Thursday, August 25, 2016

Summer on the deck

Man, it's hot. For us, at least. I figured that we haven't lived in a really hot (and humid) climate since we left Washington, DC, in 1986. That's thirty years ago. When we first arrived in France in 2003, it was the hottest summer they had had for ages. But not humid. We suffered temperatures upwards of 100ºF for weeks at a time, but it was dry Saharan heat like we're having now.

I put our umbrella up on the deck to keep the table shaded when the sun shines.

Since then, we've had some hot times and some not so hot times. LOL. But this summer has been very warm. It's nice, and we like it, but we're not used to it. Sleeping can be difficult, but again, we're not suffocating with humidity. Thank goodness for small favors.

Each morning this week we open all the windows and doors to let the (relatively) cool air in. Then, as the day heats up, windows and shutters get closed to keep the sun and the hot air out. There can be a significant difference in temperature between outdoors and indoors when you do this, even in a less insulated house like ours.

8 comments:

  1. Too darn hot!
    The process of opening windows in the morning, shutting everything up by lunchtime, is something we've learned to do here, the only way of managing the heat. It means we're up much earlier than normal to let the cool air in and water the garden, but by mid afternoon we're exhausted. I seem to vaguely remember the solution to that was it called.......a siesta or something........?!

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  2. Oddly enough here in usually screaming hot Texas in August, we've had over 8 inches of rain in the
    last week or so. Temps have only reached into the 80'sF. Must be the same system that drowned poor
    Louisiana. No flooding here, but lots of green grass. So unusual for us...it has to be climate change.

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  3. I love the look of your patio with the umbrella. Lewis and I travelled to France the summer of 2003- it was too hot to sleep well in St Remy. I think we had left by the time folks started actually dying in Paris.

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  4. I love the deck (so inviting; I'll bring some cheese, some wine, a baguette) and the lavender photo (purple pretties!).

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  5. You have a lovely back porch.

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  6. jean, the problem is that I feel bad complaining, because I know it could just as easily be 17ºC and raining. I'll miss the heat when it's gone! Ugh.

    sheila, some years are wet, some dry, some are hot, some are cool. And some are just right!

    evelyn, it was a very odd year. We had just come from SF (via NC) where it was cool all the time.

    gosia, :)

    anne marie, pull up a chair!

    michael, thanks! It's actually on the front of the house. It faces east and so it's shaded in the heat of the afternoon. :)

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  7. Catching up...here in WC we have learned the same trick about opening everything up, then shutting ourselves up into a cave to keep cool. Our winds (a little microclimate) helps. An umbrella like your would end up somewhere else, far far away.

    But your deck looks just right. And it also has a lovely view....

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