Today has been an extraordinarily hot day. The forecast for Brisbane was 41C and even here it was tipped to reach 38C. It is now 5pm and it is 38C in my kitchen – no I have not had the oven on!
Because we live in a relatively temperate climate we do not have air-conditioning and our only means of cooling is a fan. It is a very efficient Dyson model which we have had running all day. Other than that, The Duke and I have been doing very little and conserving our energy. We have drunk copious amounts of chilled water and I have planned a cool, refreshing evening meal. I will post more about that tomorrow.
We have kept a close eye on the dog and cat who are both ‘seniors’ in animal terms. There is no doubt that the cat was quite good at finding the coolest spot in the house. At first, he was sprawled out on the slate hearth beside the fireplace. Later on, he decided that on top of the low bookcase in front of the louvres offered the best hope of some movement of air. However, he was panting and seemed a bit distressed so I decided to cool him off.
Although he was not too keen, Mr Kitty did not put up much of a fight as I think he realised that he actually felt better.
I then put him out on the verandah where he groomed himself and dried off quite rapidly.
I am about to have a cold shower before I finish doing the food preparation for our eveing meal. I think we will be eating outdoors in the hope of catching even a whiff of breeze.
My apologies to my North American readers who are suffering from the terrible winter storms. I hope you can stay safe and warm.
organised castle 
Just hearing on the news that rain and cooler temps are on the way in a couple of days. This is one time I hope the weather bureau is right. Very hard after being in the cooler Europe for the past four weeks. Thank heavens we have air con.
Is must be a bit of a shock to your system after being in the cold weather so recently.
These are the days we choose to use the AC, Rarely used in summer but we installed it more for heating in winter. However my 4yo cat will not come inside and prefers to be out in the heat. I worried about her and tried to get her in yesterday and she just fretted to get to a room with no AC to stretch out in the heat! I expected her to be looking for the coolest places!
That sounds like one strange cat! I do hope she is OK.
Poor Mr. Kitty! He looked so forlorn in the sink picture. I hope he’s feeling cooler now.
He wasn’t pleased but I kept telling him it was for his own good. 🙂
He didn’t look too happy, but probably felt better for your efforts.
We are at opposite ends of the spectrum here. Yesterday it was -27C and windy, which, according to the neighbours weather station, made it feel like -47C (we call it windchill). Brrr..
I can’t imagine temperatures that cold! Gotta love that wind – NOT!! Take care and keep warm. I’ll be thinking of you all.
Wowsa – That’s hot!! I think I would melt into a puddle if I had to stay in a house that hot. I have wet my older, long-haired cat down with wet rags before when he looked a bit hot (and it was no where near 38C) – he actually likes it. But he’s also stopped bathing himself as much and has gotten a bit used to me doing that to help clean him up a bit.