I ran into one of Grit magazine’s advertisers recently in Florence, Alabama. Robert and Debbie Dinges were in the bird supply section buying the red hummingbird syrup. Whenever I see some one with a bottle of it, I just have to speak up and tell them how bad the stuff is for hummingbirds and tell them the recipe for homemade. I mentioned that I was a blogger for GRIT magazine and the recipe was on a recent post I had done. Mr. Dinges said that he advertizes in GRIT for a product that makes digging easier, and – a bonus – it is made locally. I’m an advocate of supporting local owned business as well as made in the USA. Since I’m nursing a blown knee until I can have surgery in the fall I was interested. I’ve also experienced a season of plantar fasciitis in both feet, which also made digging difficult. I had purchased a shovel with metal foot pads on it, but it made the shovel so heavy that I used it just a couple of times and hung it up. I plan to donate it to the Tennessee Valley Art Center’s Ritz yard sale which supports the operations of the restored theater and education projects in the area.
After I got home, I dug the last issue of GRIT out of my purse (which I’ve carrying around showing off my iris picture on page 4) and found the DIG RIG ad and went to his website which stated the following:
The DIG RIG is a shovel attachment that is designed to distribute the digging pressure load on the foot, over a large surface area. It has a 3 1/4-in. wide lip, instead of stepping down on the shovel blade’s narrow ledge you’re stepping on a much larger area.
- Provides more comfort while digging.
I called a couple of days later and made arrangements to purchase and pick up three of the DIG RIGs at the Florence factory. Two were for my shovels and one for my boss. I lost one of my two to a co-worker when she saw my boss’s. I got my remaining one home and installed it on my fiberglass made in the USA shovel. Mine has a large lip where the metal meets the fiberglass, so I loosen up the radiator clamps, slid them off of the DIG RIG and slid them down the handle and over the rig and tighten down. I have to admit I was very skeptical that the DIG RIG would hold up to rough digging, and I had a week’s vacation to try and prove it. I need knee surgery after gardening season for a torn cartilage, meniscus and ligament, so any digging is measured in how many prescription strength ibuprofen I take during a day of gardening. All week, I dug, divided and transplanted daylilies and iris into ground which hadn’t seen much moisture. And man was it hot.
I have to admit that the DIG RIG helps sore feet and knees greatly. Years ago needing a knee replacement on my right knee, I learned how to dig with the left one. It now needs surgery and somehow can’t relearn how to dig again with the right. I found myself comfortably digging with the sore left knee while using the rig and only used the ibuprofen sparingly. Now I need to go by and buy one for my flat-bladed shovel.
My week off wasn’t all work. I’d work in the garden until late afternoon and then go take in several of the W.C. Handy Music Festival activities, including my favorite concert of the festival on Friday night.
I sat in a lawn chair for 5 hours listening to a different band every half hour or so.
Where else in the country can you see some of the biggest names in the music industry for free or a low price admission?
We also kept the local home grown restaurants busy each night plus the vendors at the parks. I’m still stuffed.
