Wednesday 12 August 2020

Wednesday

We are just not used to this intense heat and humidity and I for one am finding any kind of motivation very difficult.   My computer room looks out to the North which means it is always cool and my patio doors are also on the North so it is possible to keep my bungalow cool.   I have not cooked a lunch today, relying instead on a pork pie and salad - so I am keeping as cool as I can.   I really wonder how people who live in tropical climes manage to get any work done.

 

My brain feels addled with all the heat and I just can't think of a single subject to write about.   The whole subect of Covid 19 seems done to death - it is still as serious as it ever was and I am sure it is by no means behind us but wherever I go around home here some people seem to be obeying all the rules and others seem to be ignoring them competely.   Maybe, because we have had so little of it around here I rather think we have become a bit complacent.

My poor garden begins to look parched.  I know that watering it is not the answer - that just encouragess the roots to come to the top for a drink.  Hopefully, if they search downwards with their roots they will encounter damp soil before long.  One thing for sure - there are butterflies and bumble bees in profusion today and that has got to be good.   So take a break in the sun if you are able to do so.    I'll see you tomorrow.

22 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

Blimey Pat, it's a way of life down here in Kent at the moment, this weather's been going on for a few weeks now. You know it's been hot when the weather man says that it'll be cooling down tomorrow, it'll only be 28 degrees! At the moment (3pm) it's 30 degrees in the shade in my garden and humidity is around 80%.
I've just been out on my bike for a couple of hours along the sea front and other places, so we do survive it.

Chris said...

Hi, I live in Essex 3.30pm and is 32C in the garden ,we have not had appreciable rain since April so no water at all in the soil. The trees are going yellow and loosing there leaves. I can only afford to water the veg. Maybe I should do a rain dance, we are not known as the driest part of the country. Keep as cool as you can and drink a lot. Chris

Derek Faulkner said...

Glad that you wrote that Chris, beginning to think that people didn't believe me. Same here on Sheppey re. lack of rain and trees shedding their leaves.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

I'll do a rain dance for rain in Essex, and say a prayer.

A cool towel on the back of my neck is soothing when the heat gets to me. In a plastic bag, put dry hand towels in the fridge, and rotate them when they lose their cool. Any window that is hot with sunlight, A fleece throw helps, keep the heat out of the room. I use clothespins on the draperies. The same works in winter when the electric goes out, fleece throw over the doors and windows to keep what heat there is in.

Be safe!

Rachel Phillips said...

We are up in the 30s today. Lovely, hot and dry. I wonder what you mean by people breaking the rules. It is ok to live a life and wear a mask in a shop and walk on the pavement in the open air without one. People duck and dive around each other. We haven't all dropped dead. Look on the bright side, you're still here. Your garden will come up again as it always does.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Interesting to read what you are all saying about the weather - it is just that we are not used to it - it has come as a shock. Not sure I shall ever get used to it though

jinxxxygirl said...

We have several more days of hot and humid then i notice the forcast is for the daytime and nighttime temps to drop by 10 degrees.. hope thats not just a typo...lol I tend to hibernate in the Summer and truly live in the Fall... Winter and Spring... Take care dear Pat...Hugs! deb

Heather said...

I took my break in the sun early this morning and was back from the supermarket with my week's shopping by 9.30. Since then it has been windows open, blinds down and hibernating until the sun went off my windows and I could lift the blinds to let more air in. It has been very slightly more comfortable today than yesterday, and clouds are gathering. I wonder if we will get a storm tonight. So many other parts of the country have had them. I'm living off salads at the moment.

Tom Stephenson said...

I think it has been a good year for bees. I have not seen any sick ones this time.

Midlife Roadtripper said...

Weaver, I live in one of those hot climates. We drink lots of water. Always have a glass of water going. Even when we go out in the car.

As to you information on not watering so the weeds won't come to the surface? Wow -- revelation to me after so many years of gardening. That must be why my unplanted garden this year is so free of weeds. Lack of attention -- and water.

Take good care in the heat. Good time to sit and read.

Bonnie said...

It is always more difficult to get used to weather that is more extreme than you normally get. When you have both high heat and humidity it does become quite draining and hard to function. Someone mentioned drinking a lot of water in extreme heat and humidity and that really is true. Our bodies need much more water in such weather. Hopefully you can find a cool spot in your home and enjoy a good book during the heat of the day!

Bea said...

Yes, I've been reading of the heatwaves in the UK and on the continent. We've been spared such heat so far here. The average temp. lately has been around 17C or so during the day. -not too shabby. Hang in there!

Granny Sue said...

Here in the US most people have air conditioners that make life bearable when the temperatures get too high. The downside is the electric bill--ours is double this month from what it usually is. And of course, it only makes indoors better, the outside is still hot. So we try to get outside work done in the mornings and evenings, and take care of housework, projects, etc in the heat of the day. But sometimes that's just not possible and we're out in it anyway. I am no fan of summer, for sure. My youngest son lives in Miami and I cannot fathom how he stands the heat there.

Alphie Soup said...
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Alphie Soup said...
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Alphie Soup said...

You're lucky not to have felt threatened by Covid 19. It is alive and real down here in Melbourne.
Lots of advice from people re how to deal with hot weather. You don't need any more from me...
I read Tom's comment as - its been a good year for beers. Not bees. With all that heat a beer may not go astray for someone, some where.
Alphie

Librarian said...

Over here (Germany, i.e. Central Europe), we have to get used to very hot and dry summers; we've been having them for quite a few years now. I don't mind the heat much, quite the contrary, but when it's been up to 37 Celsius or more during the day and then does not really cool off over night, I find it hard to sleep and then work well the next day. Nobody I know has air conditioning in their homes - we just never needed it. Many shops and offices don't have a/c here, either, but it is becoming more and more common.
Pat, I am sure you will do well; having a cold lunch on the hottest days, drinking plenty of water and keeping your north-facing windows open should do the trick!

Derek, when I look at the fields, gardens, road verges etc. here, it is all brown and yellow with cracks in the soil - probably very similar to your area. It definitely looks more like what you'd expect to see on Sicily than in Germany, but it has become our "new normal"...

Bovey Belle said...

Our old farmhouse with its stone walls two feet thick normally keeps really cool but yesterday's temps really challenged it. The flagstone steps going down to the (cooler) Dairy Flat are sweating and the old quarry tiles in the hall show wet foot prints as we walk over them. A thunderstorm last night has helped a little but we could do with a bit of a breeze . . . Currently raining on and off.

Another viewing this afternoon so currently doing Domestic Economy . . .

Jules said...

It's been very hot here today, although I haven't needed to water the garden in weeks. We've still been getting plenty of rain. X

Traveller said...

Alphie Soup...you are right, the operative words are “feel threatened by COVID”. Compare to the UK, Australia has been lightly touched by COVID. As in deaths per capita, the UK has had over 40 times the number of deaths.

Sue said...

We've gone done by three degrees here today and boy what a difference that has made, it's much more bearable.

I was sat out late last night in the dark on the decking just to try to capture a bit of breeze to cool me down before bedtime, unfortunately what it also did was let in all the bloody Daddy Long Legs. So I spent time catching them all in a glass and chucking them out again. I'm afraid the last one I found after I had gone to bed was unceremoniously hoovered up with the little hand held hoover. I felt a bit guilty, but by then I was loosing the will to live!!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Roadtripper - did I really say weeds wouldn't come to the surface? If so - sorry - what I meant to say was that the roots come to the surface if you water in dry weather whereas what you want themto do is to go down through the soil in search of water.


Thanks all for taking the trouble to reply in this hot weather.