When will I learn? I bought a pancake maker. It is a little pan that is supposedly non-stick and you pour pancake batter into it and then turn the pan. Having bought that I added some packets of pancake batter onto the Approved Food order as my batter is almost as bad as my pastry and you can tile a roof with my pastry.
Epic Fail.
First of all the 'nifty dispenser' did not 'nifty dispense'. Instead batter overflowed the pan that it was designed to niftily dispense' into and overflowed all over the stove. Then the alleged non-stick stuck and it all went horribly wrong when I tried to turn it over. I had an overdose of batter clinging on to the 'non-stick' part of the pan and gently smoking in the over heating oil on the other side.
I got out my flat griddle. I had a bit of a fail then as I was looking at the timings of the pancake pan which apparently is a bit of a delicate flower and can't take high heat. A griddle is designed for heat. All I really can say is that the smoke alarm definitely works. DH got us burgers from MacDonalds.
Now all I need to worry about is the pork steaks that I am currently defrosting. They are not defrosting very quickly, and I can't bung them in the fridge for tomorrow as tomorrow is fish n chips after bear's martial arts lesson on the other side of town. I may try microwave defrosting it just before I start cooking but I always feel a little nervous about that as it is pork. There isn't even an 'r' in the month. However at least I have some nice tinned ham in reserve with plenty of veggies fresh and ready to go, so hopefully that is safe.
Now off to clean the cooker.
Sunday, 6 July 2014
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Washing Machine
There are lots of good places to get a washing machine. There are places like Gumtree and Freecycle, there are stalls on markets and some shabby looking shops. There are small ads and cards in windows - all of them very inexpensive.
I admit that I prefer to buy anything electrical new from somewhere vaguely reputable. If I can scrape the money together then I think it is safer going through channels that are less likely to be positive if there is a problem. Fortunately I think I can scrape some money together to buy a washing machine.
I have been browsing my favourite places to shop - ebay, amazon, Topcashback - and seeing what was around. I have just picked up the last bits of bear's uniform from Debenhams' shop on ebay, and I saw the perfect washing machine for me in a similar sort of outlet shop. It is a Beko, it has an okay energy rating of A+, and most importantly it has variable temperature. I was told that the most expensive bit of running a washing machine was heating the water, and UK washing machines usually fill with cold water and heat the water in the machine. All the decent washing powder brands will wash okay at low temperatures and despite bear's best efforts none of our clothes are that dirty so I like to do a longer wash at a lower temperature. I had a look around at the same model on different sites and it looks a good deal - at least fifty pounds cheaper than elsewhere.
It's from Argos. I have bought a washer from Argos before. I was threatening to take them to the small claims court at one point. It was not a happy transaction.
Regretfully, I'll keep on looking. I would rather save that amount of anguish and mental strife than the money.
I admit that I prefer to buy anything electrical new from somewhere vaguely reputable. If I can scrape the money together then I think it is safer going through channels that are less likely to be positive if there is a problem. Fortunately I think I can scrape some money together to buy a washing machine.
I have been browsing my favourite places to shop - ebay, amazon, Topcashback - and seeing what was around. I have just picked up the last bits of bear's uniform from Debenhams' shop on ebay, and I saw the perfect washing machine for me in a similar sort of outlet shop. It is a Beko, it has an okay energy rating of A+, and most importantly it has variable temperature. I was told that the most expensive bit of running a washing machine was heating the water, and UK washing machines usually fill with cold water and heat the water in the machine. All the decent washing powder brands will wash okay at low temperatures and despite bear's best efforts none of our clothes are that dirty so I like to do a longer wash at a lower temperature. I had a look around at the same model on different sites and it looks a good deal - at least fifty pounds cheaper than elsewhere.
It's from Argos. I have bought a washer from Argos before. I was threatening to take them to the small claims court at one point. It was not a happy transaction.
Regretfully, I'll keep on looking. I would rather save that amount of anguish and mental strife than the money.
Friday, 4 July 2014
Father has bought a sickle
Father has expended just under seventeen pounds on a folding sickle. A sickle of all things. Some American cars are bigger than our front yard, we have no room to swing a small knife let alone a sickle.
Father is nearly eighty three and not getting more robust. On the other hand he seems to have got a new lease of life since he decided to help out the local church with maintenance. He is getting frailer and frailer and he is committing to doing the church grounds. If they were much larger than a bedspread I would be playing war. He is also muttering about the electrics. It is true that he was in the Royal Engineers and re-wired our kitchen when I was a child. That was in 1969. There are a few differences these days.
He also told me tomorrow was February. And he joked about crossing the road near the undertakers at the end of the street carrying said sickle. Most people can't tell the difference between a sickle and a scythe - anyway it looks like a short scythe to me.
I dread to think what will turn up next.
Father is nearly eighty three and not getting more robust. On the other hand he seems to have got a new lease of life since he decided to help out the local church with maintenance. He is getting frailer and frailer and he is committing to doing the church grounds. If they were much larger than a bedspread I would be playing war. He is also muttering about the electrics. It is true that he was in the Royal Engineers and re-wired our kitchen when I was a child. That was in 1969. There are a few differences these days.
He also told me tomorrow was February. And he joked about crossing the road near the undertakers at the end of the street carrying said sickle. Most people can't tell the difference between a sickle and a scythe - anyway it looks like a short scythe to me.
I dread to think what will turn up next.
Being Mum
Bear thought it important for me to see what he had done on the toilet at seven thirty this morning. I don't think I appreciated it the way he thought I should, I was still half asleep.
I'm off to prune some brambles in the street that are becoming a serious hazard on the school run. Tonight I should get bear's report. It should be good. I am very, very nervous.
I'm off to prune some brambles in the street that are becoming a serious hazard on the school run. Tonight I should get bear's report. It should be good. I am very, very nervous.
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Very, very, very minor problem
I follow blogs and lots of people out there are having real problems and troubles and I am so aware that my trouble of today was minor. I feel a bit ashamed of being fed up. On the other hand I shut the cutlery drawer with more emphasis than normal and the front fell off. I was too fed up to even swear, I just looked at it and carried on.
There's no hope of fixing it back on, the thin plastic thingy that held it on has snapped completely. To be fair the kitchen is not only older than bear, I would put some money at being nearly my age. It is certainly over twenty years old and I think it was as much age as temper.
I can still use the cupboard underneath and I will. I will empty the plastic bag rolls and bulldog clips out of one drawer and into a box to keep in a cupboard and I can put the cutlery drawer in that. It's not a big deal. I am weighing up the chance of getting a standalone cupboard to go there.
It will have to wait. The electric mini oven which has given sterling service for less than £50 is on it's way out. It isn't cooking properly. As the gas oven has always been a bit temperamental this has left me relying on the halogen oven, remoska and the microwave, so hardly in a bad place. It did leave the apple and blackcurrant crumble with a kind gift of blackcurrants sort of scorching in the halogen, but it wasn't too bad. If I had put more sugar in it would have been better.
On top of that the washing machine is looking very creaky. The soap drawer is feeling very peculiar when I open and shut it and I suspect that using white vinegar as softener can corrode a spring. It is actually a washer dryer and at least five years old which is a bit longer than the three years a washer dryer is supposed to last.
So next month I can look at it as, 'Great, shopping opportunity for electricals.' or I can look at it as 'Bugger, not much change out of £300 if I'm lucky.' I can't manage without a washer, and I'm really missing the mini oven.
I am also looking rather tentatively at a pound of under-ripe gooseberries that a really lovely person gave to me. I'm off to google microwave gooseberry jam. I'm bound to get a few hits, surely.
There's no hope of fixing it back on, the thin plastic thingy that held it on has snapped completely. To be fair the kitchen is not only older than bear, I would put some money at being nearly my age. It is certainly over twenty years old and I think it was as much age as temper.
I can still use the cupboard underneath and I will. I will empty the plastic bag rolls and bulldog clips out of one drawer and into a box to keep in a cupboard and I can put the cutlery drawer in that. It's not a big deal. I am weighing up the chance of getting a standalone cupboard to go there.
It will have to wait. The electric mini oven which has given sterling service for less than £50 is on it's way out. It isn't cooking properly. As the gas oven has always been a bit temperamental this has left me relying on the halogen oven, remoska and the microwave, so hardly in a bad place. It did leave the apple and blackcurrant crumble with a kind gift of blackcurrants sort of scorching in the halogen, but it wasn't too bad. If I had put more sugar in it would have been better.
On top of that the washing machine is looking very creaky. The soap drawer is feeling very peculiar when I open and shut it and I suspect that using white vinegar as softener can corrode a spring. It is actually a washer dryer and at least five years old which is a bit longer than the three years a washer dryer is supposed to last.
So next month I can look at it as, 'Great, shopping opportunity for electricals.' or I can look at it as 'Bugger, not much change out of £300 if I'm lucky.' I can't manage without a washer, and I'm really missing the mini oven.
I am also looking rather tentatively at a pound of under-ripe gooseberries that a really lovely person gave to me. I'm off to google microwave gooseberry jam. I'm bound to get a few hits, surely.
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Weeding
Today I did some weeding. This was to spare father, who has been doing some work at the church. At nearly 83 he should realise that he shouldn't be plastering and painting but the penny hasn't dropped yet. I filled a bucket full of weeds and there are plenty more to cut back yet.
I found this photo on rgbstock.com by micromoth
Our garden is covered in it. We definitely didn't plant it but it seems too pretty to just uproot willynilly. It's called ivy leaved toadflax and is very pretty but very assertive. Speaking of assertive, nettle stings can get through disposable vinyl gloves. I am prickled.
Bear wore his kit in the tournament on Sunday. I washed it. He wore it to his lesson on Monday. I washed it. He wore it to his lesson last night. I washed it. Today he wore it to demonstrate some moves in the Assembly at school. Apparently he wore all his protective stuff and did a form and a jumping back kick. I have no idea how it went but as bear came in, got changed, grabbed sweets and squash and has been playing happily outside ever since then I guess he is fine. The kit is in the wash.
It is really cloudy and gloomy here, but I suspect I will still have to go out and water the plants again. I don't mind so much if bear gets to play out.
I found this photo on rgbstock.com by micromoth
Our garden is covered in it. We definitely didn't plant it but it seems too pretty to just uproot willynilly. It's called ivy leaved toadflax and is very pretty but very assertive. Speaking of assertive, nettle stings can get through disposable vinyl gloves. I am prickled.
Bear wore his kit in the tournament on Sunday. I washed it. He wore it to his lesson on Monday. I washed it. He wore it to his lesson last night. I washed it. Today he wore it to demonstrate some moves in the Assembly at school. Apparently he wore all his protective stuff and did a form and a jumping back kick. I have no idea how it went but as bear came in, got changed, grabbed sweets and squash and has been playing happily outside ever since then I guess he is fine. The kit is in the wash.
It is really cloudy and gloomy here, but I suspect I will still have to go out and water the plants again. I don't mind so much if bear gets to play out.
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Today was a Good Day
I survived Monday evening. Bear does not like travelling to anything so getting him across town to his martial arts extra lesson was a challenge. In fact, it was a miracle that I got him on the bus. He was being heavily bribed as he had come fourth in the tournament and been in the special book so he was getting a treat from The Entertainer. He had a huge budget {for us}, because he had kept going in his tournament when it got tough.
First of all we went to the Vegan Cafe which actually does more than vegan food. Bear had his favourite, cheese on beans on toast. He goes there most Saturdays with DH and is shamefully indulged by the staff there. Bear is happy to be indulged, though, and stuffed his face. Then we went to the Entertainer. Perhaps it was as well that we went to the cafe first as I am not sure that they would have approved of a stonking great toy rifle looking remarkably like the Winchester 1873 rifle that he picked up next. It is a weighty, magnificent piece with a serious cocking action and bear thinks it is amazing. He was so taken with it that I managed to get him onto the bus to the Academy where he was training without too much fuss.
Today bear had his school Sports Day. Bear was unimpressed that his team didn't win in the first half of the day {he came 4th} but as he won his own race he was quite chirpy. It was a 'carry a plastic ball on a paper plate' race, but bear was so determined and focused that he will be getting the reward he has asked for {though definitely lesser than the stonking rifle replica}. Then DH and I went out for a quiet meal.
I am still having issues with the keyboard, so I am struggling to write. On the bright side I ought to have more time for housework. However I did end up writing my answer to Light and Shade's Monday's Challenge on my mobile at two in the morning without my glasses. It needed a bit of translation when I woke up this morning, but I'm pleased enough with it. If you are interested it is on my other blog and while there is a hint of two in the morning about it, it doesn't quite show that it was written on a mobile.
First of all we went to the Vegan Cafe which actually does more than vegan food. Bear had his favourite, cheese on beans on toast. He goes there most Saturdays with DH and is shamefully indulged by the staff there. Bear is happy to be indulged, though, and stuffed his face. Then we went to the Entertainer. Perhaps it was as well that we went to the cafe first as I am not sure that they would have approved of a stonking great toy rifle looking remarkably like the Winchester 1873 rifle that he picked up next. It is a weighty, magnificent piece with a serious cocking action and bear thinks it is amazing. He was so taken with it that I managed to get him onto the bus to the Academy where he was training without too much fuss.
Today bear had his school Sports Day. Bear was unimpressed that his team didn't win in the first half of the day {he came 4th} but as he won his own race he was quite chirpy. It was a 'carry a plastic ball on a paper plate' race, but bear was so determined and focused that he will be getting the reward he has asked for {though definitely lesser than the stonking rifle replica}. Then DH and I went out for a quiet meal.
I am still having issues with the keyboard, so I am struggling to write. On the bright side I ought to have more time for housework. However I did end up writing my answer to Light and Shade's Monday's Challenge on my mobile at two in the morning without my glasses. It needed a bit of translation when I woke up this morning, but I'm pleased enough with it. If you are interested it is on my other blog and while there is a hint of two in the morning about it, it doesn't quite show that it was written on a mobile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)