How's the heat treating you?

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I was just wondering how the heat wave was treating everyone? We are in those conditions most of the time in summer here, and folks just sit in the a/c or the shade in the afternoon for the most part. It gets to be about 110º in the shop when it goes over 100º outside, and it drags you down! Are your criiters doing okay? Hope everyone is holding up okay!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), August 09, 2001

Answers

Today the heat index is supposed to be 105+ in Upstate NY. I can't remember the last time we had heat like this.

Knock on wood...I haven't lost a chicken yet, but I did put ice in their waterer yesterday and will do it again today. I'm actually still getting eggs (not even hard boiled!) not as much as usual tho. There is a breeze here all the time so, I guess, that helps even tho it's a hot one. We did pull the horses out of their stalls yesterday and rinsed them with cold water. The TB mare has a middle stall and will sweat just standing. Today, we'll do it at least twice. The barn is 100+ years old and partially banked so it's cool. My daughter has been riding at 6am to keep Pooh fit, I cancelled her riding lesson last night due to the heat--it was still 80+ at 7pm.

Two of the dogs will swim in the pool with us-the beagle and chocolate lab X (you don't want to see the filter after) but the Rottie/lab/? and lab/retriever won't so we spray them down too. The dogs hang out on the concrete floor of the cellar a lot. The cats lay on my bed directly in front of the fan, they're the smart ones they only get up to eat until almost dark then they're outside.

The goats are inside in a huge stall most of the time but the heat doesn't seem to effect them like the other animals. Is this normal? They are drinking more but other than that the don't even look hot.

I'm worried about hubby today. He's helping a friend hay and will be raking all day long with no cab on the tractor. I sent him with 8 gallons of water and told him to drink all of it and get more. Men (or is it just mine?) have a tendency to go all macho and think they can handle anything and heatstroke is nothing to mess with.

Tomorrow the heat is supposed to break and Saturday should be around 75 degrees, thank God.

As for me, I'll be just sitting as much as possible. I just got the free back issues of CS and I'll be reading them, drinking lots of cold water, and rereading JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

How about the rest of you?

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy Rohan (KincoraFarm@aol.com), August 09, 2001.


It was a 100 here yesterday and already its 89 on the porch. It's so muggy that it makes breathing hard.

Animals have moved insde so they are doing fine.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), August 09, 2001.


I hate to tell ya'll this, but we had a cold front through last night. Expecting highs in the low 70's today, and 50's overnight. Actually wore a light jacket out to tend the animals this morning. (Well, I am from Texas, where 90 seems chilly this time of year!!) But, speaking of the critters, seems it was a perfect night for the fox to tote off chickens!! 14 gone out of 19 in one night!! boohoo

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), August 09, 2001.

HI Doreen, Way down here in Texas, it seems like summers go on forever,thank God for my air conditioner, can you amaging what it must have been like for the women in the old days, down here, with all those clothes they wore. doing the laundry on the scrub board. I just keep marketing the days off on the calender. and run from the car, air condition of course, to a air condition store, I work my garden very early in the morn. or late at night, other wise I hole up in the house. And Doreen write me on E mail, I would love to get to know you. Love Irene

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), August 09, 2001.

It's the humidity here that's so bad, different than most years. We're due for a break Fri and for the next several days.

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), August 09, 2001.


Hard to believe that here we are in Alabama in August, cooler than you all in New York! High in the 80's here with the usual sweat- producing humidity which you do not feel unless you walk, pick up something, or change position in your chair..looking forward to Fall sometime in October....

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), August 09, 2001.

A cold front moved through, temperature dropped all the way down to 88F. With the humidity index and all...it must only be about 105...

-- William in WI (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), August 09, 2001.

I can hardly believe it's this hot, 6pm and still 100 degrees. I pull cool air in during the night and then close the house up pretty tight when I leave for work. Two fans keep the air circulating, and the dogs and cats are fairly comfortable. Poor Tasha dog has the hardest time, she has very long hair and is overweight and old. She sits in front of a fan all day and sleeps in front of it all night. I read once that certain types of dogs shouldn't be shaved, anyone know anything about that? I think I may do it, she'd be a little cooler.

-- Cathy in NY (hrnofplnty@yahoo.com), August 09, 2001.

We tried closing up the house during the day with fans on, but we are home all day and it got awful stuffy. We broke down and bought a window ac. It was just too hot too long. We're not getting any younger and when you've got work to do you need a place to cool off. All our grass has burned away, plenty of weeds, though. We kept having to move fences and make new pastures for the livestock because it's been so dry. Hopefully storms are on the way and it will be cooler! Hope you all get a little cool-down, too. BTW, I took my broilers in to be butchered today. It's so satisfying to have a freezer full of home-farm raised meat.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), August 09, 2001.

Well, it's the hottest i've seen it since 1977 today. I was out digging footings for a rock wall, and when I came in for a break about three thirty, I saw that it was 110 in the shade. No wonder I was getting hot. Dry heat, though, thank dog.

Now it's quarter to five, and it's down to 108. Starting to heat up in the house; it's 76 downstairs, and 80 up here in the computer room. As long as it keeps getting fairly cool at night (59 this a.m. when I got up), we won't need air con.

I don't have a clue what the "heat index" is. Who started that little gimmick? How does it work?

I keep hearing people saying, "it's 105", and when somebody asks, they say, "well, 105 heat index" or some such.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), August 09, 2001.



I don't know who started the heat index dealee, but it seems to do a fair job. It figures in that Hoooomidity we all adore! Frankly 110º is hot with or without humidity to me.

My personal thermostat works like this....up to 95º, not bad, 100º, I am HOT, over 103º just count me out. It's not been nearly as bad this summer as last here. We could always use more rain, but overall it hasn't been too horrific. Hope everyone gets some rain and cool weather really soon.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), August 09, 2001.


Hey JOJ, do I remeber correctly that you have an earth bermed home? personally, I think 80º inside and 110º out is just dandy!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), August 09, 2001.

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