Footsteps again

Christmas and New Years is, once again, over but with all the snow and ice we've accumulated since the day after Christmas the decorations remain up. I may take the christmas tree down this coming week but I think the outside decorations will have to wait until most of the snow is gone.                                                Yesterday, January 5th, my wife and I went to Columbus so she could restock items in her store from a wholesaler. We were gone most of the day, getting back about 6 pm. The day was semi-cloudy with a very bright sun shinning, through, part of the time. The temperature was low 40s. I was in the upstairs bathroom and my wife was in the one downstairs, the two dogs were in either the dinningroom or the kitchen, as the downstairs gate was up. I was tending a few plants that I keep in the bathroom windows when I distinctly heard someone ascending the stairs. There are a few items sitting at the top of those stairs awaiting my removal into the attic storage. I heard someone brush by these items. I really thought it was my wife coming upstairs on some errand. I stepped out to the head of the stairs to see if she needed something. There was no one there. The sounds stopped when I stepped out of the bathroom. Looking around the bend in the stairs there was no one there either and the gate was still up and my older dog was sitting at the foot of the stairs looking up at me. So what did I hear? Seems footsteps are becoming more common once again.