As in *sharp intake of breath from car trade professional* “Yeah love, the trouble is you see, your Big End ‘az gawn.” The diagnosis of doom for any beloved ancient auto. And whilst I have very recently had to trade in a venerable vehicle, it is not of cars that I speak. I speak of my much loved sewing machine. She, for although she has no name, she is a she, is broken. Properly, six months out of warranty, in a queue at the repair shop broken. A seized drive wheel. A 2-3 week wait for a quote. I’m hoping to have her home before Easter. Oh! The longing and the loss. I miss you little machine. I knew that you were useful. I knew that we were spending more and more time together but I had no idea how high up my list of domestic essentials you were. Come home soon.
It’s with fabric and needle I would play
but my beloved machine is away.
So with red wool, two hooks
and a pattern from a book
I’ll work on a rug this Red Nose Day
pennylibrarian 
Hello Pennylibrarian; just found your blog. I don’t know in which country you live, but if my sewing machine broke 6 months out of warranty, I would make a strong case for it to be fixed free of charge, as goods sold should be fit for purpose and one can expect a sewing machine to last much longer than 1 year! Get advice from your national consumer organisation.
I took her to the shop where I bought her and they did the repair. Well, I say repair, I think that she really just needed a service, it wasn’t as drastic as I first thought. She was 6 months out of a two year warranty and I hadn’t had it serviced in that time so I suppose I felt that I was in some way to blame. I do think that I would like some sort of mileometer on my machine, that way I could judge when she was due for a service as I have no idea how to measure usage!