There was really a rather
good weather forecast for Monday in these parts; light cloud in the morning
with full sun and 20 degrees centigrade from midday. So, an ideal day to get some washing done, it
would also be ideal to use the slow cooker with all that sun available to shine
on our solar panels.
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The sky during the morning
– supposed to be light cloud – I know most people saw it and it’s nothing new
but it’s still uncommon enough to cause comment
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My first problem arose
when the first wash was half way through.
I had just come in from outside and the machine just stopped with one of
the red lights flashing. I assumed I had
accidentally knocked a button when I walked past it and so reset it and started
it off again.
Buddy and I went for our
morning walk whilst this second attempt went through its cycle. When we got back the same thing was happening
so I knew something was up. Looking at
the manual I found that the flashing light gives a code, the code being the
number of flashes in each phase of flashes.
The code translated to a possible blocked filter. This didn’t seem out of the question as I
haven’t cleaned the filter since we moved the machine to the new boat. The flap that covers the filter has been
restricted by the steps down to the galley and hence doesn’t open.
There was nothing for it
but to get my hands dirty and remove the steps.
Before I started I had a quick look at the recipe that I was going to
cook later. Just as well I did as it
needed at least seven hours in the slow cooker.
For some reason I had four hours in my mind and thought I had loads of
time. So, I got on with preparing the
evening meal even though it was only midday (the sky was still like the picture
at the top and still no sign of it changing).
Whilst getting some
ingredients out of the fridge I noticed cream dripping into the salad box. On investigating further, I realised that
somehow a nearly full pot of cream had been knocked over and was
everywhere. I quickly shut the fridge
door and thought I would tackle it later; cleaning out the fridge was on my job
list this week anyway.
So, I got the slow cooker
out, prepared the dish and transferred everything to it. I thought I would have to run the engine
occasionally as there was still no sun but that didn’t matter as I still had
all the washing to do and that needs the engine running anyway.
Back to the steps: I
unscrewed goodness knows how many screws and finally remove the steps. Of course, I had to empty them all first as
they were full of our spices, beer, wine and food store stuff like cans of tomatoes. But once the steps were out I got the filter
cover off and opened the filter without thinking. The next thing there was water everywhere – I
had forgotten to drain the machine. I
quickly screwed the filter back in and set the machine on the drain cycle
whilst I prepared my lunch and Karen’s lunchbox for Tuesday.
In the end I got the
filter clean and set the machine going again.
I took Buddy for another walk and when we got back the machine had got
further in its cycle than before so I knew everything was OK. When it finished I hung the washing outside
and set another load going then went off for a bike ride along the canal with
Buddy. I noticed the wind had got up and
within half an hour the sky had cleared and we had beautiful blue skies.
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The pound above Dicks Lane
lock in the sunshine
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Another rural lock on the
Stratford at Lowsonford
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By four thirty Buddy had
had enough and stopped at a lock as if to say, ‘I think we should turn around
and go home for dinner’.
When we got home the wind
was really up so I put extra pegs on the washing for fear of any of it blowing
off. I put the steps back together, this time ensuring there would be easy access to the filter in future.
Considering how windy it
had been when out on the bike ride I still saw a lot of butterflies, mainly Red
Admirals but I also saw Speckled Woods, a couple of Peacocks and one Small
White – not bad for the second half of October but I suppose it was really
warm.
I sent Karen a picture of
the lamb shanks gently cooking in the hope it would encourage her to get home a
bit early 😊
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After three hours cooking,
another four to go
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Oh, in case the fastidious
were wondering, I did clean the fridge 😊
And the
congratulations? My sister became a
grandparent for the second time yesterday (Karen and I are still waiting). Also, my youngest son, Jake, got engaged
to Dommie - the announcement was so them –
no one knew until their Facebook status changed!
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