Is this thing on?

So, about a million years ago (give or take a few months), Hope tagged me. In an unrelated area of my life, my jobs got so overwhelming that something had to go, and sadly, it was blogging (I've still been reading though, but must work on the commenting). For the past couple of months I've been planning to post to this blog again, and doing the thing where you write the posts in your head - that kind of thing.

Anyway, there's never a better time like the present. I have a bunch of FOs, since I may have had to stop the knit-blogging, but I didn't stop the knitting. I also went to Woolfest last week, have decided that I may do the Tour de Fleece thing unofficially (i.e., let's have an excuse to do some spinning), and have been making the longest Ravelry queue in the world (I don't use it that often, but I'm TheKnittingBee there).

I feel there is nothing better to ease oneself back into blogging, other than filling out a meme with excruciating slowness. Here goes:

"Here’s the deal: Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged."

[no, I am not going to tag anyone else]

Random thing the First

I do not have a fridge, or a freezer. Mr Bee & I have been doing without for over 18 months now, and it really isn't as 'hard' as people think.

Initially we were just too lazy to buy one, since our old flat came with a fridge/freezer but our new house didn't. Then after a few months we realised that we didn't really need it.

We have a north-facing kitchen with no radiators or heaters in it; one cupboard in particular is always quite draughty (I think there are vents somewhere to outside), and so we call that our cold cupboard and it's our pseudo-fridge. We use butter (which is rarely spreadable, even though it's not refrigerated), and cheese gets eaten far too quickly to go off. We have mash instead of frozen chips, and any ice-cream bought has to be eaten immediately (oh, for shame!). As vegetarians, a lot of our fake-meat is dried, rather than chilled, so that's not a problem either (and anything from the chiller cabinet is fine in the cold cupboard for a day or so anyway), and vegetables stay fresh for ages in a regular cupboard, never mind the cold one! We don't drink milk (but it will keep for at least 24 hours at most times of the year).

The one thing I miss is being able to freeze left-overs, but other than that it's really not an issue (we've now learnt just what the right amount of food to make initially is). I did think I'd miss ice-packs for cooling down inflammation, but I have gel-packs which I can submerge in cold water instead (plus - not that much inflammation!).

So there you go - no fridge, no freezer, just a nice small electric bill!

Tune in next time for the second stunning installment of this meme!