Appliance Suicide

Our kitchen appliances are all dying, one by one. I am beginning to wonder if we have a gremlin! Or maybe they're complaining of overwork?

First, the fan in the fan oven is temperamental. It seems to only turn on when the oven temp reaches 'hot enough' (whatever that is, I don't know. I have just learned to turn it on and eventually the fan will kick in). We do have plans to replace the oven, but seeing as I am lazy I haven't done it yet. Bad idea to wait until it dies entirely? Probably, but hey...

May be definitely a bad idea, since our microwave seems to be giving up the ghost. When I say 'giving up' I mean, 'has given up and is just faking it'. It looks fine (no burn marks, no funny smells) it looks like it's working (turns, light on, makes noise) but nothing heats up. Hmmm.... Time to get a new microwave? Probably, but have you seen the price of microwaves these days? Yow! Beginning to wonder about calling a repair-man.

Which is exactly what we had to do for the washing machine last Thursday, when after acting wierd (stopping mid wash and not spinning) and being forced to spin a load of clothes that seemed clean, just sopping wet it started moaning loudly, followed by a burning smell... EEEK! Pull out from under shelf! Unplug! Unplug! Luckily we have this little beauty insured. We bought it when Pip was a wee baby and so it's now about 8 yrs old. It has had its drum changed, and its bearings changed already, so the insurance is worth it (also cheaper and more environmentally responsible than buying a new one). They sent out a nice man on Monday and he fixed it in 24 mins!!!! Apparently the motor had gone (hence the lack of spin) and in doing this it fried the control panel (behind the buttons) and the door lock mechanism (hence the burning smell). But lickety split it was all replaced and good as new...

Jubilation all 'round! Clean knickers once again! (tmi?)

So anyway, now considering the cost of calling a repair-man for the micro (surely less than buying a new one?) and which will be the best new oven for us... Our current (ancient - came with the house) model has the controls up high, against the wall above a 'back-splash' sort of thingy. Which means that little fingers can't fiddle. These days they seem to be built with all the controls just at the eye height of a 3 yr old... Brilliant design. Ho hum. Also want a A-rated one for energy efficiency. Which narrows the field.

Anyone (in the UK) have any recommendations for ovens?

Spiders and Dogs

Look who we found scuttling across our kitchen floor the other evening. He was a biggie. You can tell because that's a drinking glass he's under! Dude christened him 'goliath'.

Spiders seem to be everywhere at the moment. If they're not making sparkly webs in the bushes (where they should be) they are wandering around the kitchen or hanging out in the shower. Not really the best place for a spider to be.

I don't mind spiders... I don't want to cuddle one, and I don't want one to walk on me... but in general I am happy to have them around, just at a distance. We have a pact. They don't bother me, I don't bother them... It even goes so far as the embarrassing fact that when at school they did a project about their pets (we don't have one) Pip did his about his pet spider! (I am sure there was an alternative project he could have done... children without pets would not have been ostracised!)

But never-the-less, I don't really want big hairy beasts sitting down at the kitchen table and demanding dinner. There are enough of those who I actually DO have to feed! So goliath got sent outside to hunt for his own dinner.

In other news: driving home from school the other day and Dude called from the back 'Mummy! Look! It's a rainbow sun!' And so it was... the conditions were right to produce a Sun Dog! It wasn't a brilliant one - and my photo of it is even less than brilliant... note to self: take a picture that includest the sun next time! In my defense it was quite small, and so I zoomed right in.

They are so amazingly cool, and we see them so rarely, and if the clouds change between when you spot it and when you find your camera, or someone to show, then it will have gone... so I rushed the job. Good thing I did though, because in this photo it is less bright than it was, and in the subsequent photos I took it was even less visible.

So there you go, your weekend activities: spider hunting and keeping an eye out for sun dogs...

Oh, just remembered... Pip is having a friend over tomorrow night for his very first sleepover... wish us luck!

Big Hint

Another sign of Autumn? How about this for a can't-ignore-it hint:

Pavement Artists

Signs of Autumn

It's beginning to look a lot like Autumn...

 

Honeysuckle berries

Rose hips

Pyracanthus berries

Crab apples

Rosehips again

And of course the leaves... everything is in fancy-dress and out to impress.

Growing up

Guess who started school today?

Not that he's very proud of himself or anything...

He ran right into the classroom like he owned the place and got right on with playing. I had to go after him to get a goodbye kiss! I am thrilled for him. I am pleased he is so confident that he doesn't even feel the need to say goodbye... he knows I'll come and get him. He knows where he belongs.

He had a great morning. He was lucky - they had an acting group come in and perform Peter Pan for the whole school. And tomorrow the nursery (which he is in) is having a 'Come As A Pirate' day with pirate activities and a treasure hunt!

He can't wait to go back tomorrow.

And here's the whole crew. Such big boys.

Popping Peas

Our sugar snaps and mangetouts have gone all old and horrible. Probably as a result of not being taken care of during our sojourn in the sun. Perhaps they are sulking and complaining due to lack of sun. Anyway, they weren't producing anything and the pods they had on them were looking decidedly swollen and past it from the mange-tout point of view. So I picked them (with help of my beautiful assistant) and then had him remove all the peas and put them in a bowl to be incorporated into a chicken soup. He did very well, and was very proud of himself. A good job for a tiddler...

By the way, another good job for a tiddler who wants to help with supper prep is cutting up mushrooms. It generally doesn't matter what size the lumps are in or if they are neat and mushrooms can be cut with a butter knife. Perfect, and it is a genuinely useful job, which is great for both of you.