First pick your blueberries

Just about the entire northern hemisphere is in the grip of a prolonged heatwave, with wildfires raging and people dying. There’s disagreement on how much climate change is to blame, but a consensus that damaging heatwaves will become more frequent, and we really ought to do some planning for that now – changing the way that houses are built, and planting (and retaining) more trees and green spaces, for a start. Personally, I don’t do at all well in the heat. This week I have almost become a hermit, venturing outside only when entirely necessary. Ryan and I take it in turns to water the garden in the evening, and that’s pretty much all the attention it’s getting. I planted up a bed or basil and parsley on 11th July, and have just managed to keep some of the plants alive – one or two even look like they might be getting the hang of life now – but I have some climbing pea seedlings that really want to be planted out, but would scorch in about 5 seconds.

So I am staying indoors, and this week I have been reading Tim Peake’s Ask an Astronaut: My Guide to Life in Space, and in some ways our current situation is a bit like life on the ISS. The harsh exterior environment means it’s unwise to nip outside without proper preparation, and we’re all forced to keep wearing a limited set of clothes (although, unlike ISS astronauts, we can at least wash ours and get them dry!). All air movement is being forced by fans, I don’t feel much like eating, and while I have more cooking facilities than an astronaut, I certainly don’t feel like using them much, and we have been quite reliant on food that comes in packets.

I wonder how Tim felt, stuck inside the ISS, because by his own admission he’s an outdoorsy kind of person, and a lot of his