28 July 2016

Till hell freezes over

When we moved into our house nearly 29 years ago, one of our neighbours told us they were on the verge of moving, as they wanted to get their son into the right catchment area for one of the best schools this side of London. Come moving day, they rang our doorbell and asked if we would like their old upright freezer. It was ancient, they explained. It was still working, but they doubted it would make the haul into the removal van and the long move across London without expiring. We already had a fridge/freezer in our kitchen which was more than enough at the time for Greg and me living on our own, but we graciously accepted the ancient freezer, standing over 6 feet tall, and plonked it in our integral garage, where it has remained ever since.


Plonked in the garage
Defrosting is a pain
Over the years, it has become very useful, particularly at Christmas. One drawer stores about 6 loaves of bread and another the frozen turkey (I have always much preferred frozen to fresh turkey as it is much juicier) with another 5 drawers left for anything else. I have always cooked and frozen my own meals so that there is always something for an unexpected guest. When people have given me apples from their tree or vegetables from their allotment, I have always prepared them, then frozen them to use when I need them.


The freezer has done me sterling service.  I have now had it nearly 29 years and, as I say, it was ancient before that, so I reckon it is at least 40 years old. Every time I defrost it, I clean it out and watch with bated breath as I switch it on again. It always clicks on with a hum and it's away again for another 6 months. I kept wondering whether to replace it, just because, but was loathe to part with this friend that we adopted. Did I mention it was German - an AEG?  They clearly don't make them like that any more. Even the modern AEGs don't hold a candle to this one.


Large wire baskets
It has wire baskets and not the awful modern plastic ones which tend to hold less , as well as break if you overfill them and then try to force them back into their place.



I was about to publish this post last week, when something awful happened. On the hottest day of the year so far, it finally gave up the ghost. I had to find room for 7 drawers' worth of frozen goods.  I managed to get a smidgeon into my fridge/freezer in the kitchen, take a smidgen over to my mum's and the rest was either eaten up by me over a few days or a lot thrown away ( the latter for me being something akin to having both arms chopped off, as I abhor any waste). I ordered another AEG which arrived this morning. If it's anything like the last one, this should see me out to the end of my days!

Expires 2056?


 

6 comments:

Flowerpot said...

I had an old fridge like that about 30 years ago and exactly the same thing happened - I was told it was old but still worked, and I had it for years. Not 29 years I don't think but they don't make them to last any more do they? Hope your new one works well though.

Maggie May said...

Oh I do hope it lasts till then....... but I don't suppose it will. I don't know how old you are, but I certainly won't be here to see it! Ha!
Maggie x

Rab said...

That is what you call a freezer for sure. In my 13 year marriage we are already on our 3rd fridge/freezer and I can't help thinking things are just not built to last any more. I completely agree about the wire v plastic drawers. The latter have broken to bits on the last two to the point that every time we opened the door we anticipated catching something shooting out.

I was just catching up with your other posts and your Ruby Wedding post is beautiful- sounds like it was very worthwhile for both you and Kay. I hope all is well.

All the best

Rab

the veg artist said...

It's quite painful when these ancients give up the ghost, isn't it? The best fridge I ever had was left behind by a previous owner - I actually cried when it started leaking years later, and have never found such a good, sturdy one since.

DD's Diary said...

Do you really defrost your freezer every six months?? Is that how often you are supposed to do it? I'm terrible on domestic stuff. This could explain a lot about my freezer, which is extremely temperamental .... no wonder yours lasted so long!

ADDY said...

DD - This was one of the old style freezers which you had to defrost, as whole mountains of ice would build up, if you didn't. The new ones are frost-free and so you don't have to defrost them.