The Lady in the Vault

I loved working at the bank during my earliest of Honeymoon Days. It was the first time as a young person to be in a community of women with a like minded purpose. A paycheck on Fridays. Conversations during our lunch hour revolved around the direct deposit time, layaway payments to be made, and Christmas Club deposits marked in little blue books provided by our employers.

Our lunch room was in the basement of the bank. Brown paper sacks lined the shelves of an ancient refrigerator,  the crinkle of wax paper was the soothing background to our familiar routine. Sandwiches cut on the diagonal, an apple or an orange, a Tab or Fresca to quench our thirst.

Our lunch room was many floors underneath the lobby of the bank and could only be reached by the same elevator customers used to visit their safe deposit box in the bank's vault. Watching customers come and go during my lunch hour,  my curiosity to see the vault for myself got the better of me.

A long hallway and several turns ended at two steps that led to small landing that could be seen through imposing black iron gates. A desk just like my own receptionist's desk was pushed into one corner where the most striking woman rose to greet me. Tall and slender, elegant in our navy blue bank uniform; she had jet black hair piled high above her head in a fashion I was too young to recall having ever seen before. A beehive. Her eyes were heavily lined with black mascara, her lips fire engine red to match her long finger nails, her voice asking if she could help me was familiar to someone with parents both from the South. It seems time had stood perfectly still in this place.

Visiting the lady in the vault became a part of my daily lunch routine. Homespun advice from another era was mesmerizing coming from someone who looked as she did. It seems her husband met her in the 1950's at a street race when she was only 15 and fell in love with her velvety black hair. He loved it to this day now 25 years married and three children nearly grown. Her husband was a very successful owner of several eye glass manufacturing companies.

I know now I would not be where I am today in life it were not for The Lady in the Vault. My daily visits to say hello led to an invitation to dinner for my husband and myself. In conversation about my husband's working for his relative's moving company and not being happy led to an offer of employment on the spot to manufacture eye glasses. The opportunity to leave the family business gave him the needed confidence to stand on his own and re-enlist in the military which was his true calling.

Please do not Pin pattern to Pinterest

Bobwhite Spend the Nights

I believe in every group of friends there is a natural assignment of position that defines your importance to the group. It is what allows girls to set aside their tendencies to be self centered in favor of "One for all, all for one."

My roll as oldest Bobwhite was that of organizing our activities for our Spend the Nights. From Living Room Olympics to Murder in the Dark, Telephone to Light as a Feather, I could be counted on to fill our every spare moment with some form of adventure that always dissolved  into fits of laughter.

Tall Skinny Sister and her Short Skinny Sister could be counted on for Food and Boy Updates respectively. We didn't know how much food we could eat if not encouraged by Liz and her ability to cook like a mother. No Cheeze Curls for this group, she was making Nachos before they even had a name! Ginny, the most social of our group and popular in school, new who was seen holding hands with whom in the hallways of our school. We looked to her for expert assessment of situations that had the potential of resulting in actual kissing.

Only Child Girl was the serious one in our group who made us care about the world in which we lived. It is because of her that we all participated in our country's first ever Earth Day hauling my brother's wagon door to door collecting newspaper for recycling. She kept us updated on all the endangered species of the world and didn't rest until we each wore copper bracelets of a missing Vietnam Veteran.

 I often will make my little craft room characters in groups of four or five as a reminder of the bond of friendship that became the touchstone of my own being. It is remarkable to me that we truly did stay true to our assigned positions determined on our Bobwhite Spend the Nights.

Goody, Goody Gum Drops!

Something I adore about taking a vacation is having my mail held at the post office. I love the opportunity to visit postal workers who now call me by name and will ask about days they have not seen me. I especially like the moment they will bring to the counter all of the mail that is awaiting my attention. It's like Christmas!

Expecting ordered felt to be in my delivery, I was excitedly surprised to find the publication that will be featuring my felt patterns, Thread Candy Studio.

Even more surprising was finding my little Fourth of July "Star" larger than life among the candy colored pages. I was expecting perhaps a little corner, not a three page feature. Wow!

My Opener of Windows Beth did such a fantastic job making the instructions as easy as can be for anyone to follow. A lot of hard work goes into writing patterns, and I am so appreciative of her efforts. The most fun news to be shared in October will be the first edition of Felt Candy which will feature more of my work and also offer kits complete with felt and all supplies should you wish to make your own holiday characters.

The wonderful candy colored pages of this issue inspired my parade of garland hangers with their gumdrop hues.

Truly, there is a Happy Dance going on inside my heart. If you wish to learn more about this publication, you may click on the button on my sidebar. For all of those who have encouraged me with your kind words these past years, please know my patterns are always here for you to find.

POST NOTE: This is the company that owns my patterns until September of 2013 and is why they should not be Pinned to Pinterest. The company has not done anything with them; so after next fall, pin all you like. I love to share anything at all I create!