Some pictures of new paintings, etc.

Omigosh, that could be a real disaster - a dog with delusions of paintdeur (or something!) That's one reason why my cat isn't allowed in my studio; you can't keep them off anything. My labradoodle is just fine; she knows her place and sticks to it!

How terrific that you turned on so many kids to the glories of clay. My granddaughter loves it and every chance I get I try to expose her opportunities to dabble in it. I don't do it myself, though. Although one summer the French restaurant down the shore was holding clay classes because they needed to make clay bread plates for their service, so GD and I came along and I made a really neat terrine, that even had a lid, with slabs. I actually use it to cook terrines and it works well. My sole sortie into clay....GD made some very neat things, too. She gave everyone in the family a little clay object by the end of the sessions.

Cats can be even worse in jewelry studios. A jeweler friend of mine was doing end of year inventory and had all his plastic divider boxes out on a big table with their lids off, counting bazillions of earring backs, 5 point heads, etc. His cat was in there and strolled across the top of his workbench. This would not have been a problem except, like many jewelers, his torch was on a lazy acetylene flame with no oxygen so it was ready for quick adjustment and use.

The cat caught on fire and went into orbit. The cat did not burn to death but looked odd for awhile until his fur grew back. It took my friend a week to retrieve all the wee parts scattered all over the shop and sort them back out again. The cat was never allowed in there again.

That's a truly hair-raising story, Mulch! I'll bet the cat didn't WANT to go in there again, either.

I did used to allow my cat in the studio sometimes. She's basically a barn cat so she doesn't come in the house; however, I figured it wouldn't hurt to let her into the studio on occasion. But several times when I let her in she made a beeline upstairs into the loft and then hid from me, necessitating much breaking of concentration and aggravation. That's gratitude for you! So now she's banned. And she gets to look in the sliding glass door and see her archenemy, the dog, lolling about in comfort on her cozy bed while I paint.

How appropriate...

The dog thinks so....

Mulch, LOL only because the cat was okay! Burning candles in a romantic atomosphere can also be very dangerous to cats...

No animals in my studio except occasionally insects. No public figures, either! I have never had a child misbehave in my studio or in an art class. And I have been a foster parent so there have been many opportunities! Working with clay is so fun, who doesn't love it? Elbow pots, good idea. Costumes often lead to dance and theater. Used to have kids make dance sticks with dowel rods and surveyor's tape.

My enormous kitty occasionally sticks his face close enough to the fire in the fireplace to curl his whiskers. You'd think he'd learn.

The Crazy Ole Cat burned all his whiskers off on one side of his face on a candle when he was a kitten. He got stuck everywhere until they grew back. Candles are no longer allowed with bubble baths because he doesn't remember that he did that sigh. After all according to him, it's all about playing with the bubbles and swimming. Yes he still falls in frequently sigh.

I think COC has had a very interesting life. He ought to write his autobiography.

I started writing Requiem for a Crazy Ole Cat when I almost lost him to 'styrofoam buried under the deck in the old house we bought'. Very scary picante and I have guilt cuz it took me too long to figure out where he was getting the toxins. No toxic plants but finally figured it was the only place that was muddy and unknown, so worm wiggled under the deck and dug down with a flashlight and my human paws and oh ya some weinerbrain buried stryofoam under there. The crazy ole cat luved it under there and of course ingested it while cleaning the mud off his paws. Although alls well that ends well I have continued to document the 'adventures' of the crazy ole cat. Only cuz he's my 2nd bestest friend and crazy. Also I feel it might be helpful for other peoples who might have crazy ole cats in the futre.

I can't wait to read that book, DN!

Dahlia, it strikes me as unusual that you are constantly keeping notes: The Great Book of Lists, the Adventures of Crazy Ole Cat, Experiments Nobody Has Thought Of, and of course, Plants Nobody Else Could Grow Here But I Did.

I'm just wondering ??????? what that makes you.... A Documentarian?

I do like to scribe about the important things. So few people scribe about the important things.

Its good to reflect on those important things and to have them written down to re-reflect on.

Dahlia, you write and I'll illustrate! I like all the lists. I make lists and lose them. The C.O.C. Chronicles would be fun to read. I spent part of the morning trying to make a bird blind in the living room so as to spy on the sparrows and take pictures. It reminded me of my childhood when I decided to be an animal trapper. The idea was to trap animals in boxes with strings and then keep them for pets. Which they would like! It didn't work. The bird blind was somewhat better. What I need for birds is a cable release thingie which neither of my cameras will accomodate. So I have to learn how to be invisible and quick. Bother.

I like to scribe about my asteroid travels.

I like to read everybody else's scribes. Good one about cat and styrofoam. Who would have thought it? Right now my house is full of styrofoam from the new media center ordered by DH and being unpacked by me, now with only one hand. So far the dogs don't seem to want to eat it, but this motivates me to get the styrofoam out before the corrugated cardboard. I knew the styrofoam beds were bad for dogs. Hadn't thought about the hard styrofoam used for packing, though.
I, too, should scribe a book entitled "The Misadventures of Raja and Kelsey". It would begin with the Xylitol chapter and would include the consumption of an entire pound of almonds with no ill effect.

LOL! It would be a good book!

What is it about styrofoam and cats, please? I've never heard of that. Chocolate and raisins and xylitol for dogs, yes...

I imagine styrofoam wouldn't be good for birds either.

Styrofoam will outgas. I don't know what specific chemicals.

I think some styrofoam is earth friendly and some isn't. I think they may have made the kind that out-gasses bad stuff illegal due to the hole in the ozone layer.

They can make foam cups with a different plastic formulation. Seems someone thought it might be a better idea to make drink cups out of non-toxic materials.

Especially since kids have been known to chew on the edges.

I think the reason styrofoam is bad for dogs is that it can clog up their digestive tract. Sof would know. That may be the same reason it is bad for cats.

Yes it is obstructive topassing through the guy. Especially open cell foam.

Thanks sof about the evil styrofoam. Also cardboard when chewed by a COC (perhaps puppys too) can get lodged in their throat and you will have to reach in and pull it out with your finger so they don't choke and you will get bit and there will be blood from you (but not the COC) so although cardboard boxes are WAY cool to jump and turn into caves oft they are fraught with chewing danger. This is another thing I have learned and scribed about with my bitten fingers. ps When will 'Travels with My Asteroid' be published dear Mulch? I SO want to cherish that!

Styrofoam is just evil stuff, whatever it's made of. It's antimatter. When it meets Mulch's Asteroid they both self-destruct.

What, dear Dahlia, is COC? You will tell me and I shall say, "Of course, I should have known!" I await enlightenment.

Watch out for xylitol with dogs, too, btw!

This message was edited Jan 25, 2010 11:00 PM

Good to have you back, Dahlia.

Sorry gg. COC= Crazy Ole Cat. I should have typified it out. Good to be back funny bird.

Still traveling on the asteroid, no end date to the journal has been established...

DN, so glad to have you back!

Thanks, Nut! Nice to see you here!