One small step for womankind

My mother was a very practical person, good at carpentry, decorating and sewing. When I was growing up, she occasionally made me lovely clothes. When she died, I inherited her old Singer electric sewing machine and sadly not her expertise. I used it for doing very simple stuff until I managed to get some thread stuck in it. I took it along to a specialist mechanic and he showed me what was broken. Between us we came to the conclusion it was beyond economic repair and I bought this beautiful refurbished machine in its place. That was in March - and it has sat in its box ever since. Today I was waiting in for a phone call and decided it was time to unpack it. It has a self-threading feature - very handy when your eyesight's maybe not as sharp as it was.

What a joy it is - you can set the speed really slow so that it stitches one stitch at a time rather than running away with you the instant you step on the pedal. So far I've only repaired a couple of pillowcases, but having discovered how easy it is to use, I'm encouraged to have a go at hemming a pair of walking trousers next.

It was a day of small triumphs. There were a couple of dead shrubs in the garden and I've now lifted those and put them ready to take down the dump tomorrow; I've cut the grass front and back, and changed the bulb in the light in the understairs cupboard. It's a bulkhead light with a protective metal cage held in place with a small screw, so once more I wielded that trusty Phillips-head screwdriver, and once more gained a sense of accomplishment.

Back in 2008 I had an operation to excise a small area of breast tissue affected by Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS). Yesterday I went back to the hospital for the annual mammogram to check there has been no recurrence, and found myself sitting next to one of the nurses from Wingfield Ward (there escorting a patient). It was nice catching up with each other's news, and being able to tell her I'm now back to work.