Musings under the oak

Well there aren't any musings actually because I fell asleep! But I am sure there would have been had I stayed awake.

Afternoon seista. Two minutes in the bedroom caravan and I was cooked. Nothing for it but to grab my pillow and a spare duvet, out onto the back field where HG has obligingly cut a nice chunk of lawn, and park up under one of the oak trees by Duck Pond Wood.

Now there is something about looking up at a leafy canopy overhead. And I started doing some musings, honestly I did. But then sleep came. So I didn't.





All I can do is share with you a picture of where I would have done my musings if I had of stayed awake long enough.

Meanwhile Labartere slumbered on as well. No builders today. Johnathen came for the afternoon and did some more in the half barn, before the heat made him shut down for the day.

And swinging slightly to the right, in the centre is the fig tree which has done an almighty spurt of growth since last year. Up at the top of the blog page you can see the fig tree in 2008, so you can make comparisons.

By the way the washing line was run over by the digger on Monday. I am surprised it had survived as long as it did, being in a position which has been central to the builders work in progress area. But now its foot has gone all akimbo. Washing lines only have one foot if they are twirlers. Others here have four feet, two at either corner. Have an accident with one of them and you still have three others left. Not so my twirly-gig. Will have to batter my eyelids at HG to see if can thwack it back into place. Not today though, as he has gone for a early evening nap after missing out on post lunch siesta because he was having a manly gossip with Johnathen.

Things I have learnt today: Hot days are dozy days, and are best enjoyed outside under the shade of a lovely big tree even if one's eyes refuse to stay open to enjoy the green vista overhead.

How to keep cool

I wasn't going to pop a blog up today, then thought I would.

First of all, for all you UK people experiencing some hot weather, here are some helpful hints from down here in SW France where we are more experienced with dealing with the heat.
1) Keep your clothes on. If you don't, and you get hot, then rivers of perspiration will run down all the crevasses of your body and will make you feel jolly uncomfortable. OK, so your clothing might feel a tad on the damp side, but it is much better than being in a shower of your own making.

2) When the heat is making you feel cooked and tired, just say to yourself: at least it's not raining and it's not cold.

3) I find that jam making in the caravan kitchen is a great way to cool down. Since the task itself requires heat, then that, plus the environment of the caravan on a hot day, will inflate the air temperatures no end. Once the task is finished, when one goes outside into the heat of the day, by comparison the temperature will feel cooler. After all, one is not standing infront of a gas ring going at full pelt, stirring a large pot of sugar and fruit.
If you do not have a caravan so you can't avail yourself of this cool-down hint, then switch on your gas fire for a few minutes, roast yourself infront of it, get yourself to sweltering-temperature, then off outside into the sunshine. As I say, by comparison, you will feel automatically cooler.

4) The need to have a siesta will come upon you the more the temperatures go up. Do so. Your body is working very hard to keep you cool so it deserves a bit of time out, and would appreciate you getting off your feet so it can have a rest too.
This might be difficult if you are in an office environment however. Shutting the office door and having a five minute kip on the floor is perhaps not the best activity to be engaged in. Others might misconstrue your floor-pose, believing either that you have fainted and then try to rescucitate you, or that you have gone on strike, or that you would like some titillation. So, sorry, I am not sure how you would go about a siesta in these circumstance. Five minutes on the loo perhaps?

5) Drink plenty of water. Your body will moan at you if you don't. The first sign that it is unhappy is when you can't do number two's but feel you want. to This is because your bodily fluid is coming out through your skin and there isn't enough to sort out the plumbing system of your nether regions.

6) Don't mind if your partner doesn't want to do 'spoons' at night. This is when you tuck up with each other, one front against the other's back. It does not mean that they are going off you, just that they are too sweaty and don't want to soak you as well. If you do feel that there is a bit of a gap between you in the bed and you don't like it, you can always slide a foot across the gap, and park it up on your partners body somewhere. That will keep a contact between you. However, if your partner rolls over suddenly, you might find your foot trapped beneath their body, so be watchful with this.

7) I touched on this in a previous blog, but wearing a hat when doing tasks will sop up the moisture which will run down your face and into your eyes as you get hotter, and might cause difficulties at moments when it is important to have full vision. I suppose a headband would suffice if you haven't got a hat, but I like hats because you can play with them when talking to others.

8) Don't moan about the sun, and how hot it is. Go outside and enjoy. Sit under a tree and watch the shadows. Think about the coldest day you remember and feel blessed that it is warm and you don't have to wear thermal vests.

9) Hot weather will encourage the midges to bite. There are plenty of creams on the market to remove the itch, but putting a nice large nugget of spit on the tip of a finger and smearing it onto the bite should help, but if you simply have to itch, then here is how you do it: Put the tip of one finger onto the tip of the bite. Then use your other fingers to scratch round the bite, all the while keeping the original finger in place. This method gives you a hearty good scratch without interfering with the top of the bite which, if you do scratch the actual top, will make the entire bite worse. Scratch the surrounding environment of the bite, not the actual bite itself.

10) Abandon your car. Don't give in to the herd mentality of 'going out for a drive'. All you will do is probably end up in a traffic jam. If you feel the need to have some water to immerse yourself in, get a bowl of water and put bits of you in it. Or use the hose pipe on yourself. Or walk to the local swimming pool, lake, stream, river, or beach. It is better for your lungs and general health if you do partake of a huge intake of petrol or diesel fumes as you wait for the next car to move infront of you.

11) Ban TV. Take every opportunity to get out into the air, after all, in the UK, sun is not always in bountiful supply.

So, I hope these hints help you to also enjoy the warm days. Meanwhile, here at Labartere, no builders today, but Johnathen has been working in the half barn. I have been jam making, blogging, and doing some final editing on Psychic Virgin. Lester has been hard at work on his PC. Three more months before he finishes his present employment, he was told today. The company he is working for is folding, and being gobbled up by its parent company which is also probably going to fold. Not to worry though. He has managed to get over a year's salary from them, which has enabled us to push forward with the renovation work.

Things I have learnt today: That keeping in the saddle can be quite hard work, but it one does feel like one is going to take a tumble, just pick up the phone and have a girly chat with one's daughter or one's friends. This will help one keep astride the pony which is one's life.