Welcome to the blog for Ali's Craft Studio by Alison Lloyd. I am a crafter of peelable stained glass designs & handpainted keyrings and I look forward to sharing with you my news direct from Kent (the Garden of England)

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Wednesday 30 June 2010

Observations & Feline Entertainment...

During this hot weather, everything and everyone seems to be suffering - we really just are not happy in this country during extreme weather (hot or cold!).  It is truly a national pastime to talk about the weather in the UK and have a good old moan!

Therefore, to keep with the trend, here is just a small selection of the things that this weather has brought to my attention at Chez Ali's Craft Studio:
  1. My paint becomes thick and gloopy in the heat which makes it very difficult to create nice clean outlines on my work - it now lives in the fridge to try to keep it cool. 
    A very interesting sight for any unsuspecting person looking inside!  Mind you as hubby is at work, who would be looking in my fridge anyway?!  Hmm.... Anyway, I digress...
  2. Fur coats (especially black ones) and that bright, yellow, hot thing in the sky are not a good mix!  Just ask the cats, Blinky and Misty!  And they don't mind telling you frequently throughout the day (usually with a nibble and bite on your leg or elbow which will be repeated until you pay attention!)
  3. There aren't enough places in the house and garden to put bowls of water for said cats.  I am rapidly running out of containers and spend so long going round filling them all up that I am considering just flooding the ground floor to save time!
  4. Doors and windows being open do not make it feel noticeably cooler inside the house - it just means there are more flies coming inside.  Electric fans also just blow warm air around but do cause some entertainment as Blinky finds it really funny if the air blows up his bum!
  5. Cats can (and do) suffer from hayfever!
  6. Football teams and tennis players I am rooting for play much better when I am not looking at the TV screen!!  (honestly, I swear this is the truth!)
  7. The vole population in Kent may soon be at serious risk courtesy of Blinky - the stealth hunter!
  8. No food sounds appetising in this heat when I have to make it myself...
  9. Drinking more does not necessarily make you feel any cooler, it just makes you want to pee more!
  10. Finally, the lack of cool air in my craft room makes me look for any excuse to stop sitting at my desk with sweat running down my back battling with gloopy paint!!  Even doing the washing and emptying the dishwasher are preferable...
Yesterday, my internal moaning and muttering about being hot was relieved by Misty, our female cat who was also in my craft room trying to stay as cool as possible.  The scenario was played out in three stages:

Stage 1. Hot - Solution:  stay on the window but keep as low as possible - some breeze was coming under the curtain

Stage 2. Hotter - Solution: move away from the window as breeze has now died down (perhaps try putting head in cup if necessary!) 
She woke up when her whole face ended up in the cup!
3. Too Hot - Solution : stretch out on cooler desk (with cool air fan underneath) and push everything in her way to one side!! 
She obviously thinks that my craft work doesn't need such a big area!

Today, both cats were trying to stay cool - thank God for wood floors!  As I said, fur coats and hot weather....
In the foreground stretched out is Blinky, in the background sitting demurely is Misty and one of the many bowls of water dotted around...

Keep cool and happy crafting everyone...

3 comments:

  1. Have to agree with all of those, glad its not just me not fond of sitting crafting in the heat. My dogs agree with your cats, fur coats and heat are not good. Just off to put on fan to blow more hot air around.

    Lynda

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  2. Blinky and Misty are so lovely. This heat really knocks them out doesn't it? Jazz doesn't seem to mind it too much - must be all the white fur he has - but Daisy does suffer.

    Many thanks, Ali, for your note on my jewellery posting. I know you said when we met up that it was not necessarily a good idea, but card-making (I love it very much) doesn't seem to generate a lot of income and competition at fairs is pretty strong - every stall seems to have 'one or two' cards to sell and often because they are not the main business item, they are very low priced. So, will give the jools a try and see what happens.

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