Fisherman in Chania, Greece via katymine.
It’s hot here this weekend. The sort of hot that makes the air conditioner irrelevant because the humidity coupled with the blazing sun wears you out before you’ve done much of anything. It’s going to be a good day for some lemonade and sitting still with a good book.
I get the feeling it’s going to be a long, hot popsicle-filled summer if this weekend is any indication.
Yesterday at preschool, The Peanut and her classmates indulged in a "water day," where super soakers and squirt bottles kept everyone busy and wet in their little swimsuits and shorts. When I picked her up, her hair was drenched and she was grinning from ear to ear.
The last of the rhododendron blooms are fading and full-on summer has begun. Seems a little earlier this year than usual to me, how about you all?
So, with that in mind, I thought we could talk a bit today about what you are doing to keep cool — share a favorite drink recipe, a cold salad or some other no cook/no heat wonder, a trick with an ice pack, or whatever else seems to be working for you. Especially if it’s an easy, quick, no-cook dinner recipe that, say, five year old girlies will love. That would be fab.
If you have tips on cutting energy costs, throw those into the mix as well — something tells me we are all going to need to do more while using less given the rapidly rising cost of just about everything on the energy front.
One thing we’ve been doing lately is popping a few ice cubes in the doggie water bowl. The puppy certainly seems to appreciate it, although our older dachshund isn’t so sure about the crunchy water bits. If all else fails, I suppose there is always ice cream. So, what are you doing to stay cool and sane this weekend. Do tell. Pull up a chair…
PS — Here’s a pix of our rhododendron in full bloom earlier in May. They were absolutely gorgeous, if short-lived, blooms this year:
Photo by Christy Hardin Smith.
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Fitz!
Morning Deb — haven’t seen that starter for a while. *g*
It’s going to be scorching hot here for the next several days too. 95 today and 97 after that for a couple or more. Some of the kids from church are coming over to my house for ice cream this afternoon. We picked the date months ago. So we’re dragging out the hose and sprinkler and let the parents know.
I have never before today contemplated canceling church because it was too hot. We don’t have air in the building. But I’m not sure what to do . . . . oh well.
During the Lamont campaign when it was so hot I got hold of some neck wraps that had gel in them. You soak them and they fill up and stay that way for several days. They were fabulous. EMS and REI have (or had) them. Highly recommended.
we were talking about it yesterday or the day before when we were contemplating Fitz returning to Congress for a “chat.” It’s in hope that we may hear more from him . . . . . fingers crossed.
Ahhhh…neck wrap sounds lovely. I do that with a towel soaked in very cold water and then wrung out. But I bet the gel stays cooler longer…
oh, and good morning back. I miss being around the way I used to be. Summer break is coming so there will be a little more me time.
We do have air in the house but I’m not going to have it on full tilt—just want the house to be manageable. I was supposed to have several people over for a church auction prime rib dinner on Sat. night coming. With the heat wave, the thought of running the oven most of the day while the air is on just doesn’t work for me. Will probably re-schedule that for the fall.
Oh, and we have to go out tonight to a Planned Parenthood fundraiser. Too many things going on for a hot hot weekend/week.
Good morning Christy, RevDeb!
Good morning Christy & Firepups!
Peonies are great too … a shame they don’t last as long as Roses.
Toronto got to 105 yesterday (with the humidity) and should hit 90 today.
We set the a/c at 75 all summer to conserve energy but use it only when temps go over 78.
It’s a wonderful thing. Here’s the link. It was great to have when we were going door to door.
btw, just a scheduling note: the Clinton speech is scheduled for 10 am ET today. Dave is planning on blogging it for everyone, and will have a post up shortly before the speech begins…
Ugh — I hear you on having the oven on full tilt all day like that. You could do a BBQ sandwich dinner instead, and do everything in crockpots.
Thanks, I’ll post a video link unless duty calls me away (younger girl is ill).
My peonies were lovely this year. I have some old heirloom ones from a friend’s grandmother’s yard, and they are the prettiest shade of light pink…
I remember my first trip to Europe back in 1972. It was really hot in Paris when I was there and the image that still comes back to me was of a couple of people who put their chairs into the fountain at the bottom of the hill by Sacré Coeur and were sitting on them with their feet in the water while playing chess! I loved that.
So sorry you have a sick one at home. Hugs to her…
they paid LOTS for prime rib. I may do something else if they want to come over Sat. and then do the PR in the fall anyway.
Those are my fav. … every year, when the last blossoms droop, my neighbor and I do a special “toast” to them. I wish they would last longer …
Good morning! Last spring we had a vent fan installed in the attic. We noticed immediately that the air conditioner wasn’t cycling on and off as often, and that the temps in the house were more uniform. The electric bill also went down. We guess that it will amortize itself either this year or next. And we don’t know what we would do without the ceiling fans…
My tiger lillies just started blooming, along with my bright yellow coreopsis, so it’s a sort of succession of blooms here at our house. But I do love the peonies. They were transplants, and it’s taken a few years to nurse them up to blooming — they don’t enjoy being moved, but my friend’s grandma had passed away and she wanted someone who would appreciate them to have them…and so, I babied them.
Thanks ! She usually plays “Doctor” when anyone else is unwell, and is always playfully active, so seeing her curled up on the sofa for hours, just lying there makes me want to hug and kiss her endlessly (which I do *g*)
We have an attic vent fan, too. And it makes a HUGE difference in our very old house (it’s 105 years old, so thick sturdy walls but a very old and pitiful air conditioner unit that may have hit its limit this year…SIGH).
the good RevDeb probably saved me from heat stroke that summer.
Cutting energy costs.
1. Attic insulation. You can blow in another 2-3 inches for a couple of hundred bucks. If you currently have 3-4 inches, it’ll pay for itself this summer.
2. Attic ventilation. More air moving through the attic is a good thing. Best is lots of soffit and ridge vents. More windhawks or turbovents helps.
3 Use fans to keep air moving inside the house. With a fan, you can raise the thermostat 2-3 degrees and feel just as comfortable.
4. Prevent air exfiltration. Don’t keep doors open any longer than necessary, pay attention to weather seals. If windows are leaking air at the sides, you can tape them shut for the summer.
5. Long term fix, plant shade trees especially on the south and west if possible.
6. AC efficiency. when replacing, get the highest SEER you can. Keep filters and coils clean, have the system checked for refrigerant pressure annually.
6. AC duct leaks. With the AC on, go around the attic and feel for cool airflow. Repair with shiny tape.
7. Controllable registers. If there are rooms you don’t often use, put a register on the AC outlet that can be closed and then close the door. There is no sense cooling a space you aren’t using.
8. Llight colors. They reflect heat, dark colors absorb heat. Something to remember when repainting or re-roofing.
9. Install radiant barriers under the rafters. (this should go up higher on the list.)
I am a TREC licensed home inspector and contractor. E-mail me if you have particular questions or ask in tonights late night. I’ve got to get to work now.
Water day — super soakers — squirt bottles, sounds like fun! Splash around in the lake for a while.
what are windhawks and turbovents?
Ahhhhhhh….Joni Mitchell’s Free Man In Paris just cycled on my iPod mix. Awesome.
ONe last note. Incandescent bulbs have a surface temperature of about 175 degrees. CFLs have one of about 120 degrees. Do the math
Good mornin’, all.
You probably do these things already, but my energy savers:
I don’t run the air cond. in the car until it gets *really* hot like now–in the 90s. Even then, I will click it off until the car starts to get hot again. Otherwise, it eats a lot of gas.
To save water, I don’t run water while brushing. If I’m doing dishes, I put a pitcher under the cold water until it turns warm…and save that water for watering plants or putting in the tea kettle.
Oooooh — thanks heaps! That’s really helpful. We have done a lot of that already, but it’s fantastic to have that all in one spot!
The odd thing is that our house is brand new (2005) and very, very well built, but it still makes as much of a difference. (It also helps the roof last longer…)
Turbovents are the sliced up balls on top of the roof, about 15 inches in diameter that you see spinning madlt from the expanded hot attic air exiting near the top of the roof. Windhawks look like hood scoops on cars, also near the top of the roof. Solar powered attic fans are good, but a little pricey.
Adequate soffit vents are crucial.
For Toronto Firepups:
We’re having problems getting LED Bulbs in Toronto, they save even more electricity and heat than CFLs and I don’t mind the extra $$$ because it pays off long term.
Do you know where I can buy these ? I’d like to see how bright they really are before doing so.
Morning all! It’s going to be another hot one here also. Last night had big storms (might have been twisters) with a lot of downed trees and some houses with extensive damage. Used my old fashion push mower yesterday and wish I had known about the gel packs. Mower is neighborhood friendly, and burns no fossil fuel.
Back in the day, way back it seems, when it would turn beastly hot, we would sit in the basement on lawn chairs.
It wasn’t an inspiring way to spend an afternoon, but it was effective and the cost fit our meager budget.
How would I find a good inspector person to take a peek at our house and advise us on changes? Is there some national certification group for contractors who do that? Because we don’t have the know-how to do everything on our own, but we are certainly more than willing to talk with someone who does considering the potential savings over the long-run on something like that…
On those really hot steamy days I’ve always wanted to take a folding lawn chair to the local Pigglywiggly and sit in the frozen food section.
What changes are you thinking about? Structural changes, green retrofitting etc.?
HAHAHAHAHAHA! I have this image of you, a chair, a card table and a pal near the popsicle case, directing folks to the frozen peas. *G*
It would have to be retrofitting in this house for the most part — we have old windows — but some of them are stained glass, so it’s a tricky question on how to keep them but seal around them. Also, we’ve contemplated adding some solar panels to the roof — we are facing a good direction for it and it seems silly not to make use of that instead of eating up so much electricity without trying to make some of our own.
We have good attic insulation, but I’ve seriously thought about adding another layer for good measure. We moved here less than 5 years ago, and have had to do some structural fixes outside, but it’s time to start contemplating some of the next steps to make this old house more energy efficient. Have been trying to figure out if we could somehow do some wall insulation — we have old, plaster walls inside, so I don’t know if that’s even possible. Stuff like that…
I like the image. A contemporary take on sitting around the ole pickle barrel.
And, let me say flat out, it would really help if we were handy. But, in all honesty, we’re pretty hopeless. So having someone who knows what they are doing come in and assess would be really, really helpful — and save us a lot of money in the end from having to have someone come in and fix whatever we’d try and do on our own otherwise. *g*
Duty calls … have a great weekend, everyone !
Good Morning Christy……wow…. my old man fishing pic is up
yee gad it was a swelter that day the picture was taken….. it was around 100 degrees that week and very little AC in Crete… It was so hot and humid that it was hard to get crisp pictures for all the haze….
So what kind of pictures would you like me to take on this years vacation?
Leaving June 27th for Paris… road trip though France to Milan and then 10 days of being spoiled in Crete…
You could always start with a talk to an architect. Someone who is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. If an architect is beyond the scope or budget you might look for contractors in your area that have experience or an interest with LEED projects.
If you have a realtor you trust I’d probably start by asking him/her. I believe that home inspectors have to be licensed here in Georgia, but I don’t know if that’s nationwide.
The Power company does energy audits here…. might check with them… they even use one of those sensor things that can pinpoint where you are loosing energy….
When we had our inspection done to buy the house, our inspector was really impressed with our solid construction — we have these HUGE wooden beams for foundation struts and also in the attic — something you could not find these days anywhere. And really, really solid walls as well. But the windows are, alas, rather leaky and my temporary fix of some silicone stuff isn’t going to cut it forever. So we are just trying to figure out how to best save the gorgeous, original windows if at all possible, and do a retrofit window seal in the heavy wooden frames behind them. I seem to remember seeing something like that on a “This Old House” ages ago, but I have no idea as yet how much something like that might cost. In the meantime, I am going to look into some insulated drapes or something like that, I think…
Ooooh, I never thought about that — thanks! And do send me some pictures from vacation this year, too — I loved the Greek ones, as you can tell. *g* (Vicarious travel…gotta love it!)
Christy,
It is possibly to have your old stained glass panels sandwiched between 2 panes of new, energy saving glass panes in new sashes. It is custom work but is being done to preserve beautiful old craftsmanship. You are correct about This Old House. Go to their web sight for resource info.
Fitz for AG!
I discovered Mojitos last year.
Especially good with fresh mint leaves from the next door neighbor’s gaden
christy–i have friend that used to rehab houses-mostlly victorians-21 of them…..she was killed a few years ago, so, can’t ask her, but here’s a few things she did about things you mentioned….
the stained glass you can ’frame-in’ with glass…window glass and wood trim……there is a way to do it so it won’t ’sweat’……on some houses she did inside and out…..
there are companies that can blow in insulation in old plaster walls, they drill little holes and blow it in and patch the holes…..not cheap, but not outrageous either considering the situation of old plaster and no insulation left except at the bottom of the wall…..
and too much insulation in your attic can cause problems in your attic, so never add more than recommended…..that info is easy to get, from web or home improvement place, is a nationally recommended number kind of thing. have seen and heard warnings over and over about this one.
the electric company used to have consultants who provided tips, would come to your house, free public service, don’t know if they still do it or not. bet if they don’t they could recommend someone who would come out for not very much money……i know they have someone around here who helps with the elderly and the heat program people…..for free.
BUT i think you should write a letter to ’ask this old house’…….say who you are and such, how ’not handy’ you all are, and see if they will come on out, make sure to mention the stained glass windows, your solar ideas, etc., how old the house is, lots of interest there of things they have on the show all of the time. right up their alley.
thank you!
I need to replant my mint. The pot got waterlogged in the last spate of thunderstorms and torrential rain, and mine is all leggy and pitiful. Am going to give it a few days and see if I can get it to bounce back. I had inadvertently moved the pot a little to near a downspot, and it got utterly sloshed. Ooops…
Plaster walls and stained glass. Sounds beautiful! My last home was built in 1948 of solid concrete block, hacienda style. I moved only to buy a fantastic view.
Energy efficiency…don’t leave space in your refrigerator or freezer. Fill up the old milk cartons with water so that they stay full. Since my girls moved out, I actually have extra space!
my 52—i said ’window glass’ to frame in the stained glass, what i meant was, there’s this plexiglass stuff that is used for this that has the same buffer rating as glass…..easier to handle, and you can do that one yourself…..put a spacer of flat wood (stained or painted) between the stained glass and the new glass, then hold it in place with trim…..like a sandwich.
Mornin’, Christy, Firepups.
Central FL yesterday was 95 with lots of muggy. I’ve got news for Sen Inhofe and his climate change denial. This is late July weather. Get a grip, Inhofe.
When the sun goes down I open the windows and turn on the central fan after it cools down a bit. In the morning I close the windows and turn off the central fan, using box fans only. Keeps the place relatively cool all day. It’s the old bac (before a/c) routine. Just like the lead pencil, it still works. I try to use the a/c only if it’s so muggy in the early evening that I sweat just moving around. About an hour’s use and we’re good. The tigers have all reverted to sleeping all day and playing after dark.
We didn’t get a hard freeze here this winter so my tangerines never ripened. Still edible but not the same. If this keeps up it will kill the citrus industry in FL.
Can’t stay long today. Got lots of chores to do before it gets really hot. Have to buy a new pair of Chuck’s to go with the tux for a wedding next week. Lots of right wing mucky mucks with me the most leftist dude in the room. Gonna be fun.
My power company has “rebates” for specific energy saving things this is on top of the federal tax credits for energy saving…. when I had the new windows put in upstairs I received $50 per window and then $200 tax credit on my tax return….
We are escaping to the St Joseph, MI for a High School graduation of a kid we used to watch when she was 4 and her single mom needed a break. Last seen @ age nine, she was always one of our favorite little people.
Hopefully cooler with the breeze coming off Lake Michigan on the other side.
In any event, we got the KidSuite(TM) at the hotel which has a pool, so little mack and her BFF will not be bored.
We love this house — well, I really do, anyway, I think Mr. ReddHedd tolerates it because I love it. We saved for years to afford our down payment for a house (student loans from law school are not fun!), and waited until we found something we really wanted to live in for a long while rather than just snapping something up as an interim house.
It used to be a bed and breakfast, so it has a lot of character, and we’ve tried to do some interior work to amplify that as well. Wish you could see it — lots of built-in bookshelves and nooks, including a storage cupboard under the stairs that I’m going to paint as a Harry Potter room for The Peanut when she gets just a little bit older. :)
That’s really cool. What a great idea.
Good idea. I live alone and I’ll do that.
I thought she’d really love something like that from about 6 to 9. And then it can go back to being a storage spot. *g*
Thought I’d paint in some books, a broom, an owl and maybe a Hogwarts invite for her. I’m not handy at all in terms of home repair (beyond the basics — put in a new light switch not too long ago), but I can do creative stuff when I have the time and that just sounds like a really fun project to tackle.
Good Morning!
I’ll spring for a round of popsicles, first aid for the overheated.
*snatching an orange one*
Doesn’t seem like anyone from the SF Bay Area is griping about the heat, I wonder why that is?
.
Christy, your house sounds gorgeous. What a fun room the peanut & friends will have to play in.
Harry Potter room…what fun! Check out Sticks furniture when you’re ready. I have a dining table and two living room chairs with a table between. They even made a candle holder with my daughters’ names on it. Very whimsical!
Good morning y’all. Lots of rain here in Indiana, drove back from Louisville yesterday and there was major flooding down in southern IN. Trying to have a garage sale and the rain is keeping people away. Lots of shoes for sale.
The heat here! I am suffering! Why, it must be at least…sixty.
I know she’s too young for the books now but when she gets a little older she’s got a wonderful adventure in reading waiting. And she won’t have to wait a year or more between tales like the rest of us did. *g*
I think that was Al Bundy on an episode of Married with Children.
And a cooling tip, if you have a two story home and maybe can’t do the attic fan at this time: Put a window fan in a second floor room (probably other than the bedrooms if possible) and have it blow out. Also, keep your window shades down. It helps block the heat as well as the sun
Did I hear “shoe sale”?
Good thing I don’t have a big squirt handy or…
I noted this on late nite but wanted to share….
flew from NYC back home yesterday morning… it was cloudy in NYC but soon after takeoff it cleared and it was crystal clear pretty much the whole way home…. So I made nose prints on my window looking at America from 35,000 ft….. the great lakes, plains, bad lands, OMG the Rockies with snow …. marching in ridges to the horizon….. Utah and No AZ red rock country BUT then the Grand Canyon… now that is a sight….. Rivers and lakes…. amazing sight….
Remember when people from all of the world wanted to travel here to see the beauty of America?
Christy -
In my part of upstate South Carolina, it will be around 98 this afternoon and around 99 tomorrow afternoon, thanks to a Bermuda high (or a very warm upper level or surface air mass) that arrived well before a Bermuda high usually parks itself over the Atlantic Ocean, remaining entrenched until late summer or early autumn.
I wanted to assure those of you who know me that I haven’t disappeared; I haven’t been posting comments as frequently because of other projects. Apart from my house and yard to look after, I have recently become the administrator of Family Tree DNA’s Parish/Parrish surname group and have, from time to time, been involved in recent months with my family’s genealogical research – and there are books to read, et cetera…
Sometimes, advisors are available through your local power company.
Reading a cool interactive map about baseball food. check it out!
Map of baseball stadium food
Wow. Thinking about Jayt in Indianapolis.
Of course I had to go the Dodgers’ site. It says never order a Dodger dog but order the Super Dog instead. The picture of the Super Dog is what used to be a Dodger dog when I had season tickets in the mid 70’s. How times change. Now I don’t eat meat at all but there are some really fond memories of the Dodgers and the dogs. *sigh*
New post upstairs.
Here is a recipe I found in Yankee Magazine a couple years ago. Rosewater is one of my favorite obscure ingredients, and this sorbet is dairy free, fat free and could easily be made more diabetes friendly by using Splenda. Yummy.
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups strained strawberry puree
1 1/2 Tablespoons rosewater
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
pinch salt.
Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar dissolves. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
Combine all the ingredients and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
If I had a 5 year old girlie, I would go crazy planning pink flower themed parties. *sigh* Alas, I have boys only.
Since I have to throw hay bales around in the near 100 degree heat almost everyday in the summer…I’ve found a couple of good ways to cool off…wet bandana around my neck…white t-shirt under a long-sleeved white cotton shirt (acts like airconditioning)after about 5 minutes out in the heat the t-shirt gets wet and the overshirt reflects the heat and you are totally cool…also, I frequently take a hose and point it straight up in the air and stand under it..Ahhhhh…I do admit that on occasion when I can’t stand it I have stuck my head in a horse water trough!!
Basically, get wet any way possible inside and out as often as possible. Also, remember to eat a little salt.
Late to the thread but, here are my two offerings.
I just found that my local power company will buy back excess energy from solar panels, so I’m thinking of covering the entire south-facing roof (which is the back of the house) with panels.
Great salad I made last week: Chopped Veggie Salad with Watermelon and Feta Cheese. The one note I would add would be to either seed the tomatoes before adding them or to at lease put them in the bowl first after chopping and then drain the excess juice.
Woke up briefly at 6:30 this morning and took the opportunity to close the apartment windows (double-pane wood, thank-you landlord!) so it should stay relatively cool in here and my 22-yr-old window unit won’t have to knock its brains out today (92-95 temps forecast).
Got herbs and stuff growing great guns on both of the street-facing windowsills (4th floor studio walkup), and everyone’s posts really make me miss gardens. Oh, and attic exhaust fans–in the days BAC, my family had the exhaust fan going pretty much full time in July-Aug-Sept; even on 90plus degree days, the light breeze wafting through the house kept you pretty cool.
The older I get, though, the less well I tolerate humidity. I have not yet found a way to walk around the city without perspiration splotches all over my clothes. Has anyone? (if anything ever gets me to exit NYC, the humidity might do it!)
We actually made a pact last year to not use the air conditioning in our home. It gets pretty hot & humid here in the Chicago land area but we made it OK. We are going to try to make it again this year as well. We certainly didn’t miss those huge electric bills.
It’s cool and wet in the Seattle area this morning. This is not normally a problem, but this morning, multiple communities’ summertime celebrations are happening. They’ll be a little wet.
There’s about two weeks a summer here that are quite warm. When it’s hot outside, I eat sorbet for dinner. It’s the only thing that sounds good.
-S
I’m just about to take my first full plunge into Lake Michigan today. I’ve already gone in to the water up to my unmentionables. But today I go all the way.
I’m feeling very good about this summer.
Here, it has, thus far, been a very mild summer. And no, I don’t think it’ll last the next 3 months, much as I wish it would! I live in Sacramento, where it is very hot in the summer. We always have at least 30 days of 100 degrees+ days. (Thank God the humidity is very low.) In fact, when my first child was born, on May 22, it was 101 degrees (and had been over 100 for a couple of days). This year, it hasn’t hit 100 degrees yet, and, in fact, we haven’t turned on the AC but 2 days. Unbelievable. (And I am a real wimp about hot weather — the AC goes on when I get the slightest bit hot.)