FREEZING THINGS

My freezer has packed in! I have been in denial for a while but I have finally had to resign myself to the fact that it is gone to the big white appliances resting place in the sky - or, if we ever get round to shifting it out of the garage, the Corporation Tip.

I knew I was in trouble a couple of weeks ago when I came back from the supermarket ladened with bread and ice lollies and other things necessary for two weeks of school holidays to notice that there was a red light winking at me from the control pad. Undeterred, I stuffed my purchases in on top of all the other food stuffs that had come to rest there and banged the door closed. Finally, I flicked the "Superfreeze" button and crossed my fingers.

However, when I tentatively opened the door some hours later, I discovered that everything was slightly softer than it had been when I put it in. There was no pretending. I was going to have to act.

I do have another freezer - a little three drawer affair underneath the fridge in the kitchen. It is usually full of things that I need to be able to lay my hands on quickly. Frozen veg, ice for my gin and tonic and ice packs for my husband's constant stream of sporting injuries. But I realised pretty quickly that six drawers cannot be decanted into three drawers, especially when the three drawers already barely shut.

After a very satisfying bout of swearing, I set to with my linen basket emptying both freezers, working out what could be or should be salvaged and then reorganising. All the meat, which was costly and still frozen solid, made the trip from garage to kitchen. Bags of frozen blackcurrants did not. I really don't know why I grow blackcurrants. No one eats them except me and so year after year, after plying pounds on friends who assure me that they would love some, I hide them in the freezer in the safe knowledge that I will turn them into Ribena as soon as I have a moment.Sadly, there was no room to save them.

Then I started to have fun. I found all those things that I bought eons ago to use in some recipe and then didn't fancy after all. It seems to me that the sole purpose of that stuff is to make me feel inadequate every time I open the freezer. So it was with unrestrained glee that I seized on the opportunity to ditch them.

By the time I'd finished I had rescued the ice lollies, admittedly now somewhat soft, the meat, some Green and Black's dark chocolate ice cream and a loaf of wholemeal bread.

Two weeks on we are in the process of eating what was already in the little freezer so that I can refill it with stuff that we actually need. Last night the kids had some sausages that turned out to be venison ones bought by my husband on a whim and then forgotten about. I did find a large block of Parmesan on top of the dead freezer which I had intended to defrost in the fridge but two weeks on I put it in the bin instead.

So, do I need a second freezer? I cook from scratch most nights only freezing the left overs which I then save until there is enough for a repeat performance. We need frozen peas and I do have a glut of fruit and veg in the summer from the garden. Ice creams are essential too or we will have to go to the park and get them - a trip to be to be avoided at all costs. I can buy my bread fresh - or go back to making my own.

So I have to conclude that, no, I really don't need to replace it. It will create a space in the garage which will no doubt be filled with a gardening gadget or bike quicker than you can say Jack Robinson. All I have to do now is get the bloody thing to the tip. Anyone got a van?!