Beating The Heat

Yesterday our temperatures topped out at 97. The heat index was 100 plus. The low last night was still in the seventies. I felt every degree of it. I can't believe it is this hot in the middle of June! As I fast approach that 60 mark my tolerance becomes less and less for this heat. And as a remnant of my 28 sessions of radiation therapy for cancer I have an increased risk of not only skin cancer but also less tolerance for sun and heat. O Wise One already has sun poisoning on his skin from sun over exposure as a youth. All those years of hauling hay as a kid on the farm. His heart medication also increases his sun sensitivity. Therefore anymore we never venture out without sunscreen, hat and shades. But I still have weeding and picking to do. Livestock to care for and lawns and flower/vegetable beds to maintain. So how do we cope.

This is what the fashionable farm girl is sporting these days. For O Wise One I go to Goodwill and thrift stores year round. I am always looking for thin long sleeve shirts. Even thin dress shirts. this is what he wears around the farm in the summer heat over a T shirt. It gives him some protection for his arms and neck while still being thin. He likes them a little big to allow air circulation while still protecting his arms. And always remember the sunscreen.

Many days now I rise at 4:30 am. It is 5:30 right now and the coffee is on and I am on my second load of laundry. As soon as the sun comes up ( 6:00 am) I will begin hanging it. Once my laundry is hung I will begin my outside chores for the morning. Watering the garden now is reserved for early morning only so as not to sun scald the plants. Any picking is also done early morning and then placed inside where it is cool. It will be washed and trimmed when I go in midday. Starting early like this I can be finished with everything outside by 10:30 or 11:00 and then retire to the cool of the inside for lunch and an afternoon nap in the heat of the day. Today my laundry was dry by 9:30 am.

And don't forget lots of clean cool water for the animals. Here mama chicken and her brood of turkeys hanging out under the shade of the maple tree near the garden. Where ever she is we try to keep clean water nearby. Notice the baby turkeys lounging in the shade of the hay bales. We also planted large sunflowers on the West side of the chicken yard to help shade the yard some. Try planting vines or gourds to run over the top.

Here's another tip save those empty coke bottles. remove the label and fill with water and freeze.

Every morning when I go out I take a bucket of frozen bottles of water. Laid in the bottom of the rabbit cage as it melts the rabbits lick the cold condensation off the frozen bottles. The rabbits will even lay on top of the bottles to cool off. Lay the frozen bottles in the chickens water bowl, the dogs water bowl etc. It will help to keep their water cooler thus keeping the animal cooler. We do this several times a day rotating them in and out of the freezer.

Simply pick the old ones up and hose them off and throw them back in the freezer to refreeze. 

Don't forget those 2 liter bottles either. Fill them up and freeze them too. 

Most common rabbit waterers ends will fit them. Simply hang the bottles with homemade wires for bottles 3 times the size of the ones you buy with water enough for all day and cool too. We change ours out midday so they constantly have cold water. Rinse, refill and refreeze. Recycle and take good care of your animals at the same time.   

How do you cope with summertime heat?

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter