Here's a close-up:
That squirrel was really hidden away, nibbling on something held in his tiny paws. It looked like a Stella D'Oro bread stick, but how a squirrel would have come by one of those, I'm not sure. There was no one else around and I didn't provide it.
Yesterday was consumed by more domestic tasks. I cleaned out the refrigerator, emptying all the shelves and pulling out the removable pieces to wash them. I feel like I did this not too long ago, but I somehow still found a bottle of vegan salad dressing that expired in July 2018. Dave bought it during his vegan phase and neither of us liked it; how it never got thrown out I don't know. We also have a jar of mustard that expired last October, but I figure, it's mustard. What could go bad? I kept it.
And then, because I'd done the fridge, I obeyed a wild impulse to defrost the freezer. We'd never defrosted it in the almost seven years we've lived here, and there was so much residual ice that pulling the drawers in and out was difficult and produced a shower of frost. I actually broke the plastic handle of one of the drawers some time ago, trying to free it from the enveloping glacier.
I extracted all the drawers, dumped ice cubes on the food and set it all outside on the patio, where it's cooler. (Not really cold, though -- I should have done this during our freezing weather several weeks ago!) I turned off the freezer, put pans of warm water on the shelves and old towels around the base. And waited.
Defrosting a freezer is a messy job, but it's not really difficult. Nature does most of the work. Within a couple of hours it was ice-free and I put everything back and turned it on, et voila!
Olga and I took a walk in the cemetery in the afternoon. Unlike Saturday, which was sunny and clear, yesterday was cloudy and windy. But for the first time this year, we heard...
...the turaco! Yes, it's back again, if it ever left. I couldn't see it, but I didn't really have time to look closely, because Olga was being very impatient. You can hear her barking on the recording above, frustrated that I had dared to pause our walk.
Seven years? You can take the efficient out of the motherland but you can't take efficiency out of the bred-in-the-bone efficient. So you will forgive me for gasping at your negligence. That build up of ice will have cost you a packet (in energy), unnecessarily so. If nothing else that should be an incentive to keep ice at bay (and/or buy an energy efficient fridge/freezer since they are one of the most expensive household appliances to run).
ReplyDeleteU
Yeah, I know. And I'm sure it was pretty frosty even when we moved in.
DeleteTwo things:
ReplyDelete1) Defrosting a freezer tip - Try using your hair drier to speed up the melting process.
2) Translation of Olga's barking; "Jesus Christ Steve! Move your ass man! I have got squirrels to hunt!"
Oops, sorry! I mean Dave's hair drier!
DeleteNo hair dryers in this house, alas! I considered pouring lukewarm water over the coils, but I was afraid it might damage them somehow or even cause them to break from the abrupt temperature change. So I just let the ice melt naturally.
DeleteYP, Hairdryer? Sure. Why not? What's a bit of electricity in vicinity of water?
DeleteStick to your hot water method, Steve. It's not only more environment friendly, it's as fast if not faster (and more efficient!) since you don't have to stand there, like a dunce, blowing hot air.
U
PS re environment friendly, waste not want not: You could even use the melted ice to water your plants
How old is the fridge? It is years since we have had a fridge that needed defrosting? Still, it's a good think to have a deiced freezer. They work better and more cheaply. I agree with you about mustard. It will be a case of which goes bad first, you or the mustard. I reckon the mustard will see you out. I could hear Olga barking.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea. It belongs to the landlord and it was here when we moved in, so it's seven years old anyway. Probably a lot more.
DeleteThat's a big job down. I'd have kept the mustard too. I have used a hairdryer as well, and have managed not to kill myself. Number one, it is a chest freezer. Number two, I aim the heat at the wall of the freezer to release it from the wall, and I take the big chunks of ice outside. It takes perhaps twenty minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe ice in our freezer wasn't on the walls, which, come to think of it, may be frost-free. It was on the shelves, which contain the cooling coils. I suppose a hair dryer might have worked there too, if we'd had one, but time did the trick!
DeleteI, too, back in the days of a no-frost free fridge, used the hair dryer method because otherwise it's all "Hurry up and wait ... and wait."
ReplyDeleteIt's like watching ice melt! =)
I find defrosting is a lot like Hemingway's description of going bankrupt. It happens "gradually, then suddenly."
DeleteMike defrosted our chest freezer a while back & it's already showing signs of needing it again. I'll put it on the calendar for next winter. OR MAYBE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT SINCE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE 20 DEGREES!.
ReplyDeleteLove the squirrel picture. I could see him right away - adorable little maniacs :)
Twenty degrees? At the end of March?! THAT doesn't seem fair.
DeleteI bet that every time you open the refrigerator you feel a great sense of accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteIt feels SO much easier to access the stuff in the freezer!
DeleteNow I feel like I have to go and clean out our refrigerator. I'm sure there'a some ancient stuff in there. Because I'm a sentimentalist I saved the last jar of raspberry jam my mom had here back in 2016. Yes, it is long past its expiration date, but heart can't let it go. I haven't had to defrost a freezer in ages. It's been so long I had forgotten such things.
ReplyDeleteI get sentimental about some things too, though I'm not sure I've ever felt that way about a condiment. :)
DeleteFor cleaning my freezer , I use a hairdryer to warm up freezer walls and get the ice off. The ice comes off freezer walls in huge slabs.
ReplyDeleteIn my case it wasn't on the walls, it was on the metal shelves, which contain the freezer coils.
DeleteYou got a lot done over the weekend. I loved hearing the turaco and Olga trying to get your attention.
ReplyDeleteShe was NOT AMUSED that I was stopping for no apparent reason! (I'm sure the turaco wasn't on her radar at all.)
DeleteYes, it always feels great when you open up a nice clean fridge and freezer! I spotted that squirrel - nice shot of him snacking! I am enjoying the sounds and sights of Spring around here...slowly but surely!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad spring is arriving in your part of the world!
Deleteour freezes self defrosts but the refrigerator is badly in need of cleaning. turned cold and wet yesterday, cold and sunny today.
ReplyDeleteA good rainy day task!
Deleteanother job well done!
ReplyDeleteIt took me a while to see the entire squirrel. Such a cutie. "no Olga, NO"
It was so well-hidden Olga didn't even see it!
DeleteI could use your energy. That's a great shot of the squirrel. I love watching the ones in my yard. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteThey are fun to watch!
DeleteI wish you'd come over and do some spring cleaning in my house. Carl will take you on a bird walk like no other, too!
ReplyDeleteI bet you don't have any turacos! You probably have a lot of other exotic stuff, though. LA seems like one of those cities, like Miami, where escaped pets take up permanent residence.
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