Hot weather and cool food.

We have a week well into the 40s this week. Today is the last reasonable day for a while. It's my chance to do things outside before quite a few days indoors out of necessity.

The hot days are hard on people. Here in SA power is very expensive and many people cannot afford to use their air conditioning. It is tough on so many who have to work outside too. I plan things to do indoors to keep me happily occupied and meals that don't involve the stove at all. And we swim in the evenings which is the best bit.

When the girls were little I would line up plenty of crafts and a few DVDs for these times and we would hit the beach in the evenings. Ice blocks in the fridge and slushies... those drinks where you pour your drink into a cup and stir it and it turns to ice... they loved those. They were wonderful!

Last night we had dinner at Chloe's and I took a pavlova, I just used a bought base, so no stove. But it was great albeit a cheat pav! I pilled berries on to it so anyone could really have a bowl of berries if they preferred. 

It went down very well!

Today I'm getting lots of ice going in the freezer. Filling the freezer with extra ice is so handy as I add ice to all the drinks but if the power was to go out and the freezer is full it will stay frozen much much longer so doing this protects you to some extent in a power outage.

And the heat has uses. When there is a heatwave I will wash the pillows, doona, underlay etc. I would never pay to have them dry cleaned. The sun is wonderful and no nasty chemicals. On a really hot day the doona is dry and back on the bed by the end of the day.  These things all smell and feel beautiful after a day in the sun. This must be a big saving from what I have seen of the prices at the dry cleaner. The last time I had a dress dry cleaned a few years ago when I picked it up the dry cleaning bill was more than I had paid for the dress. Hello, it would have been cheaper to buy a new dress than dry clean it! I've never been back since. I do remember seeing a sign for doona dry cleaning and I similarly noted it would be cheaper to buy a new doona! This would be a good idea with things like sleeping bags that we forget about until we need them next!

Another is giving the chopping boards a good scrub and placing them in the sun to dry out for an hour or so. 

Many people sun dry their tomatoes or fruit over these days. So it does have some uses too!

On hot days outside animals need extra water and I put out bowls of water for the birds who come in under the trees and the verandah. 

Ready made salads in the fridge make meals so easy, I just add cold meats and if an evening is reasonable outside we will use the BBQ to do some cooking. That is easy and really nice. We will add lots extra and enjoy BBQ toppings to some salads for a couple of days.

As I write I think of our American friends who have been suffering the exact opposite with below zero temperatures that have been positively frightening. Extreme weather either way does mean you have to think and plan before doing anything and sometimes you can't do anything except lay low until it passes.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone. I just love Sundays. My day to plan my week and relax a little bit!