Dear LPG, 

We have had a particularly hot spell during the past couple of weeks and everyone I know has a tail to tell about the toll it has taken on their daily routines.  

Many workers and employers have taken to the ‘working from home’ habits that covid-19 gave us lots of time to perfect, while the people who have been able to get to work have taken advantage of the air conditioning that we just don’t have in our homes.   In short we are a nation that are just not used to it whatever our age.

But when you are older and there is nothing that you really have to do at any particular time, I know a lot of people who have let it really get to them while finding themselves spending large parts of the day languishing in a chair unable to do anything.  I know that at times during the past few weeks I have got to the stage where taking a walk to the kitchen to refill my water glass has seemed like a major effort and when there is no one else to ask, or get a second glass for, the impetus to do so is even less present.  

Even though we have had a bit of slightly cooler weather for the past couple of days, it still seems as if nothing has changed, and the promise of another really hot spell to come is not helping either.

Not being one to go with apathy for too long, I have thought that a cold (well very cool) bath or shower during the middle of the day might be a good way to wake the body up a bit but, having tried it, I have found that I am hardly out of the water before I am just as hot and bothered as I was before I got in, and talk of a water shortage is waring too. 

I have tried my best to keep out of the sun but the television is not holding my attention so, for want of something else that you can do without too much effort when it is this hot, I recently took to my tablet where google informs that that cold shower is not the answer and that a warm one would be a better option.  I found a few other ideas that might help, and even though many may have heard them before, it is surprising how easy it is to forget when you could really do with remembering them. 

Keeping a cold wet face cloth in a plastic bag close by for dabbing on the bits of you that are really hot every now and then, putting your pillow cases in the freezer for a bit before bed time, keeping creams in the fridge, keeping the windows and curtains closed and soaking your feet in cold water are just a few ideas that I have found.

It is always the way that such tips are the ones that you forget when you could most do with a reminder so, as we are being promised at least another week of the same, I am hoping that LPG might be able to post this message quite quickly just in case at least a few of the hints and tips might be a reminder that makes a bit of a difference. 

 HB, New Cross.

HB shares her ideas… 

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