The mound of shoes by our front door might lead one to believe there are several people living in our house. But, nope. It's just the two of us. And two dogs. But they don't wear shoes. Since we traipse in and out of the house all day long going from the vineyard to the house to grab a beer, from the garden to the house to have lunch, from taking the dogs in and out on walks, we end up with our front door looking like this.Let's face it, shoes for walking the dogs on the gravel road are different than shoes for walking in the muddy field, are different from shoes for gardening, are different than shoes for driving the tractor, at least in my book. So we leave them by the front so we always have just the right footwear readily available.
I like to think that these shoes always come off before entering the house, as this picture indicates. But they don't always. Which means trails and tracks of dirt are impossible to ignore. And as someone who likes a clean house and clean floors (and by someone I mean 'me', not the other member of my household who wouldn't flinch at mud prints on the floors for weeks), I find myself with the vacuum out almost daily. This was my attempt at cleaning our front entry rug this weekend.
Apparently, they don't care about a clean floor either. But, if we are ever invaded by vacuum cleaners, you can find a safe haven at our house.