All Things EARTH... part 2

[Sailor_Sally]

I have been impressed with the quality of the items from Novica and they are delivered quickly .

[awhfy]

Good eye Anita. I got a wild hair 😂 & changed my long standing hairstyle. Still not sure if I really like it or not. The back of my hair was always a short wedge cut. I haven’t noticed my hair getting caught in these necklaces (it’d drive me nuts if it did).   

 

Sally, pretty jewelry. Melody

[MJC]

I do like those earrings, Anita. I am a dangle earrings person, of all types, though within reason. Not chandelier length.

 

We did our part to help the city grid survive the weekend by coming up to the lake early yesterday:

 

https://www.google.org/publicalerts/alert?aid=c53a02664c59a314&hl=en&gl=US&source=web

 

It may get up to 98 in Central Park, but it'll be easily 105 in Queens this weekend. And SOOOO humid.

 

Be cool, my friends. :)

 

 

[awhfy]

We were 102 today, but humidity was only 10. It’s been brutally hot for the past 10 days, very unusual for us. Supposed to break this weekend. Melody

[Anita Latte]

I can't even participate in the heat conversation...LOL. And Mom...in Scottsdale. LOL. Although...I will say that when I moved out to Scottsdale from San Antonio, both DH and I were like...Ahhh. Because the dry heat is so much different from the humid heat. Mom and Dad gave me an AZ tee shirt...two skeletons on lounge chairs at the beach with toasting tropic drink glasses...the words were "It's a dry heat"...I seriously wonder what happened to that shirt. Sally and I are down here in the add 10+ degrees for the heat index...LOL.

 

I will say...hooray for living on the first floor. I make my men suffer through the heat and the humid build up during the day because even without the ac running...the apt doesn't go above 81 during the day. And yes, we suffer through it until the evening with the ac kicks on to lower it a bit to more comfort and then a bit more to sleeping comfort. Such is life in FL. Thank God for ceiling fans. Emphatically. Thank you.

 

Mom and Dad arrive in 10 days. They'll be with us for almost a week before boarding Harmony. It's not my vacay but I'm looking forward to the visit.

[laurspag]

This heat is really something!  I have a graduation party to go to tomorrow that is outside, and it's supposed to be around 100 degrees.  Yikes.

 

The dresses are finalized.  I decided to just put them on and see what appealed to me.  It was a no brainer, as I knew right off what I liked and what I did not.  With daytime clothes, I'm approaching this as needing some non-shorts attire, mostly for Bar Harbor.  It was in the mid sixties there yesterday.

 

I've got the bottom that I posted pictures of but I'm rearranging a few tops and will bring along a jacket as well.

[Sailor_Sally]

11 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

I

 

I will say...hooray for living on the first floor. I make my men suffer through the heat and the humid build up during the day because even without the ac running...the apt doesn't go above 81 during the day. And yes, we suffer through it until the evening with the ac kicks on to lower it a bit to more comfort and then a bit more to sleeping comfort. Such is life in FL. Thank God for ceiling fans. Emphatically. Thank you.

 

 

Our house is a cool 75 always .

[Member123]

33 minutes ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Our house is a cool 75 always .

I would have goosebumps in your house and need a sweater! LOL

[awhfy]

9 minutes ago, Member123 said:

I would have goosebumps in your house and need a sweater! LOL

Our house stays at 75 in summer & 66 in winter. Good insulation

[Sailor_Sally]

I could set it at 76 or maybe go a little crazy and go for 77.

[Member123]

1 hour ago, awhfy said:

Our house stays at 75 in summer & 66 in winter. Good insulation

Our house stays at 80 in summer, primarily because if it's lower than that we feel cold! And, I'm not kidding. This is why I take all those reviews of temperatures with a huge grain (maybe even a flake) of salt, because we are all a product of our specific environment as to whether we feel comfortable at a certain temperature. I know that humidity levels play a part in that feeling of being comfortable, but I think that your body physiology plays a huge part as well. One of the coldest cruises I ever took where I was extremely uncomfortable was in the Caribbean on a ship that overcompensated in the interior restaurants. I didn't have warm enough clothes for that ship! Miserable evening dinners. So cold my nose felt like a small iceberg sitting on my face. I wasn't as miserable cold on some TransPacific crossings because I expected to be cold and so I prepared for that! It's these unexpected situations that are so difficult to combat when traveling. For us, it's an ongoing struggle cause we never know exactly how we're going to respond to a temperature, but most of the time... we feel cold.

 

And, I wonder what the difference is between your temperature inside versus outside? For us, we can be a 30-degree to 35-degree difference, keeping the house at 80. Keeping it at 75, does the outside temperature "feel" like a 30+-degree difference?

[Anita Latte]

4 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Our house is a cool 75 always .

 

That's amazing that you don't have significant heat gain without running the ac! Low-e windows? Do you have anything special in your attic? Tree shade? I'd love to learn how you manage that. DH and I go back and forth on whether or not we would want to buy a residence in Florida. I can't quite feel comfortable with the idea of homeowner ship...it seriously freaks me out. I'd feel so stuck. But we figure that a FL residence has more options than many...could easily become a vacation rental, etc. But taking on the electric bill because of people running the ac is one thing to consider...but seems like you have that figured out. Your electric bills must be very low. Do tell.

 

Melody...I miss the days when we would sleep with the windows open in the summer. Our bed was under the windows and we put a normal fan on the window sill...we would open the window and run the fan to bring in the cool evening/night air. That was in Loveland. Good sleeping.

 

So currently I'm at 89 degrees, feels like 98 and the inside temp is 80. We walked in from being out this morning and the apt had that instant chill factor. I've noticed that the apt does get warmer when all 3 of us are home during the day...and the kitchen is center stage in the apt so that also affects the temp...the office with the computers is also much warmer than the main area. Overall...very livable though. Still waiting for electric bill number 2 but the first one was around $75 so I thought that was really good.

[Sailor_Sally]

In Florida on the coast it usually runs high 80's to mid 90's .Occasionally high 90's but we live on the water so there is always a breeze . So 75 would be a 20 degree difference in the heat of the summer .

[Sailor_Sally]

Our electric bill runs between $150 and $190 for a three story 3200 sq. foot house which is all electric.. Our windows are all hurricane proof but there are a huge amount of them to let in the sun.I do run the a/c at all times .Without the ac my house would be awful .

Edited July 20, 2019 by Sailor_Sally

[MJC]

Laurie, I like seeing your dresses lined up like that! You seem to have chosen a nice variety of your favorite colors and styles.

 

When I got my first car with HVAC where you could set a temperature and it would stay that way, I learned that my favorite temperature is 72. Winter or summer, I like 72. 68 at night for sleeping because I have to sleep with a comforter, so 68 makes it feel cozy without being too hot. DH says I am like the Princess and the Pea when it comes to sleeping, if I am too cold I will toss and turn.

 

On really hot days like this, DH and I used to have a running disagreement about the AC. As long as there is a breeze, I can do without it up to about 85 if I'm not doing housework or working out. He would be happy if he could be at 65 all the time. Part of it is that I like to hear the outdoors, so I'd rather have the windows open and fans running. I also don't like the major shift from a cold interior to the outside heat and having to change clothes constantly. He is happy being sealed inside a cold refrigerator. We've finally compromised a bit on the temp, so now neither of us is perfectly happy but likewise neither of us is miserable. :D

 

It's very different at the apartment. We have a window unit there, which makes for uneven temps in the different rooms, so I can always find a warmer place to curl up with a book. One of the quirks of our apartment complex is that we don't have individual controls for the heat. It goes up and comes down through each apartment in a loop, and we get what we get. Fortunately, because of where we are in the loop, we are more likely to get too warm in the winter instead of too cold, so we can just crack the window to make it comfortable.

 

 

 

 

 

[MJC]

My brother picked this up for me at an estate sale, it's a copy of a Warhol print. He said it reminded him of me and New York, and of my grandma, who was a flapper in the 20s and even won a few Charleston contests.

 

I love how you can see the wolfhound up close, but from far away the purple wash looks like a heart. And what about those perfect colors?

 

 

[Anita Latte]

40 minutes ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Our electric bill runs between $150 and $190 for a three story 3200 sq. foot house which is all electric.. Our windows are all hurricane proof but there are a huge amount of them to let in the sun.I do run the a/c at all times .Without the ac my house would be awful .

 

Ah ok!! I thought you had a miracle house in Florida! I'm a bit of a miser when it comes to electricity...so I have it set for 85 during the day, but it doesn't go above 81. With ceiling fans, that's quite livable. And if DH is at work and DS doing much, it'll stay around 79. We figured out the thermostat finally and got it set properly, so I'm excited to see the new electric bill!

[Anita Latte]

Love that print!

[Anita Latte]

Great dress selection Laurie. Nice mix of long and short and colors... it feels like your shoes etc would go with more than one so not needing to over load on such things to coordinate outfits.

 

sounds like you’re going to get a break from the heat!

 

speaking of break from the heat...I booked a cruise 817 days out! 😂 The very last AK cruise of the 2021 season on NCL. Sailing Oct 9!

Edited July 20, 2019 by Anita Latte

[Sailor_Sally]

I am leaving the heat of Florida to go to the New York heat to visit my daughter and grandsons .

[MJC]

Alaska! So happy you'll get to go back. I look forward to hearing about October in AK. I've never known anyone who went that late.

 

We've talked about going to AK again on Windstar, 11, days, which has a lot of kayaking and zodiac touring in their activities, and the ship is small so it can go to some interesting nooks and crannies. The last minute fares for August are very competitive. Not this year, but maybe next?

 

 

[Anita Latte]

I’m excited too!! I’ve never cruised NCL before...but I read a trip report of someone sailing NCL Bliss and I want to go on that ship so badly! I just went looking at when it went and when I saw the mid October cruise I was like 🎉 Bliss has an amazing indoor viewing space but also so many outdoor spaces...if it isn’t raining...I’ll bundle up and watch the scenery go by. It’s going to be the cruise the other one wasn’t. A whole lot of not much 😂. I don’t care about shows or anything except just feeling like I’m immersed in AK. Things should be mostly shut down so no worries about major excursions and trying to do do do. It’ll be the relaxing way to go AK! I’m really hoping to see the Northern Lights! It’s easier travel too...RT Seattle and Glacier Bay which we didn’t see last time. Don’t care about cold...just hoping for clear!

[Anita Latte]

3 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

I am leaving the heat of Florida to go to the New York heat to visit my daughter and grandsons .

 

IDK Sally...Margaret and Laurie have been saying it’s hot up there...

[laurspag]

Today's weather was rough!  This heat is really something. A lot of people are talking about what is worse to them - this heat or our winter weather.  I'll go for a different option of spring and fall.  Truthfully though, those early summer days without the humidity are so nice.

 

 

I have started to watch the temperatures for our ports.  It's interesting because a few days ago, Bar Harbor was 66 degrees.  Imagine that...

 

I consider our spare bedroom just that - a spare room.  It's a fairly new concept for me but I know it will have a crib in there soon.  It does give me a place to organize cruise clothes though and as I discovered when I hung up the dresses, the lighting is so much better.  I didn't even take that photo when the lighting was ideal and it still looks better than my room.

 

So tomorrow I am coloring my hair and ironing my cruise clothes that I have picked out thus fsr.  This is a little earlier than usual but I don't know how well I will feel next week so I'd rather do it now. Plus we have some things going on next weekend that I have to work around.

 

I'm also getting ready for my daughter's baby shower.  Where does the time go?  She's due October 10th.

[Anita Latte]

Laurie! LOL...Mom and Dad used to talk about the same deal...what is worse? A winter with ice and snow or a summer with unbearable heat?

 

A grand baby due on October 10. Congrats Laurie. What a crazy time...IDK, I don't mean to brag but I think that I have a gift for being to put myself back into my whatever year old body. I can so vividly remember different times in life. New life in the world is something special...there aren't words.

 

So moving on...

 

Margaret and I have talked back and forth...here's what is going on...

 

We all leave together to take DS to Uni (as they say) in London on September 3. It's an overnight flight again (very typical)...and we arrive on September 4. DH and I leave on September 11 (no comment). There's a lot to say about this...but relevant info for this post is that I was seriously concerned about my little Gracie girl:

 

 

Moving can be rough enough on our furry family members...but moving and then leaving her along for over a week? Yikes. I've had bad experiences with that in the past...

 

So I meditated on this situation...and a rather unlikely but most pleasing solution presented itself to me. Back in MARCH, I proposed a kitty sitting, Florida vacation opportunity to Margaret, mom to Grace's cousin Miss Dani (IIRC...Plz correct Margaret! I'm relying on memory and it's after 2 am here!). Hey Margaret! Would you be interested in a fabulous (subjective) vacation in a resort-like Florida apartment with the primary purpose of keeping Grace company? You could arrive on the day that we leave...because coming any earlier might interfere with our family's last calls...last night's together where DS is seriously "housed" at home. And we go from there to figure out our arrangements...

 

And lo and behold...Margaret is entering into a new phase of life...leaving her current position and figuring out what is next. She CAN and WILL and looks forwards to coming to Florida!! Woot Woot!!

 

There are details that don't need to be exploited here...but suffice it to say...Margaret is coming to stay in my apt in Florida while I am off to London! So after Laurie (and Mom if she wants to) goes off on their August cruises...Margaret and I will have simultaneous land vacations...Florida and London...to report.

 

As of this moment, I am not talking about Margaret's Florida trip. I feel like it will be much more interesting from her perspective...but that is the news. I am totally excited about it.

 

For those that don't know, or don't remember...Margaret and I have met twice. The last was when DH, DS, and I went to NYC and we met up with Margaret and her DH. Has anyone seen Julia and Julie? Or is it Julie and Julia? Julia Child has a long time pen pal type, correspondence relationship...this I feel with many ladies here on this thread...and I have been fortunate enough to meet several IRL. What fun life is!!