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Happy Feet and Melonade

April 11th, 2011

Yesterday was the first day of sandal season – and that makes me very happy. I’m a sandal gal, I really HATE wearing shoes. Typically I always go barefoot in the house and wear sandals outside. My sandals are always Keens if you remember from my Friday Favorite Post about them. My feet are just so much happier in sandals or flip flops – so they were very happy yesterday and they’re looking forward to the warm days ahead.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, it was warm and sunny (actually a little too warm for spring). We spent the afternoon clearing the new lot, pulling out saplings and cutting down wild grape vines. We also cut firewood and started preparations for a new compost bin made from saplings (more on that later).

It cooled down perfectly in the evening. We watched the sunset and enjoyed a cold glass of lemonade (which we jokingly call melonade – some of you will know where this comes from). Spring evenings are wonderful here in NE Ohio. They’re cool, breezy and the bugs aren’t out yet. It won’t be long until evenings will be ruined by buzzing mosquitos.

Are you a sandal/flip flip person or do you prefer shoes, or are you barefoot all the time?

22 Comments to “Happy Feet and Melonade”
  1. Jennifer Fisk on April 11, 2011 at 6:37 am

    I love my Chaco sandals and wore them with great pleasure during my recent trip to AZ. It will be a while before I can wear them here on the Maine coast since my yard is at least still half under snow.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  2. Emily Jenkins on April 11, 2011 at 7:05 am

    Ah, I love sandals! I’m a chaco gal, too. In fact, your post just reminded me that my sandals bit the dust (literally breaking in half) last year… I’m going to go order some new ones!

    I hate wearing shoes, and I’m often scolded for wearing (or even teaching in) sandals at the horse farm where I work. I know as a horse professional I should be preaching about wearing boots at the barn, but to be honest I can’t stand the things. What’s worse, the only time I’ve ever broken toes from being stepped on was in boots. I’ve been stepped on in sandals several times with only bruises to speak of. It’s probably just dumb luck, but it works as an arguing point for now!

    Reply to Emily Jenkins's comment

    • Jennifer Fisk on April 11, 2011 at 7:52 am

      My old Chacos did exactly the same thing so I had to order new ones before my trip. The sister of the fellow who invented the Chaco is a customer of mine. Didn’t get me a discount though.
      I don’t wear my sandals in the kennel because of dog toe nails that are way too long.

      Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  3. Beegirl on April 11, 2011 at 7:11 am

    Hello my friend..I have those same exact shoes! Love them too … I broke out my sandals too and loaded up the kayaks and escaped to the lake as fast as I could. It was a lovely morning. Then home to work on a strawberry bed! Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

    Reply to Beegirl's comment

  4. Brittany P. on April 11, 2011 at 8:28 am

    I’m definitely a barefoot person who falls back on sandals and flip flops as a second choice. Some situations just call for something on the bottom of my feet. I can’t stand socks or shoes, they feel sooo constricting to me. My husband teases me all the time about what I manage to do in sandals so I don’t have to wear shoes. :)

    Reply to Brittany P.'s comment

  5. farmgal on April 11, 2011 at 8:33 am

    I am a total sandels gal, I wear them in the house most of the year until its really cold out, and then I move over to wool slippers as I keep my house quite cool.

    But as soon as it warms up, on go the sandels, including when I am out working in the barn etc. However not when I go hiking in the local woods, then I switch to my boots.

    Reply to farmgal's comment

  6. Daedre Craig on April 11, 2011 at 8:54 am

    I’m addicted to Tevas!

    Reply to Daedre Craig's comment

  7. songbirdtiff on April 11, 2011 at 9:26 am

    New follower here!

    The moment it’s warm enough, I’m barefoot in the house and on the porches. If I MUST wear shoes when it’s warm, I have a pair of Chacos that I live in. I also keep flipflops by the door in case I have to go farther than the porch. :) My feet like to be free!

    Reply to songbirdtiff's comment

  8. glenda on April 11, 2011 at 9:29 am

    Barefoot most of the time, sandals when my feet need some protection and bogs when it’s wet and freezing. When I was a child someone was always nagging me to put some shoes on! My grandparents lived right next door so there was a lot of nagging at me to get my feet in shoes.

    Reply to glenda's comment

  9. goatpod2 on April 11, 2011 at 11:52 am

    I love wearing sandals and flip flops but also love wearing my Crocs and shoes similar to Crocs. I don’t like going barefoot though since we have lots of gravel and don’t know what I’ll be stepping in since we live on a farm!

    Amy

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  10. Marcia on April 11, 2011 at 11:58 am

    I love going barefoot as as soon as the season allows. My favorite moment is the very first time you feel the earth on your bare feet, it tickles so much as your soles rediscover the texture forgotten over a long winter. I usually end up with stained soles by fall. With the grass and the soil, they get really hard to clean and it really tickles to scrub them with a bristle brush.

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  11. Lee on April 11, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    I’m definitely a sandal person. I wear sandals everyday. The only time I wear shoes is when I go weddings or funerals and it’s a torture.

    Reply to Lee's comment

  12. Lynda on April 11, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    Barefoot all the time! I only put on the flip-flops when I have to go to town!

    Reply to Lynda's comment

  13. Kimberly on April 11, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    barefoot–these days rubber boots 4 working outside

    Reply to Kimberly's comment

  14. Jaye Whitney on April 11, 2011 at 2:24 pm

    I am definitely in the minority here! I cannot go barefoot at all!

    In Texas of course, we do wear sandals a lot, but I only wear them when I’m going somewhere. Even inside the house I wear something on my feet, slippers, shoes and in the garden definitely shoes or boots, year-round :)

    Reply to Jaye Whitney's comment

  15. kristin @ going country on April 11, 2011 at 2:29 pm

    Blackrock is not sandal-friendly. Too much to step on/in and too much heavy work to be done that could damage exposed toes.

    I like sandals, I just can’t really wear them at my house.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  16. MAYBELLINE on April 11, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    Crocs year round.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

  17. Katrina on April 11, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    Shoes for work…only because I can’t wear my flip flops! The shoes are the first thing to come off as soon as I walk in the door. Barefoot in the house and flip flops in the yard. I’ve had the same sneakers for years…they make my feet hot, which then makes me feel hot…so I hardly ever wear them.

    Reply to Katrina's comment

  18. Seren Dippity on April 12, 2011 at 12:41 am

    My preference is bare feet. But as I get older I have noticed that I cannot tolerate bare feet on hardwood or slate floors like we have over the majority of our house. I have to have some sort of arch support. My daughter has the same problem and raves about her Dansko chef’s clogs. I love my Birkenstock sandals but they are so ratty it is getting embarrassing. So I’m shopping for something new. The main requirement is the ability to slip them on quickly that they provide arch support and that they do not make my feet hot and sweaty. A bonus would be some that could stand up to trudging through the garden. Because even though I keep a dedicated pair of shoes for the garden I am always forgetting. I love the bright color of the pair you are wearing in the photo!

    Reply to Seren Dippity's comment

  19. Melanie G on April 12, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    Yesterday was the second day of sandal-wearing weather for us here in central Maryland (the first one was about a week ago, before it once again dropped into the 40s).

    I’m like you – barefoot in the house as much as possible (fuzzy socks in the winter) and sandals outside for as long as possible! My feet are really looking forward to warmer weather, that’s for sure :-)

    Reply to Melanie G's comment

  20. Carol on April 13, 2011 at 8:13 am

    I am now a devoted Chaco customer (on your recommendation). Turns out that high arch is exactly what I need. Those and Dansko clogs keep my poor little feet very happy.

    Reply to Carol's comment

  21. Hannah on April 14, 2011 at 10:20 pm

    Definitely bare feet! Moccasins when I have to be shod. Unfortunately we do have a lot of muddy, snowy weather that calls for real shoes, though.

    Reply to Hannah's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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