Posted tagged ‘AC’
August 6, 2018
Help!! I am a prisoner in my house. Going outside could mean certain death. Okay, I admit to an exaggeration here but not by much. It is so hot and humid it took my breath away when I went to get the papers. I didn’t even stop to admire the garden. I am now safe and comfortable in my cool house. I will admire the sun from the inside out.
When I was a kid, I don’t think we even had fans in the house. My mother kept the shades down. The living room did feel a touch cooler but not by much. Sometimes we’d go through the sprinkler, get cool and wet then go to bed. I used the same trick in Ghana. I’d take my shower, a cold shower as I had no hot water, just before bed then go to bed still wet. I was air cooled and could fall asleep.
Heat never really bothered me that much when I was a kid. I was out every day all summer, even when it rained. In Ghana, in Bolga, it was always hot, even in the rainy season, but that’s just the way it was and life went on.
I have a great memory of Ghana. One of my friends was terminating (Peace Corps argot for finishing service) earlier than the rest of us were. His school was on strike so there was nothing for him to do. During Easter holiday a few of us met up in Accra by happenstance as we always stayed at the Peace Corps hostel. We decided to go out for drinks and toast our departing friend. We went to a hotel, one of the grand old hotels. We sat in the bar. There were chairs and couches with flowered cushions, not uncommon furniture in Ghana. Fans were on the ceiling and were stirring the air a bit. There was a bank of open windows behind us and outside those windows was a garden of ferns, eucalyptus and frangipani. I had been whisked back in time to a colonial hotel, like in some old movie of long ago times and places. I was living in old Accra for just a little while. Even now I can close my eyes and see the fan, the windows and me sitting on the couch, drink in hand. It is an amazing memory.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, Accra, Bolgatanga, colonial hotel, eucalyptus and frangipani, heat, humidity, Peace Corps Ghana
Comments: 10 Comments
September 22, 2017
Last night the wind sounded like a freight train. I know it’s a cliche, but it perfectly describes what I was hearing. The wind blew in gales. In between the gales it was quiet if only by comparison. I think it was the wildest wind since the start of the storm. This is day four of the remnants of Jose. Earlier this morning it was raining loudly enough to hear. At other times the rain has been misty, quiet. The wind is still raging.
My deck and yard are filled with fallen leaves and smaller branches. Every time I go out, a few leaves are blown inside the house. All of them are shriveled and dead.
The birds are at the feeders in such numbers the sunflower and thistle feeders need to be refilled. I’ll just have to brave the rain. I don’t want to disappoint all those birds.
I did finish my errands yesterday. At the doctor’s they had snacks to thank us for getting our flu shots. I had a chocolate chip cookie and a mini-cupcake. Last night the spot where I got the shot itched a bit, and the spot hurts a little today. I’ll just have to be brave.
Last night I was cold so I grabbed a light blanket and snuggled a bit under it. This morning when I woke up the house was at 67˚. Since then, the temperature has risen a couple of degrees but not enough as I’m still a bit chilly, but I refuse to turn on the heat this early in the season. I’m still taken aback by having to use the AC the last couple of days because of the humidity. It is late for the AC and too early for the heat. Weather has gone amok.
Today is the autumn equinox, a beginning and an end: the end of summer and the beginning of fall, autumn. The nights will now be longer than the days.
When I was a kid, I loved when the leaves were falling. On our way to school, we would walk in the gutters kicking leaves and watching them fly. I remember yellow the most.
The only things on my to do list are to order groceries and finally get the laundry finished, or rather get it started. It is still upstairs. I have no ambition whatsoever, but I guess I could scare up enough energy to order groceries on line.
Rain is predicted for tomorrow as are wind gusts up to 45 MPH. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be sunny and in the low 70’s. I’ll believe it when I see it. All this rain has made me gloomy and skeptical.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: 67˚, AC, amok, bird feeders, blown leaves, dead leaves, doctors, flu shot, Freight Train, gales, groceries, heat, Laundry, leaves, mist, raging wind, rain, to do list, weather, Wind
Comments: 8 Comments
August 21, 2017
The house is still chilly from the air conditioning being on all last night even though some windows and the two doors are now opened; however, it will be a hot day so I expect to be behind closed doors and shut windows for most of the afternoon. The sun was around earlier but has since disappeared behind grey clouds. We are going to have a partial eclipse, but it seems unless things change, we won’t even see that.
Last night the temperature was in the high 60’s so movie night was pleasant, even a bit chilly because of the high humidity. We watched Monster on the Campus. Oops, I’m really sorry. I should have warned you that was a spoiler. I just gave the whole plot away. The movie was released in 1958 so we did chuckle quite a few times at the special effects and the plot twists. The cars were as big as boats. The women all wore dresses, kind of ugly dresses, and accessorized with white gloves. The men, of course, wore their suits and fedoras. Troy Donahue had a small role. We applauded at the end not because it was over but because the monster had engineered its own demise. Such is the lot of monster in 50’s science fiction movies.
Gracie had a really bad night. She was sleeping in her crate. I was on the couch. It was around 4:00 when I was awakened by the sound of her paws frantically scraping over and over against the mat in her crate. I guessed she was trying to stand up but couldn’t. I raced to the kitchen. Gracie was lying on her side, her eyes huge, and she was scared. She tried again to get up but couldn’t. I grabbed her halter and lifted and pulled her out of the crate. I was scared that her back legs had given out, but when I pulled her upright, she stood. She was also wet. I figured that had been triggered by her fear. I dried her and we went to the couch. She jumped on it but sat upright for a while before she finally fell asleep. This morning everything is fine with her, but not with me. When I walk, I resemble a question mark because of the pain in my back. Poor Gracie and me!
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Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, cool house, cool night, crate, fedoras, frightening, Gracie, hot day, humidity, legs, Monster on the Campus, scared, women's fashions
Comments: 4 Comments
July 21, 2017
Today is hot. It is 83˚. I’m in the cool air of the house looking at the world through my den window. The most I can see is the blue sky and the still leaves of the oak tree. Later, in the cool of the afternoon, I have some deck stuff to finish: replace the burned out lights on the rail and get the fountain working. I also need to bring the flamingo and the gnome to the deck where they’ll reside all summer. A few of the flowers in the smallest pots have died so I’m hoping to get replacements at Agway today. I’ll be braving the heat.
When I was young, I knew what old was. No question it was those blue-haired ladies in their dresses and clunky heeled shoes with wrinkled faces and hands who dragged wire baskets on wheels behind them when they shopped at the grocery store. They never wore pants. Their shoes were sensible. Their dresses had flowers. I never stopped to think how old they were. They just fit my vision of old so age didn’t seem to matter.
Despite my current wardrobe, if my young self knew I was soon to turn 70, I suspect I’d think myself old, but I’m not. The definition of old changes as we age. I’m now thinking 90+ might be old, but I’m not sure anymore. I admit, though, I’m thinking of buying one of those wire baskets so I can haul stuff from the car to the house.
I hate clutter yet my den is cluttered, but I’ve come to ignore it as the alternative is to go crazy. I had to move the dog’s dishes here as she slid on the kitchen floor. Her toys are in a wooden box and usually a couple are on the floor. Gracie tends to paw her toys to the floor until she finds just the right one. My cloth from Ghana is stored in a pile here but not out of sight. Most of my cookbooks are on shelves which cover one whole wall. My hat collection hangs from the shelves. My table is a huge metal one with three overflowing baskets underneath. I do have sorting through them on my whenever I get to them list of things to do. I sleep on the couch so my pillow and sheets are on the desk chair. This is the room where I spend the most time so everything is here except snacks and drinks. They’re down the hall, and the bathroom is between them. My inside world is small, but I’m content.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, Agway, baaskets, blue hair, blue sky, clunky heeled shoes, clutter, den, dog food, dog toys, Dresses, flamingo, gnome, hot, old, plants, still, wire baskets
Comments: 6 Comments
July 3, 2017
Today is beautiful, sunny and clear, but it’s hot, already 84˚. Tonight the low will be 65˚, far more to my liking. I was surprised when I brought Gracie out around 8 at how hot it already was. My AC has been on since yesterday. Last night I woke up and grabbed the afghan as I was a bit chilly. I snuggled, got warm and easily fell back to sleep for another hour or so.
Gracie slept with me on the couch for the first time in a while. I heard her panting around 3 and knew she needed to go out. We walked across the lawn to the driveway. It was just so dark the houses were mere shadows. In the backyard, I could hear Gracie walking on the bed of leaves so I knew where she was. While I sat on the steps waiting and enjoying the coolness of the night, she roamed the yard. After she joined me, we went back inside to the couch and both of us fell asleep quickly.
I have outside stuff to do. The lights the spawns chewed need to be replaced as does the string of lights from the huge star on the fence. Half of it went dead which drives me crazy. Three plants died in pots, all the same plant, but I have replacements ready. I need to water the deck plants and clean my outside shower. My fountain can be connected as I found its adaptor. Gracie will like that as she drinks from the fountain; however, that presents a problem as I love the sound of the water as it moves through the fountain, but Gracie often drinks it so dry that I can only hear a gurgling sound.
Often I’ve been traveling on the 4th. I remember Ghana where it’s just another day. I was in Venezuela for the bicentennial 4th of July. It went by me without my even noticing. It is easy to lose track of the date when there is no set itinerary, no expected times of departure or arrival, and that’s my favorite way to travel. I’m not big on escorted tours. Often the best trips are serendipitous.
I saw a chickadee, a nuthatch and a titmouse taking seeds from my feeder, but my favorite was watching a goldfinch remove lint from the container of nesting materials hanging from a branch over the deck. I wish I knew where she was building. I’d love to see the nest and meet her babies.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: 3 am, 4th of July, 65˚, 84˚, AC, afghan, chilly, cool night, dark, dead flowers, dead plants, Ghana, hot, lights, outside, outside lights', quiet night, shadows
Comments: 4 Comments
June 13, 2017
The house is still closed, and the AC is cranking. A few steps outside are a few steps too many. It is already 83˚, a bit cooler than yesterday but that’s a small consolation when it is this hot.
If I were a kid again, today would be sprinkler weather. I remember best the old metal sprinkler with arms which turned in a circle, My father used it for years. We’d put it on the side lawn which gave us some running and jumping room, and we’d make sure the water pressure was never too high so we could easily jump over. I also remember how cold the water was. It took our breaths away. The grass all around the sprinkler got drenched and tamped down, and it sometimes made us slide. My father was never happy on sprinkler day because of his lawn.
My sisters, more than I, used to eat their lunches on the backyard steps. It was a picnic of sorts. I can still see them wearing their bathing suits each one sitting on her own step, each one munching a sandwich.
Summer to me is so many things. It is Saturday night at the drive-in all of us dressed in our pajamas. We’d bring robes and slippers in case we had to make a bathroom run. At intermission, the playground near the refreshment stand was always filled with pajama-clad kids playing and yelling after being stuck in the car for a whole movie. When I was really young, I fell asleep during the second movie, the one for the adults. When I was older, I stayed awake the whole time though I never did see the end of any movie. My dad wanted out before the traffic jam of cars trying to exit on the one road. I think we were the first to leave.
Summer is casual. That started when I was a kid. We had no specific bedtimes. When the streetlights came on, we could still play outside. Breakfast and lunch were seldom planned, cereal in the morning and a sandwich at lunch. We ate when we were hungry. My mother always made supper, but it was seldom as hearty as winter dinners. A grab and go was the ideal supper because we wanted to get back outside.
Summer is just starting. Let the fun begin!
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Categories: Musings
Tags: 83˚, AC, backyard steps, cold water, drenched grass, drive-in, metal sprinkler, outside lunches, running and jumping, Sandwiches, sprinkler weather
Comments: 4 Comments
June 12, 2017
The flowers are all bought. My trunk and backseat floor were filled with plants. I needed to take out a second mortgage to pay for them, but I am pleased with all the different plants and their colors. The perennials will go out front, the herbs in the wooden deck boxes and the other plants in a variety of pots, mostly on the deck. I also bought one hanging plant for the deck. I am a sweaty mess from pushing the cart and wandering through the flower rows in the sun. I’m not a pretty sight.
One of the things I love about having the herbs in the deck boxes is going outside to snip the ones I need. I always feel a bit like Julia Childs as I snip a little basil, some rosemary, and a few chives.
It is really hot and is already 87˚, which will be the high for the day. It will get down to 66˚ tonight. My air conditioner is on, and the house is pleasant. I have to go out later, but I’m waiting until late afternoon hoping it will be a bit cooler.
I never used to mind the heat, but the older I get, the less tolerant I am of the heat and the cold. My furnace cranks all winter, and my central AC is on now. I have become a creature of comfort. I make no excuses. I think I deserve it.
My plastic flamingo and my Travelocity gnome are still here in their winter quarters. They will be the last two summer decorations to be placed outside. I do wish I had a small band to play John Phillip Sousa’s music as we march to the deck. The Stars and Stripes Forever would do just fine.
I’m still wishing I had a tree house in the backyard. It would be my summer vacation spot. I’d make sure Gracie could join me. The skylight would let the stars in. I could lie on my back and look for the constellations or watch the summer meteor showers. A small heater and an outside light would let me watch the snow fall. That would be glorious.
I do love summer on my deck. Soon enough it will be my favorite spot. We’ll have movie nights. We’ll eat barbecue and potato salad then much on popcorn and movie candy as we watch some great movies and some B science fiction films which always make us laugh. In winter I am a bit of a hermit. In summer I am the consummate hostess.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: 87˚, AC, annuals, Barbecue, creature of comfort, deck boxes, flowers, furnace, garden, hanging plant, heat and cold, movie nights, perennials, plastic flamingo, salad, skylight, sweaty mess, Travelocity gnome, treehouse
Comments: 8 Comments
May 20, 2017
Today is much cooler than yesterday. Last night or rather this morning when I took Gracie out around 1:30 I was chilly, taken by surprise by how cold it had gotten. Today will be 57˚ and tonight will go down to 48˚. Yesterday afternoon I had my air conditioner on.
It rained yesterday for about fifteen minutes. The drops started out huge. They fell almost one at a time before they became smaller and more persistent. After the storm, the air smelled of summer rain.
Today is quiet. There are no kids playing or dogs barking. I don’t even hear a lawn mower. Even my house is quiet. Maddie and Gracie are sleeping.
I’ve seen three rabbits this week. One was a bit burly, and the other two were small. Gracie noticed the burly one in my front yard and scratched the door and barked hoping to get out. She didn’t. That we have rabbits tells me the coyotes are elsewhere. That also means the skunks are probably around.
I have one errand today and nothing else on my to-do list.
I hope to open my deck this week. It would have been the spot to be on those two hot days. The furniture needs to be uncovered and scrubbed. The decorations and candles need to be hung on the branches though finding enough spots might be trouble as some of the branches were cut down. The rug needs to be brought out. I have to buy my flowers for the window boxes and the herbs for the side garden. I have to buy gas for the grill as the first movie night means grilling for dinner. The list is long before I can welcome summer.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: 57˚, AC, chilly, clean furniture, coyotes, deck, kids, Lawn mower, quiet day, rabbits, rain, skunks, summer rain
Comments: 14 Comments
September 9, 2016
When I got the papers, I noticed the road still wet from my lawn being watered. That screamed humidity to me so I turned on the air conditioning. The weatherman last night did say summer was returning today.
Periodically the AC turns on to break the silence. Gracie isn’t even snoring. Both cats are awake, unusual for the morning. One is cleaning her ears and the other is just looking out the window from her perch, the back couch cushion. I have no idea what holds her attention.
Today I have nothing to do, not a single list. I’m thinking about lolling and reading. Before that, though, I might hit the chocolate shop for bon bons.
Yesterday my list was completed. I even brought my laundry upstairs, a rarity. Usually it sits in the dryer for sometimes as long as a week. I don’t mind doing laundry. It is the up and down the stairs, the folding and the carrying up two flights of stairs which I don’t like. The house we lived in when we first moved to the cape had the washer and dryer in the kitchen because there wasn’t a cellar, just a small dug out area. That made doing laundry easy. When I worked, I managed to get everything done including planning lessons and correcting.
When I worked, I managed to get everything done, mostly on the weekends when I shopped, mowed the lawn, did laundry and cleaned the house. Now, despite having all the time in the world, I hire people. The house gets cleaned every other Thursday. On the off weeks, I do a bit of dusting, a small bit of dusting, and some vacuuming. My lawn gets mowed every Friday. Peapod delivers groceries right to my kitchen. I order when the larder is empty. Skip, my factotum, does whatever I need, things like opening and closing the deck, painting and general repairs. I know I shouldn’t complain given what little I do, but I want staff, particularly a laundress or a launderer. I did find a drop off Launderette, but I just can’t see myself driving my laundry bag to Hyannis. I guess I’m stuck.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, bon bon, cats cleaning themselves, dryer, heat, help, humidity, Laundry, list, lists, lolling, silence, sleeping dog, staff, summer
Comments: 8 Comments
August 6, 2016
Last night I watched the end of the opening ceremonies and the last few innings of the Red Sox game so I was up until quite late. By then the house had begun to feel sticky and close so I turned on the air conditioner. It was a delight to fall asleep in the cool air of the house.
Today has quite a breeze and is sunny, but rain is due late this afternoon. There may even be thunder and lightning so I’m going to hunker down. Tonight’s movie on the deck is postponed. If I were in Accra, Ghana, rain wouldn’t matter. I remember sitting and watching Is Paris Burning? when it started to rain. We all just picked up our chairs and moved them under the overhangs along the sides of the theater. The movie continued.
I don’t love spaghetti all that much. It is just too much work spinning it on the spoon with the fork, making sure I don’t look silly eating it and quickly wiping the sauce off my cheeks from the flying end of the spaghetti. I do like pasta especially ziti and penne, but I don’t ever make it at home. I think pasta is seldom just for one person. It is a crowd food.
Chocolate chip cookies are comfort food. My mother made them often though never often enough. She made special cookies at Christmas, but chocolate chip cookies were for any time. I loved them hot from the oven when the chocolate was still runny. I have made all different sorts of chocolate chip cookies. Some were made with macadamia nuts instead of walnuts. In others chocolate chunks took the place of chips. I’ve even tried mint chips, but I didn’t like them all that much, the same with butterscotch. I learned you don’t mess with the chocolate. It’s almost a holy food.
The sun has already disappeared behind grey clouds making the day a bit darker. I really think rain is coming, finally.
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Categories: Musings
Tags: AC, chocolate chips cookies, chocolate chunks, macadamia nuts, mess, movie night, Olympic opening, rain, Red Sox game, Spaghetti, sticky, thunder and lightning
Comments: 11 Comments
