Burnt Pan

I've seen this before, and I've also burnt the very same pan.  I was 'reducing' the liquid in which I had poached some figs, and had just popped into the garden......The figs are now sitting in Marsala Wine! By the way they were not in the pan when it got burnt, I was just reducing some of the soaking liquid.  The figs I had bought when we went to Croatia last year.  I bought them straight from the woman who had grown them and dried them herself.  She was so delighted when I went back and bought a second lot from me, I nearly thought I was going to be invited back to her farm!  I settled for a small bunch of grapes and a handful of rocket picked that morning and still with the roots on as a gift.

A few minutes later, or maybe more, I came back in, and my nose said that's it...I was resolute, I would not be upset.  After all I have had this pan over twenty years, and maybe another one would be best.  There is a slight dink in the side when someone, not me must have dropped it!

I left it overnight soaking, but next morning there was no change.  Then I got out my very seldom used oven cleaner.  Don't get me wrong I do clean the oven, but I prefer no harsh chemicals, and  use Kitchen spray and elbow grease.  I donned rubber gloves, long sleeves and apron, and applied the Oven Pride to lid and pan, and put the whole lot into a large bag for another overnight soak.

The next morning lid was completely clean, but the pan was still solid.  I trailed the internet, and decided to use the vinegar and baking soda routine, together with plenty of elbow grease.  Actually I used an old spoon to scrape the surface.  I did this in batches, as my elbow grease was running out and finally the pan/casserole is useable again.

I've just looked up the price in case I still want to buy another of these stellar casseroles, but no I won't be, and I now think the time I spent scrubbing really worth while.

Prologue:  I found a shop just by accident on a day out to Stow...and they had a Stellar caserole, of a large size, on offer, at a price I could not refuse!  I still have my smaller caserole, and I have since had the tip off a friend that rhubarb boiled up in the pan works too.

Refurbished Garden Wind Chimes

About this time of the year, you can really tell what needs a touch of paint in the garden.  After the frosts of winter and the strange hot and cold, dry and wet weather we have had this spring, some of the paint work needed touching up.  After a spell dry weather, I felt it was time to give my lovely blue bench a couple of coats, as well as some touching up of the cream paint on the gazebo.

A week or so previous to that, the Garden Wind Chimes had really collapsed with its wooden ring from which the tubes hang, broken beyond repair.  During the winter the thread to one of the tubes had perished, and the tube had embedded itself into the soft foliage below.   Mr S and I were in a dilemma.  We have had these chimes for over 15 years, they are large, and have a lovely deep tone.  In the meantime I painted the clapper and wind watcher blue to match the benches.  I think I shall still need to apply some oil, as there are some deep cracks on these too.

We trailed the internet for replacements, and also ideas of how to repair them.  In the US there seem to be many sites with spare parts, but not here in the UK.  Well at least we did not find any.  We racked our brains,  we thought maybe a 'slate plate', but Mr S wondered whether he would be able to drill the holes without shattering the stone.  In the meantime I had bought some wire thread from the local bead shop.  Then I woke up one morning with the idea of using a steel 'snowflake' trivet from which to hang the bells, and for thread, we used some kite twine.  Mr S did a grand job, and now the chimes are back up....

Telephone problems - You might just need new batteries

I love chatting to people on the phone. Sometimes for too long - but recently I started to have problems even with short calls, or even just pressing the 'green button' would cancel the call. If you want to know the answer, by pass the following witterings and reminiscences and go to the last paragraph!

I really thought we would need to get a new telephone system. Well we have got used to 'systems' which means several hand sets, and charger stations, with answerphone, intercom etc.

If it was just me, I was thinking that I would have liked to have reverted to a standard plug in phone, with no batteries, and I can't remember when that was. Even our 'emergency' phone which is just a plug in has a battery for the memory function.

For sure my parents had the straight forward phone when I was really young. Just like learning your name and address, our telephone number in Mauritius : 939, is etched in my mind. I guess there were less than 1000 people connected to the system then. It soon changed to 43939, and the number kept growing and growing, as more and more people connected to the system. I can't remember what sort of phone it was, but I think you had to go through a telephonist.

In those days, children very rarely got to speak to anyone on the phone. Just in my lifetime, it has changed from this, to many children having their own mobile phone, and being able to be connected where ever they are. This is nearly as big a technology jump as the ones my grandfather lived through, well perhaps not so great, but it effects many more people on a daily basis. I was staying with my grand parents and I remember being kept awake by my grand father to watch the first man land on the moon. My grandfather was really excited, and I remember him explaining to me that as a a young man he had read in the papers about the Wright Brothers taking to the skies in a flying machine and in his own life time men were now travelling and landing on the moon. I guess there will be scientists out there, who would say that if it wasn't for the race to the moon, then we would not have satellites, and therefore super efficient telephone and computer systems owe much to the 'space race' .

So I started to look, and thought I would like a really simple telephone: one that just plugged into the phone socket, with no batteries etc. Then I thought eeekkkkkkkk I would have to look up numbers each time etc etc.

Having surfed the net and got pretty overwhelmed on what was out there, I reverted to the mind set of:

Is there a problem, can it be fixed, how can it be fixed, what must I do to fix it, and do then do it!

I found out that new batteries were needed. They only last between 1 and 3 years. I searched and searched for the original type of battery, but the new telephone systems take different powered ones. You need special batteries, and then you have to find someone who stocks them. I found a site on the web: Commutech which explained the symptoms and need for battery renewal, and had the type of battery I was looking for, though it was a generic type. The postage was free, and they were with me within two working days.

I was telling my friend Marie-Claire about this, and she said she wished she had known this as a relative of hers had just gone out to buy a new system, as she had been having the same problems. So if you read this, do pass on the message that if your phone is performing poorly then most probably new batteries will solve the problem, and hopefully there will be fewer phones being thrown away.