Category Archives: summer

directions

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Last week under the Big Top it was hot. It was hotter than it usually is or expected to be the first week of May with temps in the 90s nearing the century mark. Yes, I am well aware that in other parts of the country people were shoveling snow…in May!

I know!

I’m sorry.

Unfortunately I can’t control the weather. It is not part of my job description as the master juggler around here…no matter what my kids might think.

Still I did my best to keep the Big Top cool. Hurray for the window tint I got for my birthday. It worked…it really worked!!! I also, after careful research…which came after discussing it with the wise folks on Twitter, changed the direction in which all of our ceiling fans were turning.

Counter clockwise was the overwhelming consensus that a fan must turn in order to produce a cooling wind chill effect by the downward air flow.

As predicted it did not change the thermostat but the living room and kitchen area, as well as the bedrooms did indeed seem to be significantly cooler…oh, and I didn’t have to turn on the ac until the day we hit the century mark last Thursday late afternoon. I liked that. I liked that a lot.

And my circus clowns came home all week to a nice, cool Big Top after their long days at work, school, dance, Krav Maga and Tae Kwon Do.

Saving energy and keeping the Big Top comfortably cool; I win!

Thankfully, by Sunday there was a change in the weather and this week has brought temperatures that are 20-30 degrees cooler along with cool evening Delta breezes. As it should be here in the merry month of May. It is then that my darling husband wonders out loud if we should turn on the ac because he is hot.

Close the blinds and open the windows and let the breezes in, honey. It is only 75° outside.

But I’m hot!

Oh for goodness sake! (opening some windows and closing the blinds to block the setting sun)

Then looking up I notice that the ceiling fan is now turning clockwise.

Um, honey?

Yes?

Did you change the direction of the fan?

Yeah. I changed them all. They’re going in the wrong direction.

Um, no! I checked. They are supposed to be counter clockwise to cool the house more efficiently.

No, they are supposed to be clockwise in the warm months. I’ve got this.

No. Seriously honey, I did some research on this. In order to cool the house more efficiently and decrease our ac usage…AND save on our energy bill, the fans need to be turning counter clockwise. It helps to cool the whole room so we all can enjoy it.

When the fan turns clockwise it isn’t cooling the whole room. It does however seem to create a mini tornado under YOUR chair when you turn the fan up to high.

As it should be.

No, it should not be that way. Look, I’m just trying to save us a little off of our energy bill. It is crazy during the summer months and every little thing helps.

Fine! (he gets the step ladder and proceeds to change all of the fans directions back to counter clockwise)

A few hours later…

You know, I have been doing my OWN research and the direction the fan has nothing to do with cooling the room. It is how the blades are angled.

And so now the fans are turning clockwise…for now.

The moral of the story is it would seem that married couples are always arguing about directions.

So…what direction is your ceiling fan turning?

living in a greenhouse

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That is what we have been living in for a little less than two years. With the front of the house facing east and the back facing west and five large sky windows offering southern exposure, the Big Top was basically a greenhouse. It has always been, depending on the season, 10-30 degrees warmer inside. Perhaps a good thing in the winter but it has been absolutely, positively unbearable in the spring, the summer and the fall. Think about it. When it is say 110° outside, which it is often anytime June through September (and October last year!) it is overwhelming inside…if we didn’t have air conditioning…which we do but the ac pretty much would have to be on from 9 AM through 9 and even 10 PM just to maintain the indoor temperature in the 80s.

Yes, our PG & E bill during the late spring, summer and fall is insane.

Yes, many people are desperate for the light and the bright, especially during the winter months. But these people have not spent any length of time here under the Big Top greenhouse.

Truth be told, I hated it. I have hated it even more than the rental white walls that are poorly painted and the mis-matched painted baseboards and doors throughout the house. It is just too damn bright. Rarely does anyone ever curl up in one of our cozy leather chairs to read or just relax in our sitting room. It is just too bright and too hot. I could not and still have not hung any of my precious photos (there are a lot of photos) or any of the art that we have (mostly thanks to our talented niece). Are you kidding me? The constant sunshine streaming in through all those freaking windows from sunrise until sunset would destroy our precious, valuable-to-us treasures. So all those treasures, photos and objects d’art have remained packed away in the little cupboard under the stairs…the long-promised playhouse for Hazel, and now, Fallon.

A couple weeks ago I got to the point that I just could not go through another spring, summer or fall living in this greenhouse. Something had to be done, I told Bill and our landlord. So Bill and our landlord together decided that yes, I was right. Of course I was right. It was decided the least expensive, easiest and best option for us and our landlord was an energy saving tinted window film.

Bill and Ben together worked on this last weekend. I told them this was the best birthday gift! The difference is so dramatic.

And so very much appreciated these last couple of March days, before the official start of spring, with bright, sunshine-y highs in the 80s. The Big Top has remained a comfortable 70°!

I KNOW!!!

Buh-bye greenhouse effect!

As for me, I have spent the last two afternoons curled up in one of my cozy, comfortable sitting room chairs reading…at four-freakin-o’clock in the afternoon!

Best.

Birthday.

Gift.

a break from the summer doldrums

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It has been a thousand degrees around these parts for the last two weeks. Truthfully, no it has not been a thousand degrees but when it is over a hundred degrees it may as well be a thousand degrees because it is damn hot outside! Too hot to work, to go to school, to clean, to paint, to run, to sleep…too hot to do anything. It’s typical Central Valley weather in August except for the humidity and the rain that I was driving in early yesterday morning after getting off work.

Rain!

In August!

But there was a sweet double rainbow in the morning sky too so there’s that.

But with the heat, humidity and the absence of the cooling evening Delta breezes lately we were most grateful for the invite from friends to their sailing club’s Saturday night barbecue. And wouldn’t you know, after the freaky morning shower there was some cooling Delta breezes to enjoy along the Delta.

It’s as if the universe knew we needed a break, no matter how brief.

Good times, good food, good music, good friends and a much needed break with a promise of a “cooling trend” for the next week…cooling down into the 90s. Yes.

This week’s Focus 52 prompt was blue and while these pictures don’t necessarily represent blue at first glance they do to me because that is exactly what we felt…the cooling balm of blue skies, blue waters and cool breezes…the perfect break from our summer doldrums before we star all over again tomorrow. Be sure to check out this week’s interpretation of blue over at Jan’s twoscoopz.com.

overheard under the Big Top #809

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Watching Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee competing in the Olympic Decathlon to win gold and silver medals respectively:

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / August 9, 2012)

Abby: What event is this?

Mom: It’s the decathlon. These athletes compete in ten different track and field events over two days.

Abby: Oh

Mom: You know Bruce Jenner won it for the UnIted States in 1976.

Abby: Before he became a Kardashian?!

Mom: (shaking my head) Yes, before he became a Kardashian.

And then, as if on cue, comes this commercial.

Seriously.