A Sad Day

Wow!  No blog from me for quite a while!  What have I been doing?  Lots, but none of it interesting.  I have mostly been working and helping take Rachael’s poor kitty to the cat dentist.  There must have been other things, but they were so dull that I barely remember them. 

I did have Ana for a nice al fresco dinner.  That was interesting, and made clear to me that I really, really needed a new tablecloth for my outdoor table.  I had a nice yellow one, and those little devils, the squirrels ate it.  You can’t turn your back on those imps for more than a minute or they will have ruined something.

So Becca and I went to the fabric store and bought the ingredients.

With the help of Tobias, I made a pattern. 

I cut out the pieces and got set to sew.  I got half the pieces sewn together when, horror of horrors, my sewing machine, my modest friend for over fifty years – always faithful, always true, gave up the ghost.  There was a little agonal whirring, and that was it.  I called the sewing machine MD, and, after listening to the symptoms,  he said that he thought it was a hopeless case, as the part which had apparently broken was no longer made.  AAAAAAARGH!  I wanted Becca to lend me hers so I could finish my table cloth, but she was in the middle of a project herself!

I have a very old machine which I purchased in Ireland and lugged back with me.  It was faithful then, but since, I have only admired it occasionally, never actually trying to get it to sew.  I saw no reason why it shouldn’t work now, and so I hauled it out.  

It is hand cranked, so one can easily go as slow as necessary for delicate maneuvers.  

As it was locked in its case, the first challenge was finding the key.  Initially, my search was a failure!  But St. Anthony came to the rescue, and I was able to get it open. Then, it wouldn’t go at all.  I prayed this time to St. Martha – my friend in all housekeeping crises, and St Jude for desperate cases.  After invoking them, I oiled it and it struggled to life.  But would it actually sew?  That was the big question!  And the answer is yes!

It is slow going with this machine, but at least it is going, and it is kind of exciting to be using it again.  When I lived in Ireland, thirty years ago, I used it to make a wool suit and several dresses for my mother, and a suit for myself.  I am too fat for the skirt, but still wear the jacket sometimes. 

I think, however, that there will soon be a new sewing machine in my life. It won’t be able to replace the other two in my heart, but I am hoping that it will nicely replace them in my sewing room.