How do you keep your house cool on these hot summer days, apart from using air conditioners? We don’t have a cool basement, but we have found ways to beat the heat.

In the evening, as soon as the outdoor temperature is as low as the indoor temperature (or vice versa, of course), we . . . → Read More: keep the house cool on hot days]]> July 8, 2010

How do you keep your house cool on these hot summer days, apart from using air conditioners? We don’t have a cool basement, but we have found ways to beat the heat.

In the evening, as soon as the outdoor temperature is as low as the indoor temperature (or vice versa, of course), we open all our doors and windows, and let the evening air go through. If there is no breeze, we place a fan in the window, to blow the cooling night air in, and another fan in an opposite window, to blow the hot inside air out.

We keep the windows open all night, and the doors, too, if necessary. Keeping the doors open means we sleep near the doors, and we set up “alarms, for example, bells or other noisemakers attached to fish line, in case anyone tries to enter. This is actually kind of fun, being creative! Of course, it doesn’t hurt to keep a lamp light on, and some music or TV sound, if you can sleep with it.

Come morning, we close and cover all windows and doors that have the sun pouring on to them, and then close the others on the shady sides of the place when in and out temperatures match (yes, we have both inside and outside thermometers). Then we keep all the doors and windows closed and covered. For windows that get direct sunlight, we cover with white curtains facing outward to reflect the sun, and often put a blanket over as well for insulation. On really hot days, we hang those metallic “emergency blankets” (you can get them at camping supply places, sometimes even at dollar stores) next to the windows; they really reflect the light.

We also keep as many electronics as possible (lights, TVs, computers etc,) turned off. We use the washer and dryer as little as possible, only do cold water washes, and like to hang-dry clothes. (Hang-dry inside if the weather is very dry; it increases the humidity a bit and makes the air feel cooler. If already humid, hang-dry outdoors.) We even avoid using fans too much in the daytime. And take short, cool showers. We keep a collection of old-fashioned hand fans (accordian style ones) for when we are really uncomfortable. And of course drink lots of water.

If we know hot weather is coming, we try to stock up on foods that require little cooking, and eat veggies raw. Also, on cool days, cook extra and freeze for use on hot days. And of course, use the barbeque or campstove or other outdoor cooking methods.

It takes a bit of effort, but it’s possible to keep the indoor temperatures in the low 20s C (70s F) when outdoor temperatures go well into the 30s+ C (90s+ F).

What tricks do you use?

Tendrils. Elegantly drifting from perfectly upswept hair and Nestling gently against soft skin. Delicate green curlicues enbracing garden arbor. Rustling leaf skeletons dancing in late autumn breeze. Icy fingers of fog creeping along ragged fence line. Lonely wispy threads on well-worn woollen scarf. Silky vines silently suck life from mighty . . . → Read More: tendrils – a poem]]> May 28, 2010

Tendrils.
Elegantly drifting from perfectly upswept hair and
Nestling gently against soft skin.
Delicate green curlicues enbracing garden arbor.
Rustling leaf skeletons dancing in late autumn breeze.
Icy fingers of fog creeping along ragged fence line.
Lonely wispy threads on well-worn woollen scarf.
Silky vines silently suck life from mighty tree trunk.

Tendrils.

Good morning, Papa!

The sun is rising and the sky is blue! The leaves on the tree in the back yard look like they are enthusiastically waving hello to the rising sun! The air is so clear, and the many variegated greens of trees and grass and plant life of all descriptions are . . . → Read More: good morning, Papa!]]> 20 May 2010

Good morning, Papa!

The sun is rising and the sky is blue! The leaves on the tree in the back yard look like they are enthusiastically waving hello to the rising sun! The air is so clear, and the many variegated greens of trees and grass and plant life of all descriptions are bright and shining in the morning rays, after a night of steady rain has scrubbed the world fresh and clean!

Thank You for Your beautiful amazing creation. It is begging me to come on out and inhale deeply!

Just woke up, opened the window wide, and deeply breathed in fresh, cool, clean, almost-summer morning air. The glow of the just-about-to-rise sun is back-lighting the mountain top ridges, so that every tree-top stands out in sharp relief. The birds are singing, calling out to each other, welcoming the morning.

The weather . . . → Read More: Penticton Pedestrian: almost-summer morning]]> May 12, 2010 5:45 am

Just woke up, opened the window wide, and deeply breathed in fresh, cool, clean, almost-summer morning air. The glow of the just-about-to-rise sun is back-lighting the mountain top ridges, so that every tree-top stands out in sharp relief. The birds are singing, calling out to each other, welcoming the morning.

The weather folks are forecasting low-to-mid-twenties-Celcius days for the rest of the week. Summer is definitely on its way. Old man winter has made some valiant efforts in the past couple weeks to slow down summer’s arrival. He has managed to cause some havoc on the mountain-pass highways. But here in the valley, the best he’s been able to muster is some gray, windy chill. And just enough rain to green the dry brown hillsides, to raise the creek and lake levels a bit (to everyone’s joy), and to make the world smell wonderfully fresh and spring-like.

Even winter’s ability to produce long dark cold night has been gently, persistently suppressed by summer’s sun. No wonder the chilly, grumpy old geezer seems to have finally decided to retreat into his icy fastnesses. All his best efforts in prolonging the icy season – which wasn’t even as icy as usual this year, thanks to his young upstart nemesis, El Nino – have only resulted in brightening and beautifying our surroundings. Fresh green growing things are bursting into full bloom, and the Sunny Okanagan is living up to its moniker once again.

And yes, the sun has now risen! Welcome, beautiful new morning!

Woke up 7 am and have done all kinds of catch-up stuff: many loads of laundry, house cleaning, email and facebook, an hour on the phone with my daughter and grandson who are missing us already (and us them!), etc etc etc!

Now sitting outside on the front patio. It is quite warm but . . . → Read More: back home … and back to blogging!]]> April 17, 2010

Woke up 7 am and have done all kinds of catch-up stuff: many loads of laundry, house cleaning, email and facebook, an hour on the phone with my daughter and grandson who are missing us already (and us them!), etc etc etc!

Now sitting outside on the front patio. It is quite warm but very gray with high overcast. Keep hearing on the news today about the volcano in Iceland that is grounding almost all European flights – and the earthquake in China/Tibet – and the memorial services in Poland – and the woes of the Catholic Church…

Did not listen to news, watch TV, check email or facebook or anything on the computer while we were away. Great relaxation!

Got back to a note from our street pastor that he’s not feeling well so looks like no formal “mission” for the next couple weeks. Well, probably I’ll just boil some eggs, put some coffee in the urns, and go out and about from time to time. That will be nice! Especially if the weather is this pleasant.

I put my sea-shells out on the back patio to air out. I love the ocean smell – but not so much in the house. I’m not decided yet whether I will use them indoors or out. I want to do some kind of “garden” in our little back yard… containers for sure.. leaning toward xeriscaping, as we will be coming and going this summer with 3 new grandchildren arriving, so I need to do something “low care” in our dry climate.

I really, really need to go to the fabric store and get flannelette to make grandbaby blankets aka grandma aka 4 leaf clover blankets! Especially as one of the new grandbabies could arrive any day now.

Sitting here debating … shall I bring the laptop out here and type my blogs … or go inside to do it. It’s so comfy warm here, I’d rather be outside.. a bit nervous though, in case it begins to rain. But of course I could zip inside if need be!

Yep, okay! So I’m sitting outside with my laptop! Yay! (Only trouble is with the outside lighting, I can barely see the screen…).

(about 2 hours later)…. Just finishing catching up typing my blogs… smell rain coming… and have felt a few drops… dreaming of getting a gazebo soon so I can sit outside to write and type even in rainy weather (which we don’t get much of, but still…)

(PS rain smells good here too… just different than coastal rain! I love the smell of rain, wherever!)

(oops… several big drops! Better go in!)

Just opened the front door to peek outside – and warmth from the sunshine came streaming in. So here I am sitting on my lawn chair just inside the screen (glass!) door, enjoying the sunny warmth while reading and writing. It’s supposedly 1 C (with a wind chill that brings . . . → Read More: sunny spot!]]> April 10, 2010, early morning.

Just opened the front door to peek outside – and warmth from the sunshine came streaming in. So here I am sitting on my lawn chair just inside the screen (glass!) door, enjoying the sunny warmth while reading and writing. It’s supposedly 1 C (with a wind chill that brings that down to -2 C) outside – but this sunny little spot is warmer than the rest of our house!

11:10 am….

Woke up at 5 am. Walked, about 6:30, to street church breakfast, with an amazing thunderstorm with huge jagged bolts of fork lightning streaking through a deep gray sky, followed by rolls of sheet lightning, and streams of rain pouring down.

But by 7:00 the sky was beginning to . . . → Read More: Penticton Pedestrian: wonderful weather day!]]> April 8, 2010

11:10 am….

Woke up at 5 am. Walked, about 6:30, to street church breakfast, with an amazing thunderstorm with huge jagged bolts of fork lightning streaking through a deep gray sky, followed by rolls of sheet lightning, and streams of rain pouring down.

But by 7:00 the sky was beginning to clear, with the sun wobbling through the clouds. Then by 8:00 am it burst forth in glory, which was great when standing right in it; unfortunately the sudden warming stirred up chilly breezes!

And then….12 noon cloudly and windy … 1 pm SNOWING! … 2 pm sunny again… 3 pm more cloudy and windy….

I LOVE WEATHER!

This morning woke up at 5:30 to pouring rain; by 6:30 the rain had stopped; and by about 8 am the sun was peeking through the clouds. By 8:30 it was pretty nice – and now it is gloriously sunny, so here I am outside on my little front patio, with a steaming . . . → Read More: unpredictable spring weather .. and learning to blog]]> April 6, 2010

This morning woke up at 5:30 to pouring rain; by 6:30 the rain had stopped; and by about 8 am the sun was peeking through the clouds. By 8:30 it was pretty nice – and now it is gloriously sunny, so here I am outside on my little front patio, with a steaming hot mocha and an extra lawn chair in case anyone else wants to come by and chat.

Right now I am re-reading from Blogging for Dummies (Susannah Gardner) – which I originally read when I was working at Neimann’s Bakery a year and a half ago. I know I took notes back them, but they are buried deep in a box somewhere, and anyway, I’ve learned a lot more about blogs since then. Also my direction in life – and in blogs – has changed somewhat since then, so I guess I’ll skim the book again, and pick up anything that might be helpful now.

…. Later …. Well, about 20 minutes ago Ol’ Man Winter suddenly noticed me sitting outside soaking up all that sunny warmth, so he threw his big chilly blanket over the sun and chortled mockingly as I sighed, packed up my stuff, and headed back indoors.

Back to the Blogging for Dummies book. I’m already on page 120 and have only made 17 lines of notes: I am amazed. The last time I read the book, I made copious notes, most of which for information I barely understood. This time I’m mostly just recording some web links I want to check out – and I understand almost everything I am reading – so that means I have been learning along the way while I’ve been blogging. Guess “doing” is generally the most effective way to learn, although sometimes reading about things helps when I’m stuck.

…. Later again … It’s been raining! Guess we really need it, as moisture levels this winter were way below normal, but rain sure doesn’t seem to encourage my inner artist. Unless of course it is part of a real storm: that gets me inspired every time, especially if there is thunder and lightning in a dark sky – or wind howling around corners.

…. 45 minutes later… The sun is shining!

It was blowing hard last night – first time in this house that I could hear the wind catching the building. They had snow in Coquitlam and the north shore – several centimeters of very white but very wet and mushy stuff! And snow on Haida Gwaii a couple days ago, too! . . . → Read More: And Ol’ Man Winter fighting back!]]> March 11, 2010

It was blowing hard last night – first time in this house that I could hear the wind catching the building. They had snow in Coquitlam and the north shore – several centimeters of very white but very wet and mushy stuff! And snow on Haida Gwaii a couple days ago, too! Guess old man winter is doing his best to get in a last fling or two (I think the weather guy said El Nino is weakening…)

So today was beautiful and sunny. I swept all the house and hubby washed the floors! I washed the winter hats, gloves, and scarves, and dried them outside in the sun and wind. I knocked down a bunch of boxes in the shed and took them to the cardboard recycling bin. . . . → Read More: Beautiful Spring Day!]]> March 10, 2010

So today was beautiful and sunny. I swept all the house and hubby washed the floors! I washed the winter hats, gloves, and scarves, and dried them outside in the sun and wind. I knocked down a bunch of boxes in the shed and took them to the cardboard recycling bin. I made 5 loaves of bread. I had nice phone conversations with one of my daughters and with my sister, and BD dropped by for a nice chat. I put away winter blankets and afghans, and cleaned up the shelves in the laundry closet and front entry closet. I took the plunge, and ordered a bunch of writing books from Amazon. And am signing up for the The Word Guild! (lol… now I’m really tired!)

“Godliness is not the consequence of your capacity to imitate God, but the consequence of His capacity to reproduce Himself in you.” GB status on facebook, Mar 10/10