keep cool and carry on . . .

As the mercury continues to rise here on Mallorca, I thought I would share my top five tips for keeping cool when it’s hot, hot, hot outside!

1. Wear light, loose, linen clothing – the loose weave of linen allows body heat (and sweat!) to escape from your body. Linen absorbs a lot of moisture and will dry quickly, keeping you both cool and dry.

2. Keep shutters (if you have them), and curtains closed during the day to keep the heat out. Now, if you come from the north east of Scotland like me, this one will go against everything you were ever taught growing up (open all the windows, let the sun / day light in, let fresh air in – and yes, even if it is absolutely freeeeeezing outside!)

3. Placing a bowl of ice cubes in front of a fan creates a similar air cooling effect to air conditioning.

4. Running cold water over your wrists – the blood vessels there are closer to the surface of your skin – will help to bring your body temperature down much quicker. Very important for those of us of a certain age!

5. (And my personal favourite!) Eat your own body weight in watermelon! Personally, I love my watermelon in a salad, mixed with cucumber, feta and fresh mint, with a dressing of olive oil, lime juice and honey, and sprinkled with a touch of sea salt flakes.

These are just some of things that I have found that work for me, but I’m curious, how do you like to keep cool?