So THAT'S how it works!

While dividing up the furniture and bits and bobs as we went our separate ways, there was some logic in me having the Spanish washing machine, on the basis I learnt a bit of spanish when we lived over there some years ago, so would be able to work out what all the programs did.

Or, that was the logic.

I remember we did our research well when we bought the washing machine in Spain, and that it was a) a good one and b) hardly used as we bought it only a few months before moving back to the UK. Since then it has been in storage, just over 4 years.

I made sure I did a full wash before I packed everything to move, so having been in my new home for a little more than a week I had accumulated enough clothes to be ready to do a wash.

Clothes in washer, detergents in drawer it came time to turn it on, and that's where the fun began.

There is a function to delay the wash on a timer by either 3, 6 or 9 hours and no matter what buttons I pressed it seemed that it was always on delay. It would not start to fill with water. No matter what logic I applied, I couldn't get it started. I tried every combination of buttons and then suddenly the water started to flow... it was working... and I had no idea what I had pressed to make it happen.

Since then I have done a couple more loads, each time getting it to work after pressing a host of buttons and never knowing which button combination made it work.

So tonight I decided it was time to work it out. Logging on to the internet to find a manual, I found a full manual in pdf format and downloaded it... it came in either Spanish, Basque and 2 other languages I couldn't identify, but definitely not in English. I could, apparently, order an English copy from some website for 14 euros if I wanted to wait for 24 hours. No, I need my clothes washing now, please.

Scrolling through the spanish manual on line I noticed a series of diagrams... and they looked just like the controls on my washing machine. Working through them I identified which button should make it start. I pressed it...

Nothing.

I turned the dial and pressed it again...

Nothing.

I turned it off and turned it back on, selected my program and pressed it...

Nothing.

Back at the diagrams I checked - there was no other button to press, it had to be that one.

Back at the washing machine I repeated all previous steps, how difficult can it be?

Then, the penny dropped, or rather the water flowed. I was pressing the right button, just not for the right number of seconds. There is a child safety feature on it, you have to press and hold for 3 seconds and hey presto...

I have the lovely sounds of clothes tumbling in soapy water.

Now, what's my next challenge?