What would you do ?

[LS Tractor Owner]

Our temps have been up in the mid 90's and we have been outside doing some landscaping..... BEFORE 11am only! Temps are around the mid 80's by then. I pushed it last Saturday until 4pm, 96°. Then I spent all day Sunday and yesterday trying to recover..... yesterday, I felt really sick. Today, we were back on the 11am schedule.

Yes, plantings will struggle for sure, if not die do to that kind of heat. Just delay until the temps are at least down to the low 90's..... for your sake and the landscaping!

 

[rbstern]

....and no, plenty of beer isn't the answer

Thanks for your feedback...

If you're going to sum up your post with blasphemy, there's no helping you.

 

[PuffyC]

If your MIL needs the job done before that she can hire a landscaper.

What would I do? This right here. I'll happily pay for a landscaper myself before burning a weekend, a tank of gas and my body in Hill County heat to work on the in-laws place, especially when I have my own stuff that needs to be done. Now if it was someone I actually liked it might be different

 

[newbury]

Some of us like our MIL!
As far as temp -
I was raised in Northern Vt up to the early 1970's. We didn't even have cooling a/c.
It's warming up there now, but when I grew up a day over 90°F was almost unheard of.
So OP, go visit the MIL and plan for fall.

 

[scaredychicken]

Hello to all,

This coming weekend my wife and I had promised to go to her moms house to redo some of her landscaping and power wash her entire back yard area. I also had this planned 3 weekends ago but pulled a deep muscle in my upper mid-rt back. There was no way I could lift that much or esp pull the starting cord on a power washer. Everyone understood.

Well, this weekend it's supposed to be 102 on Fri and 104 on Sat, plus 100-102 Tues on until this weekend and Sun-Tues of next week 102, 104, 102 and 100-99 the next 2-3 days thereafter. I am no longer 20, 30, 40 or 50, but I can take the heat, not just triple digit for too long. Also, putting plants into the ground w ambient air temps of 100-104 for 10+ days before during and after planting, doesn't set up the odds for survival too well. Plus the soil N of Austin TX isn't sandy loam, it's a rocky/soil blend. Her retirement community is also going on water rationing. To fill the truck, it $130 and right under 6 hrs rd trip. I am ok w that part, but the heat, damnnnnn.

So, I am looking for some artillery to postpone until the heat retreats to some extent. I really like my MIL, but not looking forward to cooking outside. The heat index will be in the 114-118 range....and no, plenty of beer isn't the answer

Thanks for your feedback...

Pros:
you get to check it off the "to-do" list
you get a visit in with mother in law, that gives brownie points for sure
you are using water in the power washer, that should keep you cool

Cons:
TOO HOT
you are using water in the power washer, during water restrictions
Heat Stroke options
Anything planted, transplanted this week will not survive
Anything planted also needs more water
Air Conditioning in the truck doesn't work (hint, hint)
6 hr drive to TOO LONG given recent injury, and recovery period (back injuries are tough)
A visit will be much more enjoyable after the heat wave

 

[tstex]

10-4…

we have reset to weekend of June 24 pending temps / can’t wait till late July & Aug, our hottest months

 

[Henro]

I'm sitting by the window right now ... I was planning to spray the hay field. Spent much of yesterday preparing the sprayer. BUT Mother Nature trumps my plan. Too windy... Don't want to kill the neighbor's flowers.

LOL…I’m pretty creative these days too, at finding ways to avoid working!

 

[tstex]

Man, we made the right call.. it’s now 105 & 107 temps to be…

 

[frogpond]

I would gladly trade some of our excess rain (rainiest
May since 1948) in Western Washington for a measured share of some of your heat in the Southwest. It has been so wet and cold that I can't mow various areas at all. It's tiresome to keep pulling the zero turn out of the mud with the tractor, and then what a mess is left! have had to go at those places with my Stihl fs130 while wearing a rainsuit and rubber boots! In several places the grass got to 6' tall. If you don't mow, the brush, particularly salmonberry, takes over.

Today in Snohomish WA it's 100% rain, temp finally up to the 60s. Planting the garden delayed by a month and a half, and I doubt we'll get any ripe tomatoes this year. All outside projects have been substantially delayed. And the grayness is depressing.

On the other hand: In an old Woody Allen movie, he tells about two old ladies staying at a hotel, complaining about the food. The first one says, "It's always either too bland, or too spicy." The second lady says, " Yes, and way too hot, or way too cold! It's almost inedible!" And the first lady replies, "But you know what the worst thing is? The portions are too small!"

And this is how life is.

 

[orezok]

A woman on a final cleaning crew on one of my schools in Palm Desert collapsed late afternoon. We called EMS and they cooled her down but she refused to be transported to the hospital. She died later that night. Don’t mess with heat, it will kill you.

 

[tstex]

Frog, we’re in a LaNina and it’s hotter & drier in Midcentral/SOUTH Central US while wetter & colder than normal on the US upper corners, that’s you.

I will always take cold over hot and wet over dry. Now the winds have died and it’s stifling w increased humidity & heat index will be off the charts.

No matter where you go, there’s always +’s & -‘s. You just don’t want either extreme.

During Harvey, we had 48” of rain so 4 ft. This is what happens snd street signs are 8ft tall

The pic below shows the top of a 2 car garage (garage door below watwr). It was like that for 16 days straight bc of reservoir released waters. No zero-turn radius operating there either.

 

[frogpond]

Frog, we’re in a LaNina and it’s hotter & drier in Midcentral/SOUTH Central US while wetter & colder than normal on the US upper corners, that’s you.

I will always take cold over hot and wet over dry. Now the winds have died and it’s stifling w increased humidity & heat index will be off the charts.

No matter where you go, there’s always +’s & -‘s. You just don’t want either extreme.

During Harvey, we had 48” of rain so 4 ft. This is what happens snd street signs are 8ft tall

The pic below shows the top of a 2 car garage (garage door below watwr). It was like that for 16 days straight bc of reservoir released waters. No zero-turn radius operating there either.

Wow!

 

[tstex]

Sorry to hear that ore!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Yes, I would gladly take some of that rain! We are so dry here that storms / rain evaporate before getting anywhere close to the ground!
If you're working outside, you have until around 11 or noon before the heat becomes unbearable. The worst part is that you don't sweat... so no cooling happens on your body..... you just get dehydrated without even knowing.

 

[Joel/ak]

I don't know how some of you deal with the heat. I know some areas are a dry heat but still?

I die in the mid 80's of course usually 80% humidity at the same time.

 

[CADplans]

I lived through a summer of this type heat,, doing what?? I was in welding school, for 4 months, ending in September.
We wore leather,, LOTS of leather,, and welded 3/4" plates together for X-ray examination,,
Either you were burning rod, or grinding to prep for the next pass of weld.
LOTS of welding rods,, EVERY day.!!

The US Navy had an easy solution to the heat,, it was called "Tropical Hours",, I loved it.
We started welding as soon as the sun came up (very little artificial light in the weld booth area).

THEN,, we were done by 1PM. We had the rest of the day off.

The crazy thing was,, due to the low pay we received back then ($66 every two weeks),,
there was very little we could afford to do.

So, most of the 70 guys in the class spent the afternoons "SUN BATHING!!",,,
Someone had a cassette player, we listened to Santana for hours on end,,

There were a LOT of giant concrete tables next to the buildings that we lived in,,
perfect for laying on.

I think they were left from the days that the guys had to wash clothes by hand,,
We had great washers and dryers.

 

[rScotty]

I hear your texas pain all the way up here in the cool colorado mountains. We will get summer - and suffer too, but it comes later. So far the weather is still "sweater required"most mornings.

How in the world did we use to do it? It's simply a fact that houses and cars in the 1950s didn't have AC. Neither did schools.
Country kids worked hard all summer, every summer. Tractors and combines were completely open station - many didn't even have umbrellas - and cabs were unknown (no AC = no cab)
As teenagers we rarely even wore hats. Hats were for old guys.... Then for extra cash we worked in the scorching heat of the west Texas oil fields. We actually looked forward to doing that!

And in spite of that I don't remember it being all that bad.
The heat was part of the day; I don't remember anyone getting heat strokes.
We even found time to play some baseball in the evenings.
So here is the question, "Is something wrong with my memory?"
rScotty

 

[Guermeister]

Hello to all,

This coming weekend my wife and I had promised to go to her moms house to redo some of her landscaping and power wash her entire back yard area. I also had this planned 3 weekends ago but pulled a deep muscle in my upper mid-rt back. There was no way I could lift that much or esp pull the starting cord on a power washer. Everyone understood.

Well, this weekend it's supposed to be 102 on Fri and 104 on Sat, plus 100-102 Tues on until this weekend and Sun-Tues of next week 102, 104, 102 and 100-99 the next 2-3 days thereafter. I am no longer 20, 30, 40 or 50, but I can take the heat, not just triple digit for too long. Also, putting plants into the ground w ambient air temps of 100-104 for 10+ days before during and after planting, doesn't set up the odds for survival too well. Plus the soil N of Austin TX isn't sandy loam, it's a rocky/soil blend. Her retirement community is also going on water rationing. To fill the truck, it $130 and right under 6 hrs rd trip. I am ok w that part, but the heat, damnnnnn.

So, I am looking for some artillery to postpone until the heat retreats to some extent. I really like my MIL, but not looking forward to cooking outside. The heat index will be in the 114-118 range....and no, plenty of beer isn't the answer

Thanks for your feedback...

See Planes, Trains and Automobiles, what the young lady at car rental finally told Steve Martin. That’s your situation, too.

 

[jcman]

If you have a vehicle that gets good mileage take that and go visit her. I'm sure that would please her much more than having you collapse from the heat.

 

[Jchonline]

Hello to all,

This coming weekend my wife and I had promised to go to her moms house to redo some of her landscaping and power wash her entire back yard area. I also had this planned 3 weekends ago but pulled a deep muscle in my upper mid-rt back. There was no way I could lift that much or esp pull the starting cord on a power washer. Everyone understood.

Well, this weekend it's supposed to be 102 on Fri and 104 on Sat, plus 100-102 Tues on until this weekend and Sun-Tues of next week 102, 104, 102 and 100-99 the next 2-3 days thereafter. I am no longer 20, 30, 40 or 50, but I can take the heat, not just triple digit for too long. Also, putting plants into the ground w ambient air temps of 100-104 for 10+ days before during and after planting, doesn't set up the odds for survival too well. Plus the soil N of Austin TX isn't sandy loam, it's a rocky/soil blend. Her retirement community is also going on water rationing. To fill the truck, it $130 and right under 6 hrs rd trip. I am ok w that part, but the heat, damnnnnn.

So, I am looking for some artillery to postpone until the heat retreats to some extent. I really like my MIL, but not looking forward to cooking outside. The heat index will be in the 114-118 range....and no, plenty of beer isn't the answer

Thanks for your feedback...

The heat isnt going to retreat, just get worse most likely. I grew up in TX. Work really early in the AM only (0430 to say 0900).