Get up early. Now's a good time to water outdoor potted plants. Brew tea for iced tea. If something must be cooked, do it now. Decide what sort of salad to have for supper and do the prep.
This below is a slaw of sorts: bagged vegetable slaw, a bit of Chinese cabbage, red peppers, purple onions, cucumbers, black beans (1 can, drained,) mango slices, and some fresh basil. The dressing was mayo with a bit of lime and orange juice. We topped it with roasted almonds and had quesadillas on the side. (They had to be done at the last minute, alas.)
We rely on fans in every room, and we close the east facing windows. The Room has blackout curtains (ugly as homemade sin) on the east, installed back when Josie had to have semi-dark for her naps.
The naps are just a memory, but closing those curtains keeps The Room much cooler during the morning.
Several months ago, hearing that the summer heat was likely to be worse than usual, we ordered bamboo shades for the dining room. I couldn't bear the thought of anything that totally blocked the view, and these were a nice compromise. They finally came, just as temperatures soared, and John installed them.
I'm happy to say they work beautifully--lowering the temperature but still allowing a look beyond.
What's more, they lend a touch of the exotic tropics to the dining room. I find myself thinking of gin and tonic, daiquiris, or gin rickeys. . .
5 comments:
That salad looks so yummy! My husband isn't crazy about red cabbage, but I am, and we both like all the other ingredients, as well as quesadilla. What a great idea to get bamboo shades. I think blackout curtains are ugly, too. The new home had some on the livingroom sliding glass door, and the first thing we did was put them away for the future (when Rajan hopes to have a dark room for his photography) and we put white curtains in instead. They actually do a pretty good job of reflecting the heat away.
Definitely a yummy salad! I do like the bamboo curtains...just what blocks sun and heat!
And people think the mountains are a cool retreat. Love your yellow orchid. My yellow one is my favorite.
Those shades do look good or at lest their effects do.
We installed those honeycomb pull down shades in our west facing windows just last week. Made a difference. The south window is primarily the slider and it also has a shade that we let down during the day to keep the heat out. Upstairs a window fan and a standing fan run to circulate the air.
Salad does look good.
Post a Comment