What Do You Mean You Don't Want This??

Our daughter, our only child, is 32 years old and has her own tastes. Well, ok, that doesn't sound startling. But when I want her to have some things I think would be neat for her to have, and she says "Mom, that really isn't me.",  it does take a moment to sink in that something I like has no appeal to her at all! One could, if one were so inclined, actually have hurt feelings.

I had an antiques business, and have many items still left from that, plus items given to me by my parents which belonged to my grandparents and even great grandparents. They are precious - to me.  She hasn't grown up having those same feelings so she doesn't see them in the same context. And I had to learn a while back, that's OK. To be fair to me, though, she has changed her mind about some of the things, but only some. So I have been looking for places for the extra stuff in the barn: outlet stores for certain charities, people I know who might like them, or a university drama department.

Recently, she has begun sewing accessories, while taking a break from her painting and drawing. She is quite a good and creative seamstress, and has used a bunch of antique fabrics and tablecloths to make into shoulder bags, messenger bags and small pouches. She shares a love of fabric with me - I used to smock, French hand sew, and create one of a kind items of clothing for her. She looks forward to using the clothing herself should she be blessed with a daughter. But antique fabric! Oh my, it just made my heart beat a little faster - French linen sheets with heavy white embroidery, rough linen French feed sacks with a red or blue stripe  down the length of the bag, soft prints on cotton dress fabric, linen towels, barkcloth from the mid-century, tablecloths from the 1920's- 1950's, tickings of all kinds and toile. I would purchase them, wash and fold them and look lovingly at the stack. I sold many, but I always seemed to buy way more than I could sell (it helped to know other dealers who sold them by the lot for a great price!) and I use the linen sheets on our beds and old kitchen towels are put to use again in our kitchen. But still, just what am I going to do with the rest now?

I had to sell my antiques business when I became chronically ill. The fabric was boxed up and stored. First I had given Tabitha everything which was stained or had been torn, so she could cut around these parts and use them for sewing. Later I stood looking at the large plastic storage box which has been in the extra closet for years. How many years? And really, what good where they going to do me? They would do an awful lot for her, so I asked her if she wanted them - she pounced quite happily! She recently did her first show and did pretty well even though it really wasn't her demographic. And she's bursting with plans on how to make them even more unique!

(Photos taken by Daryl Ham)

Now, here's a secret - when she first showed me the small pouches using the different tickings as lining, my first thought was "AAHH - she cut up the ticking fabric!" Silly, isn't it? I realized then that it was good I had given them away, I had become attached to these "things".

Of course, some things haven't changed, there are still items I have which she doesn't want. And that's OK, it's her life. I respect that!

............... Well, I might still try to talk her into taking my grandmother's large beautiful dough bowl, made from a single piece of wood, or my great grandfather's long handmade porch bench .....................

And here's a good link to motivate you to move on, thanks to my friend Fran! Be sure to read it!

Live your life one day at a time!

Tag Tuesday - VIntage Sewing, and a Story: AGAINST THE ODDS

The tag challenge this week is Vintage Sewing. There were 20 people responding last week, my first week for running the challenge - I think that's great! If you want to see how I made this tag, and see the Sampler of the other artists' work, click here!

(click for detail)

There is glitter on the tag, it just doesn't show in the photo  - boo!

Against The Odds

14th in the Tuesday Story Series

Many years go, in the Seventies, I used to work in the Accounts Payable department of Ryder Truck Rental in Columbia, SC. Ryder is a large national chain, and rents everything from small trucks to tractor trailers. Working in an office was not really a good job for me, but I had to take what I could get at the time. After being there for a while, I heard about a way to earn extra money. Because so many trucks would be rented at point A and driven to point B, there were times when some of the trucks at point B would need to be moved back to to point A. Did you follow that? And Ryder paid extra money to a qualified driver to move trucks on weekends by taking drivers in a van to where ever there were too many trucks, and they'd drive them back. The picture below is the familiar small truck seen on the road.

A qualified driver meant that you had to have your CDL - Commercial Driver's License. And to have one of those, you needed to take several tests, one of them being a road test. So I thought it would be fun to apply for my CDL and earn extra money on weekends. Now, remember, this was the Seventies, and you just did not see many women at that time driving trucks. And the attitude among many in the industry was that was the way it was supposed to be!

I talked with my office supervisor, Chuck, about the steps to take. To my surprise, he was very supportive and told me what I needed to do. I had to take an exam and then the Safety Manager would take me out on the road. And the choice of truck would be his. So I took the next available exam and tried to schedule my road test. The Safety Manager kept putting me off and several weeks went by. Meanwhile, I practiced on the lot with whatever truck was available.

Finally I harassed him enough that he gave in. He told me that I could take the test the next day at 5 pm. Did I mention that he was a man with a very strong chauvinistic bent? Five o'clock traffic in Columbia was horrible, and the city is hilly. Nevertheless, I was ready, and met him in the yard the next day.

The first thing I noticed was that he picked the longest straight body truck in the yard. A straight body truck is the biggest you can get before a tractor trailer, something like the one below. 

We climbed into the cab and off we went. As I changed gears, drove through traffic and had to stop and start on steep hills, he would pepper me with questions from the manual. I was a little nervous but managed to answer everything, even as I feigned confidence. When we finally returned, he didn't say anything to me, just got out of the truck and headed inside. Somewhat confused, I followed him and saw him go into Chuck's office. I went over to my desk and waited. I could see him through the glass walls, slumped in his chair and shaking his head.

Convinced I had messed up somewhere, I kept running the test through my head, trying to figure out what I had done wrong. Then I saw Chuck smiling at him and they both got up and came out. The Safety Manager mumbled "You did fine. You should have your CDL in a couple of days." and walked off. Relieved, I turned to Chuck who was laughing. He said the guy came in, sat down, muttered an expletive, and said "I don't believe it! She passed!" I was thrilled! And the rest of the time I worked at Ryder, I spent a lot of my weekends driving all over the state in a truck, making pretty good money! And enjoying it!