FIXED!!!

Can I show you something beautiful?

TA DA!!!

That's right.  My washing machine and my oven are now fully functioning and wonderful!  We will be back to baking bread and washing clothes this afternoon!

The parts arrived, I made the fixes (which, lets be honest, were not particularly complex because I am not particularly handy).

And now we have two freshly repaired appliances running as they should.

Happy Day!!

(I'm just a tiny smidge proud of this one.  I love it when this unskilled girl can pull out a win thanks to the help of those in the know.  Thanks Youtube for instructions and tutorials.  Also thanks Deborah and Annie and Brandi for pointing me in the right direction in the first place.  Couldn't have done it without you.)

On the plus side, my kids complained for a week about store bought bread saying it tastes like cardboard so now I feel even more glad about making bread at home than I did before.  That tiny piece of knowledge is not really worth the mess of a nasty heating element, but still, comforting to know.