I don't worry about special shoes right now, wear my moccasins every day; if it's wet wear my rubber slip on boots (can't remember the name for them), if it's really slippery and cold, put on my camping boots. Later, I'll dig out my shot moccasins with the hole in the toe. Those are my everyday, normal gardening shoes in nice weather. This winter I have been constantly changing, won't have to so much in the nicer weather. I bought several nice throw rugs for high traffic areas, a lot of good that has done - not, but they get crooked after walking on them a few times, washable which I like. The most critical area, I have 3, and the cat just loves to mess them up; try to straighten them every day. My carpeting is shot and dirty anyway, so I don't worry about it right now. Coming in from the back, there's vinyl flooring, then two steps, then more vinyl flooring in back hall and on into the kitchen, so that's easy to sweep and mop. Coming in from the front, by the time I get up 5 steps, the cement slab porch, wipe my feet on the thick jute mat, and enter the vinyl tiled foyer, then large, heavy cotton throw rug on the carpet by there, most of the dirt is gone. Sometimes I do have to take a paring knife and scrape the bottoms and sides of my shoes into the kitchen wastebasket. What I want most are some comfortable golf shoes. Those would help some aerating the lawn, and especially useful on my terraces which I now have to crawl up on my hands and knees to plant and weed one side so not much weeding gets done there. If I had golf shoes, I think I could walk up my terraces again without worrying about slipping and falling.

That is a wonderful essay. Thanks for posting, You don't have to be old to find this useful. These are all excellent ideas, many of which I've used - though I'm not quite at the point of hiring people to clean my beds. But then I have some teenagers.

LLBean rates their jackets, this one was rated 0 degrees to -50 degrees. It was interesting to watch the video on their website explaining that the coats are tested at the U. of Kansas lab on a simulated dummy of a 28 year old male wearing appropriate layers. "When a range is shown, the first temperature indicates the product's comfort rating during light to moderate activity, such as walking slowly. The second temperature indicates the comfort rating during moderate activity, such as jogging a short distance or snowshoeing." I'll keep this coat, it is really long (51") which was one of my requirements and it has knitted cuffs inside the sleeve to keep the cold out. I looked at the North Face one which was twice the price and it doesn't have the cuffs and it has a really large North Face logo on the front chest and the back shoulder in bright white lettering on both the black and brown coats. But for some odd reason the light grey coat has the logo in grey threads. I wouldn't mind the bold logo and name on a ski jacket but on this long coat it detracts from it's looks and usefulness making it inappropriate to wear on a dressier occasion. I looked for boiled wool but couldn't find any long coats, I have 2 boiled wool jackets and they are indeed lightweight, warm and so dense that they're nearly windproof. Thanks again everyone for your advice.

No break-in period here, we loved all of ours from the first moment it started going down, through the time when the dog ran through the wood glue and tracked green glue all over the rest of the house as we ran screaming after her, and even as I have to sweep, then, still run over the floor with Bona cleaner to get it clean for company. I like the way it looks, the way it feels, the good feeling I have when I clean it. It's cool, but not really cold, although, living in Central Ca we are not down at 16 degrees either. We are having a mid-40s week and that is quite cold for us. We do wear slippers in the house most all the time, because of support issues in our feet, so maybe that's why I was surprised at your question. My DD wears socks only and has never complained about the cool floor. I have a big thick wool rug in the LR where we sit and where the dogs lay. Perhaps you could have a nice rug in your living area? I also added small rugs on each side of the bed (3'x5') so that getting out of bed in the morning in winter is not a cold thing. My (tiled) entry has a long thick runner, both bath vanity areas have a nice rug in front of the sink, and the dining room has an old Persian rug under the table and chairs. I read some saying that they don't want to cover up their hardwood with rugs, but truly, I think a nice thick rug in the living areas adds comfort and also enhances the look of the floor. When you finally find the right paint color for a wall, you don't say, "I don't want to put any pictures or art on that wall and cover up the new color!" Red