Thank you, Sears!

My garden-clipping adventures of late have been rather tragic. About half the time, the clippers are misplaced and I have to find them. A few weeks ago, however, I realized I'd lost my "best" pair, for good. Probably out in the overgrown shrubbery that they were intended to subdue.

They were an old pair of Fiskars. I'd had them for, oh, about 4-5 years, I guess. They were good clippers, except that for the past year or two, almost every time I gripped down on them to sever a twig, they would do their job, and then stay closed, and I'd have to gently, manually, open them. This gets old when trimming, slowly, the 20 or so azaleas I have on my front walk.

So, good-bye Fiskars, but they were an aggravation anyway. This left me with my 2nd string quarterback:
These are even older -- maybe 8 years? Every time I cut with these, they actually locked closed, and I had to flip the little locking mechanism open again. Sigh. You can see where Adam removed the lock, but that makes them remain open ALL the time.

Clearly, I needed new clippers. So we checked at WalMart. Yeah, I know. End of season. Sale. Their best deal? A pair of Fiskars much like the ones I lost, for $17.00. The others were all $20.

Now, I appreciate a good pair of clippers, but that's a bit pricey for this tight-wad. Especially when I'm a little hard on my yard tools. $17 for something that, in a few year, will seize up on my again?

Then Adam reminded me: What about Sears? Craftsman Lifetime Warranty?
But I asked him: Isn't WalMart the cheapest though?
In the end, the husband and the appealing vision of having ONE PAIR OF CLIPPERS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, won me over. I went to Sears.

And, Oh My Word.
Aren't they lovely? Can you say $12.99? But, y'know, the $4 difference isn't the thing. The fact that I can return these clippers to ANY store that sells Craftsman, for the rest of my life, if they malfunction, and get a new pair. I can't tell you how happy that makes me.
(Not to mention that the sales lady was wonderful. Just wonderful. Helpful but not pushy.)

I was turning to go when I saw these:
Now, I must admit that clippers are always needed, but those shears -- those are EXACTLY what I've been needing -- something that will take care of unruly shrubbery in a hurry. And how much were these giants? $12.00 also. I would have hesitated, except -- that lifetime warranty. How can you beat that? I mean, I'll probably be clipping hedged and cutting branches for 30 more years.

All I need now is for the weather to cool down again. (It's about 91 today, ugh and double ugh.) Then I will attack these: