Scary Things

I wrote this yesterday, before the election results came in. It was a rout, thankfully.  Hopefully the orange idiot has been neutered. (We have to remember though all the negative changes that republicans put in place that don't start until next year because they knew they were going to take a beating and they want the public to think all the bad shit is the fault of the newly elected democrats.  So be cautious and don't get fooled by that republican trick. )

Anyway, here is yesterday's entry:

The first scary thing is that it's election night in the U.S. and the polls are starting to close. (Whoever thought it was a good idea to have Halloween, Daylight Savings, and an election all in the space of four days?) Dave and I voted on Saturday, the last day for early voting. We went to the polling place in our village's little community center and it was pretty busy. 

 

The second (not so scary) scary thing are my little ghosts made from low-volume scraps of fabric.  

I started out adding little buttons for their eyes, but sewing on little buttons and the arthritis in my hands weren't getting along, so I switched to adding detail with a permanent laundry marker. 

I made these bad boys on this, my new sewing machine, a Singer Heavy Duty, black edition. 

Cute, right? (That's a terrible photo, sorry.) But you're asking why I bought yet another new sewing machine, right?

Well, my latest Janome is in need of servicing, but I'm struggling with taking it in because it cost around $200 new and a service is $100 just to walk it in the door for servicing. That $100 doesn't include anything that they actually do to it. $100 is what they charge just to say hi. Once they open it up and start to service it, the meter starts running. And it very clearly needs work done, so I had to ask: Is it worth it to pay $180 to $200 to have a $200 machine serviced? I don't necessarily think so. (And according to a lot of quilters online, often the other thing that happens when you take in a sewing machine is that you give them the $100 and they open it up and tell you it's beyond repair, but they certainly can sell you a new or refurbished machine for however much. And if that sort of thing happened to me, I would have to burn the place down.)

Anyway, while I was agonizing (mild agony, hardly angsty even) over the whole thing, Dave suggested I just get a new, inexpensive machine to use in the meantime. So I did. This one came from Costco (great return policy) and was well under $200. It's not a beginner friendly machine by any means (touchy foot petal, temperamental fly wheel, etc), but it will do for now. I already have plans for a new quilt, a "Manx" quilt (so-called because it's a style of quilting from the Isle of Man). But for now I am just getting to know my machine by sewing little things for a bit, like my wee ghosts.

And speaking of ghosts, I've been on a mission to finish off all the old journals that I bought, wrote two or three pages in and then put aside in favor of another bright, shiny new journal. So I pulled this one off the shelf earlier and found that I had started it in 2015.

Which it turns out was eleven years ago. Eleven years ago, Dave and I were living in the Casita and both our beloved kitties, Saba and Gray Kitty were alive. They're both gone now. My brother is gone now. My father is gone now. Dave's mother and father are gone now, too. Our friend Paul died during the pandemic. Our friend Judi moved to Florida...Sigh. So much has changed since I last wrote in this notebook.

Back to happier scary things though, okay? Like this, my aunt in her Halloween costume, an eldery Wonder Woman (with a scary nun pal) : 

 Happy election day, y'all.