Lynda Ann had the horrendous job of cleaning out her dad and Gloria's house in Wyoming to get it ready to sell. Andrew and I went with her last Thursday to help her clean and get the house ready to show and hopefully to get a buyer for it. Have you ever faced a giant situation? A looming project? Well, that is exactly what Annie, Andrew and I walked into. All three of us just kind of stood there and looked at what seemed like an impossible task to accomplish by Saturday noon. We knew it would be 'one step at a time'.
Where to begin? The first thing we tackled was the kitchen. I kept concentrating on one cupboard at a time. Just one step at a time. I thought about someone telling me "How do you eat an elephant?" the old saying goes, "one bite at a time". And that is exactly what we did. I couldn't let myself concentrate on the end result because I could have easily been discouraged over and over again. So the three of us concentrated on one project at a time not thinking about what was down the hall or in the storage room or the basement, the garage or the barn. Just one thing at a time. When we finally finished the kitchen we were exhausted. Every single drawer and cupboard had to be vacuumed and scrubbed. Nothing could just be wiped out. Everything required elbow grease to get it clean. The kitchen done, we then started on the four bathrooms and huge laundry room.
Our final step, in the house, was the basement and the food storage room. I seriously have never cleaned up anything as disgusting and gross as that storage room. Food storage that had spoiled over 30+ years of sitting on shelves. Cans that had exploded or rotted out at the bottom. Mouse droppings layered on every shelf! I do not exaggerate. Not one shelf in that huge storage room was without the presence of mice. We were all so thankful that we never saw a live mouse scurrying across the room. That was a blessing! They stayed well hidden while we were cleaning.
Annie hired two men with trailers who both made two trips to the dump to get rid of all the stuff in the house, the barn and the garage. Annie paid these men for their time and service, but were such a bonus to an overwhelming job. They went the extra mile and actually helped us haul stuff up the stairs. They even hauled some furniture from the basement to the main floor to be sold. We also had a guy come with his two little boys who hauled tons of large storage bins to take home to feed his pigs and chickens. That was also a big help. I will add here that one neighbor, Dawn (don't know her last name), came over on Friday morning and Saturday morning and just jumped in and helped with the cleaning. Talk about someone going the extra mile and serving. She was amazing and probably saved us 3 or 4 hours of work. It took us until Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when we could finally close the front door and feel like it was ready to show potential buyers. A great sigh of relief came from all three of us as we drove out the driveway. I did take one last look as we rounded the end of the driveway. So happy to have that behind Lynda Ann. One more thing off her plate!
Here are some pictures that really don't do it justice but gives you a reminder of the size of the home and what we we did. I wish I had taken more pictures of the "before". I sure hope Annie took a bunch.
This was one little corner of the basement. You could hardly walk through the basement rooms they were so full of garbage and junk. The mice were rampant in the basement.
This is the front room. Caught a quick picture of Andrew sleeping. I have to add here that Annie, Andrew and myself all decided to sleep out on the deck the first night. We only had a thin blanket for each of us but thought that would be warm enough. Being used to the warm nights in Salt Lake, we didn't think that it might get a bit cooler in the mountains! And it did. Andrew lasted until about one and then he and his air mattress and blanket came in. I woke up at 2:15 shivering and I slipped into the house and found the couch unoccupied. Rolled up in my blanket and slept there the rest of the night. Annie said she came in about 3:00. She was cold and she said the full moon was like having a spot light in her eyes. The next night found us sleeping inside.
This is an example of what every single drawer and cupboard looked like. This was a before it was scrubbed and cleaned.
This is the front room off the entrance.
Kitchen area.
Going into the storage area where some of the shelves had been emptied. Originally there was not one shelf available for another bottle or can. BTW we even found bottled bacon and weiners!!! I kid you not.
Again some of the shelves had been cleaned off before I took this picture.
These next pictures are the ones I took as we were actually feeling like we were making some progress!
The banister going downstairs was so caked with dirt that it actually was a different color after we scrubbed it!!
The floors actually had a bit of a shine to them as they were swept and mopped!
I wish I could tell you how much garbage we hauled out of this basement area. Filled two trailers!! We did find three dead mice! No pictures of their little carcasses.
Another room cleaned and swept.
You couldn't walk under the staircase. Full of anything and everything imaginable!
The window was a life savor. We were able to haul bags of garbage and food storage to the window well where Andrew and the guys would hoist it up and throw it in the trailer to go to the dump.
This is the barn that was covered from wall to wall with junk. This is where Ray parked his boat, snowmobiles, wave runners and side-by-sides. Huge area.
He also had a two or three car garage that we had to clean out. Neal and I are considering buying this car from Jeff and Annie but haven't decided just yet.
Well before we knew it, it was fun to look back and see how far we had come and what we had accomplished in two and a half days of non-stop cleaning! As we mopped the entrance to the front door and closed it for the final time we had to smile at the tremendous and overwhelming task we had accomplished! We were all three very proud of ourselves. Annie said that the house was shown on Monday evening that the interested people looked around for about 2 hours. Let's hope it sells quickly so Annie can cross one more thing off her list.
Here are some happy pictures. Annie and I feeding the neighbors horses some carrots and apples.
A gorgeous rainbow!
Temple in Montpelier.
Andrew saving a little bird.
Couches for Tucker. He still needs to get up to Wyoming and haul them back. Nice couches.
Just taking a breather!
We left Wyoming and headed home going through Logan Canyon. We met Abby in Logan and had a bite to eat and then home. This is a picture of Bear Lake. It is a beautiful lake, but not my favorite place to be.
I was more than happy to go up with Annie and help her get that house ready for show and sell. But I will say that I hope I never have to clean a home that dirty ever again. I will add here that we were an awesome cleaning trio machine - but are NOT FOR HIRE!!!
