As many of you may know, we are lucky enough to have a house-sitter who comes to stay with the pack when we're out of town. She is a lovely, responsible young lady and we never have to worry when she's here.
I don't know what to do without her, and I don't know why she keeps coming back. I've apologized to her on this blog before. Once when our house cleaners skipped a week before we skipped town. And another time when I realized all of the things she has to deal with when she stays here.
Apologizing to my house-sitter has become a frequent occurence. Why am I apologizing this time? For all of the pet hair.
We left for our trip to the UK on a Thursday afternoon. After working in the morning, I decided to vacuum the house before we left. It is shedding season here, and all 3 corgis were losing their fur in a big way. Add 2 cats to the mix - including an old cat who sheds in big clumps - and you can imagine how much hair there was. Despite the fact that we had vacuumed only a couple of days before, some parts of the carpet were fully coated in pet hair.
But I planned ahead. I had time to vacuum. What could go wrong? Let me explain using photos.
Even though Amy the House-Sitter doesn't know I have a blog, I hope she reads this and forgives me.
I left her a message to see if she can stay later this month and she didn't return my call. Now I'm worried. Was this the last straw?
I don't know what to do without her, and I don't know why she keeps coming back. I've apologized to her on this blog before. Once when our house cleaners skipped a week before we skipped town. And another time when I realized all of the things she has to deal with when she stays here.
Apologizing to my house-sitter has become a frequent occurence. Why am I apologizing this time? For all of the pet hair.
We left for our trip to the UK on a Thursday afternoon. After working in the morning, I decided to vacuum the house before we left. It is shedding season here, and all 3 corgis were losing their fur in a big way. Add 2 cats to the mix - including an old cat who sheds in big clumps - and you can imagine how much hair there was. Despite the fact that we had vacuumed only a couple of days before, some parts of the carpet were fully coated in pet hair.
But I planned ahead. I had time to vacuum. What could go wrong? Let me explain using photos.
This is our main vacuum.
A Dyson Animal.
We've had this vacuum for around 5 years, and it does a great job. Well, I should say that it DID a great job, because it suddenly decided to stop working just as I needed to vacuum less than an hour before leaving to the airport.
Well, technically it was working a little, but it started to making a noise so loud it could drown out the tornado siren. Easily.
No problem, we have a vacuum that lives in the basement. So I went to get it.
This is the basement vacuum.
It picks up cat litter and pet hair nearly every day.
Unfortunately, the basement vacuum wouldn't work either. Apparently it only works on hard surfaces now. It didn't even work on our very short nap carpet upstairs. Sigh.
But wait, don't we have an old Dyson lurking in the basement, too? Indeed we do. I'll go get that one.
Here it is! Our original Dyson Animal.
I brought it upstairs and tried to start it up. Then I remembered why we put it in the basement. It doesn't even work on hard floors anymore. "Never loses suction!" Perhaps not. It now lives in the garage. Some day we'll get rid of it.
But we have 2 more vacuums. What about them?
Ronnie the Roomba to the rescue?
Nope. It wasn't plugged in, so it was out of charge, and probably couldn't handle the layers of pet hair anyway.
How about the hand-held Dyson?
It IS still working, but by the time I got to this option it was too late for me to take the time to use it. So the house was awash in pet hair when we left for vacation, and there was no way to remedy the situation.
So let me say it one more time.
I am REALLY SORRY for all the pet hair, Amy the House-Sitter. It won't happen again (well, probably not), because look what we have now:
Another vacuum!
Rated very well by Consumer Reports!
Even though Amy the House-Sitter doesn't know I have a blog, I hope she reads this and forgives me.
I left her a message to see if she can stay later this month and she didn't return my call. Now I'm worried. Was this the last straw?
Oh, oh -- this could be the end of civilization as we know it. Come on, Amy -- this is important.
ReplyDeletePenni -
DeleteAgreed! Thankfully Amy sent me an email late last night, and she's on for later this month. WHEW! And you can bet that the house will be very clean when she arrives!
That's a whole lotta dead vacuums! You must be very hard on them. We have a Kirby. Those suckers are heavy as freaking lead but last forever. Believe it or not, my in-laws still use the Kirby they bought in the 50's!
ReplyDeleteTaryn-
DeleteWith 3 dogs, 2 cats, and a small human our vacuums get a workout. I do realize, though, that we the house is in danger of becoming a vacuum version of the yard with the broken down cars in it. Our own version of the "Clampetts"