Can It Get Any Worse?

 Yesterday my weather app said it was 38C with a real feel of 41C!!

Then I watched the local news. A small city, about 20 minutes drive from here was featured, it has a lot of lovely temples and is popular with tourists.  The reporter was showing a thermometer, it read 41C!!

The afternoon cooled down to 29C with an incredible thunderstorm and tornado warning.  We were lucky as the storm wasn't over us but the city in the news because of the high temperature was shown again! This time because a house was hit by lightning and caught fire!

I'm finding it harder and harder to do anything!  In the air conditioning, I can cope, just!  But as soon as I leave the cooler room I sweat like crazy.  Just going to the toilet I'm soaked through!  I spent a few minutes in the room next to where we teach to find a few things and am now dripping with sweat.  I have headaches every day and feel so wiped out!

I keep telling myself that every day finished is a day closer to the cooler weather but I feel like I'm just wasting so much time.  I need to push to get a few more things done here even if I can't go to the other house!  One good thing is that Christopher is helping me out a lot. Most days he'll wash dishes, do the floors, and run to the drug store for things. I was shocked the other day when I opened the pantry.  Christopher had cleaned and organized it for me!

Talking of Christopher, he went shopping this morning and bought a very Japanese-style summer set. It really suits him!

Very cool

I like the dragon on the back!

Not Coping

 Monday I went to the other house.

Yesterday I cleaned here, made lunch, and went shopping.  I took a small thank-you gift to my neighbor for sweeping the cuttings up. I stood talking to her for about a minute and felt as if my body was on fire! The temperature yesterday was 37C!!

Today I've basically been in bed.  I planned to go to the other house. Got up at 5:30, and made breakfast. Just doing that sapped all my energy.  I realized that even if I went to the other house I wouldn't be able to do anything. So I went back to bed. The upturn from this was Mikey could drive Hannah to her university this morning.  That helped a lot as we had a thunderstorm!

I've spent most of the day sleeping. I feel a bit better but still no energy. Tomorrow I have a few classes and would like to clean out some of the kitchen cabinets and get things boxed up to take to the other house.

I'm wondering how much of feeling awful is physical and how much has to do with not wanting to move!

I know there is no choice, I know that it could be good but at the same time, it feels like a lot of hard work with no real reward!  Moving is usually a choice, moving to a better place, a nicer house but this move feels like a step backward. Yes, I own the house but that has no meaning as I don't like the place or the location. I would love to pull that house down and build something nice but of course no money.

I know a lot of this moaning has to do with feeling awful because of the heat.  I know that I'm just looking at the bad things, which there are many, and not seeing the good. Maybe as the weather cools down I'll find something good!

One thing that worries me is that each summer seems harder than the one before. I don't know if it's because of my health or age or if the climate is getting worse. Maybe a combination of both things!!

I need to focus on my health more. This year has been hard, shingles and then Covid.  Diabetes and the list of aches and pains. I've been having more bad days than good recently. Nothing specifically wrong just feeling drained, achy, and unable to focus.  I have a coupon for a health check. I don't usually bother as I have a thorough check-up when I have my cancer check-up.  But maybe getting some more checks might help.  

Cats cooling in the corridor

The cats are suffering from the heat as well.   They are lying stretched out! I can always tell the weather by how the cats are lying. In the cold weather, they curl up together, when it's hot they stretch out far away from each other!

I Tried

 This morning David, Christopher and I went to the other house.

We arrived just after 7am.  I thought we could do at least 2 hours work by going so early. But by 8am it was already 31C!!!

I tried to do the kitchen sink.  The mold was really thick.  I used a full bottle of bleach just on the drain area!

The blue is the original color

Just trying to clean that took over half an hour.

Managed to get most of the trash out of the dining area, swept, vacuumed, and wiped the floor over.  The floor isn't looking very good at all, lots of stains and marks.  I'm wondering what I can do to make it look nice!

After that, I gave up. I was drenched in sweat, felt sick, and had a headache coming on.  

Still a lot to do but I really don't know if I can do anything more until the weather changes.  But if this summer follows the pattern of the last few years that won't be until October.  Maybe I should just get an air conditioner put in the main room, at least then I could have somewhere cooler to rest!

Just to add to my woes, we have cockroaches here.  Last year I saw one the whole summer.  Just this week we have had 2!  I asked Hannah to wash a few dishes, she came back saying that there was a large cockroach in the sink! I got brave and squirted it with dish soap.  It died and I got rid of the body.  I looked very calm but inside I was screaming!! Tomorrow I'll have to clean out one cupboard that has open packages in it!!  More work, just what I need!

Cute cat photo to finish with!

Steve in the cupboard

I emptied this cupboard out, the cats think it's their new hiding place. They've been taking turns going in all day!

Local Supermarket Closed

 The local supermarket, where Christopher worked for 4 years, closed yesterday!

Christopher started working the early morning shift filling shelves.  After that, he started working different shifts and doing a lot of jobs in the supermarket.   He was responsible for the freezer section, cleaning out the back room, making sure the products were put out properly, and doing the cash register.  He learned a lot and had a lot of fun. 

Christopher at work

I liked that supermarket as it was very convenient for us.  Somedays I would start cooking only to find I had forgotten something.  I could send the kids to get what I had forgotten, it would take less than 10 minutes for them!  Now the nearest supermarket is a good 20-minute walk.  Also, this supermarket was a discount supermarket, a little bit cheaper than the others!

This has made me think about when we move to the other house. There are no shops nearby at all.  the nearest supermarket is a 5-minute drive but a good half an hour's walk!  I think I'll have to get more organized in my shopping and cooking!

Christopher has to find another job.  That should be interesting!  He can't drive and the other house has nothing nearby.  There's a bus stop nearby but the buses are very few and only go to the city center, which is basically closed down.  The train station is a 20-minute walk, which is alright until the weather gets bad.  At least he can help out with the cleaning and packing here until he gets something!

Insomnia

 I've suffered from insomnia most of my life. Usually, I fall asleep okay but have trouble staying asleep.  The past week has been awful. I'm tossing and turning for up to an hour, my brain just won't switch off!! There are so many things that need to be done for this move.  Rooms here to be sorted, things to be thrown out, and packed up.  The other house still has a long way to go to be liveable.  Then there are the things that I can't do, calling places to get the toilet waste taken care of, and calling banks to see if I qualify for a loan.  Checking with the land registry office to see what land we own and whose name it's in, then figuring out how to change the names.  The list goes on and on. I try to keep a notebook by my bed to write down things, just to get them out of my head.  But it's not working!

Also, we aren't making enough money to pay for anything beyond the bills. I actually don't have enough to pay this month's rent!  This is really stressing me out.  I need new students, I would love to get some near where we are moving to, but that means using the community centers and unlike here they don't like to rent out rooms to businesses!  

Just stress on top of stress.  I'm not sure how much more I can take.  I'm trying to be positive and see the good things in this move but at the moment all I want to do is curl up and cry.

I know part of it is not being able to work on things because of the heat. It is really extreme, today was up to 35C, feels like 37C.  That's crazy!  I'm in my bedroom with the air conditioning blasting.  Hannah is in here as well.  I have a flask of ice water that I'm sipping on.  I would love to sort out more books from the rooms that we use for teaching but I have no real energy for that, maybe tomorrow!

One good thing is that a friend of my husbands might be able to help in November. He has a handyman business, he does gardens, cleans out houses that have been hoarded, and does house moves. He has a big truck that we can use to move the furniture.  We will pay, of course, but he might give us a discount. And I would rather pay somebody I know than some of the other companies that I've seen advertised. That is one load of my mind.

Last night was a beautiful moon.  Recently I've been noticing the moon more.  

From Hannah's phone

Hannah said that the clouds looked like a dragon. The quality of the photo isn't that good but still very beautiful!!

Real Summer

 It's been hot for a few weeks now but for me, real summer is when the cicadas start singing!

I took this out of the window this morning. Nothing to see but the noise is incredible.  Even in my room with the windows closed and the air conditioning on I can hear them.  For such a small creature, about an inch long, they make a lot of noise.  It's one of those things that I've come to associate with summer.

David has bought a battery-powered hedge trimmer. These things scare me but are really good when you have a lot to cut down! He's been outside cutting the hedges and the weeds for about half an hour and has gotten most of the yard done.  He bought it to do the yard and land at the other house but this house needed to be done as well.

He should have worn long sleeves!

He's done a lot in a short time.  But now has ant bites on his hands and arms! He wanted to do more but the wind has picked up and it might rain soon.

Guilt

 Why do I do this to myself?

I'm feeling awful at the moment. I think it's a combination of being sick since May, the stress over the other house, and the heat!  I have no energy at all.  I washed a few dishes and taught one class this morning and now feel totally wiped out.  I planned to cook lunch but can't stand in the hot kitchen long enough to cook!  But I feel guilty for not doing it, especially since David will cook after working 9 hours! I hate feeling like this. I'm pushing myself as much as possible to get things done but my energy level is so low.  

Also, the heat is very intense. It's 31C now but it will go up to 34C after lunch. The next ten days are forecasted to be the same.  We might get some rain tomorrow which cools things a bit!  But this heat will be for the next few months!  I have so much to do to get ready to move but have no idea how to get things sorted. I'm pushing the kids to do a lot as well but I feel overwhelmed by everything!  

The supermarket where Christopher works is closing this weekend.  He has another month of work then he will finish there.  He needs to find another job but where we are moving to is in the countryside and he can't drive.  Just another worry to add to my list!

Think I'll talk to the cats!  I don't want to moan to the kids too much.  They are helping as much as possible and it's not fair to dump on them when they are also dealing with different things!

I was trying to get photos of Alan and Toast, our two black cats. Alan had enough though and turned his back on me!

Alan and Toast

Alan turned round, no more photos!!!