I'm not sure I could live in Houston. If I did, I would never knit. We're in the middle of an excruciating heat/humidity spell here in the Northeast. I hate the heat. I try but I have always hated it ever since I was a young girl. Fast forward 40 years and it is no better.
Today I thought I would get used to it so I went outside and started doing some of the work that needs to be done around here to clean it up. Picking up all the odd bits of wood left from the studio construction to be used for kindling next winter and moving it all up the hill in my wheelbarrow. Sweeping up the gravel that rushes down the road everytime it rains or snows and lands on the patio and in the garden. Adding leaves and bits to the compost pile and working on mulching the garden. I lasted until about noon. I made the mistake of coming inside and then going to the paint store in an air conditioned car. It was all I could do to go back outside again.
The Farmer doesn't mind the heat. He is of French Canadian descent and somewhere there must be some bit of Provence in there. He got up, did chores making sure the animals were okay and headed down to the Sunflower Field to till and put in a few more rows of flowers. He came back chipper. Me, I was drooping like a wilted piece of lettuce. He has no sympathy for me. Then he headed off to the Northampton Tuesday Farmer's Market held in a parking lot. Me, I decided to skip our Bernardston Farmer's Market which is held in a different parking lot. Too hot for me and Julia. Never mind we didn't have any lamb to sell. Thank goodness for that.
Tomorrow the sheep shearers are coming back to finish shearing the rest of the sheep. That means I have to stand there sorting manury wool. Do you know what lanolin tastes like? I do, unfortunately. When I wipe the sweat off my forehead, the lanolin mixes with it. Not a pretty picture I must say, nor is it too appetizing.
I'm not sure how I will make it, much less the sheep. The weather is supposed to get a bit cooler on Thursday. Let's hope so. I will not complain. Oh yes I will, just a little. The shearers and The Farmer are of much tougher stock than me. I'm just going to dream about when I had a real job and was in air conditioning. Maybe I can sneak in a cold shower after I feed them all lunch I have to get up in the morning and cook for them.
Remember.... Fleece Sale By The SIDE OF THE ROAD. Still on for Saturday. Someone asked about Cora's fleece. The black sheep are sheared last and I will put it aside for you Melissa S. That is if we finish them all tomorrow.
Sorry, no photos today. It is all I can do to type this.
The shears will glide effortlessly (easy for me to say) through the fleeces in this heat!
ReplyDeleteYay! Thanks Kristin! How much will I need for her fleece? I want to be prepared! I hope you guys get relief soon. It's hot here in town (Greenfield) too! Whole family is sleeping in the AC-ed living room.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Houston and I know how you feel. Can't stand the heat. Never have. And that's one reason why I've never moved back there. I'm happy in my cooler and much drier Idaho.
ReplyDeleteWow, I surely can empathize with you. I lose all desire to do any action when it is HOT and HUMID. I would shrivel up in a tropical climate and like you, I do hate the heat and always have. Iowa gets some awful days now and then, but mostly it is just lovely. Great seasons. Wonderful air. A good life. Hope your weather soon turns to something more agreeable.
ReplyDeleteI hear you! I'm in the northeast heat wave too and it's a energy sapper. I can't even think about sewing! Touching fabric and having threads stick to me is the last thing I want when it's 96 and humid. I hear a break is coming this weekend so grab a book and an ice tea and make a to do list for the cooler weather.
ReplyDeleteUgh. With our humidex, we've been up around 113, apparently, so I feel your pain. Everything in my apartment is warm to the touch, from the floor to the shampoo. Gross.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could try a sweatband? Then you don't have to wipe so much sweat, and maybe don't have to ingest so much lanolin?
Yep, temps around 105* actual and 109* heat index sure arent' fun for anyone. My sheep are pretty unhappy campers about now.
ReplyDeleteSaturday will be better, they're saying. I work in a garden nursery, and have taken to relying on ice pops for brief relief. I used to think they were just for kids!
ReplyDeleteWe are suffering with the heat too. I'm sure the sheep will feel better after shearing! Push those fluids. Good luck with the fleece sale, wish I was close enough to participate.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who does live in Houston, I understand, but EVERYONE has air conditioning here. That's what makes it bearable. And we still knit, even in the summer. We just knit with cotton or bamboo or some other 'not wool' fibers. Me, I don't do well in the cold. I don't think I could stand a northern winter anymore.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to wilting like a piece of lettuce. I am born and raised in Western WA and about die if it goes over 74 degrees. Unfortunately for me, our summer has started suddenly and viciously...it'll be 95 tomorrow. Thankfully the humidity is pretty low right now.
ReplyDeleteI am embarrassed to say I think I do know what lanolin tastes like, as all I can ever taste when I eat lamb is wool. Sad for me...those little lamb chops always look so appetizing!
You also probably have the softest forehead in the land due to wiping the lanolin on it!
I'm with you, Kristin - I hate the heat! I tried several times over the weekend to do gardening chores and other outside things, and kept retreating to the house for ice water!
ReplyDeleteI'll take a subzero day anytime over a sweltering one! At least you can put on a sweater!
I keep telling my husband I could move to Alaska. I love the cold, can't handle the heat and humidity. July and Aug in Missouri usually sucks! Just hot and sticky. Feel like I'm melting into the parking lot when leaving work. YUCK YUCK YUCK! Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteTotally sympathizing with you about the heat and humidity....Think cool breezes. Think cool breezes....
ReplyDeleteIt's hot here in Suffolk, England. (Well it's been close to 30 degrees.)I know what you mean about fleeces, but I keep telling myself that the lanolin keeps your hands soft.
ReplyDeleteI've heard a headband helps keeping sweat out of the eyes. As I am African American, I think I have a higher tolerance for heat. Don't quote me on that tho, as I get older (36 this year) I become less tollerant.
ReplyDeletenot to overload your in box but thought you might enjoy this reminds me of your placehttp://intothehermitage.blogspot.com/2010/07/old-women-who-paint-on-their-walls_07.html
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better...I live in Maine and finally gave up and bought an AC today (online, as there were none in stores). Before heat broke slightly, I thought of moving down to basement and sleeping on lawn furniture amid the spiders (moved down to living room w/ ceiling fan days ago), but oil delivery guy inexplicably came by and put teeny amount in furnace, which stank up cellar. Yankee torture. Love your blog...stay cool! Ann
ReplyDeleteYou would knit with cotton if you lived in a hot climate. I live in Phoenix and the temperature inside my car was 121 yesterday! I'm still happily knitting along on a cotton baby dress. Hope things cool down for you soon. Monsoons are on the way to give us some relief.
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