Last year, about four weeks before flying to New Zealand to go walking, my old, faithful and much loved boots breathed their last. I was devastated. These Meindl Makalu’s had served me well for nearly ten years and had been everywhere with me: all the way to Gokyo Ri and Macchapucchare in Nepal; Ladakh in winter; the Overland Track and too many walks to count in and around Canberra.

I wasn’t ready to let them go, but with their soles gaping, letting in water, and the leather looking decidedly worse for wear, I knew I had no choice but to get a new pair of boots for the New Zealand trip. With only a few weeks to go, leather boots would take too long to break in, so I got myself a new pair of Scarpa Mythos Lite on sale. They weigh about half of what the Meindls weighed and having hiked up and down the NZ mountains I can vouch they’re very comfortable and haven’t given me one blister. So from that perspective I’m not missing my old boots.

Yet with so many memories attached to them, I couldn’t bear the thought of throwing them into the bin. And then I got the idea of using them as flower containers in the garden. At least they’d still get some use. On Saturday I finally got around to getting some plants. I settled for lavender and here they are. I think they look great and I smile every time I see them.