General Chat

The heat has dropped ..... to around 25C during, which is what we would have called a heat wave 2 weeks ago!!

But it is getting much cooler at night, down to about 17C , so easy to sleep :-D


I am now eating melted and re-solidified chocolate bars.

I eat Vegan dark chocolate bars, 50 gm size. I had 5 in a drawer, usually absolutely fine in there ............ until last week.

They don't taste quite as good as normally, but beggars can't be choosers :-D

My sister lives near Calgary and was telling me yesterday that the river that flows through the middle of the town is icy cold (glacier melt-water) and also fast flowing.

People are so hot that they are jumping in the river to cool down without realising the danger and then having to be rescued, suffering from hypothermia and being swept away on the current.

80 new wildfires started just overnight last night, that adds ot around 130 or more that were already burning.

Of course, not all are big fires. A relatively small number are called "fires of concern", ie covering large areas, moving rapidly, close to habitations, etc.

The hot weather is continuing, although, thankfully, not as hot as last week.

Alberta also has a lot of wild fires, as they face the same situation that w e do .......... unseasonably and "never before experienced" hot weather and dry conditions.

The BC Government yesterday asked the Federal Government tot send military help with the wild fires ..... the troops usually take over jobs that the RCMP do, such as setting up and manning road blocks, patrolling to prevent looters, searching, etc. They can also help in clean-up operations after a fire has been contained .... they are not used as front line wildfire fighters.

I heard on the radio this morning that the Feds are sending military to be stationed near either Calgary or Edmonton in Alberta to be available for both provinces.

It’s now being reported over here that there are lots of wildfires from lightening strikes. Very frightening.

The news this morning on all the fires is very bad. I feel for the firefighters as well as the owners of the properties

I have just seen before and after photos of Lytton, that was so tragic, such a pretty little town and apparently still residents unaccounted for. Nature can be cruel.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you about the heat dome!

The other problem in BC is that there have been loads of lightening strikes all over the province (except down here).

Dry lightening = wild fires.

There are 2 other fires in the same area as what is now known as the Lytton Creek fire.

Not sure about today's number, but there were 82 wild fires across BC yesterday (Thursday), and 52 of them started during the preceding 48 hours


We have not had a good thunderstorm, with heavy rain and thunder and lightening for several years here on the coast.

The house and contents can certainly hold the heat and will take days to fully cool down sadly. Managed to keep the AC off today though it got a tad warm inside when the thunderstorms came through and we had to close the windows....very heavy rain and hail. Next few days are meant to be mid 20's so very nice. hopefully, the heat dome won't hit us in a few days.

The latest news seems to be that we will continue to have higher than normal temperatures for the next several days.

Normal temperature here on the coast is round 19-21C at this time of year.

"They" are talking 24-26C


I'm getting worried about what we face towards the end of July and August, as those are traditionally our warmest times, and when we have had heat waves in the past.

This also raises the fear of many more wild fires as the drought gets worse and everything dries out.

I posted somewhere else that another thing that amazed me was how warm things felt in the house .............. the carpets were warmer to bare feet than when the heating is on in the winter.

The toaster sides constantly felt warm-ish as though it had recently been used.

The faucets (water taps) felt warm, as they do after you've run hot water for some time.

and so on.

None of the appliances or water had actually been in use for hours!!!

Actually I was looking to see if I could turn the candle holder upside down, hang from a nail or something by the little carrying handle, then the wick would be at the top, and I could light it.

:-D :-D :-D

Interestingly I have another 2 pairs of candles, one set in the living room and the second on a chest of drawers in the bedroom.

Both pairs are still upright, and ready to use.

I really didn't think the kitchen was THAT much hotter, as we were not using the oven, we boiled water in an electric kettle a couple of times a day, used the toaster once a day, and OH boiled eggs twice. So not generating that much heat. I kept the kitchen curtains closed most of the time ......... the window faces east so gets sun from soon after sunrise to about 10:30 or 11 am as the sun moves round.

The bedroom window faces west, and is largely blocked by the larger house next door, but there is a skylight which brings sun in from about 3 pm to late.

The living room faces north, so gets only late evening sun and that at an extreme angle.

You could always use it to look around a corner :-)

At least you are still upright, Sylvia, unlike the candle

I don't think that I'll complain about our Australian heat again :-D :-D

:-D :-D :-D :-D

I keep a candle in a candle stick in the kitchen for emergency use.

The current one is a white 8" tall one, about ¾" diameter

It is no longer the tall upstanding candle that it once was ............. it is bent in a almost perfect U shape..

. :-D :-D :-D