Apart from a few isolated days, the climate on Crete has been far less heat intensive than it was the previous summer. There have been far fewer heatwaves and we’ve all enjoyed lower temperatures to live and work in. During July I missed two selling days, one day when it really was too hot and another because it was too windy to set up my stall and display. Despite only selling for 7 days out of a possible 9, I am happy to mention that like June – July sales were up on last year.
At my stall & display on the edge of the beach at Almyrida
My Cat on the Wall and Donkey designs have been popular in July and August so far, But I’ve been kept busy making more Baby Turtles designs as they continue to fly off my display board! As for the cat designs – they are always in high demand, but I have now run out of the canvases I need to make more. Because I did not produce as much last winter, I am already running out of certain designs and so I reckon I will be taking artworks off Etsy to sell during September and October. I do nothing to direct traffic to my Etsy shop as it wouldn’t make a difference to sales anyway. I doubt people can even find me on there these days, given the sheer volume of ‘any kind’ of shops. Etsy hasn’t been the handmade marketplace it used to be for many years now. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Cat on Wall Seashell & Pebble Mosaic Collage Painting
Socially there have been plenty of events to go to in the evenings. Mostly live music gigs held at a variety of venues including my local Vangeli’s, Gyalos in Kalyves and The Donkey Café in Vamos. I never remember to take photos and always regret this when I come to write another blog post. I’m determined to make a conscious effort to do so from now on.
We’ve had some chilling and restful beach days, usually on weekends and often at Almy in Kalyves. Ross was over for a few weeks and joined Debbie, Lisa and I on a couple of occasions. We made some enquiries at Kalyves harbour, for someone to take us in a boat to the glass beach, leave us for a few hours and then come back and collect us. We thought we’d found someone to do this, but lost all faith in them when we were told about the possibility of the sea being too rough over on the other side of the peninsular and being stranded there if they couldn’t pick us up. The beach is so remote and it is doubtful we would even get a mobile signal there. Ross was the only one who thought it would be an exciting adventure to be stranded there, without even the right footwear to navigate our way out on! Please read my post dated November 2023, where I relate the ‘Unforgettable Trek’ Debbie and I took to reach the glass beach on foot! Because now we are back to finding a better route on foot and hopefully we can do this with Ross when he returns in October.
On our walk exploring the coastline at Kissamos. Note the rough sea behind me!
Debbie and I have also been back to Skaleta and Kissamos. At Skaleta I was able to collect the little dark seashells I use in my Deckchairs and Flipflop designs. My stock was running low and I needed to prep up more of these designs that have already sold well. When we visited Kissamos last weekend, we went to our favourite bay not far from the main port of Kissamos. We thought we’d be swimming lots but sadly the sea was too rough to get into. It was also too windy to put up the parasol over our little deckchairs for shade. However, the strong breeze was more comfortable to walk in and we spent a couple of enjoyable hours exploring the coastline in both directions, finding a few tiny shells along the way.
At Vangeli’s terrace enjoying the live music
Looking ahead, the temperatures for the rest of August look like remaining in the late 20’s and early 30’s. Fingers crossed… because it makes life so much easier and I still have lots of energy! Heatwaves completely sap your energy.