The dog and I are singing the summertime blues

Summer is coming. Actually, in my eyes, it’s already here because if it’s over 25C it’s summer.

My whinge-o-meter will be cranking up and I’ll refuse to talk to anyone who tells me how much they love summer.

I have lost a few kilos this year (I hope whoever got them is enjoying them) so maybe that will make summer a little more bearable, although I seriously doubt it. I’m the one in shirt and shorts when other people are still in scarves, coats and Ugg boots.

When the Suzukis overheat, hubby has a fan you can switch on to cool the engine down. I want one of those — an inbuilt fan I can switch on wherever I am.

It’s hard getting anything done as I try to stay within reach of the air-conditioner in the kitchen or office.

The boys prefer the bough shed in the afternoons, but with more holes than Swiss cheese at present it isn’t all that effective.

The dog is on my side. She spends the mornings under the house.

At times I am tempted to join her to test the temperature, but the thought of getting stuck under there puts me off.

The bough shed is another favourite spot of hers, but she has to have company.

As long as someone is in there with her, the cement floor or the beds are all quite acceptable.

I think back to when we were first married. We had one air-conditioner in the lounge room, which could only be used when the generator was on.

We all slept outside, the kids in a cot with a mosquito net over it before they graduated to beds.

Afternoon naps were in the bough shed — the portable cot doing service there as well as outside in the evenings.

Both my boys spent their first months in a nappy and singlet, or sometimes just a nappy.

My daughter was born in winter, so she got to wear some pretty and warm baby clothes.

Toilet training was done as much as possible in summer. So easy to whip off nappies or pants and hose them down when accidents occurred.

My tolerance for heat is diminishing every year.

Some might say it’s global warming. I believe it is a message that it’s time for me to retire.