In the days when we had an airing cupboard. A few years ago though I got a breadmaker and it worked much better than my home made bread ha ha. I don't even eat bread (intolerance) but enjoyed making it for others. One thing I found, even with the breadmaker, was certain brands of yeast worked better than others, and if the dried yeast got a bit old it didn't work so well either - I started keeping it an airtight container which made it last longer once the packet was opened. I think brown flour is always harder to rise than white though. Half and half is good though. Sorry you probably already know that! Enjoy.
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You can do different flavoured breads in the bread maker, but not different shapes. However you can do the first half in the breadmaker, then take it out, shape it and put it in the oven. I did that once for bread rolls.
You just get used to it. And I have no problems with other people enjoying it. It was never quite established if it was the yeast or the extra strong bread flour that made me ill - maybe a bit of both. As I can eat things with normal flour - but then the proportion of flour is much less and I am healthier without any flour at all. But the occasional bit of cake or yorkshire pudding or pastry doesn't seem to cause issues 
I'd put it on before I went to bed - it takes about 6 hours, and it was ready to take out in the morning. It's not the same as "hands on" though where you really feel you've made something yourself.
