It's not my hands that cause me the most trouble after gardening, it's my feet. I like to work barefoot. That includes mowing my lawn. So after pushing the mower for a couple of hours no amount of scrubbing gets the green off! The garden soil soaks off in a lovely hot bucket of soapy water while I read some trashy summer novel, but the grass stain just seems to get into my skin and hold on. Some nice bright toe nail polish certainly helps the effect!

I went to a fun reading by the author at a bookstore last night. Howard Frank Mosher, from the Northeast Kingdom has written a new historical fiction book. It is about a Vermonter who races Lewis and Clark to the West Coast. The main character, Private True, is crazy. He fell on his head after drinking with Ethan Allen and now thinks of himself in a Don Quixote kind of way. At one point, he meets up with a group of Amazonian Blackfoot Indian women and well . . . its pretty unique. "The True Accounts" if you are looking for a good summer read.

Actually, one thing that I learned is to put hand lotion on a little before you garden. It greases those crevices and the dirt comes out easier. The best part about really getting into something and getting dirty and smelly is getting into that shower afterwards and feeling like you accomplished something. I used to feel like that after working with my horse on a hot summer day ..... give him a soak and sometimes you might as well turn the hose on yourself! Enjoy!

Good feedback, maybe I'm some kind of alien in little Dickie Loveless' body. I'll give it some thought while I edge my lawn.

Karen, thats funny. Actually I have and excuse as I was born in Ct. and.........whats everyone elses? You aught to see me when I return from one of my ATV experiences. Dirt, grease, mud, muck, all over everything but smiling!

Real Vermonters don't worry about dirt under their fingernails. Who are you people and what have you done with my high school classmates??????????????

Pat, you could go online @ gardeners supply co located in Burlington and I'm sure they could find you a good glove to use. I too find Richards solution a great one not only for gardening but for changing oil on the vehicles etc. Seems that grease or oil is REALLY a mess to get rid of!! Had a great meeting with another relatively small company fri. Things went well. They want to purchase some of our display cabintes (not wood Richard, glass and steel) plus some products and then might even partner with and we could fly under their flay so to speak. Things move fast and furious in the food business and one has to jump on the wagon quick.

Pat, you could go online @ gardeners supply co located in burlingont and I'm sure they could find you a good glove to use. I too find Richards solution a great one not only for gardening but for changing oil on the vehicles etc. Seems that grease or oil is REALLY a mess to get rid of!! Had a great meeting with another relatively small company fri. Things went well. They want to purchase some of our display cabintes (not wood Richard, glass and steel) plus some products and then might even partner with and we could fly under their flay so to speak. Things move fast and furious in the food business and one has to jump on the wagon quick.