It’s the middle of May for goodness sake, where is Spring??!! Apart from a week in March that was as hot as July, the weather has been cold, wet and windy. Even when the sun has shone the nights have been frosty. Only last week I was out 2 nights running covering up my tender plants. Thankfully they all survived, but they’re not enjoying it any more than I am.

I’ve planted out rudbeckia, larkspur, daisies, cosmos, sunflowers, dahlias and nasturtiums, all lovingly grown from seed. In my head the garden will be a mass of colour in summer, but not unless we get some better weather.

Then there are the food crops. The peas, as ever, look terrible and the broad beans, which can usually survive all manner of inclement conditions, look terrible too. The pretty white strawberry flowers all have a blackened middle, and as for the potatoes. Who knows?

The forecast for next week is warmer, so I think we’ll all be glad if ‘they’ve’ got it right.

So my first job on Tuesday morning was to get back online and order one. Sadly I still couldn’t get on the website properly and all the information I input the previous evening had disappeared. To cut a long story short we managed to get it sorted, and were fortunate to be still looking at a Thursday delivery. That meant we would have been without a fridge for almost a week.

Obvious casualties such as ice cream had been thrown out immediately, but other perishables such as butter, milk, bacon and cheese had been packed into the freezer compartment to preserve the coldest temperature possible for the longest time. We turned off the radiator in the kitchen, and were helped by the cool weather.

We gradually got used to drinking warm beers and eating things in the order they might be going ‘off’. Ready meals, fish and chocolate desserts were all eaten way passed their ‘use by dates’. Even so, by the time Thursday morning arrived we were getting a little desperate, but butter, cheese and bacon were still edible.

The delivery was booked for 10am – 2pm, so I was delighted when it arrived at 9.30am. The delivery men took the old soldier away and delivered his brand new replacement without a hitch. All we had to do was let it stand for 2 hours, then plug it in.

Time ticked by. At 11.30am we flicked the switch on the socket, nothing. We tried the adjacent socket, still nothing. Despair was quickly creeping in. We checked the fuse box in case the old fridge’s demise had ‘thrown’ the switch, but no. More despair. Finally we plugged it into a completely different socket. Success, lights and a soft whirring noise. The fridge works, the double socket must be faulty.

But wait. Could this mean that the old fridge wasn’t broken at all? Had we sent him away to be destroyed and he wasn’t actually dead!! I actually felt quite cruel at the thought.

In conclusion. There is too much information out there, other peoples opinions simply confuse the issue and can be downright misleading. The people who said it sometimes ‘mooed like a cow’ must have never heard a cow, or our previous fridge for that matter. It is almost silent.

Manufacturers who recommend throwing out all frozen food after a period of 24 hours are scaremongering. A few commonsense precautions can work wonders. If it looks OK, and smells OK, the chances are it is OK. I’m not advocating this as a lifestyle choice, but when needs must it works. I bet the cost of the food we actually threw away was less than £20.

Finally, the most important thing of all. When an electrical appliance fails, always try it in another socket before pronouncing it ‘dead’!

Last Friday night at around 10.30pm we realised the fridge/freezer was not working. How did we know? The beer was warm! How long had it been ‘not working’, I don’t know, but if the state of the ice cream was anything to go by, quite awhile. What a nuisance, and just at a Bank Holiday weekend too, no chance of getting a replacement before Tuesday at the earliest.

Having said that, it didn’t really owe us anything, in fact we reckon it must have been 26 years old. So on Saturday morning the quest for a replacement began. How hard could it be? After all in the intervening 26 years we had been introduced to  ‘internet’ shopping, so searching for the right make, model, size and price should be a breeze, and all without leaving the comfort of your own home.

It soon became apparent that the range of fridge/freezers available was simply mind-blowing. Even when you narrowed it down by price and size the choice was vast. In the end, when all fridge/freezers were beginning to look alike, we decided to take a trip to a well known high street retailer and look at a few of our selected models ‘in the flesh ‘.

This was helpful to a point but seemed to throw up more possibilities, so back home we came for more ‘surfing’ and measuring. 48 hours later we were still no nearer. So-called ‘helpful’ reviews of the appliance posted by other buyers were confusing and contradictory to say the least, and also threw up more questions, which in the end we decided could only be answered by another trip to the high street. So that’s where we found ourselves at tea time on Bank Holiday Monday.

I wish I could say we returned home empowered and informed. Sadly we did not, the truth is there was too much information available and too much choice. The more we looked the more questions we had.  Sounds silly, but it’s true.

But ever conscious of time ticking by for our perishables we resolved to order some model or other before midnight in an attempt to secure a Thursday delivery slot.

At around 11.30 pm I was just in the process of completing my online order when the website went down. Just when you thought the situation had been resolved, another problem, whatever next?

If you want to know the answer to that question, you will have to read my next post.  To be continued . . . . . . .

We’ve had 3 consecutive frosty nights in the last week, and it’s just about killed all the 21 Salvia Patens I planted down the side of the drive. I managed to cover the 6 Sylvias Sunflowers by the pond, I’m just glad I hadn’t planted any more out.

They looked pretty sad, but then they often do, so I kept my fingers crossed and I have to say they look a lot better this morning with some sun on their backs.

The potatoes are blackened too, but I know they will come back. I’ve written myself a big note for next year.

DON’T PLANT ANYTHING OUT UNTIL THE 2nd WEEK OF MAY!

Yesterday, for example, was glorious. I got the grass cut and lots of other well overdue jobs. I even planted out some of my seedlings, only to hear today that Saturday night is going to be cold at 1c. I do hope I haven’t jumped the gun.

Then, true to form, today is dull and very cold, with the promise of rain later on. Not even the fields of oil seed rape could cheer me up this morning as I went to do the weekly shop.

Normally the bright carpets of yellow lift my heart, but today it was just too cold. Where is Spring?

Having said that, I’d never harm them, or see one suffer. Indeed a few years ago I tried to rescue one that had somehow got it’s leg caught in the bird-feeder, and was hanging there, lifeless.

Fortunately for all interested parties, it managed to free itself as I was finding my gardening gloves. I felt  protection against the aforementioned sharp beak was required.

But although I don’t like them much, starlings seem to like me, or at any rate, our house, as we have several families nesting in the eaves.

The parents swoop across the lawn, caterpillar in beak, only to be greeted by the excited, hungry clamour of their offspring, who are still nest-bound. You just can’t escape them as they are in most rooms.

We have 2 families in the kitchen, 1 in the hall, 1 in the bathroom, 1 on the landing, and Peter has at least 2 in his office. Then their are the 2 families in the boiler house.

I don’t know if they cause any damage, and we’ve had nests in previous years, it’s just that there seems to be more than usual this Spring.

In a few weeks time they will all fledge, and the class of 2012 will be fighting and squabbling on the lawn for the tastiest morcel.

Here you will find a selection of my favourite things in table form. How cool is that? Just mouse over the pictures for full details.

Anyway, on Monday I finally got them out, and how splendid they look too in their neat little rows. I even managed to put the fleece barrier round the peas to protect them from pigeons etc.

Needless to say, following Tuesdays strong winds, that is now ripped to shreds, so I’m now working on ‘plan B’ whatever that is. I’m still pleased though, just to have got them planted out at last.

I now have a bit more room in the conservatory, which is still over flowing with seedlings of various sorts, but the forecast for the remainder of April is poor, so they will have to wait a little longer for their freedom.

Although it has warmed up slightly and the sun is shining from time to time, there is a wickedly cold wind, so whilst I’m waiting for some warm weather to return, my thoughts have turned to indoor pursuits.

How 2 people can accumulate so much ‘stuff’ is beyond me, though as I may have mentioned, we’re not very good at throwing things away, just in case ‘it might come in for something’.

But now the gloves are off. Major changes are afoot, in the shape of getting an additional wardrobe. I know this sounds like adding to our collection rather than reducing it, but the hope is it will help to arrange the ‘stuff’ we do have in a more satisfactory manner.

Anything that doesn’t make the cut will be thrown out (yes, that’s right, thrown out) given to a charity shop or put on EBay. I’ve already had some small successes in that regard and get quite excited when I receive bids and make sales.

Let’s face it, whatever I sell at this stage of my life is all profit, so I don’t mind small prices, but I have sold a couple of big ticket items too.

However, I digress. Getting a new wardrobe sounds quite simple when you say it quickly, but things are never that easy. That’s why yesterday afternoon I found myself painting a bedroom wall.

We’d cleared a space for the 6′ 6″ monster, but in doing so had highlighted the fact that the bedroom is badly in need of decorating. (We actually knew this already but had successfully ignored it up to that point.)

The thought of having to move this behemoth at a later date didn’t appeal to either of us, so the lesser evil was to paint the wall behind it now, before it arrived. So that is what I did.

Another bi-product of all this activity is making space to do things. As a result the middle bedroom, affectionately known as the ‘snug’, is piled high with stuff that is either in the way, waiting to be sold or waiting to be re-housed in the new wardrobe.

As I often use the ‘snug’ as a refuge from Peter’s snoring, getting into bed at 3am is like a cross between ‘Total Wipeout’ and ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’!

Last Tuesday in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, which is near to where my sister lives, it was sunny and warm and setting records at 24c. Today, just one week later, it is snowing, blowing and a chilly 3c.

Here it’s wet, cold and miserable. Happy Easter everyone!