It’s been entertaining watching the various animals stop by to eat the lucerne. With the hot weather, it’s surprising they come by at all. Today will be 100F, and 38C with high humidity makes the heat challenging to bear. Right now, at noon, it’s 97F, 36C, rising by the minute. It’s not even summer yet. This is only going to get hotter over the next few months.
We avoid using aircon during the day to acclimate ourselves to being outdoors on hot days. Surprisingly, one does become accustomed to it to a point. But once it’s over 100F, 38C, it’s much more noticeable. Last night when we had sundowners on the veranda, it was 101F, 38.33C. As more and more animals ventured into the garden, we both forgot how hot it was and enjoyed ourselves.
With oldies music (and some more current hits) playing on our fantastic JBL speaker, which we keep inside the house to minimize the decibels, it’s our favorite time of day. We’re done with research, posts are done and being read by our readers, dinner is fully prepped and ready for finishing touches, the table is set, and we’ve selected what shows we’ll stream when we hunker down.
The insects are intolerable this time of year, making it challenging to stay outdoors after dark with any lights on. Neither of us cares to be outdoors in total darkness. A few outdoor lights allow us to see animals arriving but not to the extent during the daylight hours. Nor is it a good time to take photos. We leave that for our trail cam, which kicks on as darkness falls.
Most afternoons, especially when it’s hot, Tom comes into the bedroom for a short nap. I don’t nap, but usually, I stay in the bedroom with him since the fan is on, and it’s a nice break from the mid-day heat. By 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., we’re all set up for the evening hours we’ll spend on the veranda.
Tom sprays the bedroom with Doom to kill any flies, mosquitoes, bees, or flying insects that may have gotten inside. We always keep the bedroom door shut, but it only takes a second for insects to enter when the only bathroom on the main floor is the “en suite” in our bedroom. With all the liquid we drink during the day, we may likely open the bedroom door ten times a day, with plenty of time for annoying and biting insects to enter the bedroom.
I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of DEET I put on my skin each day by wearing socks, long pants, and shirts with sleeves. When applying DEET, it’s not necessary to use it on skin that’s covered by clothing. But it’s a catch-22, more clothes, hotter in scorching weather; fewer clothes are likely to cause me to be bit unless massive amounts of repellent are used.
Recently I bought some “natural” repellent that was supposed to be chemical-free, but after using it for a week, I noticed I was itching, but it wasn’t from bites. It was the paraben they use in the product as a preservative which I am allergic to. Good grief. Back to DEET, which doesn’t seem to bother me.
Today, I am wearing lightweight leggings, short socks with shoes with my ankles covered, and a 3/4 sleeve cotton button-up shirt. The only areas on which I must use DEET are my hands and arms, up to the elbow and neck, which the biting insects love to bite. My clothes aren’t making me uncomfortable, but having dozens of bites would ruin my day and night.
Soon, Tom will drive to Daisy’s Den to order more lucerne for the animals. We’ve decided to keep buying it until the rains come and the animals have a ready supply of nutrients in the bush. When we have lucerne, we use fewer pellets, and the cost between the two is similar.
That’s our update for today, folks. Have a fantastic day!
Photo from one year ago today, October 13, 2021:
