants can and do grow anywhere, they are extremely beautiful, smell glorious…just don’t shove your nose too close uhuh!!!🙄😁, They can and are poisonous to animals, including the larger ones like cattle and horses…death follows within hours if eaten and there’s no known anti toxin, ….if your curious as to what it looks like Google the Datura plant for yourselves, theres plenty of interesting information available, plus YouTube videos ect…and please one more thing before I go scratch, please please please keep the little folks and dogs away from them if you can .you know how curious both are … What adds insult to injury here.., I now have the unenviable task of laying waste to the plant I had previously only ever admired, instead of talking softly to it as I once had, I now hurl insults freely it’s way, hoping it will take the hint wither and die, but alas it’s defiant to the last …Evil plant, !!!, Devils Doer!!!!, Devils strumpet, Thorny ball snitch!!!, Delilahs stink rash!!!😁😁😁😁, ..I heard my neighbour cough delicately from the other side of the fence earlier this plants got to go, it’s moving out, moving on…nothing but trouble….ok well enough from me folks have a good weekend all, stay safe, stay well and most of all steer clear of the Deadly Datura…🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛x