A very uncool household

Last week our fridge freezer made an almighty groan and shuddered to a halt. After a panic stricken rush to remove the frozen peas and their friends and put them in the spare freezer, we called out our trusted electrical repair man. Three days later he appeared, took a look at the F/F and shook his head. The compressor had gone and even though our household is famous in the local electrical repair world for having a 27 year old fully functioning washing machine, nothing could be done for four years worth of fridge freezer. Actually what he said was, he could order a new compressor and fit it but it would be cheaper to buy a brand new one. Bugger.

Archie was sent to the internet to research a replacement and to chuckle ruefully over the reviews of the failed machine. ( Don't buy one, they all said, the compressor goes after a couple of years ). After much deliberation and stroking of white goods in noisy electrical shops, we have chosen a successor and it will arrive in about eight days time. Luckily the lovely Sylvia gave us her spare freezer last year thus ensuring the safety of my collection of plums cooked in red wine but life without a fridge can be pretty smelly. We have been living out of a coolbox and sniffing the milk very carefully indeed before adding it to any cup of tea. The kitchen table is covered with all of the jars and tins that live unnoticed on the top shelf of the fridge. See photo for examples. Three bottles of Bach Flower Remedies, one for me and two for the cat. A jar of rhubarb jam gone wrong. Goose fat for cooking roast potatoes last Christmas ( forgotten and ignored ) , a can of Stella belonging to our friend Travelling Steve and two out of date beers from my mother that she gave me to cook with. Not sure what kind of a cook she thinks I am. Caroline and Stephen arrived in the nick of time to make macaroni cheeses and generally deplete the store of perishables and we are planning to survive on toast until a week tomorrow when the new FF finally arrives. It's a bit like camping only without the sleeping bags or the scenery.

On a knittier note, my striped cotton recycled affair is going well and I managed to get hold of this huge jumper in a charity shop which is already being ripped into pieces for adding to the stash. It is 80% wool, 20% acrylic. I'm thinking socks, or maybe something from the Sarah Dallas Knitting book which arrived last week. Who needs a fridge freezer anyway.