20.07.2022 Far too hot! 95F/35C!

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 Wednesday 20th 67F [at 06.30] Bright and breezy. A potentially record hot day reaching 35C / 95F.

 Up at 5.45. It was still 82F upstairs at bedtime last night. So I dragged a folding foam mattress downstairs and slept on the floor in the lounge. It wasn't too bad and I slept after a couple of trips to the bathroom.

 I slipped a couple of cushions under the head of the mattress. To simulate my own bed. It felt as if I was head down until then. I presume my own bed has sunk in the middle after 26 years of continuous use. The mattress now feels more natural compared with a perfectly flat one. My Ikea over-mattress helped to soften the firmness of the sponge. 

 Temperature records for Denmark are expected to tumble today. Much as they have all over Europe. I shall be at the farm museum today. So I am hoping for an indoor job. I don't like high temperatures. Particularly when exposed to the sun. I haven't found a suitable sun hat yet. My usual baseball cap is far too hot!

 My family visitors are heading south into even higher temperatures today. Their plan is to take the ferry. Then shelter in the air conditioned, mega-shopping centres around the German order. Until temperatures drop back to more normal levels.

 7.45 72F. I've had a gentle, half hour. early walk. It is already warm despite the SE breeze. I've had a shower and am readying myself for the day ahead. Luckily I found an old, fawn, baseball cap from years ago. Which will hopefully be cooler. It was no fun yesterday choosing between a hot head and a hot cap. With far higher temperatures, I do not expect it to be very pleasant outdoors today. 

 Many crops are still standing and there is an ongoing drought. One wonders whether Denmark will have wildfires like many other countries.

 14.20 I am just back from the museum after helping with two guided tours in English. Handy for the Dutch. Whose English is often very good but Danish a foreign tongue. 

 I also cleared an old mill stream of weeds early on. I had a free choice of countless, antique hand tools. All this was safely managed in the shed of the giant trees with eater levels down to a trickle. Then I was asked to scrub the liken from the granite horse trough and its big wooden, hand cranked pump. Coming back outside, from the cool indoor rooms into bright sunshine, was a real shock every time.

 The outside thermometer at home is now showing 95F /35C in the shade. It is 88F/31C upstairs. Far too hot to sit there. So I am retiring downstairs to rest in the much more pleasant 78F/26C. The outside heat is supposed to increase as the afternoon wears on. 

 16.00 After lunch I lay down on the mattress on the lounge floor. Where I must have slept for about three quarters of an hour. It has reached 90F in the open upstairs space but outside temperatures are falling. About 91F at present. I have opened opposite dormer windows to try and purge the heat. 

 Meanwhile, the greenhouse is showing 95F despite both end doors being wide open to the strong, SE wind. While the lounge is still a quite pleasant 78F. Ideal for sitting about in just my shorts. 

 I am using the laptop on the dining table to save being baked at the PC upstairs. Though I have borrowed the PC mouse rather than using the laptop's touch pad. The kitchen shows 90F and the 'fridge can be heard working much harder than usual.

 Climbing the stairs is a perfect example of thermal stratification. The exact reverse of walking down a beach into cold water. The heat layer can be easily felt. Starting from one's head and moving on downwards with each step gained in height. Once on the landing it is stiflingly hot!

 I have had to knot the curtains because the wind is blowing them straight in horizontally. Though I still hold out very little hope of it becoming comfortable as a bedroom tonight. The roof and thick Rockwool insulation will hold onto their stored heat. 

 17.00 90/91F Indoors upstairs/ and outside. Afternoon tea. I substituted an apple for the usual toasted roll. Just helping to keep up my fluid intake. I am drinking a little water and apple juice at intervals. As is advised for surviving high temperatures. I can feel the outside heat penetrating. As I pass a northerly window in the lounge.

 Now I have been told by the bereavement court to have an estate agent value the house. The local estate agent [from a national chain] couldn't manage it before next Tuesday. The house has not changed in rateable value in the 26 years since we bought it. Some local homes have been up for sale for many years. Usually without ever being sold. Some finally went only by forced auction!

 Dinner was cheese on toast with sliced, plum tomatoes. Plus half a tin of tomato soup. All washed down with a half can of organic beer. Just for extra fluids. It is intolerably hot up here at the computer despite both dormer windows being wide open. There is only a breath of wind.

 19.50 82F. [87F in the bedroom] I have taken the bin along for emptying. The heat of the setting sun was unbelievable. I took more pictures of my wife's flower garden after seeing new flowers had arrived. I hope you value my efforts for sitting here in these temperatures.

20.00 81F outside. 86.5F upstairs.  Time to go back downstairs before I melt. Where it is still 79F!

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