Friday, June 11, 2021

Playing Hooky

I feel like a kid who is playing hooky from school, but without the fun involved. Here in Minnesota it has been hot. And humid. Youngest son called me yesterday and said the thermometer on his truck that reads outdoor temperature said 103 degrees. The air, even inside, feels heavy. It has not been a productive week.

On the positive side, a box fan moves the cooler air around my apartment making life more pleasant.

I feel sorry for those who have outside jobs. My youngest son oversees several landscaping crews. He has been filling a cooler with bottles of water and Gatorade to hand out to the workers. Having done that kind of work for several years, he knows how miserable it can be, working in this kind of heat.

A few years ago my oldest son told me about a trick he used while working in a hot restaurant kitchen. He would get towels wet, wring out the excess water and toss the towels into the freezer. When frozen, they were still pliable enough to drape around the back of his neck. I have been doing the same thing with some of my flour sack type of kitchen towels. Works like a charm.

The weather guessers say it should be a little cooler and less humid starting tomorrow. Hopefully I can begin canning up the meat in my freezer without turning my apartment into a sauna.

I hope things are more pleasant where you are. Keep on prepping and praying!



12 comments:

  1. That hot already up there?! We lived in Missouri for 5 years and got enough heat+humidity to last a lifetime. In our mountain desert we will warm up to the 90s next week, but we always cool off at night. Take care and take it easy for a few days until things cool down. Maybe consider writing a few more blog posts? We all enjoy them so much.

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    1. Jennifer...This heat is unusual for us this time of year. We usually get a few hot days in July or August, but not nearly two weeks worth at one time. I have been having 'quiet days' so haven't suffered like those who have to be out and about. Sometimes it is hard to find things to write about when you live a quiet life, but I will see what I can do about posts. :)

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  2. I wondered if someone had invented a vest that circulates cooled water over your body.
    As expected, they did and there are a number of them on Amazon.
    But wow are they pricey.
    I'm thinking that if somebody was handy, a bit of soft tubing, some needle and thread work, a couple of tiny, almost unnoticeable holes drilled into your freezer door and voila. A homemade cooling vest on the cheap.
    But you do want to avoid being the subject of this headline, "Experiment in homemade cooling vest results in local woman being frozen into a block of ice."
    :)

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    1. John...Why am I not surprised that you came up with the idea of a homemade cooling vest! :) Now I can do the needle and thread work and Lord knows I have enough soft tubing for my oxygen machine, but I think I will pass on drilling holes in the freezer. I have now lived long enough to be a problem for my children, but can you imaging the ranting and raving if they had to chip me out of a block of ice? Think I'll take a pass on this one. :)

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    2. :)
      I borrowed the idea from the cooling vest worn by the astronauts.
      Their fancy high tech solution to the Florida heat was a cooling tube vest, and an ice and water filled cooler with a battery powered circulation pump.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_cooling_and_ventilation_garment

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  3. We're headed into the latter days of June here in the Wild, Wild West. There's an "excessive heat watch" up for the coming week, with temps of 105* or better forecast for Mon-Fri; 109* on Tuesday! Welcome to the desert! I get it though; 103* with humidity is heinous! 'Makes me wonder why people move to Florida! 'Lived there. Did that. We'll get the high temps here, but the humidity will be around 10%. Days like those, it's too hot to even go in the pool!

    Stay cool, Vicki!!! Sometimes God just plain says "DON'T CAN!!!"

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    1. Pete...We Minnesotans are wusses when it comes to heat. We are happier riding snowmobiles and drilling holes in the lake ice in order to fish. But you are right - it is the humidity that makes things horrible. I just checked the current weather and it is 89 degrees with 47% humidity. Both are lower than yesterday, so there is hope. And yup - the canning will have to wait. Running the canner now would quickly turn my little apartment into a sauna. No thanks!

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  4. Hi Vicki~ I have frozen flour sack towels in a bag in my freezer. It was the only way I survived the breast cancer treatment. It's not to bad here right now though there is an excessive heat watch the rest of the week in to next. It will be in the 80's all next week. The garden is doing great. Green beans, carrots and onions are being harvested. The potatoes are flowering as are the squash. Red

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    1. Red...The frozen towels work well. I think our heat wave is winding down. Perhaps by next week I can get back to doing what I need to do. Glad to hear your garden is flourishing. Some here are having problems due to lack of rain and watering bans. I am praying for rain. We need it, especially the farmers.

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  5. We are cooling down next week too. I plan to restore a cast iron pot (requires baking it).

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    1. Kristina...I have been avoiding using my oven at all costs. Same for the stove. But with any kind of luck, it will be cool enough tomorrow to get some canning done.

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  6. I've seen neck tubes with some sort of gel(?) that you put in the freezer, but never thought about wet flour sack towels. I guess since I have the luxury of saying f... er... um... going inside when the outdoor work is too hot, I haven't really needed a neck cooler. We've gotten to the low 90s heat index, and I give the weeding short shift those days. Then I think of those who can't and feel like I'm a slacker and put in a bit more time.

    I hope it cools down so you can get canning done. And because it's just too darned early for this much heat up there. By chance I looked at canning supplies at WM a week ago and they had wide mouth lids. Lids only -not lids and bands, not lids, bands and jars.... Woo Hoo! Even the guy who checked me out commented that I had some. Now the question is - was it a fluke or will they stay in stock now? Once people stop clearing the shelves when they see them that is. I was tempted to buy more, but the 4 boxes I did get is enough for what the garden might put out. Based on the last few years garden results, it might be enough lids for a couple of years :-/

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