It’s been an absolute scorcher in south-eastern Australia over the last few days. Wagga Wagga hit 40 + degrees on both Saturday and Sunday. I haven’t experienced that sort of warmth since the summer of 2015/2016, so I really felt it!
It always amazes me that while one part of the world can be experiencing extreme heat, others can be gripped in the midst of extreme cold (east cold of the United States and Canada, I’m thinking of you!) In the days leading up to the weekend my Instagram feed was full of northern hemisphere dwellers preparing for a cozy weekend.
While they were channelling hygge in the traditional sense, I thought I’d go about creating ‘summer hygge’…
Winter hygge is all about warm drinks, cozy blankets and long dark nights in, but there is no reason why the same concepts can’t be adapted to the Australian summer.
Adam and I started our mornings with home-made iced coffee. Just stove top espresso poured over lots of ice and topped up with cold milk, straight from the fridge. I love my one morning coffee, but when the temperatures rise, a steaming mug is less than appealing. It was heaven to sip on the chilled coffee, while watching the sunlight stream in through our kitchen window.
We turned our air conditioning on early and settled in for a few days, pottering around the house. Pictures that had sat leaned up against walls for the last few weeks were hung, reading was caught up on, and hardy native greenery was arranged in vases to replace wilting flowers.
We watched films, put clean sheets on the bed, fresh towels in the bathroom and ate freezing cold ice-blocks.
On Saturday night, once the sun had started to sink in the sky we fired up the barbecue and treated ourselves to burgers on home made buns, sweet potato fries and a cool, crisp salad.
Afterwards we ventured outside to water our poor, parched lawn – enjoying the cool, wet spray on our legs and admiring the fire-like sunset.
On Sunday night, after a storm skirted around us, the sky was even more special.
It’s due to cool slightly this week in Wagga to the low to mid 30s. While it won’t be quite the same extreme heat we experienced over the weekend, it’ll still take its toll. I’m hoping my body will start to re-adapt to a warmer climate over the next month or so, but in the meantime, I think taking it slow and incorporating ‘summer hygge’ into my everyday is the way to go!
What do you do when the weather’s super warm?
Wattle and Ash 