Tips for living in "the desert"

 We talk in our family about living in the desert. We don't really live where there are sand dunes, walking for miles without water... that's what I think of when I think about the desert. Where we live on the western side of Colorado, the air is dry (low humidity), and the summers are HOT... often up to 105 or 107 degrees. I have some family that lives in Phoenix and Las Vegas, and it is even hotter there! Some people move to our area and often comment about needing to use lotion and lip balm a lot. Yep, that is part of life here!

Here are some things that I have found that help me and my family...
Ways to cool off your car:

1. You can take advantage of fluid dynamics to cool a car down by opening a rear window and using the opposite front door as a fan to draw hot air out. This forces hot air through the window.

2. Once the air feels noticeably cooler, press the recirculate button. Your A/C will cool the cabin air more efficiently, and your engine won’t have to work as hard.

3. Park in the shade. Obvious, yes, but it works. Even if it means walking a bit farther, parking in the shade can mean a 30- to 40-degree difference.

4. Use a sunshade. Yes, they’re awkward to fold. But they help block direct rays and protect your interior from baking.

5. If your car has dark or leather upholstery, toss on a cloth seat cover in the summer months. We like to use old kitchen towels or similarly sized rags and move them off the seat when we don't need them. I also will use a rag to hold the steering wheel if it is really hot to the touch.


If you need to be OUTSIDE for some time when it is very hot, here are a few things that we have found that help:

1. Take a long piece of cloth and dip it into very cold water, wring it out, and then put it around your neck. It works quickly and easily. We bought several of these "neck cooling cloths," and they work really well!

2. Put a line of peppermint oil across your neck. It feels so good when the slightest breeze hits it.

3. Use a spray bottle to spray water on your skin, and then fan yourself. 

4. Bring (or use) an umbrella to shade yourself.

5. Drink LOTS of water. More than you think. It really does help! If you're hiking and you've finished half your water, turn around and go back.

6. Find the shade, take a break, and stay in it for a few minutes.



Indoor tips:

1. Use your swamp cooler. It will cool the house about 20 degrees. It doesn't help as much when it's over 100 degrees outside, but most of the time it works great! Be sure to crack several windows to let the hot air out.

2. Use a fan to circulate the air. You can create a crosswind with several fans. Set your ceiling fans to rotate counter-clockwise.

3. Close your window coverings during the day. Most of us do the opposite, but it really can help! Open your windows in the morning and evening.

4. Take a cold shower. Take a nap or be less active in the hottest part of the day.


Other tips:

1. Dress lightly. Jeans are not to be worn outside when it is really hot. Wear lightweight, loose-fitting, and breathable clothing.

2. Go outside earlier in the day, if you can.

3. Never leave people or pets in a hot car!

4. Eat light foods such as watermelon and frozen grapes to hydrate and cool your body.

*5. If you feel dizzy, super sweaty, or just "off", be sure to tell someone! These are common heat illness symptoms.* Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious conditions!

Do you have any tips to add? I'd love to hear about them in the comments.

Exodus 14:11
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?


Exodus 15:22
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.


Psalm 105:41
He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.

Isaiah 40:3
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

New garden area setup

My husband and I have been talking for several years about moving our garden area after our chickens died. They lived longer than we thought they would!  But they all finally died over the winter, so we were able to use their chicken pen as a fenced garden area. Part of the reason we wanted to use the fenced area is that we get a lot of deer in our yard, especially in the past several years. I planted tomatoes in one of our wine barrels a few years ago, and the deer ate the tiny green tomatoes. UGH!

How it all began...

Once the weather began to get warm this spring, my hubby dismantled the chicken coop and began collecting scrap wood. He put the wood along the bottom half of the fenced area, so it would be a solid background for the garden. Then we put plastic sheeting over the wood. We placed long 2-by-4s on the dirt to help everything be more level. Then we began moving the cinder blocks we had around our old garden beds. My hubby did a majority of that work by himself, partly because I have been dealing with tennis elbow in my left arm. I did lift some of the blocks with my right arm. Once we got two layers set, we placed some cut-up wood pallets and other fillers in the bottom of the garden beds.

Our next step was to put garden fabric between the 2nd and 3rd layers of cinder block. We put everything from our compost bin and compost area on top of the garden fabric. It took a lot of shoveling into a barrel, but we were glad to have that step done, and our yard looked nicer!

The garden area is on the other side of the fence that you see...

Our next step was to move dirt from our old garden beds into the new garden beds. There were two beds that were about 2 feet wide by 10 feet long. It took us 3 hours to move all of the dirt bucket by bucket. We took a break for over a week after that, partly because we went out of town for a few days.

Before...

during...

and after!

We have not decided what to do with this part of the yard yet, but we may move our fire pit...

We priced topsoil at the local home improvement store and decided that it would be cheaper to buy compost from the area near our dump. We drove to the dump compost on Saturday and picked up one load. Our son Caleb came to help his Dad shovel dirt from the truck to the garden. It didn't take too long, and we even had some dirt left over! I promised our son that he would get to enjoy the fruit (and veggies) of our labor with us, literally! (haha)

That evening, my hubby and I shopped for veggies and seeds. It was kind of exciting to get to this point after so much work! We bought three tomato plants, three pepper plants, a red lettuce, two cucumber plants, two strawberry plants, spinach plants, and several herbs. We also got flowers for our wine barrels and marigolds to brighten up the garden area.

On Sunday, I planted the wine barrel plants, but that was all, since it was Mother's Day. I got a nap, and we enjoyed a nice family dinner with my mom. I was busy on Monday, but when the weather was cooler on Monday evening, we planted all the plants and seeds. The seeds that we bought are: arugula, rosemary, and three kinds of lettuce.

Then yesterday we got the watering hoses and small watering bubblers/umbrella bubblers in, as well as a soaker hose for the herbs and marigolds, which are in the cinder block holes. We are so happy to be done with all of that work and hope that everything grows well!

The water hoses are all set up...

Strawberries are all ready to water...

The basil and a marigold with the soaker hose...

I may post an update later this summer when things are really growing. It is so nice to have a garden again! (Although I hope Colorado's drought won't affect things too much...?)

Genesis 1:11-12
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Deuteronomy 11:10
The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden.

Isaiah 58:11
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Summer fun 2024

 We had a wonderful summer, but as usual, it went by too quickly. We enjoyed the typical things such as: attending JUCO games, holding our VBS at church & helping with it, doing a big puzzle, backyard movie nights, having family visit, going to Joshua's mom and sister's home for July 4, etc., We also did some minor home renovations. 

I will let you enjoy the pictures, including a family reunion on my mom's side. It was fun to see extended family, including cousins, aunts, and uncles that we hadn't seen for 9 years. It was nice to have a positive reason to gather, instead of at a funeral, since last year there were four!

Kids enjoying a JUCO game

Hubby, my Mom, and I enjoyed games too...

We helped (a little) with VBS decorations... we made a sand castle out of boxes! The beach theme was fun.

Kids singing during VBS...

My sister visited and we saw "Inside Out 2" with her and her kids.

We played lots of card games together at our family reunion, especially Nertz!

All of us at the family reunion, about 70 people (out of 220+). We took this with a drone!

These are all of my cousins that we were there...17, I think. Loved seeing each one!!

On the way home, we saw Mount Rushmore and the Badlands...so cool!

Then we were home for one day, did laundry, and repacked for the 4th of July time with Joshua's family!

Our group was smaller this year... we missed the big kids!

We went to a speakeasy, that was different but we liked it a lot!

Youth group movie night...

We listened to "Encanto" music while we made this 1,000-piece puzzle. The bottom was tough!

Our son moved out in May. The ceiling in this room had damage from years before, so we removed the popcorn ceiling. It took about 4 1/2 hours and was a mess, but we are happy with it! My hubby retextured it, and we repainted the room. It looks so much better!

Our youngest daughter moved in there a few weeks ago, and she likes it. We have a guest room now, and it was even used last weekend!

It was a great summer. We are starting to get back into the fall routine, which is good too. Our daughters also went on a mission trip to Mexico with their youth group and enjoyed building a house for a family there. My mom was out of town for 3 weeks and we took care of her dog. We enjoyed our friends' pool and we had a nice anniversary. The girls are in marching band now, and soon that will keep us busy with football games and competitions!

What did you do this summer? Were you able to travel anywhere? I'd enjoy hearing about it.

Psalm 74:17
It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.


Proverbs 26:1
Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.


Proverbs 30:25
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;

Summer fun 2023

 We had a great summer this year. We didn't do any traveling, but we had a great time close to home. We had a wonderful VBS, enjoyed our friends' pool, attended a fantastic concert, had a nice July 4th, painted pottery, went to a nearby adventure park, and more. Enjoy the pictures!

We enjoyed our Twists & Turns VBS!

We enjoyed seeing the band "Unspoken..."

We saw the Newsboys, they were really good!

We enjoyed singing along with Phil Wickham too.

We hiked nearby with our youth group to a sweet pea patch... so pretty!

We went on a small hike on Father's Day.

We loved our time with extended family for the Independence Day holiday.

We even hiked to see this waterfall!

We saw Star Wars (A New Hope) in the theater... so much fun!

We enjoyed painting our own pottery, I made a sweet, little heart vase!

Lovely pool time on a hot summer day!

And for our last hurrah, we went to an adventure park that we had never been to before. It had several roller coasters, as well as cave tours. We enjoyed it all, even the downpour in the middle of the day!

The girls...

Bethany loved these huge statues...

Fun cave tours, so nice to cool off!

I rode this roller coaster the first time, then they rode it again. It was VERY fast!

I found my wings!

What did you do this summer? Did you travel to see anything fun?

Genesis 8:22
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”


Proverbs 26:1
Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.


Proverbs 30:25
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;