The builder said today that we should turn the aircon on and I told him I was still waiting to hear from the installer so he rang him and now we are going to have airconditioning by the weekend apparently. It will only be used during heatwaves due to the cost of running it but we have to do something as I am finding it harder to cope with the heat the older I get. I can't spend the whole day out in a shopping centre trying to keep cool after all :-)
Today the builders removed the front stairs and, goodness me, they are quite different now from the old ones plus now there is a big dip in front of them whereas the old ones reached the paving. So apparently they are going to put a slab there like out the back under the stairs. I am not real fond of these slabs but it seems to be the way to go and I will ask the painter about the best colour to put on them as well as the stairs.
As we have red dirt here I guess the paint colour for the slabs will have to be something that blends in with the dirt and the paving.
As my herb garden was ruined when the restumping was done although I did have some growing in pots which I moved, I am hoping that our old hydrangea bush which is beside the stairs survives as it is starting to flower. It is as tough as nails though as the CEO tried to kill it when he first bought this house and that was 41 years ago. LOL! He is not fond of hydrangeas and roses.
Speaking of roses, I am concerned about mine during this heat as they are growing in pots. Do you know how often I should water them during a heatwave? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am just learning how to grow them. They would cope better in the ground I would imagine and hopefully that will happen in the future.
I put this photo on Instagram today as the yellow cactus orchid is flowering. It is quite a large flower and the petals are quite unlike those of the other orchids.
Also the hollyhock seeds I was given at an ex-Down to Earth forum/Homemaker's forum get-together in Caloundra last year have produced this beauty which just towers over me. I have never grown them before and they are just fascinating to watch as only one or two flowers open each day.
Back to the renos...the stairs will be finished tomorrow and on Wednesday the builders will move into the kitchen so for a week or so we will be having salads as there will be no stove to cook on. The contents of the kitchen are now scattered throughout the house and I will remove the last few saucepans and crockery from there tomorrow night in readiness for the early morning start when the workmen arrive as they start about 6.45am. After that is finished I am presuming the bathroom renos will start. Thankfully we have a separate toilet ;-) I am pleased I did most of the clearing out last week when it was cooler as it is hard to function when you feel like you are in an oven as our kitchen is on the Western side.
So if you live in Queensland I hope you are finding somewhere cool to get through the next two days and hopefully we will then get a little rain to cool things down.
Your roses and hollyhocks are beautiful Chel.
ReplyDelete40°C is very hot! I hope you use a fan as much as possible until the AC is installed. Stay cool.
About the dip in front of the stair case- maybe a slab that matches the color of the paving stones will blend everything together?
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Nil
Nil, we have had the fans going all the time but they are just blowing around hot air unfortunately. Once we have the security screen back on the back door it won't be quite so bad as we will be able to keep the back door open. That area of the house couldn't be insulated so it is extra hot.
DeleteIt will be lovely for you to have air-con for these heatwave days, Chel. We run ours with solar panels and that makes it affordable for us. Hopefully, the heat will dissipate soon and we'll be back to some sensible temperatures! Meg:)
ReplyDeleteMeg, we have solar panels too. I will only use the aircon when absolutely necessary. We do have fans but they haven't been much use in this heatwave.
DeleteNana Chel if you are having the step treads painted make sure that the painter puts sand in the paint - it stops the step from becoming slippery. This will be us next year - an extension out the back which is going to impact on all of the important rooms at some stage. Setting the home up for when we are older so a lot of thought has gone into the plans. Hopefully we haven't missed anything. As for your roses check the soil in the pots and if tending towards dry then give them some water, in the evening when the heat is gone is best because then the roses will get the benefit of the water overnight.
ReplyDeleteLynette
Thanks for that tip, Lynette. I have never had stairs painted before so this is all new to me. This house is not geared for older people as there are eight or so steps out the back but there is no way my husband would move as we have 1/2 acre and he keeps birds.
DeleteYour life will change having air con installed, you'll be so much more comfortable at home. I rarely use mine, I don't like the shut in feeling and the drone of it......maybe it's noisy because it's an older model, but I'd rather find a cool spot under a tree, or go under the house, it's always cool there. I was going to say the same as Lynette about your roses.....keep an eye on how dry the soil gets, and when you water, just do the bottom of the plant. They can get sooty mildew if the leaves get wet. It looks like your pot is terracotta?....they can dry out quicker than plastic. Your hollyhock is beautiful, and it's good your reno is moving along nicely. Stay cool.
ReplyDeleteNanette, it is even too hot outside under a tree. It must have something to do with getting older as it never used to bother me so much. Thanks for the tip about the roses. I do have a couple in terracotta and they do dry out. The kitchen is being started tomorrow bright and early.
DeleteDid you find lots of unused items when you cleared out your kitchen? Everytime I clean out the cupboards I find items that I have looked for ages and then I toss out most of them. Too much stuff so little space.
ReplyDeleteSusan, yes lots and lots of unused items. We had an area under the bench which was quite dark and I had lost track of what was stored there. After 40 years there is definitely too much stuff. It would have helped if we had moved in that time I am sure.
DeleteChel it's been a bit cooler here but the humidity has been rather high. The ceiling fans are going on as soon as I get out of bed. Last night, was the first night that the bedroom ceiling fan has been left on all night. I still woke at 7am very warm. I woke up warm but not covered in sweat like yeasterday. The cool change is supposed to come through today. I so hope it does. I would also like for the wind to go away as it has been blowing hot air here for days. This is drying the garden out very quickly.
ReplyDeleteJane it has been much too hot here. Thank goodness it is nearly over as the cool change should be here in the morning.
DeleteIt's hard to believe you are experiencing such a heatwave in Toowoomba Chel. It's not right is it? We are quite cool here in comparison with breezes, and the nights are lovely but the fans are on. Love those Hollyhocks, real showstoppers. Keep cool and I hope the renos go well.
ReplyDeletePauline no it isn't right for Toowoomba to be so hot. We used to be known for our cold weather not heat. LOL!
DeleteChel just for your info.
ReplyDeleteWe have an older qlder and had back stairs painted and front stairs oiled.
The back ones now look very scrappy from our wear and the front ones look the same as they did 4 yrs ago when done.
I would go for no paint if l was you.
Thanks for the tip. I was wondering if the paint would wear off quickly. I will have a chat to the painter about it. Hopefully he can start soon but we are wtill waiting for the roof tradies to do their job first.
DeleteYour garden is looking lovely.... The heat was awful wasn't it? I got all my Christmas sewing done on those hot days....Glad you are getting air con.....
ReplyDeleteMandy, I was looking at some of the plants today and the leaves have been burnt. I will have to do something about providing shade for when we get more heatwaves which unfortunately seems to be the norm these days for our city which used to be known for its cold weather not heat!
DeleteWe have red clay here too Chel, and painted our verandah a nice terracotta colour. Not like Heritage red, but much lighter. Much better than the former grey, which was threatening to turn terracotta with each rain storm.
ReplyDeleteI water my potted plants in the morning, when it's going to be hot, but I also have self-watering pots. So they have a reservoir of water to draw from, underneath. If you can position your pots so they get morning sun, but no afternoon, you'll stop the soil from drying out. I also found it helpful to bunch my pots together in groups, which helped shade them better. I hope that helps.
Thanks Chris. I will have to talk to the painter when the other work is finally done and he can start his job which will be huge as he will have to burn off the old paint on the house as it hasn't been painted for many moons. It was 'one of these days' jobs that never happened. Good tip about the plants too.
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