Shortcrust Pastry

I made some shortcrust pastry today. It was a case of ‘third time lucky’. The first time I tried, the pastry came out like leather. The second time, it had oily patches on it. This time, however, it turned out really well. I used it to make a chicken and mushroom pie. The trouble is, I forgot to add any herbs, so the result was slightly bland, but at least the pastry was okay.
Neil