Hot weather....

To my mind there are definitely pluses and minuses to reeeeally hot weather.....such as we are having now....about 31 deg. Celsius. We have had hotter weather 35 deg.C. and up (and apparently we will be getting that on Tuesday) but the following list pretty much applies to everything over 30 deg.C.

Pluses

1. Sun is light and Vitamin D and both of those are good we're told
2. Mediterranean herbs grow like stink in hot weather (which is of interest only to any of us who grow Mediterranean herbs). 
3. Clothes dry in about 30 seconds when you hang them on the clothesline (provided you can bear to be out there spending time in the heat hanging out clothes)
4. Your afternoons are spent lounging on the sofa reading chick lit. (read romance novels with some drama)and drinking Perrier until dinner when you drink cool white wine.
5. You can go bra-less at home, wear baggy pants and a camisole and birkenstocks.....sort of like the 70's......or was it the 60's. Who cares!!  You will be cool while being *cool* (as in 70's cool....or was the 60's?)
6. You can get your hair cut really short and coloured about 4 different colours and do it all in the name of being "summery"!! (But then because we're over 60, we'd probably be able to do that any time of the year and get away with it because we're weird old ladies!)
7. The dog has to be walked very early in the day....air is fresher and it gives you time to wake up! (Oops, I mean it gives DH time to wake up!!) 
8. A lot of BBQ food.....or for that matter a lot of cold food....which definitely isn't a bad thing.....especially if it's not me doing the BBQ'ing. I'm just sitting inside enjoying my cool white wine, having leisurely prepared the snacks and salads....some of which I am consuming with my cool white wine....

Minuses

1. You can't sit outside....period. 
2. You're banished to the cool basement (or in my case the ground floor)
3. Any outdoor concerts without shade are out of the question. 
4. The dog has to be walked very early in the day....no sleeping in for you...oops....I mean no sleeping for DH!!
5. Your afternoons are spent lounging on the sofa reading chick lit...longing for dinner when you can drink cool white wine.
6. When you do go out, sun hats are almost mandatory as is sunscreen
7. You actually have to wear clothes when you go out in public.....constricting HOT clothes. (When you're our age, mini-shorts and tiny tanks are not on the cards unless you've been exercising like stink and have the body of a 24 year old!!)
8. Unless you have central air conditioning or a reversible fan in the bedroom....sleep comes amidst a tangle of sheets, twisted pajamas, the buzzing of a few stray mosquitoes and a very toasty little dog on the bed. (unless, of course you don't have mosquitoes....or a toasty little dog....or for that matter sheets or ....OK.... lets not go there.....

So I'm sure I could, if I put my mind to it come up with many more things to add to the lists (but it's just too darn hot!).....but you get my drift. It's pretty equal.....but I'm still not sure I'm a hot weather person. That's why  it's highly unlikely for me to be seen in a hot weather country. I'm a west coast woman....partial to the moisture that the ocean provides, be it through weather or paddling at the beach. Give me a green rain-soaked country any day......it must be my Irish ancestry :-)

However....there are some interesting places to visit in Italy and Portugal....hmmmmmm


Slainte!!

PS: These views are subject to change if the weather gets cooler by a few degrees.....:-)