hello, me again (told you I was clueless with machines) have left the machine for about half an hour and thought I need to empty it, powered it back on and the light have all gone off and the cycle has started!!!!!! I am just guesing it got its knickers in a knot and hope it wont do it again - maybe the kids had been fiddling with the dials.
Thank you to anyone who was thinking about my problem, and I've had to post an answer to let you know, cause I didnt know how to cancel the question (clueless with computers too.....)
clueless with machines, March 2012