We’re experiencing the Greater Vancouver Area heatwave June 2021!
Yes, it’s hot, hot, hot!
FAHRENHEIT VERSUS CELSIUS
Imperial or metric measurements?
Canada switched to the metric system of measure during the late 1970s. At school, I learned both.
About a year after I started driving and was used to signs in miles per hour, the switch was on to kilometers per hour. The road signs had both imperial and metric numbers on them for a couple of years.
Highway 10 in Surrey, BC is (was?) 50 mph. That means 80 kph. Both numbers on one street sign to make it easier for citizens to adjust.
I can go either way, but if I had my druthers, I’d stick with the imperial measurements.
I still think in miles per hour and Fahrenheit.
HOT TEMPERATURES
Whether you call it Celsius or Fahrenheit, it is hot hot hot where I live!
This is how hot it is while I’m writing this post – in Celsius.
And in Fahrenheit.
How the rest of the week shaping up? In Celsius.
And the week ahead in Fahrenheit.
Because of the humidity – add a few more degrees! Tomorrow? 117 degrees F with humidity? Really?
There are no clouds to block the sun. There isn’t even a breeze. The air quality is worsening. Right now there are two cities in North America on the World Air Quality Index top 20. Vancouver is #13 and Seattle is #15.
It’s not even cooling down much at night, though that should change in a couple of days.
CONVERT CELSIUS TO FAHRENHEIT
At school we were taught an easy way to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit.
Take the Celsius temperature and times it by two and add 30.
That will be the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit.
Double the Celsius and add 30.
A little trick I learned in my teens that I still use daily!
HOT DOG
My dog, Shadow, has been feeling the heat. I’m sure she’d love a beach day in Oregon but the land crossing between America and Canada is STILL closed to visitors. No driving, but flying is OK. Plus a quarantine.
Shadow’s getting the water hose treatment a few times a day.
At night I have a fan on the floor blowing on her. I’m not comfortable keeping her on the sundeck at night due to coyotes and other predators.
Otherwise I’d be sleeping out there too.
I left her at home yesterday because I had a few errands to run after the farm, and I don’t leave the dog in the car. Even with all the windows and sunroof open.
Driving is another dilemma with the dog in the car in this heat. Do I open all the windows and sunroof so she has a breeze? Or do I blast the air conditioning?
That car ride might be the only air conditioning I get all day!
In this heat, the dog just rides back and forth to the farm. No stops.
HOT HORSE
I keep my horse in a rustic situation. There is no running water in the barn. There used to be until a leaky pipe years ago and it was shut off.
There’s not much water at the house either. It’s a shallow well that always runs dry when there’s no rain and they have a water truck come in many times.
There’s a creek running through the property, so there is a constant water supply for livestock. On the other side of the creek are cows. Sometimes the cows come over to visit. The grass is always greener you know!
Anyway, I haul water out to the farm in Coleman jugs and fill up buckets so the horse has water if he comes inside the loafing barn. The barn stays pretty cool.
Due to the heat, I’m going out twice a day with water. I also give him a sponge bath at night because he’s sweaty. He’s not too keen on that.
You’d think he’d like to be cooled down, but he’s a little oddball that way. He likes to be difficult.
HOT HOUSE
It seems to be slightly cooler inside my house than outside.
Amazing when I don’t have air conditioning.
I do have a grove of nearby trees that put me in the shade mid-afternoon. I also have a roof that extends from the barn, over my home, and over the sundeck. That probably helps keep the air moving between the two roofs, but I don’t have the direct sun beating down on my house’s roof.
I keep the curtains closed that are on the south end of my house.
Last night before I went to bed, the thermostat’s needle was all the way over to the right, on the 30C, though it could have been much hotter! And that was close to midnight.
When I got up this morning, the needle was at 25C.
HOT!
I have a fan in the living room that I turn on if I’m watching TV.
I turn off the fan when I’m not inside. There’s no point in the fan blowing hot air around.
FOOD AND DRINK
I don’t feel all that hungry in the heat. I’ve made a few smoothies, but I’m mostly living on iced tea and water.
I make iced tea in my Mr Coffee iced tea maker. A product that unfortunately is not for sale in Canada.
Why?
I usually pick one up at Walmart when I’m in the states. Or you can buy one at Amazon. (Disclosure: I’m an Amazon affiliate and if you click and make a purchase, I’ll make a small commission for the referral.)
I also stocked up the last time I was in Oregon on Lipton Iced Tea Southern Sweet Tea bags. You guessed it. Also not available in Canada!
Why?
Canadians like iced tea, too, you know.
I have to make sure I always have ice cube trays in the freezer and not hanging out on my counter. The Mr Coffee iced tea maker uses three trays of ice cubes, and the Lipton Southern Tea takes two trays of ice cubes.
I keep a Brita full of water in my fridge.
I have a few water bottles in my fridge in case I have a visitor who wants one to go. There are a few bottles of Coke and Dr Pepper in my fridge that I bought on sale, but I don’t drink much pop. I’m more of an iced tea person.
I did celebrate getting my second Covid-19 shot with an ice cold Coke!
KEEPING COOL
Click the link or the photo below for 14 tips to keep cool in hot weather.
How are you handling the heat?
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on June 27, 2021.