Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Heatwave

Lately we've been experiencing a



Well, what passes for it in this neck of the woods, but pretty hot it has been and still is.
45 C (113 F), baby! Granted, that was in the conservatory but outside it was quite uncomfortably warm too with temperatures around 30 - 32 C (86 - 92 F). And that is pretty hot as it's very humid here as well.
Poor Dolly is stretched out as far as she can go in an effort to cool off.
Her Mummy Vita is taking very desperate measures to get some shade.
Kadootje (left) and her Mum Surprise are catching the cool evening breeze coming through the screen door in the conservatory. Kadootje: It ain't half hot, Mum!
And Willow is chilling in her favourite chair.
Due to the excessive heat many plants in the new border have burst into colour and leaf. This part of the border is only 7 months old but already you're hard put to find a bare patch of earth between the plants. It's like a jungle out there!
In the potager it's even worse cos due to the heat we have a riot on our hands, a riot of colour, that is.
Things got so bad, we had to have the doctor in, Dr Jamain to be precise. And if that wasn't bad enough, in the kitchen things went all kablooey too with salads exploding with colour.
With all that going on and not fancying a sunstroke much, Tara and I went in search of something cool.
And we found it, Tara, fetch ball!
And Tara is launched,
parting the waters like a ball seeking missile.
Tara Torpedo, a dog with a mission!
Almost there.
Got it!
Now for a spot of backpedalling,
quite sharpish!
She hits the ground running
Mission accomplished! One soaking wet dog, shaken not stirred, hold the olives.

And if you are thinking: well that's Tara all cooled down but what about you YE? Rest assured that yours truly is all cooled down too, every time that Tara shook herself, which was quite a lot as I had to throw the ball for her again and again, ad nauseum would not be an exaggeration, I got cool, very cool. Not surprising really as I am both cool and also of the hot. ;-)

copyright 2009 Y.E.W. Heuzen


27 comments:

Matron said...

A lovely post Yolanda! Hot Dogs and cool cats!

Margo said...

Ja daar zijn ze, de zwemfoto's van Tara! Leuk!

Gemel said...

Wonderful photos as always, stories come to life...........

Green thumb said...

First you had me very very surprised because 45C is something, I thought, only I had the prerogative to boast to be suffering from. Anyway, with the kind of weather we have I feel blessed to be living in the world's largest conservatory!
Good that Tara and you are having a nice symbiotic relationship; keeping each other cool, but given a choice I would prefer to cool myself the Tara way.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a fun post, flowers, dogs and cats. I hope you all keep cool.

Carol said...

I think I would have joined your sweet dog in the swim... wonderful post and love the nasturtiums and borage flowers in your yummy salad. Thanks for taking me back to my native Georgia and the days of hearing Martha and the Vandellas! You had me dancing before 7am! Brava too to your potager!

Flighty said...

Cats generally love to lie in the sunshine soaking up the heat don't they!
I think that Tara has the better idea of keeping cool!
Lovely pictures as ever! xx

easygardener said...

For once a dog has the advantage over a cat. No cooling dips for them. Mine spent the hot weather lying outside under plants and drinking the pond!

Lilibet said...

Yolanda, that is a TRUE HEAT WAVE! Wow! Being from Canada, where we routinely hit the high 30s with lots of humidity, I get a bit irked when the British describe 28 degrees as a heat wave! Arggh!

My sympathies are with you as the kind of weather you have can be so uncomfortable. I hope it rains soon for you!

Pam/Digging said...

Those temps would be a major cool-down for us right now, but I'm sure it feels very hot when you aren't used to it, especially with no air conditioning indoors. I'm glad you and Tara found relief in the water. We're swimming a lot too.

nikkipolani said...

Until you said 45C was inside the conservatory, I thought maybe you'd moved to the DESERT! Poor cats. Too bad they're not as fond of the water as Tara is ;-)

Annie in Austin said...

Do you at least have electric fans, Yolanda? That's quite warm for your part of the world!

Poor cats! At least you can strip down to a minimum of clothes - they're stuck in those fur coats.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

* Sarah: thanks!

* Margo: je hebt even moeten wachten maar nu heb je ook wat. ;-)

* Gemel: thank you, glad you enjoyed it.

* Green Thumb: every time I entered the conservatory when it was 45 C in there I was thinking of you and how very hot it was where you lived. And then I was very glad that outside it was *only* 32C. BTW I had a swim too but although Tara is a clever doggy she doesn't take pics. Yet. ;-)

* Lisa: the heatwave is over, we had thunderstorms and then lots of rain and the temperature dropped to a far more comfortable 20 - 25 C during the day. But when it was hot we tried to keep cool in anyway we could.

* Carol: welcome to Bliss and it's good to know I had you dancing before 7. It's a great song, isn't it, and it's very hard to sit still when it's playing. I never manage it. ;-)
And yes, my potager is wonderful, can't tell you how happy I am with it.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

* Flighty: yes, cats do soak up the sun but they could only stand the conservatory uptill 30 C and then they had had enough and went in search of a cool place to lie down in. But all in all Tara was suffering more from the heat than the cats did so I was very glad to take her for a swim every night. That perked her up considerably!

* Easygardener: on average cats are less keen on water than dogs are but my Russian Blue cat Sam used to stand up to his shoulders in the pond on hot days. He wasn't bothered by water at all, on the contrary he enjoyed having a bit of a splish splash.

* Julia: for us having temperatures like this is still an exception although they've started to occur more often in the last decade or so.
Your wish has been granted; we had thunderstorms and then lots of rain, deluges really, and the temperature dropped considerably to a more comfortable 20 to 25 C during the day. Hurray!

* Pam: during those hot days I thought a lot about my gardenblogging friends in Austin as well. I know it's even hotter where you live and you have my commiserations! And you are right; we are not used to it, our houses are not built for heatwaves like this and almost nobody has airco.
Poor Tara was feeling it much more than the cats did so I was glad to take her out for a swim every evening. That sure did perk her up!

* Anna: it's not as bad as all that, yet! But luckily there is a floor of cool tiles in my hallway and as it hardly gets any sun, it's quite a cool place for most of the day and the cats love to lie flat out on the cool tiles there, especially the Maine Coons.

* Annie: when hot weather like this strikes the electric fans are sold out in a matter of hours. So no, I didn't have a fan but I have screen doors in my conservatory at one end of the house and my bedroom at the other and by opening all the doors inbetween we had quite a nice cooling indoor breeze. The cats were mostly in the hallway where it is coolest for most of the day. As my bedroom is partly north facing it was cool there too so they stayed there a lot as well. But the heatwave has gone and things are back to normal again, quite a relief!

Frances said...

Hi YE, cool and of the hot, HA, of course you are. Tara is quite a natural swimmer, very efficient, no dog paddling around in cirles either. Dolly looks very comfy, reminds me I need a nap. Hope you are still staying cool too. :-)
Frances

Kylee Baumle said...

The cats are sluggish here too, because of the heat. Around 90 F. here tomorrow. And no rain. :-( It's been a long time since we've had rain and it's been quite warm as well. We're watering as we have had to do the last couple of summers, or many of the plants would be struggling.
Love your kitties and Tara is a doll, too!

Glo said...

I think your heatwave was a repercussion of your last post...hehe

Tara is growing up and am glad to see you were both able to cool down by having a swim each night. Your cats always look cool ;)

Your garden is definitely popping with colour and looks terrific! Good that your temps have settled down a bit so you can enjoy pottering in the potager :)

The Dutchess said...

Well..Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen...your blog is simply GREAT!

Gail said...

Hi Yolanda, I got a marvelous break from the southern heat when I visited New England last week...it was a heavenly 75 degrees...sometimes I wish I could jump in a lake like Ms Tara and cool off....my kittie loves to curl up in the sun. I need a pool! gail

Cheryl said...

Hi Yolanda.....everyone seems to know how to stay cool at 'your house'...

Tara has grown into a beautiful girl.....I love to see dogs swim and retrieve......Nella (a terrier) does not like the water at all......

Weather has cooled here at last and I must say I am so pleased.....

HAVE A FUN WEEKEND......

Terra said...

Oh my goodness, your dog is named Tara and I am named Terra. Perhaps we share a kindred friendly nature.
Poor kitty Dolly looks so hot and frazzled.
I want to come over and have some of that salad, it looks like a gorgeous Kandinsky painting.

Anonymous said...

The salad is so colorful and appetizing.
Donna

healingmagichands said...

Blogger doesn't like me. I typed a wonderful comment and it couldn't process it.

I loved the salad too. It looks as beautiful and colorful as your gardens do.

It is very hot here too, it is 98 F in the shade this afternoon, the humidity around 95 % since it rained this morning. Smokey is out in his favorite place, melted into the concrete where the peace lilies live in the summer. Ruby is in the house, enjoying the fan.

garden girl said...

Hi Yolanda, I feel for you with those temperatures! We're still having a relatively cool summer in Chicago, and I'm very grateful for it!

My goodness Tara has gotten so big! It's good to see she and the kitties are doing their best keeping cool, and how nice of Tara to cool you down too!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Yolanda, nu moet je stoppen hoor! Je hebt teveel mooie blogs die ik wil volgen. En nu Bliss, is helemaal klasse. Ik kreeg wel direct heimwee naar "mijn eerste blauwe rus" Mila. Niet helemaal een echte raskat maar wel 80% van alle typische kenmerken. Hij kwam bij ons op 5 jarige leeftijd en wij hebben hem na een kort ziekbed in 2002 in moeten laten slapen.....

Ik blijf je volgen meis!
Lavender

white_lotus said...

Wow! Nice! I love the flowers... There just so beautiful! Do you sell them? hehehe...