These are some photos that I took three days ago of new bunches of grapes growing on the vines out back. The weather has been warm here for a while now, and today the high is supposed to be around 85ºF (that's almost 30ºC). That might not be a big deal where you live, but it's scorching hot by our standards.
Fickle weather... The plum tree I planted out back years ago blossomed beautifully in early March when we had a warm spell. In early April it was covered in tiny plums. Then in May the weather turned cold again. Now I can't find a single plum on the tree. They all froze and dropped, I think.
By my standards, 30*C is pleasant. The tiny flower buds look healthy, so maybe the frost wasn't so bad.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, we keep our thermostat set at 18.5ºC, year-round. Problem is, there's no air conditioning to keep the house was heating up in summer. The walls in this 1960s house are not very thick.
DeleteIn the desert of Southern California, Frank and I kept our thermostat at 80*F (about 25*C) year round.
Delete85°!? Wow, that is warm for June 1... although, now that I think of it, that visit that we did in 2017 was in early June, and it was in the 80s and 90s and even 100F ... crazy hot for France in June, it sure seemed.
ReplyDeleteI remember that too. We all sat out on the front deck well into the evening, with Callie, I think, enjoying the party, after I carried her up the stairs. Poor thing. I can remember a lot of hot months of June in France, when I think about it. June 2003, of course — the year of la grande canicule — but also June 1993, for example, when Walt and I checked out early from the hotel near the Jardin du Luxembourg where we were staying and fled from Paris to Burgundy and then Provence, because it was just unbearably hot in the city. We needed to breathe country air. So I guess this is not all that unusual. It probably won't last. And also June 1975, another long, hot, dry summer. I also remember a July when CHM and Frank were in Paris and were desperately miserable because the days were unrelenting damp and chilly.
DeleteWe're going to suffer through 106 degrees today in Chico, California.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I didn't know that, and while it's miserable it's not that unusual, is it? Our good friend Sue lives in Auburn and she suffers there with the summertime heat.
DeleteNo, not unusual for summer, but it's a bit early. Looks like another drought year and fear of more fires.
DeleteYeah, it does seem early. Sorry about the drought. I would have a hard time with such heat. Weather extremes seem extremer and extremer.
DeleteOur temps have been see-sawing here also. We recently had a cold front, but today we're back up to 85 degrees which is OK for June.
ReplyDeleteNo AC here. It's 85 up in the loft right now.
DeleteNo too bad, really, but the indoor temperature is still rising. At least it's not 100+.
DeletePortable AC unit for the loft maybe?
DeleteMaybe that would work but it's such a big space...I don't know. We'd only need it for a few nights a year...most years.
DeleteWould one of those big attic fans help in the loft? I'm told they work quite well.
DeleteI'm not sure how an attic fan would work when you don't have an attic. Friends of ours in California had one, and it did help pull the hot air out of the house when they turned it on in the evening when they got home from work. We have a very big fan that we use to suck hot air out through a window in the loft. Yesterday, it got hot (81 or 82 degrees) upstairs but sleeping, at least for me, was comfortable. Low humidity...
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