Still Sweltering...
By the time I went to bed last night the humidity had risen up to 68% and by morning was 71%, the same as the temperature in Fahrenheit. Haven't checked the humidity/temp tonight, and it does seem a bit cooler, but still too warm for me to have a good night's sleep. Do envy Margie (Toronto) who has similar temperatures/humidity in Canada that we are having at the moment, but with the advantage of air conditioning in her home. Maybe some newer properties have this here, but have yet to know of any. Perhaps our English climate hardly needs it.
We do have portable fans we can take from room to room and switch on as and when necessary, but so far haven't bothered. With dry heat the fans can cool us down, but they don't seem to make much difference to the humidity levels. Suppose living close to the sea the air has always more moisture than inland. The reason why salt always clogs up the salt cellars, and adding grains of rice doesn't work when we use big crystals of salt (sea or rock salt), as these have to be ground down. and we don't want added ground rice with it.
At least now that the school holidays have started do hope the weather keeps fairly warm and dry to allow plenty of trips into the countryside or the coast. It is said that we are no more than 60 miles from the coast in England, but that is 'as the crow flies' and by road it could be twice that to reach an accessible beach. But if we lived in a large continent such as North America, 60 or so miles is almost like having the sea at the bottom of the garden. Well, if it was Southfork (of 'Dallas' fame) it might be so.
There is a lovely stretch of beach Kathryn, fairly close to Morecambe called Middleton Sands. The sand is very firm when the tide is out (and it does go out a long way), and we often see horses being ridden there, also learner drivers sometimes practice driving around the sands. There are several riding stables close by, so always horses there.
The disadvantage is the road down to the beach is mostly a country lane, fairly narrow, and a bit winding at the end. I haven't seen horse boxes/trailers there, so if you are thinking about going it might be worth doing a reccy first. Possibly you could park further up the road and then ride Dolly the rest of the way (a hundred or so yards).
Quite agree with you janeyd and julee about the way children pester dogs. Yes sometimes it's the owners that are at fault for taking dogs out during the hottest part of the day, especially to parks full of children. My neighbour - who I mentioned re meeting up with a 'touchy' dog in the park - said the poor dog was panting, and while the owner sat with a cold drink, the dog was given nothing. No wonder it snarled and bared its teeth at my friend when she sat down at the same table. Expect all it wanted to do was lie in the shade. Its very thick fluffy coat probably didn't help. Having a good clipping would have cooled the dog down, but from what was said the owner spent hours grooming the dog so its coat would look wonderful.
We all love our pets, but sometimes don't realise that what suits us often doesn't suit them. Did anyone watch that programme about people who kept monkeys as pets - often as baby substitutes? The poor little things, dressed in nappies and given all the wrong foods so they ended up with diabetes and worse. Some had to have their teeth removed to prevent them biting their owners and the owners children.
Sairy mentioned using old T-shirts (cut up to use when crocheting). I've used these before, cut into strips to make rag rugs, although never got around to making a large rug, just several cushion covers, in fact not even covers, just lay them on kitchen chairs to sit on. They have lasted many years and come up like new when laundered in the washing machine.
Tights I have used, cut into strips, as plant ties as mentioned, but also these are good for storing home-grown onions, just pop an onion down each leg, then twist or tie above it, then add another one, tie again, and so on until the legs are full, then hang them up in a dry place (shed or garage) for winter use.
Today did more cooking, another quiche, some ginger-flavoured Fork biscuits for B as he said he'd eaten all the cheese biscuits I made so wanted something else to nibble. Then made him his favourite Fish Risotto for his supper. He had the last of the trifle for 'afters', and then some quiche, finishing with biscuits, but I see he still has a few of those left.
Also had to make more bread, one large and one small loaf, this time a blend of white bread mix with half a pack of wholemeal bread mix. That should keep him going for a couple or so more days.
Was intending to go to the 'circle' meeting at the spiritualist church tomorrow, but if the weather is as hot and humid as today, may give it a miss. The weather at the moment is making me feel so exhausted, and this afternoon I couldn't have faced going anywhere, despite my intention to pop down to the shops with Norris. I really did want to go, but just couldn't leave the cool of the living room (hardly cool, but at least out of the sun being east-facing).
As it is just a couple of minutes short of midnight (doesn't time fly), am not giving recipes today as hoping to rise early so I can get a lot of work done before the day warms up too much. Then maybe I will feel able to go to the church in the afternoon. Whether I do or not I will let you know in my next blog, written about this time Tuesday evening. Hope to see you then. TTFN.
We do have portable fans we can take from room to room and switch on as and when necessary, but so far haven't bothered. With dry heat the fans can cool us down, but they don't seem to make much difference to the humidity levels. Suppose living close to the sea the air has always more moisture than inland. The reason why salt always clogs up the salt cellars, and adding grains of rice doesn't work when we use big crystals of salt (sea or rock salt), as these have to be ground down. and we don't want added ground rice with it.
At least now that the school holidays have started do hope the weather keeps fairly warm and dry to allow plenty of trips into the countryside or the coast. It is said that we are no more than 60 miles from the coast in England, but that is 'as the crow flies' and by road it could be twice that to reach an accessible beach. But if we lived in a large continent such as North America, 60 or so miles is almost like having the sea at the bottom of the garden. Well, if it was Southfork (of 'Dallas' fame) it might be so.
There is a lovely stretch of beach Kathryn, fairly close to Morecambe called Middleton Sands. The sand is very firm when the tide is out (and it does go out a long way), and we often see horses being ridden there, also learner drivers sometimes practice driving around the sands. There are several riding stables close by, so always horses there.
The disadvantage is the road down to the beach is mostly a country lane, fairly narrow, and a bit winding at the end. I haven't seen horse boxes/trailers there, so if you are thinking about going it might be worth doing a reccy first. Possibly you could park further up the road and then ride Dolly the rest of the way (a hundred or so yards).
Quite agree with you janeyd and julee about the way children pester dogs. Yes sometimes it's the owners that are at fault for taking dogs out during the hottest part of the day, especially to parks full of children. My neighbour - who I mentioned re meeting up with a 'touchy' dog in the park - said the poor dog was panting, and while the owner sat with a cold drink, the dog was given nothing. No wonder it snarled and bared its teeth at my friend when she sat down at the same table. Expect all it wanted to do was lie in the shade. Its very thick fluffy coat probably didn't help. Having a good clipping would have cooled the dog down, but from what was said the owner spent hours grooming the dog so its coat would look wonderful.
We all love our pets, but sometimes don't realise that what suits us often doesn't suit them. Did anyone watch that programme about people who kept monkeys as pets - often as baby substitutes? The poor little things, dressed in nappies and given all the wrong foods so they ended up with diabetes and worse. Some had to have their teeth removed to prevent them biting their owners and the owners children.
Sairy mentioned using old T-shirts (cut up to use when crocheting). I've used these before, cut into strips to make rag rugs, although never got around to making a large rug, just several cushion covers, in fact not even covers, just lay them on kitchen chairs to sit on. They have lasted many years and come up like new when laundered in the washing machine.
Tights I have used, cut into strips, as plant ties as mentioned, but also these are good for storing home-grown onions, just pop an onion down each leg, then twist or tie above it, then add another one, tie again, and so on until the legs are full, then hang them up in a dry place (shed or garage) for winter use.
Today did more cooking, another quiche, some ginger-flavoured Fork biscuits for B as he said he'd eaten all the cheese biscuits I made so wanted something else to nibble. Then made him his favourite Fish Risotto for his supper. He had the last of the trifle for 'afters', and then some quiche, finishing with biscuits, but I see he still has a few of those left.
Also had to make more bread, one large and one small loaf, this time a blend of white bread mix with half a pack of wholemeal bread mix. That should keep him going for a couple or so more days.
Was intending to go to the 'circle' meeting at the spiritualist church tomorrow, but if the weather is as hot and humid as today, may give it a miss. The weather at the moment is making me feel so exhausted, and this afternoon I couldn't have faced going anywhere, despite my intention to pop down to the shops with Norris. I really did want to go, but just couldn't leave the cool of the living room (hardly cool, but at least out of the sun being east-facing).
As it is just a couple of minutes short of midnight (doesn't time fly), am not giving recipes today as hoping to rise early so I can get a lot of work done before the day warms up too much. Then maybe I will feel able to go to the church in the afternoon. Whether I do or not I will let you know in my next blog, written about this time Tuesday evening. Hope to see you then. TTFN.
posted by Shirley at 11:00 pm
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