Turning Rain Into Sunshine

It has been plenty rainy here in Minnesota so the mosquitoes are thick but the grass looks amazing! Having spent several days sick last week, I'm happy to report my stiff neck is almost gone. On the computer front, mine still has a virus but I'm learning to love my husbands laptop and think my next computer might just be more portable. All of these examples point to making a poor situation into something good. This was my experience last weekend when it was hot and humid after a wild storm that blew down many tree limbs and cut electricity to homes. During this recovery I was at a local college on a panel discussion to talk about my career journey. It was fun to see these new career students and to think back to when I had first begun. Reminiscing on the long walk back to my car, I couldn't find the keys to my husbands car. When switching cars it's usually my practice to double check everything since it's a bit unfamiliar but how could I have lost them? Oh no, I didn't lose them: they were safely on the drivers seat in the locked car. The campus seemed deserted so I found their security office and a campus cop drove me back and spent a fair amount of time in the heat trying to flip the lock. Finally successful, I could drive away in this old car that no longer can run the air conditioning while idling so I spent time at the intersections with the windows down. But it still took me from point A to point B.

I drove by one of my favorite antique shops and figured I had the time so why not stop? I have never bought too much there but I like their various vendors and displays. They asked what I was interested in and I said "sewing machines and things related like attachments" but I was told they really didn't have any. There were three empty cabinets but no machines so I continued to look. I found a vintage dress and as I paid for it they asked did I find what I was looking for and I again mentioned sewing machines and one looked at the other and said "Doesn't Tim have one in his shop? It's in a portable case or something." They took me back downstairs to Tim who said he had one called --gulp--the featherweight and sometimes quilters like them. Sure enough there was the box:

Featherweight case

and it opened up to find a Singer 221 in great shape:

Singer 221 dated January 1957

The price was higher than I wanted to pay so I walked away. I got all the way upstairs when I remembered they had 15% off signs all over so I went back down and asked to see how it ran and if it was included in the sale. We took it upstairs, looked it over, and I got it for the sale price. Now it's still more than I would normally pay, especially without any accessories, but the carrying case was terrific and the bobbin case was present so I thought I just might be ahead on this one. She cleaned up nice and ran pretty good after some of the normal adjustments. When my husband got home and I showed him my latest he said it probably was the best Featherweight yet in terms of decals and general condition. But then he said those words I like to hear but don't like to hear: maybe I should keep this one for myself. Oh so tempting but we shall see.

Is she a keeper?

My day in the heat with no air-conditioning turned out to have quite the silver lining when I found another Featherweight. The car is still dying, the rain and heat keeps coming, and I keep sewing in my cool basement. May you find a bright spot in the midst of the rain, too.