Watty's Awakening

Slinky

Suffolk_lass said:

Slinky said:

Suffolk_lass said:

I was curious about the cost of a bread-maker so looked on Marketplace and there are several (Panasonic) near me for £20 average. In their boxes (all hail the decluttering impetus in January!) and clearly been sat unused in cupboards in some cases

This is what I'm on the lookout for. Can't see the point in paying the full price when I know that there will be a good one sitting unused somewhere (hopefully in East Suffolk!).

@Slinky there is this one on Shotley (peninsular) 

Yes thanks for that, I saw that one listed. It looks scruffier than I'm hoping for. I know from a previous one we owned it will have had quite a lot of use to get that marked. I'm in no hurry, I'm hoping I'll find something in near new condition if I'm patient!

Watty1

Slinky said:

Do you run your business through a limited company? When I did, I could put through a maximum of £300 a year of 'Director's incidental expenses', providing no single item was over £50. Accountant and taxman were perfectly happy with this, so a good deal of my clothing budget went that way.

Yes I do and I do pop a few things through as incidental.  The warm trousers are the first of this years things.  I think a few things as incidental are fine and are unlikely to be questioned.

Watty1

WattyDog has (for once) been moneysaving!

Some 18 months ago the fence between the garden and the back drive blew down.  The back drive is secure and WattyDog cannot get out and as life was so uncertain at the time I did nothing about repairing it and of course nor did the ex.  I had moved the parts into the haybarn.  Over the past week WattyDog has driven me insane with his barking. He takes his guarding duties very seriously but also he goes to the back gate on the drive and barks to see if the neighbours will come and see him.   They often do and if the children are there they play ball.

Two days ago i decided the barking was now beyond acceptable and decided to reinstate the fence.   Last night as I went to give the horses their late night hay I noticed WattyDog sitting silently by the gate with his tail wagging furiously and an expresson of pure joy on his face and over his body. The tail could not have swept backwards and forwards on the drive any faster.   As I walked across the drive I saw the older lady in her dressing gown appear.  She had come to say hello to him and give him his evening snack of ham.  Of course this is probably why he barks - to get her attention.   Her joy at hearing him out, popping over to say hello and make a fuss of him and give him a kiss over the gate and his joy at seeing her made me realise I would never put the fence back up.  To stop that would be unkind to both of them.   It was a pleasure to see them both so happy to see each other. 

Watty1

The MR bread maker did not come off so I will continue looking. The only ones at present are very expensive or very battered.

The heating app is still working as it should and this morning I sorted out the outside light that had gone rogue (was on or off permanently). The hearing will now be more expensive to run but the house rooms are warm again.  I worked so much more efficiently in a warm office I was surprised.  I've almost cleared this months "to do" list and next week have a couple of interviews lined up with some freelances for a project I want help with.

The course text is with a colleague to do the powerpoint slides then that will be ready for launch.  I'm plucking up the courage to ask a couple of well known people in my field to do a promotional introduction for me as I think that will help and my plan today is to get my mailing list software functional again if I can and do a list of topics for blog posts and newsletters.

I've also sorted my call scheduling software to give me an hour+ break between 3.00 and 4.15 so I can spend that time with the horses. I realised that I was not spending the time I want with them and trying to do things on dark cold nights was just not happening.  I still may buy lighting for the arena but I think that hour will mean they get a groom, or feet seen to, or physio exercises or just something, anything.   This is just a small step in creating the life I want.

beanielou

That is so lovely to read about your dog. Sniff. 

themadvix

Lovely story about Wattydog! And a great idea to block out some time for the horses during daylight - it’ll help your vitamin d levels too.

 Give it a couple of months on the bread maker - and then people will be selling barely used ones they got for Christmas… they’re still trying to stick to the resolutions at the moment! 😉

daisy_1571

awwww, lovely wattydog,  I'd give him ham too 💘 they certainly do get us well trained 😉 

Great idea about blocking time out too

Daisy xx

MerryHen

Aww, lovely lovely to hear about WattyDog and his friend 🥲

Re: bread machines. Panasonic machines make consistently good bread with little effort. But I bought a brand new cheapo Cookworks machine for £10 on marketplace last year because it was smaller than most others and we've used it several times a week since. I also bought the book "Brilliant Bread making in your bread machine" which has become my bread machine bible.

I was worried it would make awful bread but with a bit of recipe tweaking we get lovely bread comparable to PIL's Panasonic machine bread 

KajiKita

Awww for Watty-Dog 😊 (and your neighbour).

I think you’re right about taking a chunk of time for the horses during the day - surely working for yourself, one of the perks is meant to be flexi working? 😊

KK

LadyWithAPlan

Warty if you are happy to cover the postage I can send you my now spare bread maker .. or if you have friends  coming to london . 

 I love German Shepherds - too cheeky for words