Karla's Cottage

We survived The City Museum and can’t wait to risk our lives there again

My poor Rich has spent the last 3 1/2 months working in Ohio at a consulting job, with minimal visits home.  He only has a couple weeks left and will finally be back with us soon.

We have always celebrated Valentine’s Day as a family holiday, with special memories for us and our boys. This year with Ryan gone and Adam so far away, and Rich working in Ohio, we sadly thought it might just go by without our typical festivities.

Rich had the weekend off, but not long enough to get home so Sugarwings and I met him in St Louis and we had an outing at the City Museum as a slightly early Valentine date, then went to The Hill (the historic Italian district) for a fancy night out.

 We were not all together as a big group, and it wasn’t exactly on the 14th, but it helped, and was quite special.

The City Museum is crazy.

Completely, totally, beyond crazy.

See that iron slinky? It’s made for humans to climb through. For floor after floor.

And speaking of floors, there are pits every where.  Most aren’t lit up, they are just black holes meant for kids to disappear into.  Some come out around the corner, others lead to the basement.  And there are dozens of them.  The gift shop sells miner’s helmets for kids to wear to explore the tunnels.

Other crevices lead to slides, stairs, or to bubbles inside of an aquarium.  You just don’t know where you will end up if you slip into one of these black holes.

It has to be one of the most imaginative, creative places a kid could have to play in, it is well done and just beautiful too.  But I can’t believe it is safe. 
I was so glad I had never been there when the grand fairies were tiny.    My mind would've exploded trying to keep my eyes on them.

It was one of those rare times in life when you thank god you have a teenager.

It was funny to me that this area was gated off.  What, kids are not allowed to play in the giant box fan? Why not, it seems safer than some of the other areas.

We didn’t even see a fraction of it, there are billions of nooks and crannies, a rusty, ten story slide with a rickety spiral staircase, and a whole sharp, pointy, rusty, sky high climbing grid outside as tall as the big building.

Everywhere you looked, there was something clever, funny, intriguing, or deadly.

It goes on for floor after floor with interactive spaces, play areas, and death traps.  (Sooooo many tiny holes for kids to skitter away into)  AND SO DANG COOL!

And an aquarium.  And it’s a museum. Not just a twisted playground aimed to tease all phobias.

There were actual museum cases with artifacts surrounding one playground.

And genuine architectural elements everywhere.  Not to mention murals and mosaics galore.  And a bug/animal skeleton room with specimens behind glass.  We spent a long time in the craft room making art too.

And in the art museum looking at displays.

There were tons of details about the old building it is in.

And odd details like walls made out of baking tins.

If I lived any closer, I’d have a season pass. There is no way to see it all in one day. 

 

My January Set Up for Good Juju

My booth this month is all about winter, and a bright spot in the cold months, Valentine's Day.

One wall is all hearts, roses, with pink mushrooms and wings. I'd hoped to put up cabbage rose wallpaper, but ran into a snag. Oh well, next month. 

But honestly, you don't really see much of the wall anyway, huh?

Another areas are neutral and white.

Which is always a favorite of mine to do. 

Well, the roses make me happy too, but I think that the neutral tones are more popular at this venue.

But I can't always just stick to neutrals, there are other cool items that I find that I know there is a market for. Luckily, my space can be chopped up into chunks where I can do different themes. 

And my new, tiny, wing wall is a great place to highlight a grouping. Here are examples of the ruffled wings (also for sale) and kits to make your own.

Over the holiday, I did some kitchen table crafting. We had supplies out for decorating gingerbread houses, cookies, Sugarwings had polymer clay, Dewdrop had bracelet, and I made dozens of wings and hearts from wire and lace.  The family was coming and going, but mostly staying put because of the bone chilling cold.  I wasn't caring about clutter or mess, I just enjoyed the big group and spent time crafting away in the middle of them. 

I had the best of both worlds. Time with family and time to make things!

I don't even know how many I churned out.  After wings, I started on pink and red mushrooms.  As a person who typically spends a lot of time alone in the studio, I sure was happy to have so much company while working.  My son even joined in and bent wire for me.  It has been sad to go from a bustling houseful of loved ones to me in my studio alone again. Sugarwings is still on winter break, so I am not totally alone, I've got my buddy.

 

 

A Family Together Christmas

Like it was for so many of the people across the country, the weather was a big challenge this holiday.  Luckily, we did fine, unlike so many stranded at airports, stuck on icy roads, or barricaded up in cold houses with no heat.

Our discomforts were minor.  My husband’s flight home was cancelled, but he was able to drive.  Our pipes froze, but only the kitchen. After some insulating and blasting a space heater toward them, 24 hours later, we had water.  

I’ve been horrified thinking about all the people stranded at airports. And even worse, on the snowy highways.

I feel so blessed to have had my people with me, all cozied up in our warm house.

We made bath products, gingerbread houses, sugar cookies and SO MANY DINNERS.

Sugarwings made sculpy characters like this gruesome zombie gingerbread guy.  Dewdrop made bracelets.  I made lace Angel wings.

There was snuggling.

Laughing, lots of laughing with the little ones

We decorated the dogs for the holiday too.

Dewdrop decorated herself.

None of the hats or antlers fit little Dorothy, so she was slipped into an elf hat.

My favorite part, though?  The two littlest grand fairies, who are not so little any more, put on swimsuits and had a pool party in the jacuzzi tub.  With rubber ducks, while singing Christmas carols.  It made me so happy to hear their giggles and songs.

With the family spread across the  country, and the littles growing up, I know that these big gatherings  have a shelf life.  


I count my blessings every time my house fills up.

The elves are drunk

Some of these elves are from my childhood, others have been collected over time. I’ve always loved the little sprites and one of my favorite memories at the holidays was being allowed to play with the three mouse head elves on the tree.  

Why were the elves mice? That wasn’t a question that I ever thought of back then.

When the Elf on a Shelf craze started a few years back, I bought the grand fairies a couple new ones.  We didn’t really play the spy game with them, they were mostly cuddled, loved, and included in holiday activities.  Like a favorite stuffy.

Now that Sugarwings is a teenager, the elves are getting into trouble  that kid surprises me with various drunken elf scenes and messes.

I bought some of those chocolate liqueur candies and the elves think I purchased those just for them.

I never know where I’ll find a drunken elf getting into trouble.

One seems to be the instigator.

They try to make up for it by doing something sweet.

Bad Girls Christmas

Our annual Bad Girls’ Christmas was again hosted by Angie, in her serene palace in the sky.  It’s on the 8th floor and overlooks the KC Plaza, a wonderful view.

She is a caring hostess with attention to every detail. Everything there is always just perfect there.  Well, everything but my blurry photos.

This one was a bit blurry too, but you can still see the fun!

She lives near Kaufman Gardens so we walk over to see the holiday displays.  It feels good to be surrounded by blooms on a chilly, winter day.  

I brought gifts, Beth loves buttons.

Angie always picks up autumn leaves.

She went all Julia Childs on us and served Beef Bourgignon, and oh man, it was good.  But I’m afraid everyone had to listen to me do my (very poor) Julia imitation too many times.  

I am blessed with the friends I have.  And I know how lucky I am.  When Rich and I were first married, his job uprooted us a lot.  And I had two small boys, one who struggled pretty severely with some disabilities. Those guys both  kept me busy, and between always being new in town, and needing to be with the kids, I didn’t meet many people.

Ryan grew into a delightful, caring, witty man, but his childhood was not easy for him.  I think that his little body could not keep up with his mind, and his frustration about making himself understood, or to do what he wanted caused a lot of turmoil.  


Speaking of Ryan, I felt like I had a surprise visit from him!  An article I was reading mentioned street view on Google maps, and I’d never looked at our home there.  So I pulled it up, and there he was- mowing the field and getting some sunshine.

At first it was shock to see him, but after a moment, I felt a warmth of happiness, almost as if I’d looked out the window and caught a glimpse of him.

After finishing a scrapbook of my pictures of Ryan, I came across something I wanted to add to it with another photo on it.  Then it hit me.

I would never take another picture of my boy.  

So finding this one online was a Christmas gift!

He is always with me, and in my heart.  But I sure miss seeing him on that mower.  Or walking down the sidewalk. Or gleefully throwing his head back in laughter.

Losing a loved one, plus having had those early years of struggle, and loneliness without close friends, makes me even more appreciative of having good friends now.

 I treasure our times together.

A new look for old Christmas ornaments

Sometimes an inspiration comes from one simple idea.  Other times things just fall into place as you are going and it all just seems like you planned it out, but you didn’t, it just came together. 

I had been gifted this magnificent buffet, with inlaid MOP, burned wood, and a pure white, marble top.  It is nicer than any piece of furniture I’d have ever bought for myself, and I wanted to highlight it for the holidays

To honor the lovely wood, I thought I’d go more natural with the tree I usually set in that area.

Well, natural for me at least.  They’re  still sparkly silver!  But the decor is centered around nature and family.  Birds from my Mom’s house, hand made bird ornaments from friends, deer, fairies, stars, and  lots of pinecones, from the day Ryan and I gathered them together.

Every time I think of that day, I have to laugh, it had been so funny for us, freezing, while stuffing pinecones in pockets and inside jackets while the big doodle dog pulled on the leash and I slid down the sidewalk, with Ryan trying to hold me back.  
We laughed so hard and joked about it for months, every time we walked by there.  
Of course, it was also the day the dog jerked the leash and messed up my shoulder, but we were still laughing and I remember rolling on the wet ice, laugh crying at one point.

I have only been brave enough to walk on the trail where we found those pinecones a couple of times this year.  And one time resulted in the same laugh/crying on the ground again.  This time, all alone.  And the pain from the loss of Ryan is much worse than a torn rotator cuff.

The Christmas after Ryan died, I returned to our spot and gathered up every pinecone I could find.  Almost as if I could NOT leave any behind, they were all symbols of Ryan and I and where we used to spend so much time together.  So now, I have a lifetime supply of pinecones and they will always be a part of my winter decorating.

This Christmas, I filled the bowl of this garden planter (free at a a garage sale!) with lights and my precious memory pinecones and added a tree filled with hand painted ornaments I’d made for my boy over the years.

When my boys were little, I was a single mom working as a waitress and depending upon my own mom for help.  At the holidays, I would paint dozens of glass balls to sell to anyone I could to raise money to buy gifts for my kids. I never left the house in December without a boxful and was even known to approach strangers in parking lots to sell these. 

And every season, I painted and dated one for each family member.  

The ones I did for my boys were very 80s themed!

Ha, Gremlins and ET!

He loved Frosty and Rudolf.  Ryan loved shows all of his life and it’s fun for me to look back through these and realize just how many were based upon his favorite movies that year.

And as he got older, his first car, the horrid, orange, “Punkin”.

I haven’t unboxed the family ornaments in years, they haven’t been my style or fit in with my current trees.  And I was saddened to see so many were missing. And I wondered why I quit this tradition.  But I am lucky to have these.

Even this heart breaker.

It was a happy Halloween

At this point, Halloween is long past, withering away in its crypt.

Due to my inability to use my blog, I didn’t get to share the holiday, so I’ll post some highlights now.  As I upload these pictures, I am sitting in the glow of my Christmas tree.

But that doesn’t mean much.  Around here, the flip is fast.  Almost, but not quite like at Disney, where over night on October 31st, the entire park is transformed from one holiday into the other.

We go through more of a Nightmare Before Christmas scenario, where they are jumbled together for a couple days during the switcheroo.

Sugarwings loves the spooky decor and does not want it touched if she is with us. But I needed help with getting the big tree put together and Rich was going out of town.  My choices were to ask him to help before he left and have the tree set up, with all the heavy boxes of decorations piled up around the pumpkin and bat filled house or do it myself later.

Of course, I asked for the help!  So we had a messy mix of two overlapping decor styles. 

I used to wait til thanksgiving weekend to deck the halls.  Our motto was, “You Must Respect the Bird” and wait for that holiday to pass before enjoying twinkle lights.  But not any more.  I have changed it to “You Must Respect the Pumpkin” and don’t even let the jack-o-lanterns start to moulder before I fill the house with joy and light fro the trees. 

But no, we don’t totally gloss over Thanksgiving.  I de-skull and un-spookify the table, but leave the pumpkins out on it till after the turkey has been consumed.  The pumpkins either light up or have glitter, so I am happy with the compromise.

Sugarwings still trick or treats, and since my mind is already on gingerbread and garlands, I asked her to save some candy for building our gingie cottages.

As much as I love spring time weather, and the heat of summer, this has to be my favorite time of year.  I dread the coming of cold weather, but love all the hustle and bustle that comes around when the leaves drop and snow starts to fall.

Ugh, did I really just say that!?  Snow and falling leaves can be truly despicable (and way too cold).

But I do love the transition into Christmas, so if I have to put up with a chill to get to be surrounded by twinkle lights, we’ll, I guess I’ll just deal with it.  

Beachy Blessings

My time in Siesta Key was way too short.  It always is.  But it seemed even more so since I had four days while my sissies stayed on for a full two weeks!  After I got home, I could see all of their fun without me  in photos on FB.

I could’ve used a couple more days there. Between arriving in the afternoon, getting food and supplies, then settling in, and then needing more supplies that we missed the next day, first days are typically hectic when staying at a condo.

Plus, with being gone ten days I was feeling the pressure of not getting any work done, so I brought supplies.  In the first few days, I made four dozen Sugarplum Fairies.  

I was a bit resentful that I had to work so hard on vacation, but I reminded myself that creating at a table over looking the Gulf, and taking breaks to go on the beach, while talking to my sissies as I worked did not suck.

Overall, I am blessed that my job consists of making pretty things.  And making pretty things while at the beach makes me feel even more blessed.

Adding a sunset over the water to my day?  It is hard to count that many blessings.  They just keep racking up.

For a moment, I complained that I finished my work just in time to go home.  Then I reminded myself that as a slightly, over reaching, workaholic, I probably would’ve just started another project.

I mean, hey, I still had supplies with me, didn’t I?

 

Some Precious North Carolina Time

My recent trip was a buffet of travel.  Visiting family in Charlotte/Asheville mountains/ scenic downtown Charleston and a dress up art event in Jenn’s spectacular home/ then sister beach time in Florida.  

All I was missing was some snowy venues or desert time.

My boy treated me to breakfast at his favorite spot in Asheville to start off our visit and after dripping sweet potato gravy down my shirt, we had a full day of exploring thrift shops, riverbanks, and downtown.

He and I can both spend hours just looking at rocks by the water and that is just what we did.

I had hoped to visit one of the construction sites where he has been creatively doing his woodwork art installations, but time was short.

H

But then, any time I get one on one with my son is too short.  It has possibly been years since we have had this kind of time together.

While in NC, I got to visit the latest family members to become Ashevillians.  Our oldest grandfairy and her mama now live in the area.  And I was there for Dewdrop’s first day at a new school after she and her mom moved across town.

She already met a new friend on the bus.  That kid is such a social butterfly, I fully expected as much.  But was still relieved to hear it.

While there, I decided that I definitely need more time in NC.  Not only is the sand full of semi precious stones like garnets, mica, and quartz- the state is full of very precious family members.

And I found a boulder shaped like a throne.  
I belong there!

Hidden Hearts

I have always enjoyed finding shapes in nature.  Especially hearts.  Or fairy wings.  
Typically, I take a photo of the heart and leave it, but some I pocket, like this one from the dog park.  


They have taken on even more meaning since we lost Ry.  He used to be enthusiastic about the ones I’d see when out on our walks together.  I can hear his voice every time I find one now.

 “That’s so cool, Mom!”

So this broken heart really stood out and caught my eye. It shows how I’ve felt since Ryan left.  Still holding it together, but forever broken.

And lookee here at this one!  On Molly’s hip.  She’d had an ouchie and as it healed, the hair grew back as more golden retriever hair than poodle/doodle hair.  And a darker color too. 

“That’s so cool!”