Time is a great judge of quality. Long after the worst are gone, the best remain — sometimes hiding right under our noses. I recently bought — completely unwittingly — something that qualifies as ‘best’. Then, in planning what to do with it, I completely forgot the first rule of off-grid life, which is to simplify.
It took my better half to point this out, in her inimitable way.
Not only was she right, but her suggestion led to a happy few hours of work and learning, plus a sense of satisfaction with — and respect for — a lovely little piece of machinery. Let me tell the tale of a wet weekend and a gem discovered…
It turned up at the auctioneers: a nice little table with a sewing machine attached. It wasn’t the kind of machine I gravitate towards; my tastes tend to start and finish with those old black-and-gold treadles, but I thought the table looked useful. I was the only bidder.
When the cat’s away
The next day was a rainy Saturday, and sherefilled my coffee, pulled up a chair, and surveyed what I’d bought: an aluminium-bodied, straight-stitch Singer, belt-driven by a BAK motor, missing its thread tensioner and some of its guides, with a stripped clutch screw and a closing-table-chopped power cord, just about sums it up. It had a knee-operated speed-control arm, which pushed the optional foot control when the latter was stored in the table. Intriguingly, along with the original handbooks, there was a brand-new drive belt for a treadle machine.
