Heat wave

I survived yesterday’s heat. Spent most of the day indoors with a couple of foray’s to the cool tub until it wasn’t cool any more. Using my little temperature gun I got a reading of 100.2 on the water while the floating thermometer was saying it was in the 90’s. It was like bathwater, not refreshing at all. The water is back down in the 80’s this morning, but will go back up as the day passes.

I got a couple of things done before it got to hot to do anything yesterday. I didn’t have to go to the hardware store for lumber for my bench project as I had an 8ft 2x4 and some scraps. Enough to build my bench for the cool tub. I need to tweak it a bit. I put a book/kindle holder on it, but need to move that to the side so I have enough room to sit on it. Otherwise I could have used 1x4’s. 

It is sturdy enough to sit on and soak my feet but I need to move the kindle holder to the right to allow sitting space.

I got my beans and ham cooked in the crock pot and had them for dinner. I also found a spot and ran the cord for the new clock in the living room. I can’t see the clock on the stove from my chair any more since I moved the chair into the corner, and I needed to be able to see a clock in the dark. I bought a large display digital alarm clock and it is now on top of the stereo which is on top of the living room corner cupboard. I can read it now. Although the angle makes it a bit fuzzy. 

I made a beach cover up out of one of my sarongs. I hate having to tie them on and decided to try tacking in some shoulders. It worked quite well. Now I don’t have to tie it, just put my arms thru the holes and it is good. I have another that I want to try a different setup, crossing the front. Don’t know if they are large enough for that, but will give it a try. Something cool and loose to wear on the patio. 

I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to get done yesterday, it got too hot too fast. The garden topped out at 128.2 degrees yesterday, and will be warmer today. Then tomorrow it should be a fraction cooler. This morning I set down the computer as soon as it was light enough to see and did my gardening. I removed all the dead plants that were in pots on the shelf, cut back the tomatoes in hopes that they will regrow, and removed the bunny cages from both the natal plum and the cape honeysuckle. The bunnies haven’t bothered them since they have matured, so I think they are safe. When it cools off I need to prune the honeysuckle and relocate the plum. I also shut down one leg of the irrigation that no longer has plants on it. Save some water. 

While I was pulling the bunny cages the female hummingbird decided I wasn’t much of a threat. Although I couldn’t get any closer.

I think she is a black chinned hummingbird. I should get out my big camera and try to get a closer shot. The big cameras haven’t been out in ages. 

While I was running the cord for the clock in the CD cabinet I pulled out the Sex and the City CD’s. Started watching that again. I watched as much of the first season that the DVD player would play and moved on to the second season. It had been several weeks since the TV had even been turned on. 

I’m tossing around the idea of clear tarping the cool tub area. It stays a few degrees cooler than the rest of the patio and am wondering if the clear tarps would keep it even cooler. They aren’t cheap tho and I would have to build a wall with a door on the inside. More money….But I hate being stuck indoors. I stay out as long as I can stand it and make occasional forays out for short periods of time. 

I know I said I was getting tired of reading, but that is probably what I am going to do today. That will keep me in front of the little swampy which is quite comfortable. I do want to get a dip in the tub before that gets too warm. And I want to dig out another sarong and experiment with that. But other than that it is too hot to do anything. 

Found this dead bug on one of my pots the other day. It is big enough to use as a garden ornament. 

Lisa sent me some perennial flower pics from the house in VT. Wish I could grow some of that here, I would have her send me some divisions. The peonies are third generation divisions from my grandmother's plants. The (grand)parent plants are over 50 years old and I believe are still growing in Gray Maine.