Frank came home from work one day and announced he had been lay-ed off. We didn’t know what to do. He had made friends with a guy who wanted to start a Bail Bond Business. Frank thought that would be interesting to chase down bail jumpers. He got a concealed gun permit and they put their names up in jails for Bail Bonds. In the mean time he started working for a man who had a security company and he would go to work around 9 or 10 at night and ride around checking on business over night. Since he was away at night they gave our phone number as a number to call for the bail bonds. I would get calls at all hours of the night. They had not really told me what to do beside take a message. I did not like having to answer the phone from drunks needing bails. Then Frank was not able to get bonded so he could not participate in the business. Yeah, I didn’t have to answer the phone anymore.
We learned that we could get a really good loan to buy a house. We found a place in the county just outside of Marysville, Washington. Marysville is a small town north of Everett about ten minutes away. The house was new and had never been lived in. It was a ranch style house. Three bedrooms, one bath, a car port and quite a large yard. It sat up on a little hill above the street. A slopping front yard and the back yard ran into a line of trees and underbrush. Our kitty loved the freedom. We had a couple of neighbors but I didn’t get to know them very well.
There were hardwood floors through out the home, except in the kitchen and bathroom. We had very little furniture and so we slowly purchased things as we were able. We purchased a washer and dryer. What a relief to not have to go to the laundromat.
We had purchased a Ford Mustang after we got to Washington and Frank decided that it was not the right kind of car to have with a baby so he traded it in on a Truck. How is that better than a Mustang? He said the payments were less. I guess. But I liked the Mustang.
Shortly after we moved in a couple moved into a house just behind us through the trees. David and Kay Putnam, they had two little girls. The oldest was a couple of years older than David and the youngest was just about David’s age. Kay and I became friends. She had lived a very interesting life I thought. Her father had been in Diplomatic Service and she had lived in France. I was fascinated. Her husband worked for the State Highway Department. He was part of the crews that fixed the roads and such. He was away long hours sometimes. Frank was either working at night or hanging out with his friends or sleeping so Kay and I spent a lot of time together.
She got me interested in knitting. I tried to make a scarf. But I found crocheting easier. One day I was in a Relief Society Work meeting and one of the ladies was demonstrating how to crochet. She said that all crochet stitches are built on just three stitches. I watched her and all at once it made sense. I plunged into making crocheted doilies.
Kay and I joined the YWCA so we could do an exercise class. She introduced me to gardening. I helped her and she helped me. We cleared a path through the trees and underbrush so we could get to each others home. She taught me how to make stroganoff, and lamb curry. Her husband David was from Yakima, Washington, where a lot of fruit is grown. They took a trip that fall and brought home a lot of fruit, peaches and apples and pears. I helped Kay bottle fruit and she helped me. We made jams and jellies. We were so domestic. It was fun. It reminded me of when I was a girl helping my Mother.
We put our babies is strollers and walked around the neighborhood. We met some of the long time residents of our little hill community. We lived up on a hill that had not been developed except for three or four homes. These homes had been the only homes for many years. Kay was very bold in talking to these neighbors. A couple of the ladies had wonderful flower gardens and Kay was not shy in asking if they would give us cuttings from their flowers. We took them to our houses and tenderly planted and tended them.
The book mobile would come up our hill and we would check out books to read to the kids or for our own enjoyment.
That summer Franks parents and sister came to visit.