Play Houses For Big Girls...She Sheds!

I Want A Playhouse!

Paula's darling Chawton Cottage.

Paula's playhouse is in the backyard of her historic Payson home.

Paula's blog post is here Building Chawton Cottage.

My friends are starting to build back yard playhouses for themselves.  "She Sheds"... a name I am not fond of...are popping up all over Pinterest and the blogging world.  I set out to do a post on gardening and made the mistake of spending too long on Pinterest.  "Gardening" led to "Flowers,"which took me to "Fun Containers for Flowers" and on and on until I got to "Fun Garden Sheds to Decorate with Fun Containers for Flowers."  You can see where I made my mistake...lol!

I am a bit envious of my friends.  I once had a "She Shed" of sorts.  George built it as an addition to a new garage some years back.  It had a lot of cupboards and counter space with floor to ceiling shelves.  I spent many happy crafting hours in my little potting shed.  I decorated it with vintage thrift store finds and had shelves full of craft supplies.  The downside was no running water, heat or air conditioning.  Gradually my projects started moving back indoors.  George built me a craft and sewing room downstairs and my little playhouse became storage.

My "She Shed" today.

We are re-doing the concrete of the covered porch due to damage 

done by the aggressive roots of a large willow tree.

The following are some pictures of darling little garden houses that any grown-up little girl at heart would love to play in...or just dream in. The styles are as varied as the imagination of the women who love them.  I've included links to a few of them.  Gardening as a means to an end...becoming more self sufficient...doesn't mean we cannot find joy in the process.  My bad knees restrict a lot of yard activity for me, but I just love visiting a beautiful garden.  The little girl in me still dreams of a "Wendy House."

This rustic shed is my favorite. Jenny's Garden Shed 

This could be the retreat of a novelist...writing the next "Gone With the Wind."

Birdie's Nest 

This darling Victorian was created from an outhouse blueprint.

Victorian 

The blogger who built this lovely hideaway named her "Miss Potter."

Miss Potter  

This lavender dream house would be perfect for my granddaughter

 Macy who loves purple and lots of bling.   She Sheds  

This would be a fun retreat for a Harry Potter fan.

I can see the Weasley's living here.

No link, but I really love the shingles.

I would love a craftsman-style play house!

Here are some links to three of my blogging friends' posts.  Dorothy loves dolls and dachshunds.  She just moved into her new retreat which she has filled with things she loves.  Her little dogs love to curl up and nap in little dolls beds.  Her link...Dorothy.

Kim K. lives in Michigan on a wooded lot.  Her hideaway is in a tree house.  Red mushrooms and gnomes hide in her garden.  Kim's She Shed.  Kim has just decorated a darling lakeside A-frame cabin with vintage camping gear...she really has two playhouses!

And finally...what can I say about my friend Jann?  Jann lives in Alpine and is one of the most creative...and energetic...people I know.  Her home and garden decor varies from week to week.  I'm lucky to finally get the last vestige of Christmas off my front porch, while she has created beautiful vignettes in her flowere beds.  She's now in the process of adding a "She Shed" to her garden.  I cannot wait to see what she does with it.  Here is a link to Jann's post about more fun garden houses. She Shed He Said

Here is a German "Gartenhaus." 

Sisters, our female ancestors often found joy in their labors.  Life wasn't just work and drudgery. Throughout time, women have found ways to beautify their homes and gardens...no matter how humble.  It's fun to dream about spaces just for us...but it's also fun to add little touches of creativity to the spaces we have.  Pinterest is just full of ideas to choose from.  Some are so easy...even I can do them!

Fun and fast...I added succulents to colorful old tins.

Or this idea from Pinterest.

The color just blows me away!

(I wonder where they found those tins?)

Provident Living....Wonder Box/Oven

Picture from I Will Prepare 

This week's RS newsletter had information on the Wonder Oven or Wonder Box.  I am posting the link to the site with the instructions for making one of these.  The site is called I Will Prepare and the link is here...Wonder Box/Oven.

Thanks for visiting, Sisters!

PS...May Provident Living Goals are located top right.

Mountain Monograms...U Ever Wonder Y?

Mountain Monograms!

Pleasant Grove's "G" with Mount Timpanogos looming above.

[Dear Sisters, I thought you might enjoy a bit of local history.  I'm sure you have noticed all the letters on the mountainsides here in Utah.  This is how they came to be.]

For as long as I can remember, the big white "G" on the mountainside east of my hometown of American Fork, Utah has been a part of the landscape of my life.  Every time my parents would take us on a drive we watched for the "G" that presided over the neighboring town of Pleasant Grove.  I always wondered what it meant.  What did that big "G" stand for?  One late summer night I looked out the window and was amazed and enchanted...the "G" was all aglow. That was when I learned that the "G" stood for Pleasant Grove High School and that it was all lit up for Homecoming.

The "G" from the hiking trail.

According to Wikipedia, in 1921, a group of seniors put a block letter "G" on an unnamed peak west of Mount Timpanogos.  The first time it was lit was in 1929.  There was once a Pleasant Grove holiday called "G Day" when the letter would be lighted and the townsfolk would celebrate.  The holiday was discontinued due to revelers causing damage to the football field.  Recently students raised $5,500 in a "Light the G" fundraiser to keep the icon lit on special occasions such as homecoming and graduation.

Why a G instead of a P?
It bothered me a lot back then, that Pleasant Grove used a G instead of a P.  It just didn't make sense to me.  I was doing some research online today and I think I may have come across the answer.  In the high school's early years, their mascot was known as the Pleasant Grove "Grover."  in 1959, the mascot was changed to the "Valkyrie" and eventually became the "Viking" which is the mascot today.

Distribution of Mountain Monograms Across the West

Notice the line of dots along the I-15 Corridor.

Mountain Monograms
The hillsides and mountainsides of Utah and other western states are peppered with big block letters...like the Block U of the University of Utah and the giant Y above Brigham Young University. Lately I have wondered why there are so many of them?  I wasn't even aware there was a term for such things...Mountain Monograms.  A definition from Wikipedia states "Hillside letters or mountain monograms are a form of geoglyph (more specifically hill figures) common in the American West. These are typically created and maintained by schools and towns.  Ranging in size from a few feet to hundreds of feet tall, they are an important part of western culture, symbols of school pride and community identity.  Water towers play a similar role in other parts of the country.  There is a popular myth that hillside letters were built so that early pilots could identify towns from the air in order to drop off "air mail."

The Big "C" in Berkley, California

Berkley's Big "C"...The First Mountain Monogram
According to online sources, the first three mountain monograms erected were due to class rivalries at universities.  The first letter was built in 1905 on Charter Hill overlooking the UC Berkley campus as a means of ending an unruly rivalry between the classes of 1907 and 1908.

The "Block U" of the University of Utah.

Size...a little over 100 ft. tall.

The "Block U."
A few weeks following the (1905) building of the Berkley "C,"  class rivalry between the sophomore and freshman classes of the University of Utah produced a hillside "U."

Students Repainting the "Block U."

The "Y" of Brigham Young University

The "Y" is 322 ft. in height and 120 feet wide.

"Y Mountain."
The following year, 1906,  Brigham Young University proposed the first 3-lettered hillside emblem, "BYU." After building the letter "Y", the school decided that it would be too much work to build the remaining letters.

Students apply hot lime...1908

Dr. Harvey Fletcher, the renowned scientist who graduated from BYU in 1907, wrote about the first Y Day in 1906, "The students stood in a zig zag line about 8 feet apart stretching from the bottom of the hill to the site of they.  The first man took the bag of lime, sand or rocks and carried it 8 feet and handed it to the next man.  the second carried it another 8 feet and handed it to the third man and thus the bag went up the hill, each man shuttling back and forth along his 8-foot portion of the trail."

This year Brigham Young University became the owner of Y Mountain.  Representative Jason Chaffetz sponsored a bill that was passed by Congress, allowing BYU to purchase the 80 acres surrounding the "Y."

Hillside Letters Across the West...

Even the fictional western town of Radiator Springs has a mountain monogram.

Closer View.

Hillside letters have been a part of my life for so long that I really didn't pay much attention to them any more...until recently.  Pulling out of the drive-thru of the Boulder City Mickey D's, I noticed this on a rocky mountainside:

Boulder City, Nevada.

It was like a bolt out of the blue...there had to be a story in these letters that seem to be everywhere! On my drive home I noticed letters on the hillsides of Parowan, Beaver, Fillmore, Nephi and Payson...and there are many more.  There are an estimated 72 hillside letters, messages and acronyms across the state of Utah...over 500 across the West and Canada.   For example, there are 81 in California, 45 in Nevada, 59 in Arizona and 34 in Idaho.  The densest concentrations are found along the Mormon Corridor in Utah, Idaho and the Los Angeles Basin.

Hole N' The Rock...tourist attraction near Moab.

On your next vintage vacation in the Old West, keep your eyes peeled for hillside letters.  They could be found in any little town with a big hill or mountain nearby.  I can't wait for my next car trip!

Note: The link to April Provident Living Goals is on the right hand side.

Easter Week Activities...Keeping Christ in Easter!

Easter Week

Palm Sunday...Triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

"It is fitting that during the week from Palm Sunday to Easter morning we turn our thoughts to Jesus Christ, the source of light, life and love.  The multitudes in Jerusalem may have seen Him as a great king who would give them freedom from political oppression.  But in reality He gave much more than that.  He gave us His gospel, a pearl beyond price, the grand key of knowledge that, once understood and applied, unlocks a life of happiness, peace and fulfillment."  President Dieter F. Uctdorf.

Palm Sunday marks the triumphal entry into Jerusalem by Jesus Christ.  As He entered the city He was welcomed with praise and with people holding palm branches, hence the name "Palm Sunday." In John 12: 12-13 it is recorded: "On the next day much people that were come to the fest, when they heard Jesus was come to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord."

Easter Week

Since November, I have been reading "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage.  When I was a Beehive, my bishop told me it was one of the most important books for me to read and every time he spoke with me he would ask if I had read it yet.  Looking back, I am surprised he thought I was smart enough to understand it.  Now that I am an adult, it's still a more difficult book than I am used to, so it has taken me a while. I only read one chapter at a time so I can think about what I have learned. My timing has been such that as Easter approaches I am in the chapters that chronicle the last week of the Savior's life.  Reading them is like walking with Him on his final journey as His earthly mission comes to a close.  I feel like I am getting to know and understand Him better.

                                                   

Starting a new Easter tradition...

There is a growing trend within the church of families observing Holy Week, following Christ's footsteps into Jerusalem, to the temple, to the upper rooms of the Last Supper and into the Garden of Gethsemane. Beginning with Palm Sunday, some parents have created activities for their children that help them celebrate a more Christ-centered Easter.  

I came across an LDS blog with a lot of ideas for parents. The blog post is called:  Holy Week: A Christ Centered Easter Tradition for LDS Families.  It looks like it could be a fun way to bring the focus back to the Savior.  There are lots of suggestions for activities, songs and even a Passover meal. The blogger also suggested the following book:

God So Loved the World

Happy Easter 1960

This is how I remember Easter Sunday when I was very young.

I wanted a purse, gloves and hat to wear to Sunday School.

Chicks are a symbol of Easter.

Easter symbols are so commonplace that we often don't even think about what they mean. Candy eggs, bunnies and baskets in bright colors are everywhere.  I miss the soft colors of my childhood Easters.  I loved chocolate eggs with icing squiggles and those beautifully decorated sugar eggs with scenes of bunnies or chicks inside.  But I was terrified by the idea of a giant rabbit coming into my house!  Our children may wonder what bunnies and eggs have to do with Easter and the Savior's resurrection.  We can teach them what the symbols stand for.  I found a Primary related blog that defined some of the most common symbols.

Easter Symbols

• Baby Chicks - New Life
• Bunny - New Life
• Candle - Jesus, "The Light of the World"
• Cross - Jesus' Victory Over Death
• Egg - Spring
• Egg - Jesus' tomb
• Flowers, Daffodils and Tulips - Spring and New Life
• Easter Hats and New Clothes - New Life or Rebirth
• Lamb - Jesus, "Lamb of God"
• Hatching - New Life or Rebirth
• Lilies - Purity of Jesus or New life.
• Palm Leaves - Jesus Arrival in Jerusalem
• Pretzels - Arms Folded in Prayer (German?)

Butterflies symbolize three stages of Christ's life.

Caterpillar...His life on Earth

Cocoon...Crucifixion and Burial

Butterfly...His Resurrection.

Have a Blessed Easter Sunday!

Jack Valentine...A Quaint Old Tradition!

Punch-out Valentines were my favorite!

I loved Valentine's Day as a child.  In school we would spend a day decorating old shoe boxes with construction paper hearts and stickers.  We struggled cutting out hearts with those blunt scissors and usually got more paste in our hair than on our boxes.  There were usually a few kids who enjoyed the sweet minty taste of the school paste...myself included!  In my mind my finished box was a work of art...but probably looked something like this...

I liked to wander around the room admiring...critiquing...all the other boxes.  I imagined that there would be a special card left in my box by a secret admirer.

Typical Grade School Party.

The 60's were my era.

The party above was probably a lot more fun than the ones I remember.  The last hour of school was set aside for us to line up and "deliver the mail."  We all seemed to get an equal amount of cards and teacher made sure no one was left out.  I worried about that...there were usually a few quiet and shy children in the class.  I wasn't quiet, but I was a bit shy.  We usually got a heart-shaped cookie that someone's mom had made, then we gathered up our boxes and went home.  It was fun to sit on the floor and open the cards.  Some had a few conversation hearts sealed inside the envelope, but I don't remember a lot of candy in the stores, except for the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  I read each card with Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone and others seeking a secret message from my admirer, but "I Choo-Choo-Choose You" wasn't exactly a confession of undying love!

Jack Valentine...

Who is Jack?  

Until this morning I had never heard of a character called "Jack Valentine."  I was online looking for Valentine's trivia as a possible blog topic, when I came across several mentions of Jack. Jack is a folk character from Norfolk in eastern England.  He is sometimes known as Old Father Valentine. In Victorian times in Norfolk, Valentine's Eve was almost as important to children (and hopeful lovers) as Christmas with anonymous gifts from secret admirers or parents.

Dressed in a top hat and tails, Jack Valentine would knock upon the door and leave presents for the expectant child.  Sometimes Jack would play tricks upon the children and tie string to the gift, so when the child reached for it, he would jerk it away.  After the children were thoroughly frustrated, Jack would let go of the string and let them have the gift.  But they must never look for him.  Some children found the idea of Jack a bit frightening.

This story of Jack brought back a few Valentine's memories from my own childhood.  As much as I enjoyed the school party...it was the evening that I liked most.  When I got home from school, my mom would be putting sugar cookies on paper plates for our friends. In my old neighborhood in American Fork, it was popular to leave cards or cookies on a neighbor's porch, ring the doorbell and run.  This was also when we gave cards to children that were not in our classes.  Some tricksters would tie a string to a card and jerk it away when you tried to pick it up.  Does this sound familiar?  I had never heard of Jack Valentine...yet it seems his spirit crossed the ocean with the British pioneers who settled my home town.  What do you know?  I learn something new every day!

I hope you have fun memories of Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's, Sisters!

P.S.  The February "Eating an Elephant" Goals link is on the right side of the page.

Welcome to a New Year!

Happy New Year, Sisters!

This will just be a short post...or it won't get done...lol!  I have so many New Years goals and projects that it's killing me to leave them to work on blog posts.  I have just a couple of things to share.  The following list, "Build Your Food Storage With Only $5 a Week," has been floating about Provident Living Land for a few years now.  Many things may cost more than the promised $5, but it's a way to get started.  I am picking up my 6 lbs. of salt tomorrow.  I have most of these things already, but I figure, what the hey?  It never hurts to have more than enough. For the January "Eating an Elephant" goal, check the right hand side of the post.  It will be there under "Featured Post."

A New Tip to Try...

Best Garment Whitener!

I found this on Facebook and though I haven't tried it yet, you may want to give it a go.  I cannot guarantee anything.

Combine 48 oz. powder Cascade with 3 lb. Oxi Clean White Revive.  Mix all together and store in a container.

To Wash:

Fill a kitchen sink or plastic storage container with hot, hot water and add 1 cup of Cascade/Oxi mic, 1 capful Persil Pro White Technology Power Pearls and 1 cup white vinegar.  Let garments or any white items soak overnight or several hours.  May want to give them a few stirs.

Next:

Drain and finish them with a rinse cycle in your washer, then dry.  Seriously supposed to make them whiter than anything the person who posted this has tried.  We'll see...lol!

Happy January!!

Eating an Elephant...December Bite!

December Bite...

Tastes like Christmas Cookies!

This is the last installment of "Eating an Elephant" preparedness goals.  Sorry they are so late...December kind of gets away from me.  In January I hope to come up with a new theme for the year.  The monthly goals will still be available in the post archive...but even better...Blogger has added a new feature, "Featured Post" that will appear on the top of the right side. You will be able to find each month's "Bite" there.  Just a click away!  As an example, you will find a post from last Christmas about Santa Claus and what the Prophets have said about him.

December Goals...

"No man is truly free who is in financial bondage.  'Think what you do when you run in debt,' said Benjamin Franklin. 'You give another power over your liberty.'"

--Ezra Taft Benson

Spiritual Goal:

Decide as a family how you can better remember and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Provident Living Goal:

Review you insurance coverage; life, household, vehicle.  Do you have enough?  Could you replace your vehicle or household goods with the coverage you have?

Storage Goal:

• 40 lbs. dried beans per person.
• Matches.
• Candles.
• Batteries.

72 Hour Kit:

• Garbage bags,
• Candles.
• Matches.
• Can Opener.

December Visiting Teaching Message...

I liked this cute handout from Polka Dot Creations on Pinterest!

I hope we all remembered our Sisters this month!

Merry Christmas, Sisters!