Seven Quick Takes, Episode 11: Appliance-mageddon

Friday = 7QT. I'm running a bit late this week. I blame the rotary calcination kilns (don't ask. PLEASE don't ask).

In the space of a month, nearly all of our domestic appliances have broken. I'm not sure we're quite up to seven, but we shall see...

1. First came the microwave, which started billowing smoke. It's been relegated to the garage, and we haven't replaced it yet - I'm enjoying the extra counter space. We might get a new one when (and if) we have a bigger kitchen.

2. After the microwave, the food processor. Our food processor is 28 years old - my grandad bought it for my parents to help them puree food for small people, and, after a few years languishing at the back of a cupboard, it came to live with me when I left home. It was still going strong up until two weeks ago, when the bowl *jumped* off the draining rack and broke. I'm going to try and track down spare parts for it, but I'm not sure they still make them. Fingers crossed.

3. Next casualty: the toaster. My children, budding scientists, recently discovered that if you yank the lever on a toaster up and down enough times, it breaks. Obviously, experiments need to be repeated in order to produce valid results, so they checked their findings on the second lever. Results confirmed.

4. The worst by far was the washing machine. In any family with more than one child (scratch that, one child can create quite enough laundry on its own), a broken washing machine is the stuff of nightmares. Yesterday morning, Mx somehow managed to open the door whilst the machine was running, breaking the door lock mechanism - and if the door won't lock, the machine refuses to work. We had the engineer out this morning, and £110 later, it was fixed. It was touch and go for a while because the machine is French and they weren't sure they had the right parts, but St. Whoever-Deals-With-Washing-Machines was obviously looking out for us, and it turned out right in the end.

5. The kettle, the vacuum and the freezer are still working. Long may that continue... the oven, hotplates and fridge belong to the landlord, so they don't seem to have been affected by whatever plague is carrying off the other appliances we've been a bit more careful about keeping the small people away from them. Hey, I can't blame imaginary appliance plagues for everything.

6. If there is a patron saint of domestic appliances, please can somebody tell me who it is? I'm not sure my nerves could stand it if anything else gave out on me (without going all Mrs Bennet about it... oh, my poor nerves!)

7. In other news, I made apple, parsnip and nettle (yes, those nettles) compote this week. Sounds disgusting, looks disgusting, tastes... pretty good! Les gn'enfants loved it. Proof that parsnips are actually fine if you try and forget they're supposed to be vegetables (can you tell I don't like parsnips much?)

On that note, happy weekend! I promise to have something more interesting to write about next week. Promise.

Linking up with Kelly for 7QT. Link link link, linky linky link.