Monday, June 15, 2009

THE HOUSE ON 3RD STREET (80--CONTINUED--23)

Arlo and I moved our family from the house across from Maggie Weston to the house on 3rd street. That is where we basically raised our family. When we moved into that house, it was in terrible condition. It had been vacant for a number of years and there had been no care of it. Most of the windows were broken. We had to replace them. There was about 6 inches of dirt on all of the floors. The walls were plastered and it was a poor job, so there were holes in the plaster. We repaired the bad places and at later papered the walls. It had good floors and was structurally sound. There was a place for a bathroom, but it had never been finished. Arlo put in the bathroom. He found an old bathtub that was ancient. It was small and in good shape. We worked hard to make a home out of it and it did make a good home for us for many years.

The floors in the joint living room and the dining room were hardwood and were beautiful when they were cleaned and polished. We put new linoleum in the kitchen. The three bedrooms had wood floors and we didn't cover them for a few years. We painted them. There were colonnades between the living room and the dining room. I always liked them. There was a china cupboard between the kitchen and the dining room. I liked that too. There was a pantry that had cupboards. It was good. There was a big window in the dining room. I made a covered bench in front of it and it was a good place to take a nap in the winter. The sun shone in it. I put Priscilla curtains on that window and it was pretty. There was a big window in the living room. I put draperies on that window.

We had a big yard and there was no grass when we moved there. We gradually did a lawn. We just mowed the weeds and it made a fair lawn. I raised a garden every year. We had an irrigation ditch in front of the house and that is the water I used to water my garden. The land there raised wonderful vegetables. I have never had a better garden than I had there.

There was a field in back of the house that Arlo used to keep his horses at times. When the boys were home they mowed the back yard and it really looked good, but it was too much work for me after the boys were gone. The horses and small mules kept the weed down when they were there.

Our house was around the corner from the garage that we owned. It was handy for Arlo's work and we were close to the store and church also.

I'm sure those walls could tell many stories. We bought a piano when the Romeo Ward was abandoned and the ward moved to Manassa to our new chapel. The piano had been the Romeo Ward piano. Kent and Bonnie Lynn took piano lessons. Donnie bought the piano, but he didn't take lessons. Larry started, but didn't last long. I loved the music from that piano. Music is a great blessing in a home. That piano is now in Cory and Lorrita's home.

Our neighbors were: Dorothy and Shelton Sowards on the north, Elma And Boyd Padgett across the street. Donald and Deon Jarvies North of Elma, Boyd and Ouida Brady North of the Shelton Sowards' Carlyn Sowards and family on the South of us. Cecil Haslett's family on the Southeast corner of our block.

Bingham family, about 1936