The Great British Heatwave
I’m not sure if you’ve heard me complaining on Instagram, but we’ve just survived a brief British heatwave. Summer in the UK can be brutal, as the houses are made to retain heat and there is no air conditioning in homes - or really, anywhere aside from the grocery store and the butcher. My kitchen (where we keep our thermostat) peaked at 28°C/83°F, which is incredibly warm. Considering the air is humid and stagnant, it is a really unpleasant existence.
Finally, the heat broke last night and I’m staring out at a rainy, grey, slightly chilly England. I have a soup planned (my friend Alice recommended Bold Bean Co’s minestrone, so my hopes are high - these beans are so expensive but also so worth it??) for dinner and my aspirations for the evening are reading a book with a cup of peppermint tea.
I said to a friend yesterday that I really don’t mind the hot days, deep down. There’s something nice about a cold drink and “picky bits” for dinner - a British tradition consisting of things like mini sausage rolls, ham, coleslaw, boiled eggs, really whatever’s in the fridge, chilled, or bought from M&S’s picky bits section (any grocery shop will do these, but M&S reigns supreme for picky bits). A G+T with picky bits, no responsibilities, and children running through the sprinkler is absolute bliss.
The caveat is that I absolutely must retire for the evening in an air conditioned bedroom.
Alas, no air con for us - the price of the units paired with the fear of our electric bill means we suffer through. Tonight, however, I look forward to a good, chilly, rainy night’s sleep.
