Probably no one can discern why this photo struck fear in my heart today After all I was given a sewed and assembled body without any extra work on my part and it fit Dean perfectly this morning.

All last week I had the feeling my sewing machine needed to cared for, cleaned and oiled and had been discussing with Werner how we could get the machine to Santa Rosa and back again. I had even called one ad in the yellow pages and checked on prices and turn-around times. When I heard they would need to keep the machine for 6 weeks I began to think maybe now was not the time to do this and if I turned my head I could not see the stitches were no exact.
Shortly after taking this photo of Dean I went to the living room to sew a body for whoever it would fit. The machine made two stitches and a small black snake flew into my lap. It was 'only' the rubber belt. After all these years it had finally broken down completely. This encouraged my efforts to find a repair man. Mary, here to clean, saw my distress and promised to take the machine to Santa Rosa herself next week. I began calling around to find the best place so send her. One place, instead of helping me get into the repair shop they ran, worked to sell me, sight unseen one of their machines on sale for $199. No thanks! The offer did, however, set up the idea that perhaps I could buy a new machine (I have never bought a new sewing machine in my life - always used ones) for slightly more than the cost of repairs. I had been warned that my old machine (made in England in 1953) would probably need some new parts (it was treadle machine that had been rewired for electricity) and those would be expensive. Werner and I talked it over and he was all for getting the old one repaired no matter what it cost. Before I made a decision, I asked to look online. I really hated the trips to SR I would be asking others to do for me and I really hated not having a machine for weeks.
It only took about ten minutes to find a Brother sewing machine, made in England!, for only $138. The selling point for me was that it had a self threading attachment. That blinded me to all other considerations. The machine was designed for beginners so it was simple to operate and even had two needles. All the reviews on Amazon were excellent for it. So I sat at the bottom of the stairs and hollered up to Werner what I really wanted. He was eager to get back to his book of poetry and gave in without a struggle. Now neither Mary, nor Werner, will have to make a trip to Santa Rosa lugging my old dear in and out of a shop. A new one is already on its way to me. Following Mary's good example, I think I will clean until it gets here, after I rest up from all the excitement of today.