Home Sweet Home...The Streets Where We Lived!

Home Sweet Home by Mary Engelbreit.

Mary Engelbreit has drawn so many sweet little cottages.  Each one seems to beckon, saying "Come home!  Sit a spell."  I want to walk up the path and open the front door of this dear little house.  What nooks and crannies will I find to explore?  My Grandma Patta's house was filled with nooks and crannies...and those nooks and crannies contained boxes filled with unknown wonders.  Grandma would "let" me help her sort through those boxes.  So many little treasures found their way home with me.  That house was dear to my heart because my grandparents were there and they loved me!  I visit them often in my dreams.  Home is more than a sweet embroidered sentiment on a pillow...home is where our families are and where our stories begin.  This blog post will probably not be of interest to anyone but members of my family...but that's okay.  This will be a record of all the places this family has called home.

Shirley's Homes...

 

First Home as a baby...Alpine, Utah
April 7, 1955
We lived upstairs.

100 East American Fork, Utah

Lived Upstairs here as a toddler.

We also lived in a brick duplex on West Main...demolished to build Target.

Alpine, Utah

Lived here Kindergarten through Second Grade

280 North 300 West American Fork, Utah

Third Grade to Junior High.

There was no porch or carport at that time.

Lived in upstairs part of the house.

352 Washington Avenue American Fork, Utah

Junior High until Marriage in 1975

We own this home now...it's been completely remodeled.

George's Homes...

175 North 500 East Spanish Fork, Utah.

George lived here from 1955 to 1971 when he moved to American Fork, Utah

The home was pink when he lived there.

670 East 300 North American Fork, Utah

George moved here in 1971 when his mother married Joseph Ovard.

Our Hatfield Family Homes...

Our First Home!

About 50 South 400 East American Fork

1975-1977

About 1978 the trailer was replaced with a house.

1977 El Paso Apartment on the west side of town.

It was near a Piggly Wiggly...which I thought was hilarious!

Moved here when George was stationed at Fort Bliss as an Army 2nd Lieutenant.

11 Helgolandstrasse 5 Delmenhorst, Germany

1978-1980

We lived on the top floor.

Edewecht, Germany

1980-1981

American housing on Haupt Strasse.

Our apartment was on the ground floor, far left.

Cielo Vista Apartments in El Paso, Texas.

1101 Avalon Drive #C

Lived there in 1981 while our house was being built.

That's me holding Geoff with Missy and Amber nearby.

10708 Georgetown, El Paso, Texas.

Located on the west side of town...near Transmountain Road.

1981-1982

Our first brand-new house.  We didn't live there very long.

Amber's school was right across the street...Omar Bradley Elementary.

10161 North 5890 West Highland, Utah

1982-1996

It's only a few blocks from here, but too lazy to drive by.

Stole picture off Google Street View...lol!

Our Dream House

George built it pretty much by himself.

9802 North 5740 West Highland Utah

Just across the old canal from our old neighborhood.

1996 to Present

This was our yard in the 90's

Our Home Away From Home.

Condo, Big Horn at Black Mountain in Henderson, Nevada.

We have owned it for 6 years...and still can't get people to stop parking in our space.

Our Home May 23, 2015

Be it ever so humble... 

Alice Fairy Garden...Very Merry Un-Birthday!

Alice's Teacup Fairy Garden!

She should be wishing us a Merry Un-Birthday!

 

 

A Fairy Garden for Daughter Sascha

 

I bought this teacup planter at Wal-Mart quite a few years ago.  I gave it to Sascha who has loved and collected everything Alice in Wonderland since she was a child.  I thought she might use it in her garden.  A weird cat with a knowing grin told me she wants an Alice Tea Party theme for her wedding someday.  But until I see a ring and get the go-ahead to craft strangely wonderful Alice-related wedding décor, I will have to be content to play Fairy Garden Godmother.

 



Alice and the Cheshire Cat

 

Fairy Gardens seem to be everywhere on Pinterest and Facebook.  Many of the craft stores sell the little figures and garden accessories so we all can join in the fun.  My grand daughter McKenzie likes to make a fairy garden each year with her Grandma Hyde...what a fun tradition. They use live plants, while I am more comfortable using silk flowers and grasses.  I can't be trusted with real plants...lol!  Recently I discovered that Disney character play-sets like Snow White and Alice in Wonderland are just the right size to use in a fairy garden if you are a crazy Disney fan like I am.  

Kenzie's Fairy Garden

 

A Few Close-ups...Alice's Garden

Tiny cat hides under the mushrooms.

Un-Birthday Cake on a fairy stool table.

 

 

 

A "Very Merry Un-Birthday" to you!

 

It's Raining...Come Sit on the Deck!

My Coke Machine Dresser...inspired me to add more color to my deck.

 

It's been raining for several days...which is nothing new to most people...but we've been in a drought.  So...while the rain isn't spoiling any activity of mine...it's a welcome drink of water for this dry western state.  George will have to wait to add the new plants to the flower beds and the rock garden patio area.  I'm glad we didn't have a Mother's Day BBQ Bash planned...we'd be inside and a bit gloomy.  My plans tomorrow are for a trip up the canyon to the Sundance Resort for brunch and the kids will be over later in the day for dessert and visiting.  Sometimes simple is what a mother craves!

 

I thought a rainy day would be a good time to show some of the changes I made to my covered deck.  I've wanted to add some vintage color and vibe...but I just couldn't get myself to buy update the chair and chaise cushions...those things are expensive!  So for this year, at least, I will be content to just add color in other ways.

 

New metal signs from Hobby Lobby. 

A "Coke" sign is a given.

I plan to add a Route 66 sign.

A man in Oatman, AZ makes some rustic ones.

I plan to seek him out next visit.

 

 

New pillows for the glider.

Chevron was $15 from Target...great price!

I made the patchwork pillow cover in red and aqua.

 

 

 

Lots of fun prints!

 

Soda Box Gnome Home.

I've had the little door and gnomes for years!

 

Wooden box of acorns and a sweet bird hidden in the wildflowers.

Nothing is attached permanently...so I can change things around.

 

Cute baker's rack display.

I stuck fake geraniums into two vintage canisters.

(I can't be trusted with real flowers)

I found the two canisters in a shed at George's grandma's old farm house.

 

"Pinned it...and did it!"

Lacy Glass Mushrooms.

Super easy to make...just a tube of glass cement, glass bowls and vases from the thrift store.

Two of these were made from glass light fixture bowls

I found in the same shed as the canisters.

Wish they looked sparklier in the pic.

 Inspired by...

Pin from Design Function.

They look so magical!  I'm not sure where to put mine yet.

 

That's all for now...

When I Was Your Age...I Was A Candy Striper!

Candy Striper! 

When I was your age I...

A couple of days ago I was looking through my desk drawer and came across a tiny pin.  The writing was so small that I had to put on my reading glasses to read what was on it. It was my Candy Striper 100 hour pin!  I have no idea how it came to be in that drawer...I received that pin 45 years ago!   

100 Hours of Service

When I was 15 years old, I decided to become a Candy Striper.  I wasn't thinking of a career in medicine at the time.  I thought it would be a fun way to earn service hours for my Young Women's award.   Picking beans on the Church Welfare Farm was one of my least favorite activities...along with babysitting, and cleaning house for my Grandma Zetta. 

American Fork Hospital.

Nursery window is far right of the flagpole.

The local hospital was quite small in the early 70's.  At that time children weren't allowed to visit patients, so I hadn't been able to satisfy my curiosity about "what goes on in a hospital."  When we had a new baby, I stood outside the nursery window with my siblings while a nurse held the baby up to the window.  I had never gotten any further than the lobby and the Pink Ladies' gift shop.  I wanted to follow the sound of the nurse's squeaky shoes down the tiled hallways.  I had  read a few of my mother's "Nurse Nancy" romances and I imagined all sorts of drama and romance. If I was a Candy Striper I could maybe "snoop" around a bit.

Nurse Nancy...Mom took us to the library a lot.

I went to Candy Striper Orientation with a group of my junior high classmates and passed the interview with Mrs. McTague our volunteer coordinator.  We paid dues of $1 per year and were given a pretty pink and white striped pinafore and a booklet.  I don't remember if we paid for the uniform.



This booklet was found in my M.I.A. Treasures of Truth binder.

I found a few other bits and bobs I forgot I had saved.

The Uniform...

The Uniform.

I thought I looked cute in the uniform...but I didn't like the fact that we were supposed to wear nylons.  I thought my white knee socks looked perfectly fine.  I didn't even own any nylons and couldn't afford them.  Mrs. McTague talked to me about it several times.  She was nice, but I never did wear them.

My uniform patch.

How cute I was in the uniform!

My Duties...

I started out by working at the Patient Information desk.  We directed visitors and answered questions.  We took turns delivering flowers to the rooms and filling the water jugs.

Later, I was assigned to work in the kitchen and cafeteria.  I took all the patient menus and tabulated the different choices for the dietician.  Then I changed the menu sign and added in the daily specials.  When it was time for lunch, the information desk girls would help me deliver the food trays.  Sometimes, if the nurses were too busy, we were asked to help feed some of the elderly patients who couldn't handle a spoon or fork.  I liked working in the kitchen...I got free lunch!

My Fellow Volunteers!

We donated a toy chest to the Pediatrics Ward.

Once I had received my 100 hour pin, I was ready to move on...checking the box on my list of things I wanted to do in my life.  I think we each have a "bucket list" of sorts even if we don't call it that.  After volunteering at the hospital, I knew that a medical career was not for me.  I had a lot of interests when I was a teenager.  I had real talent in some things, and in others...not so much.  When you take music lessons, gymnastics, swimming and sports, you are trying things on...like trying on a dress.  Sometimes the dress fits and sometimes it doesn't.  Just don't leave the dressing room until you find the perfect fit for you!

With love from your Grandma,