Several of my gardens required a fair bit of work this year --- one I planted last year needed more plants, an older garden needed overgrown plants split and some rearranging, an other one needed help after some plants didn't make it through the winter. I got my trusty shovel out and got to work. The shovel made some creaking noises as I dug and pried at the more stubborn of the perennials. I kept checking the wooden handle to see if it was having issues, but it was fine so I continued digging and prying.

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Turned out the creaking wasn't the wood but the metal. Think I dug and pried one time too many. The shovel was purchased May 27, 2010 (I needed to find the receipt so the hardware store will honour the life time warranty), so it's only 5 years old and hasn't been used that much.