Mrs. Puddles Keeping Cool

So it seems that even Mrs. Puddles as snooty and uppity as she is, is taking my advice on how to keep cool. I think it might have been an experiment in curiosity at first but it's now a regular habit. The other day when I laid the cooling pads on my bed and then covered them with a towel Puddles came over and sat down on them while I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water. Ever since then she has been hooked on the cooling pads and will run to follow me when I take them out of the freezer. I'm glad that she is staying cool but it looks like I will need to invest in some more ice packs because she doesn't share very well.

Monti's Tips for the Heat

So it is like the 20th day in a row that the temp is near or over 100 degrees. I don't know why but I have a hard time regularity my body temperature so I am often Hot or Cold which lead to irritability and since I don't have a proper Air Conditioner I thought I would share some tips with you on some ways to keep cool in this heat. Now bear in mind I'm not going to mention things like drinking water or staying out of the heat because this seems like common sense. Here is my list of a few things that really work but you might not of thought of.

1. Keep your lotion and other like products in the fridge. This is a great tip because everyone has dry skin in the summer and smoothing cold lotion on the skin is really refreshing. Also try using lotion with peppermint or spearmint oil in it.
   
2. Turn your fan into an air conditioner. Just put a gallon jug of water in the freezer over night and once it is frozen place it on stool in front of a circular fan. You can also try putting frozen water jugs inside your swamp cooler if you have easy access to it. I used to do this at our old apartment.
3. Take a bath. This is one of my go to moves. Make sure the water is lukewarm rather then cold so you don't shock your system. After you get used to the temperature you can let out some of the water and then add some colder water. During the hottest time of the day you can often find me taking a cool bath playing solitaire or reading a book.
4. Make use of cold packs. I have a collection of athletic cold packs that I keep in the freezer. If I need to cool off I place several of these on my bed or couch, cover with a towel and then lie down. This really makes things comfortable especially if you are trying to sleep to beat the midday heat. If you think about it, it is very similar to what animals do in the wild only I would rather not lie in cool dirt.
   

Well I hope this helps and please feel free to share your tips.

It seems strange to me that....

It seems strange to me that old people are never in a hurry. I mean they don't have much time left. If I were old I wouldn't re-park my Buick 15 times to make sure it was completely centered and parallel to the parking spot.

Happy Birthday Forrest and Robin

You had your cake....

and you ate it too!

Buffalo Grass Update

So I am still really excited about Buffalo Grass so I called Takao Nursery today to ask some questions. It turns out it's not too late to plant Buffalo Grass (good through August). Also I asked and it is much more drought resistant than Bermuda Grass. One of the best things is that the planting is really cheap and low maintenance For the size of my lawn it would cost approximately 42 dollars for plugs. The prep work is really minimal. They recommended that I use a herbicide to kill all the Bermuda a weeds and then plant the plugs 1/8 of inch into the ground and cover lightly with dirt. They actually recommended that I didn't disturb the soil by aerating or rototilling because it would activate other seeds (probably what happened with my last attempt). After the plugs are planted they recommended that I only water them 1 time a day as opposed to the 3-4 times that the Bermuda recommends. Once the plants are secure (30 days) I only have to water once or twice a week and not at all during the winter. I still need to talk to the big guy about this but it sounds really practical.

I want this

So as I was lamenting my recent misadventure in gardening I was pondering just going to a nursery and buying some grass that was reading for planting. So I stumbled on to what looks to be an awesome nursery in town called Takao Nursery and they are promoting Buffalo Grass (check out their blog for more info). Anyway it uses 75% less water (then fescue grass I assume) and it looks pretty cool. According to the website the particular version of Buffalo grass they sell was created by UC Riverside and Davis. They claim that in the Central Valley it only has to be watered once a week and that it only grows to a length of 4-6 inches so you could chose not to mow it. It has the same drawn backs as other drought tolerant grass (it's dormant during the winter) but I would like to be the cool kid on the block with some hipster grass that isn't you run of the mill Bermuda. So I think I will check this out and find out what the cost of some plants are. More to come....