It's so hot that I am gardening in my swimsuit and spending more time in the mist than your hummingbird. At this point the mission is "keep roses alive".

It's so hot that the doe who lives in the apple orchard hasn't gone to the front of the hill to munch on rose buds

It is so hot that two days ago, we measured the temperature of the West wall for our home; it was 186F ( no... this is not a typo). We easily decided that as the temperature begins to decline next month, across from that wall, a large tree with spreading limbs will be planted.

It's so hot that I can't even think of an "it's so hot" story. Oh, wait- does that count?

Seriously, today feels as hot as it's been in ages even though temperature-wise it's more of what we've been having for a while... temps in the mid-90'sF and heat index around 106F. Must be that "cumulative effect" the weather people like to talk about these days.

Stay cool, y'all.

186F?!?!? Good grief... yes, you need some shade.

Desertgarden, I'd seriously be looking at a shade sail or two, attached directly to the wall. You need shade sooner rather than later. Yikes, 186F!

Anybody frying eggs on the sidewalk, yet? lol

It's so hot that two squirels laid out flat on their tummies on my porch railing with little legs dangling on either side of the railing and took a nap.

It's so hot I've been forbidden to go outside after sunrise or before sunset. How I relish those 20 minutes of fresh air at the beginning and end of each day!

It's so hot that the JB's come out and Play

My Dad studied Agricultural Economics at the University of California in Berkeley in the mid 1930s. They did studies to find out what kind of shade is the coolest and it is indirect shade. This was to keep cows cool. They hung big canvases high in the air so the shade would be away from directly under the canvas most of the time. As he explained to me, the "cold of the Cosmos" reaches you if you can see the sky above you. So I always look for shade where I can see the sky. Actually or psychologically I can feel that cold of the Cosmos! Me and the cows. :)

I do not know about frying an egg on the sidewalk ( it is probably possible), fig_insanity, but thrown up against the side of the house, it would be cooked before it could drip down to the ground. What is said about reflected heat really is true. Until recently, I did not realize how extreme western exposure reflected heat could be.

It's so hot that I paid my son to go out and water. Lisa

..that Lara will rather lie on the porch in front of the fan than go barking at cars and anything making noise 'round the property. If you knew Lara you would know that it's hot..

I won't move down south after seeing this thread, stay in my ice hole! :-) High 82 today and sunny here. :-)

Yes but we have roses blooming from April to November AND can grow the teas, noisettes and tea noisettes! And Magnolias. Oh and I don't have to winter protect . . .

Although I do envy your summer temps!

Nik, I wondered if that was Lara the Barker in that photo... When a dog that- audibly- stays on high alert is instead inert in front of the fan, that's pretty hot!

summersrhythm, enjoy your cooler temps. I have to keep reminding myself that at least I don't have to shovel snow in the winter.

Sometime in the next month or so, there will be a shift in the light that lets me know that cooler temps are coming. Even though it's still hot, something changes psychologically, and I can handle the heat better. Not there yet, though...

Yes Summers, some of us are in Hades:( I am about to do a rain dance for more of the July/August Monsoon weather ( granted, right now, it would only cool us to slightly lower than the surface temperature of Mercury, but I will take it) and El Nino, where art thou????

Despite what I find tolerable and that requiring adaptation (indoor hibernation) during the summer here, there is a very short list of places that I would trade my dry, hot summer, (which includes 3-4 weeks of Hades), and almost year round gardening for.

Lol, not recruiting you guys to move to an ice hole, I do love your long blooming and riding season down there. :-) The heat will pass soon. The best way to beat the heat is ice cream! Can you guys find Talenti down south? It's the best! :-) I need to get more tonight.

Nik, you could carry the dog on your sports bike ride to the beach, and let him jump in the sea like a fish! Get out your IKEA chair?!:-) That would make a great heat story!

vmr, it was Aris the golden retriever, not Lara, in the pic in front of the fan in the other thread.

summers, I do take Aris to the sea although in the car not on the bike.. He loves the sea although he mostly swims kind of perpendicular making too much splash and too little progress.. lol! His mother Irma was a great swimmer. Lara hates getting the tips of her paws wet..

Here is Irma who crossed the rainbow bridge a year and a half ago..

She was (is!) soooo pretty Nik. It's hard to lose a furry friend.

Just looking at her swimming in the pix had a cooling effect on me. I'd love to be in the water right now, lol.

John

Beautiful photos! What a pretty dog! You're so lucky to be near the sea! There are no sharks there, right??

Small sharks are very rare. We do get the odd jelly fish.. Actually the biggest danger facing swimmers round here is jerks in speedboats and on jetskis..

What I don't like is that summer now seems to last until the end of October. This year it also began early with a heat wave ruining what little spring flush I had. What a difference from about five years ago. Scary to think how quickly global warming is advancing. I've been hearing lately that scientists had underestimated the speed at which it's occurring.

Nik,Your photos remind me Edisto Beach in SC . It's a peaceful place in the spring.....missed the sea and the beach......

Ingrid, I hope you are close to the sea.

It's hot just about everywhere right now. We've had blistering hot temps and high humidities for weeks here in Michigan and in my yard at least, little to no rain either. A friend of mine just a mere 3 miles away got 2 inches the other day and I got ZIP! I've been watering like crazy but it's so hot that I have to water me constantly as well as the roses when I'm out there! I usually garden barefoot but I've taken to wearing shoes because the patio gets so hot I can't stand on it. I tried watering it too to cool it off but it didn't bring the temp down enough for bare feet. I have one bed where the soaker hoses just bit the dust this spring so I've been using a sprinkler. It isn't very efficient but I do enjoy getting wet when I have to move it, lol!

Summer heat over here in Greece.. Earth, water, wind and fire..

Photos by Xristos Paravalos 7/29/2016 taken near Lavrion, SE Attika not far from my place.

On the other hand if your are a hot and thirsty disabled person Greece is the place to be..

Nice photos, Nik! Ah to see some water.

its so hot here that the monsoon rains that give us the largest part of our 10" annual rainfall, are evaporating before they hit the ground. You can see it coming down out of the few clouds that are up there, and sometimes there is a drop or two, but that's it.

it is so hot that when I use the hose, the lizards dash out of the bushes to catch a few drops of water. it is so hot that the native reptiles are seeking the shade. It is so hot that even the cholla are shriveled and limp. It is so hot that even plants in the shade that never see the sun, are sunburned!

summers, if I were close to the sea it would be cooler but no such luck, I'm about 20 miles away in the scorching hills. I worry most about wildfires, which are having a very early start this year. We won't be evacuating and have assembled everything we need to fight it out here. Hope it won't be necessary though.

I was hoping you could run to a beach to cool down.....Nik's photos made me missed the sea. Pray for you guys near the wildfires, hope it can be under controlled soon. Have a friend at work, her parents house is not far from the fires, they could see the smoke. We have a lot of college students from CA, and some of them stayed here after finishing school, fell in love with northern souls.......

" . . . summers, if I were close to the sea it would be cooler but no such luck, I'm about 20 miles away in the scorching hills." -- Ingrid

Maybe not all that much, Ingrid.

I can stand in my living room and see the sun glinting on the sea, off Mugu Rock . . . BUT our temperatures have been from the high 80's to the mid-90's for so long I've lost track. And, now, they say that monsoonal humidity is on the way. Yippee. :-( No one here EVER had air conditioning. It wasn't needed. Those days are gone.

The only GOOD news is that I can hang laundry out on the patio, and it dries quickly. And the plumerias LOVE it.

You're so lucky you can grow plumerias. They are very iffy in our winters although the way things are going..

Yeah . . . The way things are going . . .

We once struggled with summers that remained cool and foggy. Plumerias were REAL "iffy."

The good/bad news is that in our "NEW" climate, Plumerias are great. They also take less water than roses (as do succulents, btw). :-(

It's so hot that I don't need weed spray. The sun just cooks them for me.

The Pacific ocean is a wonderful mid 70s F right now. I love the beautiful color of the Mediterranean in the pictures. This is so CA beach heaven weather right now. I feel sorry for everyone at Disneyland in these high 90s.

Ah, Kitty, I am looking forward to high 90's. Sunday it was 107 degrees here. It is only going up to 104 today. I think I may have to wear a sweater it will be so cool! I am starting to really get sick of the weather being over 105 degrees here for weeks on end.

Ugh...that sounds awful, mustbnuts. It has finally "cooled" off to the low 90's here, but still with stifling humidity, which is strange since we're also in a mini drought (I won't complain, it's not like out West!). It did rain last night, enough to make spots on the sidewalk and raise the humidity even more, lol.

John

It's so hot I'm outa here! I'm so tired of the heat keeping me indoors. I'm truly blessed to have a wonderful place to go. My father fell in love with the mountains of Southern Utah (above Cedar City). He planned to retire there. My mother was never thrilled with the idea of moving away from all her children and grandchildren. My Dad went ahead and built a beautiful home on a secluded mountain. My mom never did change her mind. It became the family vacation house. They enjoy spending time there, but most of time it's empty.

I am tired of being cooped up in the house. Nothing in my garden is very happy. I've put every pot into the shade and my parents have agreed to water. Enough of these over 100F days! I'm going to escape for a while. Lisa

It's so hot that I used one of those wipes to clean glasses on my face. And it felt good.

111 degrees with a heat index of 103, BUT.. our temperature decline begins tomorrow!! Yea!!!

We have had a very hot summer up here near Mt. Shasta. Hotter than it has been for days on end. Today it is 99. Unheard of temps here. the houses don't have air conditioning. I am dripping sweat as I garden. At least it cools down to the low 60s at night and we have pleanty of water to irrigate with.

Hope you guys get some cool air soon. It's 75F and raining, sitting under a awning with a long sleeve T shirt and long pants, still feel a little chilly with the wind. It will go up to 88F this coming Sat, a hot day for here.

Dig up your roses and move up north, anyone? :-)

It's already over 100 at 10:28 a.m. so who knows how high it will get. Even though it's almost dark when I water I spray water on myself to keep cool including my sundress, and the cloth is dry by the time I go inside. I can't complain; anyone living near the San Bernardino fire must be not only hot but choking on the smoke. 82,000 people evacuated the last time I checked.

I so hope they can get that fire under control soon, but with most of the state as dry as tinder, it doesn't look good. My heart goes out to all those affected, and to you, too, Ingrid. That is truly oppressive heat, even without the East's humidity.

(sympathetic) John