FRIDAY NEET

“Well Friday neet has finally come around
Me and me buddies gonna head for a spot we found
We’re gonna forget our cares
And yap on into the night
Down at the club”

That’s what I think of this place as. A club where we all meet for a yap and (hopefully) a laugh.

Anybody done owt nice or special this week? Tell yer Auntie Mollie all about it 'cos her's a nosy owd sod.

Dear Auntie Mollie , Today I've browt all my Halloween stuff in and put my
' lest we forget 'stuff out and tomorrow I'm going to a shindig on a farm field with a load o pals setting a Bommy off, I've brewed a keg of homebrew and its gonna be a muddy , firy ,loud and totally dangerous place to be because the owner has bought £700 worth of fireworks and he's completely mad and he's not sure where to put the match and. In the same vein of irresponsibility I've, put me central heating on toneet,

Sounds like a fun night tomorrow, Tom. BUT £700 for fireworks? Is he a very rich man with no missus and no kids? If so, I wanna meet him!

"Well, it's Friday neet, Mollie, chippy neet, an' I'm gooint'get haaaaa'f a chicken an' peys. I'm gooint' owd t'chicken in t'reet 'ond an' eyt it, reet, an' I'm gooint' shovel t'peys daaaaain wit' left 'ond. An' I met 'aya can o't'Guiness t'wash' it daaaaain wi' anaaaaaa' Mollie, then a bowlfull o't'paaaaineapple t'help daaaaigest it aaaa' "!

"Are you goin' ont'Bonneville, Tommy"?

"Aaaaa' "!

Good man. Thee look after thi' bally, and thi' bally'll look after thee!

Thowd Bonnie went in 1975 Tonks so, No, I'll be walking theer and staggerin' back like a ' snipers nightmare'

LOL! Never heard that one before, Tom.

Well, tonight I started on the very hard task of defrosting my chest freezer. For the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to close the lid as it's iced up so badly - in fact, the lid has stood about five inches above its closing point.

So, I've switched it off. Saved as much food as I can, (not much), and my oven is turned on full blast . Problem is it's got thick stalactites in there so it'll probably take days - nay weeks - before it's cleared.

I've never needed to defrost a freezer before, so it'll probably have gallons of water at the bottom which I'll have to scoop out when it's done.

Posted by: mollie m (7808) View mollie m's page

Well, tonight I started on the very hard task of defrosting my chest freezer. For the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to close the lid as it's iced up so badly - in fact, the lid has stood about five inches above its closing point.

So, I've switched it off. Saved as much food as I can, (not much), and my oven is turned on full blast . Problem is it's got thick stalactites in there so it'll probably take days - nay weeks - before it's cleared.

I've never needed to defrost a freezer before, so it'll probably have gallons of water at the bottom which I'll have to scoop out when it's done.

Replied: 1st Nov 2024 at 22:43

How on earth did you let it get into such a state mollie? I imagine it will have put £s on your electric bill. Anyway mollie look on the bright side, Tom may offer to nip round and pump it out for you.

Ahoy, First Mate.

How do I manage to get into any state? I'm always getting meself into scrapes and don't know how to get out of them till I put me thinking cap on! I've sat worrying about it all this time, without really knowing what to do, so I've only meself to blame. It will have cost me dearly on my lecky, but it's on the mend now, slowly, but surely.

The hard job for me is when it's all thawed out I'll have to reach down with a pan or something to scoop out the water. Not easy when you're only 5ft tall with breathing difficulties but, nil desperandum, I'll get there.

Not sure why you'd think Tom would come and help me out though. I don't know him personally, only on here.

Ah the bother maker is mentioning my name is he, But yes I'm like a white knight on a white horse and you would only have to ask and, I'd come kill the dragons in your Kingdom Mollie. I'd shut off the leccy then drag it out into the open and when the ice is water again, Tip it up and lay it on its belly,
I know this would supply the ill minded gossip mongers and fish wife association with some material to start rumours but, All the Ladies of WW to whom I've worked for will testify to my politeness and gentlemanly conduct .

And that would be very kind of you Tom, and I'm sure you mean it.

Problem is, even if you dragged it out to let it defrost, the ice would still be there in this cold weather, so my way is the quickest, even though it'll still take a good while, but thank you anyway.

Well folks, my freezer is rapidly defrosting now and I've had me little feet weet a few times from water on the floor, so I've been wearing me boots all afternoon.

I've managed to haul out some smaller lumps of ice by hand, and I've just pulled out an iceberg as well which I've chucked into the sink to thaw out. All is going as planned and, hopefully, it will all be sorted by tomorrow night.

My brother suggested I get an upright freezer, but I don't like them as food can only be stored for about a month, whereas in a chest freezer I've had stuff in for 12 months and still fresh, but I guarantee I'll never let it get like that again.

An upright freezer keeps food just as long as a chest freezer. Plus you can but frost free ones.

Ah right. Times must have changed, but one that would fit in the space in my kitchen wouldn't be big enough to hold a lot. You see, I batch cook, have a meal out of it, then freeze the rest. I buy very little frozen food except for some vegetables. If, for example, I get an Indian or Chinese takeaway, I can usually eat enough food for one meal, then portion up the rest to freeze for another day, usually an extra 3 - 4 portions.

nowt wrung with that Mollie, Nature works like that with squirrels, hedgehogs and all manner of animals, you've gotta get it while its plentiful and store it, A Lion will store it in a tree whilst a crocodile will store it beneath the water, You gotta use what you have,

Yeh, I'm like an owd squirrel and store it safely so I won't run out of food. Problem now is, I'll have to start from scratch again as I've had to throw away most of what was in there, but I'll build it up again in no time.

Serves me reet.

I do hope your freezer is still working after you put in all that work. Sometimes these events are a sign that it may be past it's sell by date.

Think back to our yoof Mollie, there was no freezers or fridges, only a panty and, Our parents came through a war when food was hard to come by and even the food that did get to us was rationed but, still our parents survived and, we will too, ice or no,,,,

First Mate:

I know, I was thinking about that, but I'll just have to wait and see.

Tom:

You're right of course, but back then food wasn't stored like it is now because women shopped every day for the meal they were to cook that night.

There was a pantry in the kitchen here with a marble slab when we moved in, but when renovating the kitchen I had it removed.

Just in case you may be looking for a replacement mollie. Ashton in Makerfield. Advertised 5 hours ago

Link

Thanks anyway, but that's much too tall for my space as it wouldn't go under the wall cupboards, and I never buy anything online. Too much of a Luddite.

Everyone is different I know, I like food thats cooked and eaten while hot, If its frozen then warmed up again, I'd have to be absolutely staving to eat a re warmed meal but. my missus will do that cooking and freezing gig but, A lot gets chucked out when we, do a big shop at Iceland on pensioners day and the freezers full of the ' ready meals' that get forgot about,
I could live without a freezer I would not rate it as an essential appliance

Tom, ready meals are food that has been cooked (by others), then you freeze them for later during a big shop. There's no difference.

Even though I live alone, and don't have an enormous appetite, I can't bear the thought of food being thrown away if there's nothing wrong with it.

I know a woman who throws things away for no good reason. If she buys a fresh chicken and cooks it herself, if there's still a lot of meat on it, she'll throw it away anyway instead of stripping it and freezing it. That to me is a shocking waste of good food.

I have milk in my fridge at the moment with a Use By date of 26 October, but it's still perfectly good and, as long as it smells and tastes okay, then it's okay.

Mollie how did our parents and the older generation like us manage before they started putting dates onto every food item you can think ofI am like you I look&smell food never mind what date is on the package. I have eggs in a package with a date not only on the packet but sprayed on the eggs.When I use the eggs I put them into a glass of water to see if they sink.I buy a small chicken cook it have some for a meal strip the carcass and put the chicken into the fridge for another meal or sandwiches. I have stopped buying a bag of potatoes and have tinned potatoes because I was throwing more away than I was using. Thousands of tons of food gets binned because the modern generation are indoctrinated with the mind set of dates on food and throw away good food because of the date on them

I fully agree with you there about throwing food out, Its a crime to throw food away and, As a kid the Nun's used to watch us at skool dinners and woe betide any kid who left food. Even the 'Oribble tapioca pudding had to be fully consumed or else a lashing of the cane would follow and they'd say
" there are starving little black children in the jungle who would love to eat that" and no one dared answer them back,. My mrs says I go too far when I see bread thrown out because there's a little bit of green mould on it, I'll take it out of the bin, cut the green off and eat it just to make a point,,

Just after the war, I remember finding some tinned food at my Grandparents house from the war which when opened, made some good meals.

No sell by dates on them.

Some people might frown upon this, but, it works every time for me.
My freezer will defrost in less than an hour, with no loss of food.

Empty the freezer, put some tea towels down on the bottom to protect the bottom of the freezer and also to soak up the water and then put 2 pans of boiling water on the tea towels and then shut the door / lid.
In the meantime boil 2 more pans of water and remove the pans that are already in the freezer and replace them with the freshly boiled pans of water. Keep repeating the dose ( and wringing the towels out! ) until its completely thawed.

It works a treat. Job completed in less than 60 minutes

That sounds like a good remedy but, unfortunately, I'd allowed the freezer to get beyond that point, and it was full to busting with food, and there was nowhere I could have put it all, but thanks anyway. Much appreciated.

.....

Mollie.
You can put the food at one side, as it hasn't got time to thaw out.
My sister in law gave me that defrosting tip. And like I said, it's never failed me yet

I also do exactly that but put as much unfrozen food as I can in the fridge turned down to as cold as it will go.

I also do that, Anne with the what I call the "quick defrostables".

For example, a loaf, thinly sliced cooked meat, frozen peas, etc.

Ah well, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I only have a little fridge, so it doesn't hold a great deal.

I've just been bailing out the water from the bottom, and so far I've got four pansful out. Having a rest now, and will have to do more later. A bit at a time, then I'll see if the freezer still works by the end of it.

As I said earlier, I won't be letting it get into that state again as it's been extremely hard work.

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I use my partners hair dryer in conjunction with pans of water.