Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Clogging in the Garden


Thank you, Yolanda Elizabet, for reminding me that I needed new garden clogs.

Three years ago, I purchased some red Ladybugs® from
Gardener's Supply. I mainly bought them because they were red, and that's my favorite color. My second reason was because they were backless and would be easy to slip on for whenever I wanted to go outside, like for getting the mail from the mailbox or feeding the cats. Who knew they'd be perfect for working in the gardens?

At the end of last year, I noticed they'd developed some cracks. My 'waterproof' rubber clogs had sprung leaks. I finished out the season in them, making a mental note to get some new ones this year. I'd forgotten about it until I read Yolanda's post, and the search was on.

Though I have an inner slob, I can be somewhat of a perfectionist in some things, and finding the perfect garden clogs at a ridiculously cheap price occupied much of my time on Monday evening. In the end, I decided I liked my Ladybugs® and they weren't expensive, so I searched the web for a good deal on another pair of those. The best I could do was $16 at Gempler's, until a geocaching friend, Mandollynn, found them for $12.99 at ValleyVet.com.

Oooh! New styles! They still offered red, but now they had light green ones with daisies all over them. I have a penchant for white daisies, so it was decided. And since they were so inexpensive, I bought a pair of plain navy ones, too. I actually got both pairs of these shoes for what I had paid for my first pair of red ones.

Now, walking around out in the yard and gardens this week made something very clear to me. These backless clogs, as practical as they are, will not prevent your feet from getting wet in the spring. I found myself tip-toeing around in them to avoid having the water ooze up to my heels, where my sock acted like a wick, soaking up this puddle and that one. This necessitated another web search for some garden boots.

My goodness, there are some cute rubber boots out there! I'll bet there's a Rubber Garden Boot Runway Show in Paris for these things. Check out Diane's Little Lambs. (And don't miss the chic umbrellas!) In another [wealthy] life, I'd have about three pairs of these, but I only want to slog about in the mud, so I settled for a pair of delicious pistachio Puddletons® from Campmor. I first saw these same boots at Plow and Hearth , except they were ten dollars more. My mama told me I'd better shop around, and I did.

My Ladybugs® and Puddletons® are scheduled to be delivered by The Man in Brown tomorrow, so I will be gardening in style. Just like Yolanda.

9 comments:

Carol Michel said...

You should be all set now, and stylin'.

I just had my first pair of garden clogs start to wear through on the bottom after 15 years, so I got my money's worth out of them, and just got a replacement pair the other day. I'm good to go for another 15 years!

Kylee Baumle said...

Carol, my mom has some that she paid $60 for, and she's had them for many years and they're still going strong, so it's probably a case of you get what you pay for. Still, I love the daisy bugs. And I can buy five pairs of those for what my mom paid. LOL.

It looks to me like Ladybug may have changed the construction of the top of their clogs since I bought my red ones. Maybe the new ones won't be so prone to splitting.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Kylee, you're a woman after my own heart. Stylish gardening is just the ticket. What lovely coloured clogs with daisies on them as well. Very pretty! I love daisies too and have some on my blog today. ;-)

Those boots are lovely too, what a wonderful colour, tres chique!

And you did some smart shopping as well, clever you!

Bob said...

Oh, look! Tarragon Rubber Boots!

Kylee Baumle said...

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!! When I saw your name and that you'd made a comment, I just KNEW the word 'tarragon' was going to be there!

kate said...

I love the ladybugs!

When your new clogs arrive, be sure to photograph them ...

Gotta Garden said...

Thanks for the link! You may just save us all from our lack of style in garden footwear! I think I will have to have some...there goes my basic blue...woohoo!

Anonymous said...

Are you sure those 'tarragon' boots aren't really 'wasabi'?

Kylee Baumle said...

Actually, they're pistachio. Pistachio is the new tarragon, haven't you heard?

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