Karla's Cottage

Hiding instead of repairing damaged dry wall and a rosey outlook for springtime

A bit ago, we redid a wall in the living room with ceiling tin. These were 8' strips, and were ideal for where I needed them, they seem to look nicer on a wall than the squares would have.

And after purchasing them, I happened to find the border at another shop and it is exactly what I needed! I'd planned on using wood trim and this is so much better. How lucky to find just the right amount of border.

The wall panels are from Nook and Cranny.  When I drove around to the back of the shop to load the pieces, I happened to see the tin crown molding on the sidewalk in front of another store in the West Bottoms.  I bought all the border, but there is a truckload of the wall panels left. ($40 each, but ask for a volume discount if you buy more than a couple)

The room didn't look bad before, I liked the faux finish.  Until you got up close.

My old house settles, and the shape of a doorway kept popping through the drywall. Years ago, during a remodel, we'd covered up a hallway and this door shape would NOT go away no matter how many times I'd patched it.

I don't mind cracks, old houses have lots of them. But not door shaped!

(and yes, you are seeing nasty cobwebs in this photo, not just faux paint treatments and cracks in the wall)

SInce I have tins on the kitchen ceiling, I thought it would look good to also have the wall at the far end of the living room covered in them too. (this is before)

Luckily, I have a very handy son, who installed them for me.  He ripped off the baseboard, and I squirted a ton of caulking back under the wall to help with drafts before he put up the tin.

We decided not to put up more baseboard over it, I like the look as it ended up without it.

The panels plus the crown were just the right size for the wall!  My son wanted to cut the tins and line them up perfectly, but I told him not to. It went against his nature as a carpenter to not have the lines on the tin exact, but I like it as it is. 

(the purple marks show the door outline we were covering up)

I promised him I would tell everyone that, because the lines bother him.  Not me, I'm soooo happy with the whole project!! He had them up in a couple hours.

The lines that might bother me are the ones between each panel.  They need to be caulked and sealed so they aren't as prominent. 

But I haven't made up my mind about painting yet.  I did paint over the rust on the crown, but only because it was too regular and stripey looking.  Random rust makes me happy, but this was not that kind.

For now, I  figure I'll leave the chippiness as is, I can always paint later.  But I do think I need to caulk the seams....

The dogs always think each photo is about them.

So, I indulged the little hams and let them pose.

They love to be in pictures.

For springtime, I hung some rose pattern bark cloth drapes and wrapped the sofa cushion in another bark cloth piece.  It has come untucked on the edges a  bit. I guess that is the sort of thing you should straighten before a photo, huh?

My living room stays cream and white most of the year, and I love that combo, it makes seasonal changes so simple.  A few pillows, a couple curtain panels and a switcheroo of some knick knacks and I've got a new look for a new season.

And the dogs love the BARK cloth.

 

Hunting for signs of the Big Giant Cat

My son, Ryan, mentioned, oh- by the way, I saw that giant cat a couple weeks ago.  A couple of weeks ago?? And he doesn't tell me right away? Dogs, cats, chickens, and KIDS have wandered around in danger?

He said at first he thought it was Twinkle's boyfriend, the neighbor's tall, tan, standard poodle. Then realized it walked different than a dog and took another look realizing it was a huge cat.  The trappers had told us it might come back and that we should call them back if we saw signs.

I wanted to be sure, since it was NOT cheap to have them out to set traps last fall. We spent a few hundred dollars on catching oppossums, but no cat.

So, on a snowy day, Sugarwings and I bundled up to go hunting.  We thought we might see footprints in the snow.

Our first step was to climb up high and look out over the valley and down the trail to make sure it wasn't waiting for us. We wanted to see footprints, not the cat itself! Since there were no leaves, and the trail was quite wide, we could see all the way to the highway. We didn't cross the creek to go deeper into the woods, we stayed on the big, open trail.

She carried a big stick and we made lots of noise. The cat seems to only be seen around dusk, so we figured mid day was a good time to look.

She decided that she would be a Knight in Shining Armour and the Big Giant Cat, or Bobbed Cat, as she calls it, was really a dragon.  Her stick was a sword, and we were ready to search out the dragon's liar.

The snow was too spotty to show footprints. We didn't even see any prints from deer, and I know we have dozens of those out there.  We did find poo, and I took some photos of it, so we could compare it to pictures of cat scat online.  I'm sure you can imagine that part without me showing you the actual pictures.

We also found this tree, used as a scratching post.   The marks are about chest high!!

After doing some research, we found this, which fit perfectly with what we saw:

Identify bobcat scat by noting its size, composition and location. Bobcat scat ranges in size from about 2 to 6 inches in length and is usually less than an inch in height. It is often but not always segmented, and looks very similar to the feces of domesticated cats, except that it is slightly larger. Bobcats tend to leave scat in the middle of a road or trail or at an intersection or a turn in the trail. It is believed they do this as a method of marking territory and communicating with other animals.

Look for other possible signs made by bobcats. Bobcats will sharpen their claws on trees, and claw marks can often be see in tree bark. Bobcats will scrape dirt or snow over both their urine and feces. Claw marks may be seen from this covering, as well as from when they make scratches in the snow when rubbing their glands over an area to mark territory.

It was quite an adventure for us, we had a lot of fun pretending to hunt dragons, but it was also educational as well as some imaginary game time. We learned to watch carefully for movement in the woods, and also to search the trail for signs of animals. We did see some raccoon prints, and talked about different animals and how to tell what they are by the tracks they leave behind.  I also made her aware that the woods are full of creatures, even though it is our own Fairy Berry Trail, and we think of it as a play ground, it really belongs to the creatures that live there, not to us. 

Looking up pictures online to compare to our photos was a good project for her too.  I want her to respect the woods and the wildlife, and think about them as a place for animals to live, and not to run out there without an adult at her side.

Until we can get the trapper back out here, the woods are officially closed for play time. The chickens are on lock-down and the dogs don't leave the fence.  No children can play outside without supervision.

 I sure hope that Trapper Tom can help us out.  Please wish us luck with this.

Oopsy daisy

Even when my house is cleaned up, it still looks "homey".  Toys, books, a soft blanky left out, that never bothers me.  I smile when I see reminders of the grand fairie's last visits.

But this is just a bit much, isn't it?  As I was about ready to leave for my trip, I discovered that my dog is in heat. And messy as can be. Ugh. I had to cover up everything in house just in case she jumped on something while I'm away. Towels and old blankets drape all the furniture.  I hate leaving Sandy to deal with this and I hate leaving my house looking like a wreck, but man, am I ever ready to get away.

Aunt Sandy will be watching Twinkle and will keep her locked in the studio (where there is a moppable cement floor) while I am gone.  But, yuck. Double Yuck.

Sorry,  I do tend to talk about unpretty things, don't I?

There is plenty of floor cleaner made up for Aunt Sandy to use.  I make my own, using white vinegar, orange peels, and a few drops of lavender oil, and of glycerin.

You are supposed to strain it, but I never do. I just leave the peels in the jar. 

And letting it age is good, but I use it up before its ready and it still works fine.

This January has been mild so far, a bit cold, but not too bad. Still, I've craved green, so I  made up some planters, but that is not the same as spring air and being outdoors in the gardens.  Carol brought me the flowers last week and they were just right for this display.

My trip to Hawaii should cure my yearning for growing things, a week in paradise is just what I need right now.  Although I almost didn't get to go! At 24 hours pre-flight, I went to print my boarding pass and discovered that my ticket was for the WRONG DATE.

We bought tickets months in advance, using my husband's travel points for a free flight, and booked it for the wrong day. 

I had to scurry to get a new ticket, and I can tell you that it was NOT free. Not close.  At all.  My trip is beginning with a huge expenditure that we sure didn't expect.

But- I'm lucky we could pay it.  I'm lucky that there was a seat available. I'm lucky to be going to freakin Hawaii!!  So what if I will have to watch my spending there since we blew our budget on our date screw up?  I'm still lucky to be going.

I'm away from my computer on a dream trip to Hawaii right now, but please check back for fresh posts left for you before I flew off.  If you want to order from the Boutique, all orders will be shipped on the 30th. If you'd like to enter the drawing for one of Amy's books, please leave a comment on any post.

 

If you'd like to sign up for my Valentine workshop, please email me for an invoice at:  karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

 

 

Happy New Year, and some Zero Dollar Decorating

Happy New Year!

I'm starting off mine with a little bit of a redo.  My husband has had some vacation time, and we've been enjoying  reading by the wood stove in the kitchen.  Since we have spent so much time there, I shuffled some things around and set up a comfy spot for us to relax in.

There is something about this time of year that compels me to rearrange, redo, lighten up, edit.  Over the course of a year, as I scrounge flea markets and garage sales, I tend to accumulate and add cool, beloved junk to our home.  When cold weather hits, and the January 1st marker of new beginnings rolls around, I start to rethink my look.

I still love my junk, and always will, but feel like I need less of it around in January.  Maybe its partially the excesses of Christmas that make me crave tranquility.

Being cooped up indoors so much makes me want less stuff around, cleaner lines.  And a new view.

Combining  my urge to edit, the compulsion to redecorate, along with our love of roasting our toes by the fire, led me to a drastic, but FREE change.

I took the leaves out of the table, and turned it around, moved the island (that is why I built it with wheels!) and shopped in my own living room for a recliner.  The second chair in our Archie/Edith setup is just one from the dining table, with a soft pillow for the small of my back and a footstool.

When Sugarwings came over, she loved it and said that my table was soooo cute, since it looked so tiny with no leaves.  I doubt if she has seen it set up this way before, I like having a huge table.

Does the room look fantastic this way? No, not really.  To me, its all just a little off, and a bit odd too. But its very functional, comfortable, and only temporary for the cold spell. (but heck, if I wanted perfection and high gloss style, I probably wouldn't have a wood stove in the dining room to start with)

And I am enjoying the change. 

Change is a good word for the 1st.  This is the perfect time to look around at things we've grown accustomed to, or complacent with.   It's a time to think about what really works and what we can do to make it better.

A time for looking at things in a new way, to see what makes us and the ones we love more comfy in our every day lives, whether its as simple as moving a recliner to an unexpected spot or totally rethinking some bigger issues.  Getting rid of old habits that don't make sense today, things that you are doing by rote, just because that is how you've been doing it that way.

Could a simple change in the New Year bring pleasure or ease to your life?

 

 

Over the river and through the woods

Its been much more fallish than wintery around here lately and we've been taking advantage of that weather.  Last week, we crossed the creek and went out in the woods to cut down a tree for the Hippy Chick and her roomies.  They wanted to set up a nature tree outdoors for the birds and animals and are going to garland it with popcorn and berries, and make birdseed ornies to hang on it.

We've got tons of scrub cedars, that it never hurts to clear out a bit, so we all trouped off into the woods to pick a pretty one for them.

Dorothy Rosebud was a big chicken, and had to be carried across the creek, and through most of the underbrush.  Twinkle and Albie Brave and Strong ran off ahead were so busy that all the pictures I tried to get of them were just blurs. They ran non-stop and explored every fallen leaf.

Cedars aren't the best trees for indoors, but I think it will be a good one for the birdies to have their snacks arranged on outside.  I hear that it was a bit sappy, the girls had a Griswald-ish time getting the sticky off of themselves!

While it was nice outside, I took some time to clean up the yard and move furniture into the shed.

These chairs are brand new from an estate sale, I'm looking forward to figuring out where to use them next spring.  I got 4 chairs and a table for $20.  They are meant for indoors, but have metal frames, so I'm thinking that if I cover the seats in something waterproof, they will be good in the yard.

Some day, I'll do something fun with this shed. It used to be my antique store, now the other half of it is the chicken coop.   It might be nice to turn this half into a play house for the fairy grand babies.  The new estate sale table is not going to be good for outdoors, even though the chairs can work outside. So, leaving it in the shed can be a start for making the play area next year.

Well, at least its something to day dream about once the long, cold winter hits!

I've added some neutral toned mini wreaths with millinery to my Etsy shop.

As well as a few more trees. 

Some not so neutral pretties too!

The  last couple of weeks, I've been trying to accommodate as many special orders as I could, but I'm now officially out of stock, after what is listed is gone. So, what is pictured is all that there is.

Sorry I can't do any special packages for you now, but I can't even find any dark trees to fix up, the stores all sold out early this year, so I am too! I made quite a few tree runs this season, and now its time to move on.

At the time I am writing this, there is still a good selection in the shop, especially the ones that I have decorated. 

Thanks to everyone who shopped with me this year, I appreciate all the tree sales!

The adventures of Trapper Tom and the Giant Cat

We have been under siege for a while around here.  Sandy was sitting on the deck, and saw a Giant Cat of some kind, (bob cat?) step out of the flower bed, scoop up a chicken, and calmly walk away.

In broad daylight!

So, we called Critter Catchers and had some traps set around the property, and have had all the animals and kids on lock down.

The children have to stay in the yard by me, not run around the property to play, and the kitties get locked up in the breezeway every night. The little dogs only get to go out in the fence, or stay by our side if we are out.

The poor chickens have been cooped up in the coop since their sweet little red sister was stolen away.

We've got 3 large traps set, and baited with nasty smelling dead creatures. So, being outside isn't all that pleasant any way.  On hot days, nothing smells worse than a 3 day old, skinned weasel.

The trappers say that big cats only need to eat every few days, and that they have a range of territory, it might be a while before it comes back through.

He showed us all the signs and tracks in the woods of where the cat had been.  This is a footprint, and is as large as Sandy's hand! 

I wanted to make a plaster cast of the print, but didn't get to it in time, and rain ruined the trail.  I've checked the woods daily, but have not seen any new tracks. Which, I guess is good, but it doesn't mean the beast is gone, I feel like he is waiting for us to let the ladies back out of the coop so he can stroll by and nab another one!

In the meantime, we have trapped an entire raccoon family.  A large male, smaller female and 5 pups.  Are they called pups? Cubs, maybe?

Trapper Tom retrieves them, and takes the cage to the river to let them out.  If my husband is around, he will dump the coons or possums himself.  He and the grands load up the big, red, pick up truck and head to the Kansas River and let them go.  There is a caged coon behind the hen house right now, and my husband is out of town, so I'll keep it fed till tomorrow when he can unload it.  That's better than us paying the trapper to keep coming up to empty the traps and I don't particularly want to do it myself. 

Our count so far:

7 Coons

6 Possums

0 Giant Cats

Almost 3 weeks of checking traps and locking down pets

This is one thing that freaked me out.  Trapper Tom showed us this area out in the woods where we had dumped straw from the hen house.  On the pile was a selection of toys.  Some were decorations taken from the tree house in the fairy trail, the others were dog toys. 

I was told that this is where the Giant Cat likes to play.  Trapper Tom says that a bobcat will play like a house cat and will collect toys. He was probably attracted to some of the feathers and the chicken scent in the pile of straw, so chose this spot to make a play house.  It gives me the creeps to think he might have been attracted to the scent of kids in the tree house when he stole toys from there. Ugh.  And where did he get the dog toys? From someones yard?  I hope the dog he took it from is ok.

  (artwork by Guncle Randy)

Attack of Big Baby

This is Big Baby.  She is adored by Dewdrop, but freaks Aunt Sandy out, because Dewdrop was leaving her in odd places and Aunt Sandy kept stumbling across her.

So, my husband and I decided to surprise Aunt Sandy with some scary Big Baby sightings.  He duct taped the knife to her hand, and sat her in his sister's chair.  Sandy shrieked, then laughed and from that point, the game was on.

That had been a mild start.  Its escalated since then. 

Aunt Sandy retaliated by tying her to our head board and smearing her with red watercolor paint.

Next, I hung her in Sandy's bathroom, to greet her as she stepped into the shower.

Then, Sandy and my husband snuck Big Baby up on the garage door opener to hang over my car as I pulled into the garage after my bookclub meeting Monday night.

Now its my turn, so I've stuffed Big Baby into the fridge just in time for Sandy to start thinking about lunch. Of course, there is a chance that Ryan will get hungry before Aunt Sandy does, but that's okay too.  I'll enjoy hearing him squeal.  Maybe he will take a turn in hiding her. He is a horror movie fan, he might come up with some good ideas.

 

A mid summer zero dollar decorating redo

Dang, its hot.  Feels like it has been hot forever. In Kansas, we typically get a stretch of 100 degree plus days, but not this early in the year. It makes me quake in my boots (or flip flops) just contemplating what July and August will have in store after June blasted us with this heat.

To get the temperature off my mind, I decided to cottage-up my living room a bit.  Ithought strewing some roses about would be a cheerful summery thing to do. 

I'm afraid this photo doesn't look as cheery as it should, I took it at night, and the windows are dark.

Since my walls and furniture are neutral, its easy to change the whole look of the room with a few accents.  Throw pillows, curtains, and knicky knacks make a quick change when you start with an all ivory room.

It probably took longer for me to get the wrinkles out of the old curtains than it did to redo all of this.  I popped these rose curtains in the dryer on fluff while I took down the vintage lace ones, and packed away all of the pillows and a few other things from around the room as they were fluffing up.

When the curtains were ready, it was a fast redo, because we were due to meet friends on the lake. This was a spur of the moment plan, and I only had about 30 minutes to spare.

Over the years, I've made a few different slip covers for my big sofa cushion, and have collected curtains and pillows at clearance sales and garage sales. I keep a linen closet full of cheap, but pretty extras to switch out when the mood hits me.

This time, I tried draping the bottom of the couch with a bed skirt.  The front ruffle shows, the rest is wadded up under the cushion. Hopefuly it will stay in place, it might not.

The look I was going for was an "explosion" of roses.  I think I got it...  Few match, but I like the way they go together anyway.  You can't really tell from the photos, but the brown slip cover on the big cushion has pink roses and blue pailseys on it, so it matches a bit better in person than it seems to in the picture.

This chair was in the studio.   After bringing it in, I topped the garden table with a floral drape panel, and added a couple rosey elements to the arrangement on top.

The sheer panel on the other small table (previous photo) is also a curtain.  I had three of these panels in my breezeway and they were shredded by raccoons.  So, I trimmed off the bottoms that were ragged, used one on the table and the other two in the windows.  As long as I don't move the couch, no one will know about the shredding.

Well, I guess that's not true, I just told everyone about the rips...

My china cabinets are over stuffed anyway, so these items won't be missed in it and they add to the flowery feel of the living room now.

It didn't take much, a couple of pieces for each table arrangement gave me the rose garden effect I wanted.

I think I'll hang a framed rose print on the window frame and pin a big, fat millinery bloom in red to the lamp.

In the fall, I'll want to change it around again, so wasn't striving for perfection. Its a temporary, fun look that I didn't take very seriously. I do love my white on white/ivory room most of the time, but I appreciate it more when I change it up a bit sometimes.

So, this redo took about a half hour, using things I had around the house or packed away.  The only cost was $2 for the bouquet of roses.  My local grocery store has markdown roses for $2 a dozen every week.

When the dish ran away with the spoon, where did they go?

Last week, we planned a dinner party and had some of my husband's work friends over.  It was a good excuse to get the house all spiffed up, and also to buy some new silverware since we didn't have quite enough forks.  Who knows where they go?  Forks are one of the things that seem to slip away into the atmosphere, like lids to sippy cups, and single socks.  Every once in a while, coffee cups up and vanish too.

One day, we'll have so many that I am trying to force the cabinet door shut without an avalanche of mugs. Then, a couple of weeks later, I realize that the the shelves are half empty.

I guess its some sort of Hickory Dickory Dock variation where the forks run away with the cups.

So, I hit the stores in search of some new, and affordable silverware.  I didn't want to spend much, but wanted something that felt good to hold and eat off of. In the past, I've picked up handfuls of Walmart forks, that are sold individually. Or bought partial sets at estate sales.

But dang it, I'm almost 54 and I wanted a whole, brand new, grown up set of silverware!

On the other hand, I'm cheap and didn't want to pay grown up silverware prices.

I checked out Target, World Market, Pier One, and TJ Maxx without much luck. Next, I tried Tuesday Morning, and found just what a needed, a full setting for 12 people, only 50 bucks, and they were a little old fashioned looking, plus felt good to bite down on.

Part of my search required biting down on the silverware while I was shopping. My husband thought that was awful, that I'd spent the morning out at stores biting forks, but I found some that felt good, looked good and were not too expensive. 

The party was nice, the company was good, and we had matching silverware to eat off off. That is the only time that has ever happened in my home.  I've always been a mismatched silver setter. This was nice! 

And my house is clean.  Now, if only I can keep it that way till Birdsong, but I have a feeling that I'll have to give it another going over.  We tend to mess things up quickly around here.

In the backyard

The chicken coop isn't the only area that has been getting some sprucing up.  Sugarwing's Daddy has been helping me in the yard.  It was his idea to move my old bike over to this tree, and I think it was a good one.

There are pink begonias planted in the baskets,but they are still tiny right now.  Most of the Spring plants have finished and we are moving on to the summer blooms already, so these begonias should be taking off soon.  Of course, in a normal year, I'd be worried about getting a late freeze, but I don't feel one coming on this year.

Seriously? Roses already?

Now, I'm NOT complaining. Just perplexed. And a little bit worried.

What a year. Winter was so mild and Spring so lovely.  Will Summer be a scorcher?

We live over an aquifer and have great well water, so I'm prepared to spend the summer watering.

But for right now, I'm loving every second of this rare Spring heat.  I've got more yard work done by March than I usually have done by June.

And we have had nice, new gravel spread in the courtyards and sidewalks.

Well, it started out nice and fresh...  but now, it already has gopher mounds in it!!

Last fall, we took out a few sickly trees. These stumps never got hauled off, so I turned them into planter holders.  I've planted lots of viney things in these whiskey barrels, so I hope to see trailing vines cover up most of the stumps in a couple of months. (the barrels are from the Home Depot and they get them from the Jack Daniels factory. When I bought them, I could still smell the whiskey!)

How is Spring where you are at? Is it weirdly wonderful there too?

I heard on NPR the other day that over 7000 temperature records have been broken for the Midwest in March and so far in April!