The warm weather continues, with some humidity.
My Mom received her birthday present today, she said she likes it. I was concerned about the gift wrapping, as I had no idea what sort of wrapping it would be. Mom said the box came in a “A lovely bag tied with a bright red ribbon. Not paper.”
The temperature in the house remained relatively constant through the night last night, coming in at 21C first thing this morning. The chilly night had almost no effect on the temperature in the interior of the house. This is a new phenomenon, and a welcome one. The heat was turned off on Tuesday evening, so the only explanation for the maintained temperature during the night is the new attic insulation, and the new windows.
This combination of home improvements makes a noticeable difference in how the house feels, and in how I remain comfortable in the house. Suddenly, even with the outdoor temperature falling to 10C overnight, the house maintains its heat. In the winter months the thermostat is turned to 17C for the night, my preferred night time temperature. My light weight duvet provides far too much warmth for an indoor temperature of 20C or higher.
Nightwear and bedding need to be adjusted. Tonight a summer weight pair of pyjamas will be worn, as an experiment, while leaving the duvet on the bed. If I am too warm tonight, tomorrow the duvet will be cleaned, and put away until next autumn; the flannelette sheets will be stripped off the bed, to be replaced with cotton percale sheets. If I am still too warm, I will leave the ceiling fan running while I sleep.
If these measures fail to provide a comfortable night’s sleep, then a day and evening with the windows open might lower the interior temperature. Failing that, as a last resort, the air conditioning could be turned on. Air conditioning seems so wrong, as the heat was just turned off the day before yesterday.
The hydro bills have taken a dive, which they usually do at this time of year, when the air source heat pump runs infrequently. Checking usage online, the month of April saw a 4% drop from last year, in the amount of electricity used. This is more significant than it sounds, as April this year was very cold compared to last year. Despite the increased heating demands based on temperature, fuel consumption decreased. Because of the generous government grants for these upgrades, our investment was lowered to the point that we might see a return over the next few years. Of course, that is assuming the funding reaches us. The cheque is “in the mail”, so to speak, so fingers are crossed that it will actually arrive.
I am enjoying Tai Chi, and have started to follow videos and continue on with it at home, as my paid lessons are coming to an end soon. I anticipate a smooth transition. Videos make learning easy; pressing pause, and repeating the move in the video, allows for personalized instruction. I have my little learning aids. Being slightly dyslexic, the moves can be very confusing in the mirror image that one sees in a video. To resolve this, the demonstrators outfit was determined to have a more intense colour on the right side. A wrist band on my right wrist allows the wrist and intensity to match. Where there is a will there is a way, with many things in life. I tend to be delighted with my little work arounds, it is wonderful to enjoy my ingenuity without a critical, and sadly articulate, “eye” present.
I may return to the paid lessons at a later date, I do enjoy them, but for now they are very expensive. The cost of the lessons is just within financial grasp, but the fuel for travel makes it a very expensive pastime. Perhaps it will be a future indulgence. The warm weather months are not a time for schedules!
Attila and I continue share our house in peace. The garage project is not schedule until June, his art studio will not be available for quite some time. Happily he is finding great pleasure in working in the garden.
My days pass peacefully, reading, crocheting, writing, working on genealogy, taking on small projects like cleaning Iris the trailer, cooking, baking, cleaning, and now sitting on the back porch enjoying the activity of the birds, the squirrels, the rabbits, and the ever active purple ball that lives in the back yard.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
14°C
Date: 8:00 PM EDT Thursday 3 May 2018
Condition: Mist
Pressure: 101.3 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 14.4°C
Dew point: 14.4°C
Humidity: 100%
Wind: WSW 10 km/h
Visibility: 3 km
Quote
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
Bruce Lee
1940 – 1973
Maggie, I absolutely understand about that temperature change. We have thermostats that we can set so that if the interior temperature goes below a certain level, they turn on the heat; if it gets above a certain level, they turn on the air conditioning. While there’s a fairly wide spread between those low and high numbers, there’s a day or two each spring and fall when we run both heat and a/c in the same 24 hour period. While I agree that it just feels “wrong,” I remind myself that I’m not the one making the 30-40F temperature swings in a single 24-hour period.
Wendy, I think I could configure this thermostat in a similar way! Something to think about. I will have to find the manual and give it a go, if my little strategies don’t work out. The temperature swings are extreme, and you know, I think adjusting to them is a bit hard on the human body. So glad you shared that strategy!
Down here in the lower 48, (northeast particularly) we’ve had high 80’s temps for a couple of days now and I am thoroughly and completely done with it! Heat and I go together like Democrats and t.Rump.
Maggie, we ran our dehumidifier constantly too and it couldn’t keep up, that’s how much humidity there was in here! We’d never seen anything like it.
Aren’t you going to tell us what your mom’s birthday gift was?
-Kate
Bex, that humidity sounds dreadful! I wilt in the humidity, if the temperature rises above 20C. LOL, Democrats and t.Rump, good analogy.
Kate, wow, that is humid, almost liquid air! I have it in my sites for future renovation to paint the basement floor, and insulate, moisture barrier, and dry wall the basement walls, which will reduce heat loss and hopefully reduce the humidity. This will reduce hydro usage. My other long term strategy is to buy an energy efficient chest freezer to replace the bashed up, inefficient, used one I bought through kijiji as a temporary appliance before we moved to Mist Cottage. It works, but it uses a lot of electricity to do it. These things are years away, right now all I can focus on is that garage roof, lol!
I bought an art jigsaw puzzle for my Mom. We always did jigsaw puzzles as kids, a great way to spend time with people, while keeping the hands busy. Many hours of happy occupation!
Ah! Odd person that I am, I’m glad to here your purple ball is still around. I was wondering.
That looks like a pretty picture on the puzzle. I’m sure your mom will enjoy it.
I switched over to summer-weight bedclothes on Tuesday. It did cool down enough last night for the heat to come on once, though. But that’s about the only time it’s run in the last 4 days. I’ll be glad to see the dramatic plunge in the electric bill.
*roll eyes* Hear, not here…
Teri, the purple ball was stuck for a little while, frozen to last years Echinacea stocks, it is free and roaming once more, 🙂
Tuesday seemed to be the pivotal point here in Ontario as far as heating is concerned. One of the nice thing about spring, that falling hydro bill.
We had one day this week where we hit 85 degrees. Much too hot too quickly but I’m trying to find something positive instead of complaining 🙂 So on that day I noticed a number of the flowers in my pots on the balcony sprouted! Yay sprouts! I admired them through my perspiration 🙂
A Charles Wysocki jigsaw puzzle! I discovered his work years ago and always loved the primitive rural scenes he painted. Also, I enjiyed the colors he used.
Summer has begun in earnest here in the desert, it will be 103F (39C) today (or hotter, as the “official” forecast is conservative in its prediction). Not complaining, as we don’t suffer from the horrid winters you do. Come 116F (47C), then I’ll be complaining, 🙂 I imagine your mother will enjoy that puzzle very much.
Sandy, wow, that is warm! I wilt at anything above 75F, and cooler than that if the humidity is high. LOL, I laughed at the image of you counting your sprouts through persperication, a great turn of phrase.
I have a Charles Wysocki jigsaw puzzle and love it, same as you, the scenes and the colours. I also like the quality of the Buffalo Games puzzles, and that they are manufactured in North America, not quite local for a Canadian, but much preferred to products that have to travel half way across the world to get to me, and that might be produced in plants with squalid working conditions.
Joan, yikes, 39C, I would melt into a puddle! I doubt I could survive 47C, kudos to you hearty souls who withstand it. Mom likes her puzzle, she is a big fan of jigsaw puzzles, as I am, as all of her children were and are. She will probably share it with whoever wanders in for a visit!