How not to look after your sewing machine

For a while now my machine has been skipping stitches, rucking up and even refusing point blank to sew two pieces of fabric together. Great! I thought - my lovely, reliable Janome is on its way out. There's nothing quite so frustrating as a sewing machine that's not reliable. You go to sit down after a day of dreaming about what you are going to make after the washing is done and the children are tucked up and you are stopped in your tracks by a machine that wants to do the exact opposite of what you want it to do. How was I going to get all the things made for the Fete in the Park this year?
So, after deciding to unscrew a few bits and pieces, placing everything in neatly positioned piles so that I remembered how to put it back together again, I unscrewed the bottom plate - and this is what I found! I have to say, it made me laugh out loud. No wonder my poor machine was refusing to work for me! This is definitely NOT the way to look after your machine and is not recommended.
I am pleased to report that after extensive cleaning with a paintbrush and tweezers and replacement of all the screws (a few times, due to dropping them into the workings!) my Janome is now working like a dream once again.
It's just left for me to decide what to create from the felted fluff I retrieved.

Not really.

On a nicer not, I enjoyed sorting my frustratingly cluttered button Box into my saved up Bon Maman jars. I think they look really pretty and I discovered so many beautiful buttons I didn't know I had. Some of which were lovely mother of pearl, which I tested by biting them (you can tell if it's plastic - it doesn't feel like a china cup on your teeth like Mother of Pearl!). I'll post a few photos of my favourites when the sun comes up again tomorrow.