Never fear - I have not surprised the borrowers too much yet with such shenanigans. As usual, there is a story attached...
For a while now - for a very long while now, the "little freezer" has been in need of a good defrost.
For all of that while, I have had a daily mantra of getting whatever out, saying to myself "I must defrost this soon" and going on with my life. Obviously verbal reinforcement only has so much impact on my consciousness.
Weekly, I have added a "...before I do the groceries" codicil - which has as much impact as opposition policy - and weekly, I bring home groceries to fill the undefrosted freezer and added "...(expletive deleted) - next week".
No doubt, the freezer doubted my follow-through, because yesterday it took the matter into its own hands (?).
At some point, one of us accessed something and failed to give that little nudge between "slightly ajar" and "sealed".
A few hours after that point, I was traversing the kitchen and stood in a puddle. I know - there have been occasions over the last few years where I have traversed the kitchen and stood in puddles (most notably after V has attacked the washing up - so most days) but on this occasion, the puddle was quite cool.
"hmmm" I thought. I investigated. I saw the slightly ajar door - and knew my day of reckoning had come - and thought "I will deal with this later" and shut the door again.
Later did actually come - and on the same day - because I knew that once you have puddle-formed in the world of ajar-doored freezers, you are entering a world where food safety standards can become compromised (oh, and okay, you are entering a world where you can no longer shut the door without fear of the ajarity).
The first task is always to rehome everything. I did an awesome job of spatial stuffing with the upstairs fridge. I had to take a photo because it was indeed a masterpiece - especially when you consider it coincided with a massive cookup of freezer cubes of standards for Paris.
Anyhow, to round off the imperfections.. V had a spatial problem with the downstairs freezer, and so placed his charges in the fridge section. If anyone wants pies or fish fillets, they are now thawed for your convenience...