My Perfect Husband

May I brag?

I am married to a wonderful man. I know that he is a wonderful man because I have been married to men who were anything but 🙂

All the same, he sometimes surprises me with just how wonderful  he really is.

Earlier this week, he said that he wants to buy me the Schacht Matchless that I have been dreaming of.

Let us pause to absorb the full weight of that statement.

…he said that he wants to buy me the Schacht Matchless…

Well, I can tell you, that was something of a WOW moment in a  girl’s life. I swear that the planets stopped turning for a moment.

My immediate instinct was to decline. We just don’t live in that kind of a material world/I don’t deserve it/I am not a good enough spinner. All of that, and more.

Then he said that he wanted to buy himself a new (music) keyboard and me the wheel. I twigged… that it is bonus time this month.

So I laughed and said that it was his money -  to do with as he pleased -  and that he doesn’t need to salve his conscience by buying me something in order that he can have what he wants.

I said I’d rather  he spent the wheel money on a new back door, or the car replacement plan as… we just don’t live in that kind of a material world/I don’t deserve it/I am not a good enough spinner. etc. etc. etc.

His response was that I really wanted the wheel and had been saving up for it. At this point he pointed to his browser window, which was at this page. Oh, I was full of it, wasn’t I? And you? You, dear blog, failed to keep me on the straight and narrow for…

…as I pointed out to him, my plans had failed. I have spent almost all my savings on yarn and dye and rovings. There is little left. (I had decided that as a seller of Ashford, I should be seen to commit to Ashford and not to be wanting beautiful outsiders)

DH responded that this lack of savings was all the more reason for him to buy me one.

(Are you falling in love with him yourself yet? I could not blame you.)

He went on… it seems that he has been doing his research and reading up on Schacht and their history. In fact, he knows far more than I did (or do.)

Anyway  this is all by the by and simply by way of background. I shall get to the point.

Yesterday was Spinning Group and I mentioned this wonderful impulse by my dearly beloved. Unsurprisingly, for they are not that well known over here, I was asked by one of the ladies “What’s a Matchless?” and I said that apart from being the vintage motorcycle that I always hoped my Godfather would leave to me in his will (he didn’t) it was a wheel from Boulder, Colorado and made by the Schacht company.

Somebody said that it was “like a Rolex.”

I was offended by that jibe. Not hugely, but feathers slightly ruffled and sufficiently so to report this back to DH.

He said “rubbish“.

I said I kind of saw the point and that perhaps many a Rolex owner would claim that they were drawn by the quality of materials, the beauty of form, and the sheer craftsmanship… even if we don’t believe them.

DH said no, it was a poor analogy and that if you compared it to cars – the Rolex type buyer would be after a BMW or a Porsche (ugh, ugh, ugh) and that the Schacht type buyer would be seeking a Morgan Plus 4

(oh, be still my beating heart!)

This was the point at which I understood that my husband totally gets it. And he totally gets me.

Why was I drawn to the Schacht Matchless? Not the name, for I had never heard of Schacht when I saw my first Matchless. Remember that ad – “one instinctively knows when something is right.” ?

I saw it in an ad in Spin Off, and it took my breath away. I desired it immediately. Totally, irrationally. I wanted to be able to reach out and touch it – to fondle the wood and to feel the grain. I saw it as a work of art and wanted it in the same way I might a painting or a sculpture – simply for its beauty, to enhance my environment.

Really, the effect that it had on me was not unlike that Mr L had on me that afternoon long ago, in the Duck and Drake – when he said “you must be Beth” and my heart was lost forever.

Having seen the price in the UK, I never really thought about fulfilling the desire until I saw the wheels in  use on a video and recognised that this wheel actually matches form with function. That is the point at which I decided that I would save up for one, no matter how long it took me.

I still do not think that my wonderful husband should buy this for me. I am positive that I do not deserve such generosity. I am certain that I do not spin sufficiently or frequently enough to merit such a workhorse. But I am completely confident that I am blessed with a wonderful partner who is completely in tune with who I am and the way that I see my world.

Am I not a lucky girl?

I’m still bucking for a new back door and five tyres  for the Maverick. I’ll let you know what happens.