Thursday, September 16, 2010

Odd Household Tasks

Every Wednesday I do one of the oddest household tasks I might ever have to do. I have to defrost and scrape ice out of our refrigerator.


This is our trusty refrigerator. It's about a thousand years old, but still works like a dream. Except that ice builds up around the "ice box" part. I've tried to ignore it, but then it just gets so bad that the door will barely close. And when that happens, it's a real pain in the derriere to defrost. You have to scrape, chip, bang, and even pull out the hair dryer for hours.

So, to avoid having that big mess, I've just decided to clean it out every Wednesday. This is what it looks like before I begin. Lovely!


Here I am with the necessary tools. I'm thinking of purchasing some gloves to help in this process. My hands sure do get cold!


I scrape.


I chip.


And 30 minutes later......


And now I must mop the floor!

4 comments:

Liz said...

Oh my goodness!! I can't believe you have to do this every week!! That old thing probably sucks up so much energy from your electric bill. I am assuming you have a larger freezer too?

lydia said...

We do have a larger freezer. It doesn't actually use that much energy...about the same as a regular refrigerator. Otherwise, we would be dashing out to get a new one ASAP.

Chris said...

Actually Liz, this icebox uses much less electricity than our modern "energy efficient" ones do. About 25 years ago Grandma was worrying it might be better to get a new one, so Mackie Belcher (a local electrician, appliance repairman, etc...) came and put a meter on it to see. 24 hours later he checked and found it uses about half the power of modern refrigerators.

However, I want to get a new one, and was going to, but the tightwad in the house refused! :)

Chris said...

And this icebox is a family heirloom (we're so poor in our family that the strangest things become heirlooms) that has been a touchstone in my grandmother's kitchen for all of our lives.