Cave Living

Just a short post today.

We have had excessive heat warnings all week. I open up the blinds and curtains every morning when I get up so my plants can get some sun. And I can enjoy the light myself. But by 9 am you can already start to feel the heat coming in. So I start closing up all the blinds and enter into the cave life. I'm trying to keep my bill down because it has gone sky high. 

Today it wasn't supposed to be so hot so my daughter Debbie came so we could go to lunch. When I opened that door it was like sticking my head in and oven and it was only 10:30. I through the 
A/C on high and got the truck cooled down and on we went. Since it was still early for lunch I was able to park right at the door and we headed right on in. The heat makes it really hard to breath so after lunch we just came back home no shopping no hanging out anywhere. This heat will last at least another 10 days with highs at anywhere from 108 to 113. 

So as soon as I get up tomorrow I need to get grocery shopping done as I will not be leaving my house again.

I had to cut back on the bike because of the heaviness of the air even with the A/C running and a box fan blowing the cold air at me. But I still ride every day just not as many miles. I do lots of reading and puttering around the house.

Good Night All

Forgotten Pieces

It has rained something fierce today. Temperature is 73 and the humidity is 82% . Oh well can't ever complain about the rain but goodness the humidity.

As I was putting away the gear back into the camper and removing more from the tote I couldn't find the measuring spoons. Then I realized the little container with herbs and things wasn't in the truck. Oh when I picked up the exercise bike I removed a few things to make sure I would have enough room. So in the shed I went and also my chair was in the shed. So I brought them back out and returned them to the camper. 

Here are the other pieces, the green bowl is Fred's food dish

I'm so looking forward to going out with my daughter tomorrow and getting out of the house and spending time with her.

Good Night All

Collapsible Camping Gear

Well I finally brought in the collapsible camping gear. Since I had to add the sauce pan and take out the old one it seemed like a good time to get these pictures taken and added.

In this picture everything is folded closed

 Here all is opened. The dish pan and drain came as a set. The drain has a plug to release the water and the bottom can be removed completely. It also had another little piece you can add to hold flatware so it can stand up to drain dry. The small red bowl on the bottom right can be used as a bowl or drinking cup. Fred has a larger wider one for his food but kept his heavier dish for his water.

The red thing on the left is for making coffee like the Melitta, the green oval flat piece can be attached to the bottom of the strainer and used as a bowl. That was one of my first pieces given to me my my good friend Lucy.

And the new piece the sauce pan which is 1qt

Here you can see how well they stack and are very compact

 I have tested the cooking things to make sure they will not melt or burn and they did just fine. Now it this heat would go away one of these days I am ready. Oh I just realized I did not bring in the measuring cups and spoons. All these things can be found on Amazon and most at Walmart under pots and pans

Good Night All

All Fixed!

Sunday night the fan finally failed. So as soon as I got up Monday I sent Michael a message to let him know it was dead. He said he would be on his way as soon as the supply place opened. Michael lives in the small town of Benson, AZ. I have known him since he and my daughter Debbie were friends in there teens. Then he sent me a message stating he was on his way. Of course it had to be the worst humidity day so far. The temperature wasn't all that bad but it didn't matter. I turned on all the fans and opened the windows. As soon as he got here went right to work. It is exactly what he thought that the motor went to the fan and he put on another part as he saw that that part was pretty old. Oiled everything up and put it back together. I tell you when I heard that puppy start to run I could have danced if it wasn't 90 degrees in here. I started closing up windows and so did Michael. That's one of your biggest fears living here is to have your cooling system go out. The price of the repair wasn't to hard on me as I had saved back a bit of money from last month so it covered this cost.

We had a super storm come in last night. One bolt of lightening was so bright it lit up the house and I knew with that a huge clap of thunder would come. And it sure did, it shook the whole house and knocked a coffee mug off the rack I was surprised it didn't break, some pictures were even crooked. Fred even came out of his man cave tilting his head from side to side and looking at me like WTH was that.  But it sure cooled things down last night.

Wasn't to hot today at all but the humidity is up pretty high. I made an early run to the grocery store and that was it for my day outside just  puttered around the house and did some reading.

Good Night All

Some Good, Some Not So Much

After not getting together for 3 weeks for our Sunday get together we finally made it. We had plans to go to a wonderful place for breakfast but by time Tracy got here it was to late and would have been crowded. So we went to a place we used to really like, well we don't like it anymore. The food was awful and the service was not it's best. So that has been scratched off our list.

Then we did a little shopping but it was already so hot the A/C in the truck could barely cool us down. So home we came. But at least we had our day together. Our day may be changing as she is starting a new job and she may have to work Sundays, But I have nothing to do so what ever day it is will work for me.

Now for the not so good. Wed. night just as I had fallen to sleep this screeching noise woke me up. It was quite load and I held my breath hoping it wasn't my A/C. Didn't hear it again so back to sleep I went. Yesterday each time the A/C ran the course it started to screech but not load like the other not. Great just what I wanted to happen. So I called my A/C guy and we talked about the noise. He asked was inside or out. Inside. My A/C is set up to run through the furnace. Well the furnace is about 25 yrs old now and it has been having problems but Micheal always managed to get it going. I told him it must be time for a new one and he said maybe but he is coming to look at it tomorrow. He wanted to come right away but I said as long as it's blowing cold air it can wait, unless it quits then I will call crying and you'll find me in my truck with the A/C on. LOL 

So as far as me heading up the my beloved Mountains this summer it just isn't going to happen. I already know about how much it will cost for a new furnace. 

I'm just happy it lasted through the weekend as I'm sure Michael could use some time off with him working in this heat. And who knows if he had to go out on emergency calls anyway.

Oh well at least I have my bike to ride and keeping it at the 8mls for a while. Doing lots of reading so as not to run the TV to through out more heat and use more electric

Good Night All

Is It Almost Winter Yet!

We started to have some monsoon action these past few days. Some great thunder and lightening with pouring down rain. Lanterns at the ready and battery powered fans set too. Hope we won't need any of it and if so not for any long length of time. 

You here people say how nice the rain cools down things. Well not here when it has been 109 for a couple of days, yes while it's raining it cools down but once it stops the heat off the grown and the humidity make it suffocatingly hot. 

I had to go shopping this morning so I got out as early as I could. Of course took me longer to shop as usual and it was so hot by time I got home and brought in the groceries I had a hard time breathing. It was only 11 am and 101degrees. So got my nice cold water out of the fridge an sat for awhile. Then put the groceries away. Sure hope I don't have to go out again for at least a week.

I really need to get Fred to the groomers his nails are way to long and he could use a nice bath. I also need a hair cut. I will call for an apt. for Fred and let my hair cut go for a while unless it cools down HAHA what a joke.

All the added window treatments seem to be doing a pretty good job. The only time I raise the a/c is when I ride my bike and then turn it back down. Even with the fan going it is hot. I am doing my 8 miles so I'm pretty happy about that. I ordered a  padded seat cover which has helped in the comfort and less sweating, and added a small pillow to the seat back that fake leather is really not comfortable. Now I can ride in more comfort. I will take it slow working toward more miles.

Good Night All

What Have I Been Doing

I haven't been doing to much as the heat has been awful. But yesterday and today the mornings were great. I was able to open the windows and door to let in some fresh air. It didn't last to long but it was nice. As soon as I felt it getting a little warm I closed up the house to keep it cool longer. This morning was really nice and I was loving it. I went out and cleaned up the yard and bagged it all up and put it out to the curb for trash pick up. Then showered and ran to the store to pick up some refills and a few groceries.

By time I left the store the heat was on the rise.
 The other day I was in the shed and was looking around for the next stage of cleaning up. Up on the smaller loft I could see lots of junk that needs to go. As I looked around I spotted a box with a brand new mini blind. I got out the ladder and took it down. I brought it in the house and let it lay flat for a couple days. On the weather today it said the heat was going to rise back up to 107 and the humidity was going to sky rocket with the onset of the monsoons which means the temp will be more like 110 +. Well it was time to put that mini blind up in the front window. I had a paper shade up but that alone does not block the heat. So I folded it up the best I could and installed the mini blind behind it. Those junkie screws that come with them are always a problem so I went digging in my tool box and found a couple sheet rock screws. I still had trouble with the right side because I had to use my left hand to screw them in even with the screw gun. I finally had to move the stand that was in front of the window so I could get better aim. Boy I'm glad that is done.

I've been doing great on the bike and am up to a little over 7 miles now and anywhere between 50 - 60 min.

Good Night All