It is so hot! I hate summer, and it used to be my favorite time of year. I am so sensitive to heat and bright light that I can only go outside for about 3-4 hours a day, really early and really late. By summer's end, my gardens are completely out of control.

Can you get yourself one of those big patio umbrellas with its own stand on wheels? Perhaps you could position it to keep yourself in the shade, allowing you more time outdoors if needed. Altho' that's not going to do much for the heat, I'm afraid.

I have spots of skin cancer and have to wear a big floppy hat and slather myself with sunblock—if I'm being good, which often times I'm not. The house I rent has no rear door, just a slider to get out to the trash cans or to let the dog out for a quick wee. Then I see something in the garden that needs doing and before I know it I'm out there for 10 minutes or longer without any protection.

Pattybee, it's not the sun so much as the heat. My eyes are sensitive to bright sunlight, but the heat just drags every bit of energy out of me. Plus, I sweat really bad now, never sweated much my whole life until the past few years. I can be out in the heat for 10 minutes and I'm soaking wet and feel like I ran a marathon. Lupus sucks.

I only garden in the summer early morn or towards evening. Tho mowing is a crap shoot since the grass is too wet in The morning and the afternoon thundershowers often kills an evening mow too. I just came in from mowing part of my back yard...the part that is not boggy that is. The back third is too wet to mow. I also did a bit of weed wacking. I still have a rectangle of weeds right in the middle of the backyard unmowed...a bunny has had that patch in constant use as her nest now for about 6 months. I can't tell when she is between litters so i have no idea when to mow it.

Yeah, I'm not so happy with the lack of rain the last couple of day ( I know we've had so much of it) but it did cool us off a bit. I am also finding it harder and harder to take these Florida summers **sigh** I hate the cold like most of us here but the 3 digit heat indexes for the next 6 months I'm not looking forward to...I'd love to be a snow bird if I can afford it Lol...

puglvr1, I know I could never afford to own two houses - can't even afford one -- so I'm planning on doing a few years as a van dweller traveling the U.S. I figure maybe 18 more months here, then I'll take off. I'm giving up my comfort (and my garden) for freedom, where I can "chase 70F" and never be too cold or too hot.

Good for you, Deb! I've thought about prius-dwelling myself.

writersblock - I thought about that also, but I want to go solar, and there really isn't enough room in a Prius to carry around these big old panels. I'd do it if I was just doing weekends or something. Someone gifted me a set of portable solar panels and someone else gifted me an extreme cold military sleeping bag, so I already have a start on what I need. Might as well carry through and use it.

Pea, I used to mow 10 minutes at a time once the grass dried, or do it in the evening right before sunset. I finally gave up and paid someone to mow it, even though it was a financial strain. The physical strain on me was much worse.

Oh, but Deb, there are lots of ways to go solar in the prius. Have you seen Brent's blog? He's currently using a Tacoma with a bed camper because he wants to off-road more, but for 2014 through 2017 he used a prius and by the end of his travels he had a quite a nice setup with an efficient house battery he recharged with solar:

http://macaloney.blogspot.com

Don't forget that the prius is a giant generator so you don't need as much solar as you do with other vehicles, too. To me, being able to run the A/C at night when needed without running the engine all the time is a big consideration.

Deb, Writersblock

That is what I called women power! I hope that you get all your dreams come true, keep us informed on the plans....

When I was in my twenties, I did a trip like that across the USA, I had a orange van with orange print carpet, I still remember and I had a great time!

I would do it again!

Silvia

Hey, Deb. I don't know if you've seen this, but here's the blog of a woman I followed for years on her previous blog about walking the Camino de Santiago. She's trying full-timing in a Sienna and has a lot of useful tips:

https://anniesantiago2.blogspot.com