Karla's Cottage

Honey Harvest

Last year, we hit the honey jackpot. 

This year?

Not so much.

I'd prepared for another huge harvest, and bought not only our normal sized jars, but also these mini bears to give as gifts.

We only filled one of these, (to save for Dewdrop) and very few larger ones for the family this year.

The set up isn't any easier to get an abysmal number of bottles than it is to have a bountiful harvest.  It took a day to get it all ready then cleaned up for this slow trickle.  And this year, there were 3 hives instead of just one.  

I guess the drought over the summer was hard on these poor little gals.

 

Kansas Sunflowers

While Guncle Randy was here, I took him sightseeing, Kansas Style.

I am not a native Kansan, but have embraced it as my home. And I adore the endless vistas of fields of sunflowers in the late summer, or pumpkins when fall arrives.

This year, the drought slowed down the sunflowers, but there were enough in bloom to show my Floridian, baby bro the Kansas scenery that I love.

We almost didn't stop, it was a little bit out of the way on our trip home from the flea market.

But I am so glad we made the effort, it was a fun side trip, and well worth the short drive.

A Woodland Scavenger Hunt for a Birthday Party

My son and his family now have a 13 acre home in the woods, and I think Sugarwings loves it out there more than anyone. So, when it was time to plan a party for her 12th birthday, this is where she wanted to have it. She suggested a nature walk as part of the activities and I made up a scavenger hunt list (spelling her name) for the kids to take on the walk.

Her dad mowed the trails ahead of time, and we walked along them to explore the woods.

It is a pretty time of year and there was a lot to see along the way.

Sugarwings stapled the list to sandwich bags for the participants to fill with their finds.

I was struck by how beautiful the trails were, and what a wonderful piece of property he'd found. He has been working on cleaning it up and making it a retreat for yoga, permaculture, and other workshops in the future and I'm looking forward to seeing this land become a growing business as well as a home. 

And to watch the grand fairies grow up in the woods.   

Even more so, after seeing how some of the "city kids" who came to the party reacted to being there.  Many seemed unsure of how to handle themselves walking along a trail and few were able to find the items on the list. 

All of my family spends so much time connecting to nature that it didn't occur to me that some kids were uncomfortable in it and happier on their iPhones than running through the trees.

One thing I noticed that made me happy, was that every kid did find a "TREASURE" from the list on the bags.  They might not be used to woodland walks and seeing the details in nature, but they could still connect enough to know that an acorn, a rock with sparkles on it, or an empty snail shell was truly a treasure to find and keep.

And it made me so happy to know that our grand fairies, while they love screens and devices, like most of us in this world, still love being in the woods and the magic of finding a leaf with a hole in it and peeking through that peephole.

Special K Day, a party in the studio

When I'd heard that my Fab, Florida Friend, Karen Hillman, was going to be in Kansas, I thought it would be an ideal time to plan a craft day.  

Since my birthday was coming up, I thought I'd combine her visit with a little party to celebrate the occaision.

Karen and I call each other, "Special K", along with our third K, Guncle Kevin.  And I wanted to make the day extra special for my K, so I set the table with some of my favorites and we all made some goodies for a ladies' luncheon.

I fixed quiche, bread, and cupcakes. Others brought snacks, treats, and plenty of deliciousness.

While in Florida, I arm wrestled Guncle Randy for the leftovers of the cake Karen had baked, packed it in my carryon and froze it that night, to thaw out for Special K Day and serve to the guests.  

It was every bit as mouth watering as it was the day she made it. Wow, I need to try to make one of those.

We had some afternoon goodies in the treat cabinet too.

Can you have enough desserts on craft day? I don't know if I like craft days for the food or the projects.

For birthday party gifties, I provided unfinished wood shadowboxes, with a table full of the supplies to fill them up.

I also found some Crabtree and Evelyn scented cream, in pretty, spring like tubes for everyone.

It always makes me happy to see what variations the artists come up with for the projects. 

I didn't have kits as I would for an actual class, just a table full of goodies to chose through, so the styles were even more unique than usual.  I also set out wooden bird houses to fix up.

(That dark paper with the birds? A gift from Alice-Anne, it is scented drawer liner that came in a box labeled, "Birdsong"!

Pretty ideas, aren't they?

So sweet.

Tami brought this lovely bouquet and table runner for me.

And Nora crafted this hand made basket!  My friends were very generous and thoughtful. It made Special K Day even more special to spend it with some of my dear, Birdsong Peeps!

 

 

 

 

See you later!

I'm headed off for my annual sister trip, but will have new posts scheduled to pop up while I'm away, so please check back!

 (I won't be able to mail any packages til Oct. 1st if you are shopping in the Boutique)

More roses on the wall

While I had my paint brush out, I thought I'd do a few more flowers.  This "WISHES" sign is done on an old cabinet door.

The word seemed to call for some sparkle.  So, I accented it with silver glitter.

Here are some close ups of the rose vine I showed in my last post.

I hated to put away my brushes and paint, but it was time to move on, I have a lot to do to get ready for the holiday season, with Snowbirdsong coming up as well as a Christmas home tour.

Both of which I am looking forward to, but it was still hard to stop painting!

Although, I do have a few more of these egg ornaments to do, so it won't be put away for too long.

Hand painted roses

Last year, I dropped a quart of red paint in the studio.  It splattered so far that I am still finding spots I didn't see before.  

What a mess!

I cleaned up as much as I could, touched up paint on doors, cabinets, etc, and ignored the main sploosh that went up the wall and onto the ceiling, it was too much to face.

Eventually, I knew I had to deal with it, but since I didn't have any more paint in the wall color, it would mean that I  had to repaint not just this red splotch, but the entire west wall of the studio, behind the computer, my storage, and the big, heavy, wardrobe I use as a treat cabinet.

As nice as fresh paint in a new color would be, I decided it was too much work. So I painted over the red blotches only.

And I am happy that I did!  I really like having a rose garden in my workshop.

While the ladder was out, I touched up the red freckled ceiling with white, so everything looks tidy again.

Now, I just wonder why I lived with that ugly bunch of blotches for that long before I thought of this save.

A little dinner party

 

There is a 50% off sale in the Boutique!!! To access the bargain prices, type in

LABORDAYSALE

 at the checkout, and hit "recalculate" and watch the amount drop in half.

I'll be out of town and away from my computer and out of touch for a few days, so shipping will be next week.  Please remember that the postage prices will be adjusted when I get the actual total from the USPS as I box the goodies up to send to you and I will refund excesses.  

www.karlascottage.com

Aren't these hydrangeas pretty?  I am hoping to keep the plant I picked them off of alive, but while hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers, they are not one that like me back that much. Maybe I love them so much because of their elusive, playing hard to get, attitude toward my garden?

Sometimes I think I wouldn't be any worse off if I'd simply planted 20 dollar bills instead of hydrangeas.   I sure don't love that aspect of them.

We had some little dinner parties this summer.  For all of them, I kept the table simple.  In the winter, I love layers of table cloths, but for summer, I preferred the bare table top.

It felt nice at the time, but looking back at the photos, it seems a little stark, doesn't it?

A Herb bouquet

Our book club was lucky to have the author  of last month's selection speak to us about her experiences.  Robin wrote "The Feast Nearby" (a very interesting story and even better when we had tales directly from her).  

The book was about local and fresh foods, so I brought her a posey of herbs as a thank you for coming.  My herb bed is still hanging in there, and I was able to pick a handful to wrap up.  

This is a sweet way to gift fresh flowers or herbs to someone special if you don't have a vase to give along with them. I gather up some plants, and trim the ends.  Then dampen paper towels, fold them up around the bottoms of the stems.  I slip a sandwich size baggie over the towels to keep the wetness on the the plant, and fold pretty paper of some kind over the bag to hide it. (for this I used a book page with a bird picture on it)

 Tie it up with a matching ribbon or two and the flowers will stay fresh for a day or so from the saturated paper towels.  

I know I do ok with bringing buds to buddies in the spring when they are so abundant, but fall is also a season to be generous. You have a last chance to give from your gardens and flower beds before bloom time comes to an end. It might not be too late to get creative with a bundle of greens.  Herbs that have bolted and blossomed, a branch with leaves beginning to turn, or a precious handful of the last of the flowers in the garden all make a nice gift.

Who will you take a posey to?

Quick and Easy Vintage Lavender Sachets

When my buddies were coming to town, I wanted to have a welcome gift for each of them, but was extremely short on time. I was just finishing up the mosaic floors, and also planning a dinner party for 10 of my husband's co-workers the day before my friends were due.

The gifties needed to be something quick to make, so I decided to fill some muslin drawstring bags with lavender and decorate them.  Well, actually, the other way around, I decorated them FIRST, then filled them.

The dreaded sewing machine was already out, for another progject, so I attempted to stitch the lace on, but couldn't go across the top, or I'd sew them shut. I could only use the machine on the sides and bottoms.  That lead me to looking through my sparklies cabinet and finding vintage brooches to pin the lace to the bags at the tops.

After all the lace was attached, and the trinkets pinned on, I glued some old millinery blooms to the bags.

The best part?  Besides being so quick to do, I mean.  That wonderful lavender scent! I can never get enough of that.