Normally I take you on a photo tour of our garden, but I gotta be honest, my Mom and I are HOT and TIRED.
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| See me? I am in the upper left window making sure all of the air conditioners below are doing their job |
As you probably already know, much of the United States (and parts of Canada) have been experiencing unseasonably hot weather.
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| This map came from www.weather.gov The areas colored in pink (like Michigan, where we live) are under "excessive heat warnings" |
It has been in the mid to upper 90s each day this week and today it is supposed to reach 100.
It is hard to believe that just a few short months ago we were complaining about it being too cold and about how we thought that winter would never end!
Those of you that live in hot climates year-round must think we are babies for our reaction to this heat.
You should understand that places in the Southern and Western U.S. and other countries that are hot year-round have architecture and landscape that is DESIGNED for these extreme temperatures. You have decor that is often white, or adobe color, turquoise, etc., colors that WORK with the heat and actually deflect it.
Not so in the North. Our architecture actually ABSORBS the heat.
So anyway, Mom and I are tired. Mom is unable to exercise at all this week because this weather is awful for her kidney stones. (Mom has medullary sponge kidneys which is a congenital kidney condition. It means that her kidney's job is to MAKE stones) Mom always has 100s of stones every day! This scorching weather is a KILLER for kidney stones.
Mom and I are going to take it easy today but before I go I wanted to show you the first vegetables that were harvested from our garden!
The red peppers are SUPER HOT. Mom put them in the freezer to save for when she makes homemade soup, chili and tomato sauce in the winter!
The other peppers in the photo should be yellow but Mom had to pick them before they could completely turn the appropriate shade of yellow.
That is it for this week my friends. Hope it is cooler where you are. Please be sure to check out all of the other gardens over at my friend, Jonesie's place.
Well, this was an energetic post from one so hot and tired. You have a lot of spunk, dear cat. Thank you for letting us know about your Mom's kidney stones so we can send healthy thoughts her way.
ReplyDeleteYour garden crop looks great so far, SUPER HOT red peppers and all!
Please continue to be careful and stay safe in the horrible heat. My kitties are enjoying a cooler-than-normal couple of weeks here in the Pacific NW; maybe I should not tell you about that right now! ^.^
Hi Lydia! How have you been? Lol about the "spunk", yeah, I guess you could say so! You are welcome (about my Mom's stones). They will never go away, it is something she was born with but she drinks over 100 ounces of fluids a day to keep them manageable. I think she needs one of those kitty fountains lol.
ReplyDeleteYes you CAN tell us about the cooler than normal temps! I think our weather comes from your way so maybe that will be HERE in about a week! Thanks for the hope! xoxoxo
Cody,
ReplyDeleteOh you poor darling. We used to have extreme summer too in Sydney but now that we're in d tropics, it's so mild. You hang on there buddy. Enjoy d airconditioning. har har har *evil laughs*
Sorry to hear about your mom's kidney stones - that sounds awful! I'll be sending go-away-stones vibes in her direction.
ReplyDeleteI have always lived in northern parts of the continental US so I know about heat-absorbing architecture - yuck!! I hope you survive the heat wave and that it's over soon! I'm in the Pac NW like Lydia and having unseasonably cool weather. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it STAYS cool!
Purrs to your mom...Does this mean she's in constant pain? We hear that kidney stones are the worst thing, but maybe it depends on the size of the stones. :-(
ReplyDeleteYour peppers look fantastic!!! We aren't doing a gardening post this week, no one has the energy. We need a/c. The temps will be up around 111F today, with the humidex factor. Ugly. Nasty.
Stay cool, you guys!
Awwww lovely Cody!! Me and Charlie are waving to you as you stare out of your window! Yay!
ReplyDeleteAwww we are so sorry that the heat is all too much over there! It's been so dull and rainy here that it's so hard to imagine how super hot you all are over there. Please please take care and rest - esp your mum!!!
Yay for your first harvest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brilliant!!!! Well done mum and Cody and Dakota and dad!! LOL! take care
x
Oh Cody, it must be really really hot for you and your mom but we are so used to it. We have this kind of temperature from 1st Jan to 31st Dec. You can imagine how much I suffer everyday here as I have the same coat as your brother, Dakota.
ReplyDeleteMy mom loves those peppers. I know it sounds ridiculous and silly but my mom eats those red peppers raw most of the time.
Stay cool!!!
~ Eva
Hi Caren, I really feel for you in those temps and with kidney, stones!!!! Horrible. And poor Cody. I hope the aircon works. Here where I live it rarely goes above 75 let alone 100. Never gets that cold either. This last winter we had snow and that was very unusual. Perhaps you should emigrate lol.
ReplyDeleteRest up xoox
MOL.. Dear Caren and Cody..Yes, I heard you ! It's Hot !
ReplyDeleteYour weather is Hot !
Your harvest is hot stuff
I hope it cold down so soon ! If I can share the cold of my winter, I will do straight away, Just for you !!! because I do love you both. I hope my sweet tough can cold down you a little bit : )
Purrs
xoxo
your peppers look great, all mine are dying in this temp of 102-104 here in austin texas we just cant seem to get any water to stick around on plants plus its so hot to even water unless you want to do it around 1am :) Stay cool as much as possible we are doing the same thing!
ReplyDeleteSorry about your chronic problem with kidney stones. Dat is not fun to live with at all. he he - we're actually starting to decrease in temperature today - it will be a whole 2 degrees cooler den yesterday. M still won't go outside tho. And worst of all, she won't let me out there either.
ReplyDeleteOh I see you in that window, it's nice to see the world from a window, great TV show indeed, but please, take care, do not go outside!The weather in Luxembourg is crazy, it's Summer now but it's raining and it's cold! :(
ReplyDeleteNot a perfect time to go out in the garden, unfortunately.
I hope the weather can be better during this weekend,
purrs and love
Luna - we love LUNA
@Cat from Sydney the Tropics are cooler than Sydney was? Wow I never would have thought that. Thank goodness we got a brand new air cond early this summer. Our old one had died.
ReplyDelete@Luna yes it is wonderful! Mom doesn't understand why I choose this window all the time and not the one that shows bird TV. Out of this window I can see Mom and Dad come home. I sit on "lookout" and I alert Dakota for when they come home MOL. I am sorry it is rainy and cold in Luxembourg but right now that sounds GREAT to me! Purrs and love back at ya!
@Mario your Mommy is smart not to let you out. You do not want to be out even if the temp is "two" degrees cooler lol. We will be about "two" degrees cooler tomorrow too. 99 is forecast for today. We aren't going ANYWHERE! xoxoxo
@Hound Girl I am so sorry about your peppers and omg your temps have been consistently over 100??? OMG! That is awful!!!! We are sort of lucky. With our plants being on the balcony we don't get direct sun til around 3pm. Mom waters late morning or midday (with watering cans lol) and I snoopervise from the dining room to tell her if she missed any plants. xoxo
@Puddy YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS PLEEAASSSSE send us some cold of your winter!!! Mom and I can't believe we are saying that after how long our winter was but PLEEEASSSE send us some! Love, Cody
@Caro you have me SOLD!!! Temps that rarely go over 75???? Where do you live? And...you don't get that cold? Seriously, where do you live???? I'm moving!!! :)
@Eva it is THIS hot ALL YEAR for you????? OMC you precious girl! I don't know how you deal with it! Dakota wouldn't like that for sure!!!! Wait a minute! Your mom eats those TINY little SUPER HOT red peppers, raw????? My mom loves Jalapenos but not the super hot red ones! Wow your Mom is brave! ((((hugs)))))))
@Old Kitty that is how we felt when we used to read about how hot everyone else was while we were having our COLD winter!!! We all kept telling everyone to send us some heat, well, everyone can have it BACK now! xoxoxo to you and Charlie
@Fuzzy you don't have A/C???!!! Or you just need to stay inside with it? OMG if you don't have A/C you need to go and visit someone who DOES!!!! About the stones, if I don't manage them by drinking over 100 ounces of water a day (with lemon) that is when I am in pain. Some people who have the same condition are in constant pain. This type of condition is also affected by diet so I try to avoid certain foods that are worse for them but that is hard to do because the type of stones I have are affected by super healthy food! The greatest amount of pain is w/large stones but I have had pain w/smaller ones as well. Thankfully no, I'm not in pain every day because I try and really take care and keep the stones smaller. xoxoxo You stay cool too!!
@Natalie I have always wanted to visit the Pacific NW, I have heard it is beautiful and one day I will visit there. I am hoping that some of your "unseasonably cool" temps migrate our way next week! (((((hugs)))))))))))
That's some beautiful bounty from your garden.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear it's so dreadful there. Normally we're the ones suffering from the heat, but it seems to have decided to go east this year, as our temps are almost tolerable. Stay cool and hydrated --- hope it breaks soon.
I sure hope your Mom doesn't get stoned any more that necessary! The heat index is gonna be 110 here today, yuck!
ReplyDelete@Vicky thank you!! We actually got harvested some sugar snap peas too but Mom ATE THEM the second she took them off of the vine! MOL! We hope the heat breaks soon too. We are headed for a "cool down" 90 this weekend...MOL!!
ReplyDelete@Brian my mom is soooooooo used to being "stoned" MOL!!! Believe it or not in Michigan our heat index is gonna be about the same...you CHOSE to live in the "HOTS"...we didn't ....MOL! xoxoxoxo
We're sure hoping to join the gardening Thursday next week. Our garden is jungle now. Thanks for your healing wishes for little Ling Ling and take good care of yourself.
ReplyDeleteSorry Mom is struggling with the heat. We actually had a slight break last night. Mom said there was a breeze at the baseball park so it was not too hot.
ReplyDeleteThe AC's have been getting quite the workouts.
This year I packed my tiny corolla up in June, left Ohio and headed to Montana in hopes of finding a place to stay just for the reasons stated by you! So I am now in a little 300 sq ft apt surrounded by mountains and awesome dry air. Nights are cool, days may get hot, but anything is bearable compared to the humidity of the east. And mostly it's just in the low to mid 80s with beautiful sun. Not going back until October!
ReplyDeleteDrink that water my fur friend...both you and mom!
Well hello there! We have just discovered your blog! We are sorry to hear that your mommy gets stones, that's horrid! We send her some purrs to help her feel better! And our mom is jealous of those peppers! YUM! Looking forward to your posts!
ReplyDeleteDearest Caren,
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't agree with the statement that in the south our landscape is designed for extreme temperatures... It is tough to even keep a garden alive here! With 97°F and RealFeel 107°F there are no plants, other than cactus that would survive! Most of our roses are going to heaven I'm afraid. This is the first summer ever that I cannot fill my vases with them...
Anyway, we will survive it sure. With airconditioning in the home and staying for a minimum in the garden we endure it.
Sorry for you Mom, my Mom is on kidney dialysis and she's not even allowed to take fluids as her bladder function is gone for over a year now. They have to remove her body fluids... Tough to make it through summer!
By the way, your peppers are perfect.
Lots of love,
Mariette
lol Caren, I live on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey in NW Wales, now made famous by Prince William and Kate, who live here too at the moment. They are so lucky to have Austin and me as neighbours >^,.^<
ReplyDeleteMy people didn't get any veggies planted this year & they are bummed about it. They are drooling to have a fresh tomato!
ReplyDeleteNubbin wiggles,
Oskar
oh my goodness, the picture of you in the window, BOL
ReplyDeleteBenny & Lily
@Cat Wisdom 101 I sure hope you share your garden w/us next week! Just seeing glimpses of your yard I can only imagine how glorious your garden has to be! It sure has to run rings around my little balcony garden lol. You are most welcome about the healing wishes for Ling Ling, Cody and I continue to send them. Thank you for your wishes to me. I am so used to the stone situation, I just get nervous when it gets super hot like this. It becomes hard to stay hydrated. You keep cool! There are cooler temps in our future!
ReplyDelete@Benny and Lily lol...hey we work with what we have lol
@Oskar how are you holding up in this heat since you are in Michigan like we are! We don't have our tomatoes yet, but when we do, if we get a lot maybe we can get together and I can bring you some?
@Caro, Wales!!! How glorious!!!! Ohhh it must be all green and lovely there! How cool that both you and Austin live there! BTW I love Prince William and Kate, who doesn't?
@Mariette I am so sorry about your Mom. That is awful. I remember when my Dad had to be on dialysis due to diabetes. I am so sorry ((((hugs))))
@Fage thank you so much for finding us! My mom loves your name cause you are named after her favorite yogurt lol. Thanks so much about our peppers too! We are so pleased to meet you! ((((hugs))))
@Art and Sew Forth OMG I didn't know that! I bet your view is just exquisite!! You are just in Montana for the summer? I want to see photos! xoxoxo
@Bailey tell your Mom to send a little of her coolness to us. We hit 100 today. Major cool down tomorrow (90) lol. Will pull out my coat and hat :)
Oh Caren
ReplyDeleteWe do not think you are babies for talking about the extreme heat. WE understand, and we are used to it. Mom grew up in Northern Florida (where we live) and she still hates hot weather. We feel so bad for those who are suffering without benefit of AC. WE will purr for your Mom and hope she feels better very soon and that the heat lessens.
purrs
>^,,^<
♥Abby♥
It's hot and steamy here, too, Cody. Just keep thinking about all that nice fluffy snow from last winter! And remember, it's not all that far away now.
ReplyDelete@Abby wow your Mom grew up in Florida and hates hot weather? You need to move here! (but wait til after this freak heat spell lol) We feel bad for those without air too, we have been there and it is awful! My Mom said thank you for the purrs!
ReplyDelete@Linda believe it or not we ARE thinking SNOW xoxoxo
We live in the heat zone too, Alabama.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your stone problem. My hubby's DR. told him that grapefruit keeps the stones from forming. If it is OK with your meds, of course.
I hope you're not having a lot of pain.
The peppers sure look good.
Your peppers are great looking. Stay chilled!!
ReplyDeleteHi GreatGranny and thanks so much for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteWell actually nothing can keep my stones from forming (due to the type of kidneys that I have) but...their formation can be drastically slowed through diet which I try to follow as closely as I can. It doesn't surprise me that grapefruit would be good in the formation of stones because my doctor tells me to drink water with lemon EVERY DAY (not sugar lemonade but water with REAL LEMON JUICE). Grapefruits and lemons are super acidic so that is no surprise.
I'm not on any meds at all (thank goodness!!)
Not in a lot of pain lately, that usually just occurs when I am passing a biggie!
Thanks so much for your kindness and concern and for your compliment on my peppers! ((((hugs))))
Hope the temperature gets to comfortable level soon!!!
ReplyDeleteTake care and drink plenty of water.
@Fin thank you! Thankfully we have air, I feel awful for those that don't!
ReplyDelete@Lupie we sure hope so too! Tomorrow it is supposed to be a "frigid" 90 lol! I am drinking my water with lemon as we speak!
Wow that is hot. You should come visit us, we're at 36C and steaming in the humidity every day :-)
ReplyDelete@Au and Target, what does 36C convert to? I have a feeling you are hotter than we are so forget it! lol xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteThe Human and I hate hate hate the hots! We love our summer fog! It's SF's natural air conditioning. The HEAT in the central valley just sucks in the marine layer or something like that. Heh heh. We are not meteorologists, but we do know it is gray and cool and lovely.
ReplyDeleteWe wish we could send you some!
Ain't this heat something? Yuck. I know the people in Phoenix don't wanna hear it, but like you said, we're just not built for it up here! I'm very jealous of your hot peppers, they look great! All of mine are still green. Keep monitoring the ACs Cody, it's gonna be quite a summer, apparently.
ReplyDeleteYour peppers are LOOKIN' GOOD! I feel for you with that extreme heat especially that it could aggravate the kidneys. You'll be in my thoughts for you to feel as good as you can in the conditions and thoughts of health to your kidneys.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like so many blogs are posting about the weather, (mine included). Envy your garden.
ReplyDeleteIt is also extremely hot here. It has been in the upper 90s for quite a few days now and I have no air conditioning! It's been miserable. I hope you are staying cool. The vegetables are very nice-looking :)
ReplyDelete