Wilcox Family Starts House Purging, Fall 2019

Our Sharing Corner Became Even More Popular

By the end of October 2019 we had committed to downsizing our belongings, and trying to sell our beloved home of 45 years. Some of first things to go, besides unused, out grown, and out of style clothing, was this file cabinet, which had already survived our 1990 house fire.  During the 70's and 80's this was the precursor to "Google Search" and I had spent hundreds of hours organizing articles and items using LDS File System.  

Besides thousands of articles, carefully filed away, and easy to find, there were a few family treasures.  This was one of the earlier pie charts were used to make sure everyone was taught responsibilities and help keep the house clean.  I also made a list for each room, describing what "clean" meant, which took several months to teach.  Many of these ideas came from Richard and Linda Eyers books.

In addition, there were many special treasures filed away made by our children. 

In addition there were many antiquated documents in the file cabinet related to purchases we had made! and even floppy discs from the first Franklin computer we bought. 

All four drawers were filled with articles,
 representing
hundreds of hours of labor. 

 The Readers Digest and LDS Church magazines were a major source of articles I filed and used. 



A few folders made the final cut and weren't burned up

See What's Behind the Purple Door

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome Home

Customized entry tile by local artisan

The Heart of the Home is the Kitchen

This kitchen has accommodated 4-H cooking clubs, taffy makers, 

multiple-Thanksgiving cooks, plus large groups of  Young Singles making homemade yeast donuts!

It has two sinks, a large surface bar, counters, a large fridge, and freezer,

dishwasher, range and adjacent storage and a large pantry plus room for a table. 

Cement counters are customized in a southwest vibe, 

with tiled backsplashes and window sills and a tile mosaic over the stove.

How many people could you keep busy in this kitchen?

Welcome home for Christmas

Other Rooms in the House

The living room area can seat about 20 people by adding folding chairs. 

With additional chairs and tables in this area; you can feed a large group in the 

front room/ dining room, and another 12 in the kitchen -- for those big family get togethers!

This area is the formal dining room.  Off to the side is an office with built in bookshelves.

Adjacent to the kitchen is a family/TV Room, so even the cook(s) can hear or watch TV!

There are three bathrooms in the home: two upstairs and one down. 

Below:  Downstairs bath

 Small upstairs bathroom with shower

Upstairs master suite, with vanity sink, and adjacent large bathroom.

There are five bedrooms upstairs. And one smaller craft/ storage room. Here are some of them

Outdoor Entertaining on the Patio and Deck

There is a great entertainment area outside on the south side of the house 

for socials in the summer and fall (or even a warm Christmas!)

Below: The white building at the back is the detached garage/storage area.

A deck/pergola built in 2012 provides an upstairs fire escape,

 plus shade over the patio, and adds additional options for fun.

 Sleepouts in the summer

Even though the fireworks on the 4th of July in Blanding 

are 8 blocks away they can be seen from the deck.

And the deck also works for tying small quilts. 

Gardening For Frugality and Health

Walkway to the garden, chicken coop, barn, and orchard

Blanding soil is good for raising potatoes and pole beans

 and provided enough produce for a family of 10 to enjoy 'til the following spring.

There are two pear trees, two apricot trees, two peach trees, three apple trees, several plum trees, and large sweet cherry tree (in the front yard).  There is also a large grape arbor with several varieties of grapes.  By taking care of the fruit, there's a big pay off at harvest time.

The raspberries produce later in the summer for about a month. 

But they produced lots of delicious jam.

Golden Delicious tree produces lots of fruit in the fall.

The orchard was also used for hosting Water Rock Activities