One of the most essential pieces of kit at Strickley is my breadmaker. I've been making bread in it (or it's predecessor) for over ten years. Almost every night (depending on how many mouths there are to feed) when Henry goes out for a last look at the cows, I put the ingredients in the loaf tin, press a few option buttons and set the timer. The ingredients vary depending on the type of bread (for day to day loaves it's either white, malted wheat, or seeded or a combination), but everything is to hand - the flour (bought in bulk) in wheeled airtight boxes under the granite slab, jars of salt, yeast and sugar nearby and the correct weights on the scales. I can almost do it blindfold, and as long as I'm not interrupted I'm on auto-pilot and the results are consistent - a fresh loaf of bread in the morning. When Henry gets up to milk he takes it out and it's cool enough to eat when he comes in for breakfast.
But yesterday there was no well cooked loaf - just a solid mass of unmixed flour etc. I gave the machine the benefit of the doubt, maybe I missed a step out, and I had another go last night, being absolutely sure to get it right. This morning the result was even worse. So what do we do (apart from getting some backup buns out of the freezer)? Get out the Hot Spare of course. In 2010 when we had a lot of family to stay for our Ruby Wedding I decided one loaf at a time was not enough and bought another bread machine. When life calmed down I boxed it up and put it away. Today is it's time to shine again. It's plugged in and busy doing what it should be doing (I think) and there will be fresh bread for dinner.
And the "problem fixed"? The network adaptors are working again. About three in the morning (when I do a lot of my thinking), I thought of something I hadn't tried. I had to resist the temptation to get up then, but first thing this morning I put the plan in action and the television is "smart" again.
And another fix - small print is no more. Yesterday I got some new reading glasses and I'm astounded how big and clear text is. No more complaining about funny fonts and wrong colour pages, or holding the book up to the light. I can read!
But yesterday there was no well cooked loaf - just a solid mass of unmixed flour etc. I gave the machine the benefit of the doubt, maybe I missed a step out, and I had another go last night, being absolutely sure to get it right. This morning the result was even worse. So what do we do (apart from getting some backup buns out of the freezer)? Get out the Hot Spare of course. In 2010 when we had a lot of family to stay for our Ruby Wedding I decided one loaf at a time was not enough and bought another bread machine. When life calmed down I boxed it up and put it away. Today is it's time to shine again. It's plugged in and busy doing what it should be doing (I think) and there will be fresh bread for dinner.
And the "problem fixed"? The network adaptors are working again. About three in the morning (when I do a lot of my thinking), I thought of something I hadn't tried. I had to resist the temptation to get up then, but first thing this morning I put the plan in action and the television is "smart" again.
And another fix - small print is no more. Yesterday I got some new reading glasses and I'm astounded how big and clear text is. No more complaining about funny fonts and wrong colour pages, or holding the book up to the light. I can read!
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