Life Without a Freezer

How differently we live these days, especially when compared with our life in the States. Take shopping. We thought nothing of jumping in the car for a run to the nearest supermarket (three were within two miles of us). A "run" could be as early as 7 a.m. or as late as 10 or 11 p.m. Further, we bought in much greater quantities because we had much more storage space than we do here. We also bought a fair amount of frozen goods or items that we would divide up and place in the freezer, such as "economy packs" of chicken breasts or hamburger meat which Don made up into patties, wrapped separately, and then froze. Our freezer compartment over here has been very small and so many items we had been used to buying, we either couldn't find over here or if we could find them, we hadn't the space to store them in our wee freezer.

When our construction work began and the conservatory was torn down where the small fridge/freezer lived (as there was no room in the kitchen for it), we had to move the little fridge/freezer to the garage. The freezer compartment continued to work out there until the weather turned cold enough that the ambient temperature in the garage was lower than the temperature inside the freezer compartment. Then the little thing got all confused and turned itself off. All this to say that we have been living without a freezer since sometime in December. That means no ice for cold drinks (not that we drink many of those over here in the winter), no ice cream, no leftovers, no meals cooked ahead and frozen, and so forth. Last week when I was sometimes needing an ice pack to help with the swelling on my face, I was thankful that the snow was still on the ground around the house. I'd bring a cupful in and put it into the middle of a wet washcloth. A nice touch with snow was that it was soft enough to mold into the shape I needed.

You'll be wondering if we're running out to the garage every time we want something out of the refrigerator. No, we have a larder fridge which is just a cold chest for all the sorts of things everyone keeps in the fridge portion of their fridge/freezer. We are very much looking forward to getting our new large fridge/freezer once the renovations have been done. But for now, we are planning meals only a day or two at a time and shopping for what we need more frequently.

Comrie used to have 5 grocery stores, according to a woman we were talking with last night who moved to Comrie in 1968. Now there are two small ones plus a veg and fruit shop, a deli (more like a specialty shop with a cheese counter and fresh breads than like a U.S. kosher-style deli), a butcher shop, and a (new) bakery. There are other fresh fruit and veg shops just a few miles away and a medium-sized supermarket (by U.S. standards) in Crieff, 7 miles away. If we want to drive to Perth we have access to several super-sized supermarkets, one of which is open 24/7. This bring up another issue: days and hours of operation. Only our two grocery stores are open on Sundays or beyond 5 o'clock (they close at 8 weeknights, 6 on Sundays). The same is true of the supermarket in Crieff. So you see, we must think ahead about what food we need and when we'll need it.

This morning I walked to the village in a light drizzle to "go for me messages" which is Scots for doing shopping errands. The photo above shows all that I bought. I was planning to make moussaka tonight but could only follow through on that plan if our fruit and veg shop had 2 large aubergines (eggplants). I had an alternative set of ingredients on my list if they didn't, but today I was in luck. So first stop was for the aubergines (2 medium-small and 1 small, which was all they had) and a fresh tomato to use in a Greek salad. Then I walked next door to the butcher shop where I queued for a pound of mince (half beef, half lamb). As I was about to leave, someone tapped me on the shoulder and said "Hi, Lynn." It was Liz, my drawing teacher. So we stood for 5 minutes and had a blether while she got her meat order, then we walked out onto the sidewalk and blethered for another 5 minutes.

Further down the block I stopped in at the chemist's to pick up some prescription refills. (It is wonderful that if you are of retirement age, prescription drugs are free.) Then I crossed the street to Thomson's The Deli where I got Gruyere cheese for the moussaka and feta cheese for the salad as well as a container or Jordan almonds. My next stop should have been at the bakery for a loaf of crusty bread but I didn't remember that until I was halfway home. I was too tired and wet to go back for it, but Don popped out for it just now.

Don was out in the drizzle (at least it's warmer--50 degrees) all morning at the final gathering of the St Fillans Seniors Winter League. The match was followed by lunch and the bestowing of awards. Don brought home the prize for the Most Improved Golfer (a serious prize: a book on how to improve your game; and a gag prize: a green plastic spade to help him get out of sand). I was not at all surprised to hear that Don had won this award because no one could have worked harder at trying to bring their game along as he has done. I am glad his diligence was recognized and rewarded.

My trip to Glasgow yesterday for the Country Living Fair was long and a bit tiring. At least there was an hour-long coach journey on either side of lots and lots of walking around. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with my seatmate, Helen Rae, and the women we got together with for morning coffee and for lunch, but was a bit disappointed in the selection of items available at the fair. I guess I had expected more craft-type items (there were very few). I certainly didn't expect so many vendors of clothing and jewelry. There were some beautiful items of clothing but all were quite expensive. There were lots of what I'd label "twee boutiques" (lots of country kitsch). I did get some items from some of the food vendors to bring home to Donald, in particular some beef sausages with wild mushroom and venison, and some Cornish bleu cheese. I did buy myself a wonderful and roomy carry-on bag for taking on airplanes.

While I was away, the joiners came and began erecting the sitting room extension roof trusses. The plumber also called round and took measurements so he can gather the supplies he will need to come back next week to get some under-floor pipes and drains put into the utility room. Don and our contractor met with the engineer/installer from the fireplace company so that he can make sure he has all the correct measurements and so forth when he comes back in a few weeks' time to do the installation. We're still waiting for the sparky to come put some wiring in the utility room but he had warned us that he's been so busy that he wouldn't make it until next week.

Last night was the Friends of Cognac wine tasting at the Perth Library. A coach picked up the Comrie and Crieff contingents which was a good thing as not only was it a miserably rainy night for that drive, but there were 9 wines to taste! We were seated at tables for 8 with lots of nibbles to go with the wine. The owner of the Crieff wine shop who selected and talked about the wines gave us "score sheets" to make notes on as we went along. I'm sure I don't have to say that we all had a good time. The wines were interesting and reasonable in price so it was a useful event as well as being a good way of getting to know people. I must also say that we coach passengers were much noisier on the way home than we were on the way to Perth. We didn't quite break into song but had the journey been a bit longer, I think there was certainly the threat of that happening.