Karla's Cottage

New doos for the doodles

About half the time, we cut the dogs’ hair ourselves.  Rich and I set up a table in the yard, get out the clippers and shave away.

Sugar treats this as a spa day and luxuriates in the attention she gets while relaxed and splayed out on the table. Her eyes start to droop, and she dozes off in bliss as we work on her.  

Molly doesn’t agree with the whole bliss thing.

But she is cooperative and mostly patient, so it’s not bad.  The trouble isn’t them, it’s me.  I can do the grooming myself and they don’t look hideous after.

Still, I hate doing it.  Even though the table makes for easy access to the dog, and we work outside so clean up isn’t extremely awful, I just don’t like doing the job.  I feel like I end up with more fur on me than is on the pups.

Most of that fur, is in my nostrils.

To keep down the costs on grooming, I do it anyway.  Our dogs run in the woods, dig in the mud, tangle up in burrs.  And doodle fur is made of Velcro.  Every twig they walk by sticks in it.  If you don’t keep their coats nice, they will mat.  

So 2 to 3 tines a year, we shave it all off.  I compromise on the expense by sometimes doing the job. But when I can, splurging on having a pro groom them means more to me than most of my favorite treats or purchases.  

Little Dorothy is an easy job, I shouldn’t complain too much about her 9lb body’s little bit of hair.  But I still would rather not shave her either.  So this week, off they all went to get prettied up.

Honestly, the girls look soooooo much better when I’m not the one holding the razor. See how lovely Molly is after visiting the beauty shop?

Honey doesn’t go, golden retrievers  just need a bath in the garden hose every once in a while.  And her hair doesn’t tangle or mat, or catch sticks and burns like the others do.

Also, I get plenty of her fur up my nose on a daily basis.  The trade off on not needing groomed is the daily shedding.  

It’s a good thing they are all so dang lovable.  

Seashell fairies and hearts at Walton Rocks Dog Beach

Our first beach stop on the never ending zig zag of a trip was Ft Pierce, which I’d never been to.

I will have to admit that Ft Pierce isn’t high on my list of cities that I love in Florida.  But- this trip was about the dogs, and the dog beach there was off leash, which  isn’t always  easy to find (Jupiter and Ft De Soto also have off leash beaches, and those are spectacular, but we couldn’t get reservations nearby).  

The KOA we stayed at was new and quite nice.  So, yes, I guess this city was a good place to be.  

And while the beach wasn’t the powder sugar of Siesta Key, that I love so much, the shelling was just my style.  HEARTS  galore!

And so many broken bits and bobs to make into fairies and a mermaid.  These are not the typical shapes of shells that most people look for on the beach, there weren’t a lot of perfectly pretty shells.  Because the shore was a bit rocky, the waves beat up stones and shells to create the ideal pieces for the kind of things I like to find on beaches.

I did happy dances up and down the shore, finding hearts everywhere I went.  On many beaches, my main hold up in piecing together a fairy is often the head.  I look for smoothed out, oval shapes and they usually are the last part to find.  Some fairies take an entire week of shelling in certain cities, others come together quickly, like the three that I made in Ft Pierce.

There were hearts up by the parking lot too.

While I say that Ft Pierce isn’t my favorite city to go to, I reckon I should weigh my needs.  For that week, and what we wanted, it was ideal.  Lots of space for dogs to run and play, heart shapes and fairy pieces everywhere, plus a clean new campground to park our tiny home on wheels.

So yep, maybe I do love Ft Pierce?  The town itself is a bit on the low end of the tourist scale, but there are nearby cities to run to if I needed to pick anything up.  This is not a place I’d go to stay at a hotel on the shore with family, but for what we wanted, it couldn’t be better.

We could walk forever and be mostly alone with the dogs.  

And an ocean view, is always a precious thing to have.

Other cities might have softer sand and less rocks, but being able to let four dogs run and play in the surf, to walk for miles without crowds, and to have a view of the crashing waves as we strolled?

Priceless.

 

RV Life is Better When Things are Pretty

When we first got to Florida, the beach was a little chilly, but since then the weather has been ideal.


And I am so happy that I cozied up the little camper with new linens, paint and curtains.  

Dorothy likes it too.

The other dogs like their new bunk bed/kennel that we created for them.

My only issue is in trying to hang the artwork I brought along.  Command hooks didn’t support them, even though they are lightweight.  I did figure out that a binder clip on the ugly valance will hold a picture over the windows, but I can’t get anything to work on the walls.   

I’d also like to get rid of those ugly valances, but that’s another day.

New curtains cover the top bunk, and I ordered cushion covers for the top pillows on the bench.  Now, they aren’t exactly my first choice in fabric, but they are what I could get and they are better than just plain dark brown. 

This is the door we made to turn the bottom bunk bunk bed into a dog crate.  My husband had to do some rebuilding and boosting the opening to make the door fit snugly and securely. I am so glad he did, what a helpful addition to camper life. 

One change that was important to me, was covering the inside of the glass doors so that I don’t have to look at all of our stored goods.  What a simple fix for something that irritated me every time we used the rv.  I cut foam core to fit and wrapped it into the curtain fabric, then attached it to the interior of the windows.  

I am much happier without the cluttery view of peanut butter, cracker boxes, and stacks of dishes.

The sea glass blue paint in the bathroom has made a world of difference to me.  The previous blah brown wall paper was a downer.

So was the icky brown shower curtain.  This one is put together (I wouldn’t call what I do real sewing) from curtains my sister gave to me when she redecorated.

We use the campground bath houses instead of our teensy shower, so I made use of the space by transforming it into a closet.  If I do ever need to use it as intended, it’s pretty simple just to move the stuff out again, nothing is permanent.

Because in a 19’ trailer with four dogs, you need to make use of every inch!

The pups can fill the space quickly.

But mostly we are out doors as much as we can be. 

Going for walks or running on the beach.  

The dogs love the beach as much as I do.

I ❤️ The Dog Park

Our city has a magnificent dog park.  Miles of trails through fields and the woods.  Some of the trails are paved, some dirt, some gravel.   Lately, I’ve been lucky enough to find heart shaped rocks in the gravel, like these two little ones.  

I thought it would be cool to use my blue crystal heart as a bowl to collect other rocks in.

This one was in the paved area.

And this little piece of my own heart came running up to me with an exciting greeting.  It’s Wally!  One of Sugar’s babies, and he seemed to remember me.

He lives nearby, in the neighborhood Ryan and I walked through regularly.   There wasn’t a week that went by when Ryan didn’t mention that he hoped we’d run into Wally, who had been one of his faves.  He had actually dog sat this boy for a week for the new owners and was pretty fond of him.

We hadn’t come across this cutey in our many walks, but the week Ry died, his brother took me on a “Ryan Walk” and guess who was there? Wally was out on a walk too!  I am afraid I cried too hard to be able to greet him.  But I made up for it when we ran into him at the dog park.  He got lots of snuggles from me.

In the fall, the bales are harvested in the many fields the trails go through and Molly likes to show off her jumping skills by leaping up onto them. Sugar can also leap into the air, but sees no reason to do it.

Dorothy enjoys the view from way up high, and likes to be sat up there with Molly.  Someone her height doesn’t often get to see the world from this angle.

 

 

He was a good boy

 

Before we could recover from the loss of Twinkle, Albie had a sudden illness and died also.

He was Twinkle’s son from her large litter of nine.  Dorothy was from that same batch of puppies, as well as my sister’s Frodo, my pal Shan’s Oscar, and our neighbor’s Scruffy.   
So many good babies!

Albie and Dorothy were lifelong besties.

Albie was an odd little guy, a mix of worry and adventure but full of devotion.

He was at the same time, hanging in the background and being first to join in on any activity.

He never wanted to be left out of anything, and was worried that he might be.  We went out of our way to reassure him and in the last few years, his confidence grew to the point where he thought he was one of the big dogs, not part of the group of Yorkies.

His nickname was “The River Dog” because he loved kayak trips.  We feel that separating him for things like this, and giving him alone time away from the five other dogs was part of helping him find his inner big dog and making his personality bloom.

He spent most of his free time perched on the back of a chair, where he had a good view of what was going on in the house.  He liked to be on a chair with us, so he could be nearby, but he wasn’t a cuddler.  He watched every move we made, always on alert for what he could do to join in and stay close, but didn’t want to be held.  

I think he thought he was our protector and always had to be on guard to keep us safe.

Albie watched over us all, including the puppies.

 He was vigilant when there was a new litter, keeping an eye on them, but never venturing too near.

From the very beginning, he was closest to Dewdrop.  I think he might have thought he needed to watch over her like he did the puppies.

He might have a worried look on his face in this photo, but he was pretty dang happy.  She was one person who he liked being held by.  He followed her everywhere when she was at the cottage.

That boy loved coming to work with me in the studio, too.  He had a habit of jumping up into whatever chair I just got out of.  If I was at the computer, he was on my chair in my work station.  When I came back to the table, he’d hop in my desk chair.  

When we got Honey, he wasn’t too happy with us and there was a long adjustment period, with the Littles against the Bigs.  Eventually, they all became one pack and Albert was right out front when running with the big dogs in the woods.  He thought of himself as a leader, although I don’t know if any of the large dogs acknowledged his role as boss.  They indulged him, and let him think what he wanted.

But no matter how important his role was in guarding the family and telling the other dogs what to do, he always had time for the girls, and enjoyed the special attention they gave him.  

I will miss his subdued enthusiasm in joining everything anyone was doing.  His quiet joy in being a family leader.  The unending love he had for us all.

When I buried his mommy, Twinkle just a few days ago, he sat by my side the entire time, and watched me put her in the ground. Afterwards he sat there a while, like he was taking care of her, watching over her body like he watched over us.

He never complained, he never demanded.  He was 9 lbs of bravery and sweetness, with a little bit of worry and a lot of caring thrown in the mix.

He died very bravely too. Rich had been out of town ten days, and Albert stayed strong until his return.  I think he was hanging on to see him.

We held Albie and his sister in our arms together as he slowly faded away, whispering his favorite words to him, telling him how much we loved our River Dog.  

I will miss my funny, weird little guy.  He was a good boy.

Pretty stones

When Twinkle passed, I brought her home from the vet’s office to show her to the other dogs.  I knew they would look for her if I didn’t.  You might think it’s odd, but we showed Ryan’s body to our pets too. They were overly excited about a room filled with paramedics and other professionals during a pandemic when they hadn’t been around many people, so it wasn’t exactly a moving moment. 

But at least they knew why Uncle Ryan wasn’t around for ear scratches and walks any more.

It would’ve been easier to have Twinkle cremated, my husband was out of town and it was 100 degrees that day.  But I hated to think of the other dogs always looking for her and not knowing where she was.

I buried her next to Ryan’s memorial tree.  

A dear friend and her daughter had engraved and painted rocks for me and I’d been planning on placing them by this oak.  I am glad I hadn’t done it yet, they were just what I needed to top Twinkle’s grave.

I used some of the rocks in planters too.  

Ryan is never out of my thoughts, but I still like to have little trinkets and mementos of him around me.

 

 

 

 

To Twinkle, with love

Twinkle was born on Valentine’s Day and was my sweetheart of a dog.  Sugarwings was just big enough to grab her and giggle when the pup came to live with us, and from the very beginning, that little dog never complained about how rough she might be treated.  She kept running back for more, more, more.

 Tinks was the perfect pet for a rough housing kid.  She might have seemed fragile, since she was a Yorkie, but that dog was one tough chick.  She was always there just waiting to be included in any game her girl wanted to play with her.  

They could spend hours together splashing in the water hose or digging in the mud together.


As babies, they shared toys, beds, and as Sugarwings would insist, no matter how hard I tried to keep the milk away from the dog, the little girl shared her bottle with the little dog.

Twinkle was devoted to us all, and one of her favorite words was ‘work’ which she knew meant we were going to to studio together, where she’d climb into this bowl of lace I kept on the floor.  Since she decided it was hers, not mine, I changed out the art supplies for a pillow and let her keep it.

She raised her children to love napping in the bowl too.  

And she had a lot of children!  

She was a great doggie mom.  She was meticulous in caring for her babies, still holding 8 year old Dorothy down to give her a good cleaning every evening, up until poor Twinks wasn’t healthy enough to be the caretaker.

She was a dog who lived to love, and was devoted to us all.  She was curious and excited about life, up for any adventure even if it was just a trip to the laundry room to check on the load of clothes in the dryer. 

And she loved to pose.  When she’d see my camera in my hand, she didn’t consider that I might be wanting a photo of a project or something to list in my shop.  She KNEW that the picture had to be of her.  I sometimes had to pretend to take one of her, so she would relax.

The only thing she didn’t like was Honey.  You can tell by the way she refuses to look at the camera, that she wasn’t too happy about us getting a new puppy.  Twinkle thought that she was one of our kids, since she was raised with the grand fairy, and didn’t think we needed to get a dog.

There were some battles for a couple of years between the two. But by the time Honey had her own puppies, they’d reached a truce.  Twinkle was allowed to wash those puppies and nanny them.

Honey must’ve appreciated the vast experience that Tinks had to offer.

But it wasn’t until the last couple of years that they actually became friends.  Twinkle had gone blind and discovered that Honey’s thick tail made an ideal bed.  

The first time she waddled over to it and laid down Honey seemed shocked.

 Then snuggled up to her.  

Since then, the truce was done and they became family.

Over the years, one of her favorite things was going boating.

The words ‘boat’ or ‘“lake’ would send her running to the car, ready for a day on the water.

Twinkle was more than just a dog to me, she was my friend.  
And a very good friend, not just to me.

 

Painting a cement floor entryway

Years ago, I covered my steps in mosaic, on a whim.  Not much planning went into it, and very little skill.  My dad was ill, I was waiting to hear his diagnosis, and needed a big project where my fingers were busy, but my mind could wander.  I didn’t have a design or the right supplies on hand, I just used what I had, and then had to make runs for more marbles and squares to complete what I’d started.

My dad was a lifelong gardener, and I think the abstract vine pattern just sorta formed itself while thinking of him.  

Luckily, it hasn’t fallen apart, at least not too much.  Even though it wasn’t done correctly. There are a few tiny cracks in some tiles, and a couple marbles popped out, and were glued back in. 
The 100+ year old cement floor by it also had some issues.  The paint on it had started to peel.

So I thoroughly scrubbed the floor and while I was at it, I went after the steps with a brush and vinegar and got the tiles to sparkle again.  Then, I added a big scoop of plaster of Paris into some exterior latex paint and repainted the floor.

That gives the paint some “tooth” help it adhere to the cement.

I hope that it works, because I got carried away and started to paint vines on the floor to coordinate with the steps.  That won’t be an easy patch job if the paint wears off, it will need a total redo.

We are not able to use rugs on the floor here because of this critter, Dorothy happily tinkles on any rug she sees, thinking I generously supplied her with a pee pad.

My design makes this into kind of a painted, pee proof rug.  

Yep, I know it’s pretty busy.  Especially when you add in the hand painted roses on the wall.  But it is a very small space and not visible from the rest of the house.

(by the way, there is only a small window of time when the hooks are not layered four deep in jackets, backpacks, hats, leashes and more, I just did spring cleaning and the re-piling up has not yet begun)  

After the vines dried, I brushed on a brown glaze and wiped it off, let that dry and coated the floor with semi gloss Polycrylic.  I’d rather have used a stronger topcoat but I was worried about the odor and my baby puppies.  So, I stayed with water based.

Fingers crossed that the paint lasts a few years!

 

 

One last sea shell fairy

Isn’t this oyster shell the perfect little pinafore dress for this sprite?  It even has a pocket!  And I was so happy to find the striped booties, ready to be slipped onto her tiny feet.

 

 

 

Another Memorial Tree for Ryan

When we lost Ryan, friends and family were generous in their out pouring of caring.  Lots of kind messages and keepsakes came our way.

So much thoughtfulness, that I decided I needed to be a better friend.  I saw examples of caring that touched me deeply and taught me how much reaching out to a person in pain helps them.

We were also given rose bushes and trees to plant which were meaningful, because Ryan had always been the guy who planted things for me.  We have those around the area where we hung the wind chimes that came in his honor too.

Recently, long time friends had a Sunset Maple with a memorial plaque planted for our boy at the Lawrence Arboretum.

(It is the first tree on the left when you enter)

Ryan and I spent hours walking the dogs on trails, but had never been to this park yet.  We typically strolled through trails and around ponds in the neighborhoods near us.  We had started to explore some other walkways around town and were making a list of places we wanted to drive to.  He would’ve liked the arboretum, and now that I’ve been there, it is a favorite of mine.