Well, summer hit Upstate NY this Tuesday. The temperature here has been very cool for spring, 50’s and 60’s most days, then overnight we popped up into the mid 80’s range. I know that doesn’t sound like much to the southerners reading-but the mid 80’s is no joke when you spend all day at home with children in a house with no air conditioning.
To adapt to the summer, we change our schedule around here. The first and most obvious change is that we do our active/outdoors things during the coolest parts of the day, and our quiet activities when it is hot. I try to look at each activitiy we do during the day and think to myself “is this something I can do when it is hot and sticky in midafternoon, or do I need it to be cool”. I then take all the things that cannot (or should not) be done during the hottest part of the day and prioritize them to try to get them all done while it’s cool.
For my kiddos, we start by changing our TV viewing times. In the winter I let the TV be on in the mornings as we eat breakfast and go about our routine. Since TV can be watched anytime, but we can only play outside when it is cool, in the summer I limit the TV time to the middle of the day after lunch when it gets the hottest around here. I’m not saying we will never watch it in the morning-just this morning Buddy got up at 530 so I let him watch for a while to keep him quiet while DH and Princess slept. But by 615 the TV was off and Buddy and Princess were encouraged to run around and play.
The morning is also the time that I will bundle the kids off to the park to play, before the sun has had time to turn the metal slide into a torture device.
For my chores, I try to get any laundry done and hung out first thing (my clothesline is placed so it doesn’t wind up in the shade until the late afternoon) then get any outdoors gardening work or chores taken care of. I do everything possible not to add extra heat to the house. When we first wake up I open all the windows to let as much cool air into the house as possible. Then at about 830 or so I close up all the windows to keep the “cold” inside (and the “hot” out) and close all the shades and curtains to keep sunlight from streaming in and warming the place up. I also leave the incandescent lights off as much as possible (of course the fluorescent ones don’t add heat to the air-another plus for those compact fluorescent bulbs!) It probably looks like no-one is home for most of the summer! I also completely change my schedule for using the dishwasher-I try to arrange it so that it gets unloaded in the morning, then filled during the day and the wash cycle run at night so it doesn’t add heat to the house. Ditto for the clothes dryer (if I am not hanging the clothes outside).
Cooling adds a lot of extra heat to the house so I re-look all my options. Can I cook the meal or part of the meal evening before and then just warm it up in the microwave? Can I just cook the meal in the microwave or on the grill? Can I use my crockpot and plug it in out in the garage so it doesn’t add heat to the house? Can I do all the prep work in the morning or evening before when the house is cool then spend just a minimum of time over the hot stove? Even things like baking cookies or bread changes. I can make the dough at any time, put it in the fridge, then wait until the evening to bake it. (Ok, I admit, for the cookie dough that is only if the dough lasts that long-yum!)
Since my computer is in the basement, the coolest part of the house by far, I don’t waste my time down there in the morning when the rest of the house is temperate. Instead, I wait until midday, when I can really use a respite from the heat (consequently, I’ll be posting more in the afternoons now rather than first thing in the morning).
Our backyard gets very good mid afternoon shade-we border the town cemetery and there is a nice tall line of pine trees along the fence line. I put my chair in the shade and the kids run around and play in the wading pool. Needless to say, not a lot of housework gets done during this time. Since I’m outside I may check on the gardens and do a bit of weeding. I will also use this time to read or knit while watching the kids, two activities that during the cooler months I usually do in the evening when the kids are asleep. Since I give up my free time in the cooler evening and nighttime hours doing housework, cooking, cleaning and projects that it is too hot to do during the day, I feel justified in taking this “break” while the kids are playing.
If the heat gets to be too much, I have a few heat busting tactics, but I’ll leave those for tomorrow!
Amanda says
Boy, do I remember summers in Honolulu… no one in HI has central air (I finally bought a window unit for my bedrom for day sleeping after a night shift)My apt always felt like an oven. I had to have my fans strategically placed so that it was circulating the air!! Often it was warmer outside than inside my apt. The upside was that my laundry dried very quickly 🙂
We used to love to go to the dollar movie theater on hot afternoons. 2 hrs in a cool building for $1 – better than going to the movies in the evening when it was cooler!
I agree. Cooking was out of the question during the days. I almost never used my oven and stovetop was rare. Thank goodness for grills 🙂
Amanda says
Ok, actually some people DO have central air, but because of the tradewinds most people do not…. especially us working class folk 🙂
Stephanie says
In addition to using the grill outside we also use our camp cook stove. Anything to keep the house cooler!
Mom2fur says
We had big windows all over my house growing up, so with fans and the cross breeze, I don’t remember summers being unbearably hot. The way my house now is laid out, I can’t imagine not having air conditioning. We did it a unit at at time over several years. Try looking at the end of the season. Even if you only get one A/C for one room (like Amanda did) you will at least have a ‘sanctuary.’ Meantime, your idea to reschedule your day is a great one. Especially sitting in the shade of those pine trees! But I gotta ask..doesn’t the yarn make your hands sweat when you knit? I rarely crochet in the hot weather for that reason–except with cotton yarn to make dishcloths.
Rebecca says
I do much the same type of re-scheduling, but I won’t have to start for a few weeks yet (we are in the mountains).
The one difference: I do my cooking first thing in the morning, if at all. It usually takes all night to get the house cooled down to its lowest, so first thing in the morning, while the windows are still open, I will make pasta for a pasta salad dinner or even make french toast. I set a fan up in the kitchen to blow the hot air out the kitchen window.
I also have been known to use my crock pot in the basement. This summer I am going to try using my rice cooker (with steaming tray for meat or veggies) outside.
Jenn says
Stephanie & Amanda-Yes, cooking outside is great! Also our new grill that DH bought at the end of the season last year has a burner on it-but I hadn’t thought about using that to cook on. Good idea.
M2F-My mom has decided to get central air, so she said we can have her window units-I think we’ll accept and then just put it in our bedroom and only turn it on if it gets really hot-we can put a fan in the door and try to blow the “cool” into the rest of the house. Also, with the yarn-handling it doesn’t bother me, but if I have a large piece where it is bunched up on my lap it can be a bit warm.
Rebecca-I’ll have to try the rice cooker as well 🙂
Amy says
Rebecca – Thanks for the idea to cook things in the basement! I was debating on moving my bread machine and crockpot out of doors this summer, but was worried about animals.
The pasta salad is a good, cool dinner idea too. I’ll add that to my list.