
4/25/11
The sole fell off my boot yesterday. No warning, just turned into a flip-flop. Looks optimistically repairable. A clean break, fixable with some Guerrilla Glue. I guess 7 years of mud and abuse has finally taken its toll. The splitting cracks in the leather along the 'toe bend area' exposed the Kevlar below, still impenetrable to water; still protecting my feet and keeping then dry.
So I must wear my alternate weather footwear. Every rainy day girl's favorite pull-up rubber boot. Patterned in red, yellow, and black plaid ( finer plaid than pictured), they are more fashionable than comfortable. Not really form-fitting but entirely waterproof nonetheless. It's been raining for 3 or so days, mostly a warm drizzle interspersed with bouts of T-storms and heavy rain. Work must go on.
There's basic requirements for any garden job I've had:
1) work in all weather conditions (hot, wet, cold, etc).
2)be able to lift 50 lbs.
3)sustain work on your feet for 8 hours daily
A love for plants should be on that list also, but if you can do those things, you can be a gardener.

Today I'll rake the wooded paths which connect Hill House, a guest residence, to the satelliting yoga studio and conference center. Just a few sticks and a single tree down across the path, but also a shallow, yet wide, spring fed creek. I'm assuming guests in the 'over-50-and-not-so-agile-on-slippery-rocks' group will have difficulty crossing.
A low wooden planked walkway, like those in wetland areas, would be perfect; as the amount of water flowing here is depended on the season and rain. Right now there's a lot of water, in summer not as much. Though a great idea, it will be on the bottom of the list of things to do, as the maintenance guys have a million other things to do before.
I'll hula ho some weeds, mulch the roses with some alfalfa I found in the shed (horses & roses love alfalfa), and prune the grapes instead of trying to build a footbridge today.
The ground's still super wet. I'll stick to projects above the ground. Maybe drill a couple of bee boxes. http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/gardening/building-a-bee-box/