Karla's Cottage

A little chance to do some painting

A friend posted a back to school photo of her and her mini me.  It was a perfect little snapshot of joy.

 I loved it so much, I just had to do a quick mixed media sketch of it. I will be gifting this to her next time I see her.

While my paints were out, I decided to do a rose painting for a kind soul who had gifted me with boxfuls of treasures during her de-stashing.  I could never express my full gratitude for her generosity enough.  I hope she knows how much it was appreciated.  

I wracked my brain to figure out what to send as a thank you.  Because of her major clean out, I thought she probably wouldn’t want more “stuff”, but a card was not enough.  After perusing her IG, and seeing how much she loved gardening, so I am hoping that this flower will be something she likes.

 

 

 

Magic at the Hawk and Hawthorn

Hawk and Hawthorn (about 20 min north of Asheville on top of a scenic mountain) is my new favorite vacation spot.

The Airbnb is set upstairs of a newly renovated, charming old house and the patio over looks the farm.

Bonus- the view includes the barn/event center.

Double bonus for me- my son lives there.

He is their onsite trim carpenter.

He and his buddy just built this outdoor kitchen for tent campers.  Spaces are available through Hipcamp, and campers have access to the barn for yoga, bathrooms, cooking, and more.  

I think how much you can hang out in the barn depends on scheduled events.  They had just held one, and this mushroom display from it was still set up.  I spy a couple of my schroomies in there too!

They host workshops, festivals, retreats, music, etc.  Our visit was Sunday thru Friday, so it was pretty low key.

We had full use of the facilities and after harvesting our food to fix in the apartment kitchen, we walked it across the field and up the hill to dine in the beautiful barn.

It had just started to rain and was getting dark.  We ate while listening to the drops on the metal roof and the curtains swayed in the breeze.

 

I am not sure how many times I used the word “magical”, probably way too many, but it was justified.

Our meal was trout that the kids caught with their grandfather that day and deliciousness we gathered from the vast gardens.

I would say that the term, “magical”, had to be correct.  There had to be some magic in the head grower’s touch.  Look at the size of this corn! All the veggies were lush and vibrant, over the top with health and vitality.  

It made me think that my Kansas garden back home was a sad comparison.  

We picked fresh produce daily.  And had flowers in our salads, and even cooked into chewy brownies.

And I got to forage for chanterelles!  It was my first successful mushroom hunt. 

We walked through what felt like an enchanted land of moss and streams to find them. While on the hunt, my boy taught me tricks about different types and what to look for.

He is always on the lookout and you never know when he will abruptly pull over the car to spring out and return with a handful of berries to share.  He spots tasty treats everywhere he goes.

At the farm, there are baby bunnies to hold and goats to visit.  There is a fresh mountain spring set up with pipes to fill your containers.

Pretty and rustic areas to enjoy, trails to explore, and vistas so lovely, all you want to do is sit back, sip a glass of wine and take it all in.

Plus-NO CHIGGERS! It felt oddly uncomfortable to walk through tall grass without bug spray.  In the back of my mind, I kept worrying that I’d be up all night itchy and miserable.

But I got used to not needing a thorough spritz before going outside.  And I was not homesick for any midwestern bugs that typically torture me all summer long.

There is cool art everywhere, including on these shirts.

The dragon was by our front door.

I don’t know why I didn’t get any photos inside our cozy studio apartment, maybe because there was so much to see and do outside.

The tranquility was just what we needed, the rest of the trip was so stressful.  Serious family illnesses, an auto wreck, all were overwhelming.  

Thank goodness for the peace and welcome we found at the Hawk and Hawthorn.

 It was MAGICAL. 

Once again, that was wine in the teacups

To celebrate Angie and Beth’s birthdays, we made plans for a day out, and I offered to make brunch first. But then, Angie picked up an estate sale to do, and between that and all of her other obligations, her time off for a whole day disappeared.  Our date switched to lunch and I decided to serve it in the gazebo to make it special.

Hmm, not the best picture of us, but you get the idea.

We had wine in our teacups, and drank it with our pinky fingers crooked while wearing floral garden hats and speaking in a British accent, of course.

I draped a little, round table in layers of clothes, and brought out the floral china.

The weather cooperated with perfection, but just in case, I added a fan and extra sun umbrellas to the space.

Teapots were filled with $1 flower bundles (our local Kroger always marks them down after the weekend) and I made place cards with “Angela” and “Elizabeth”  instead of Angie and Beth to be extra fancy.  

But “Karla” doesn’t come with a fancy option.

So I used the name my dad, Hubert, had written on my original birth certificate.

  “Huberta”

As in Huberta Josephine Downey.  

Yep, that was my name.  My mom changed it to Karla Jo.  Not nearly as much to roll off the tongue.   I think I could’ve grown up as a Bertie, or Birdy? Instead I was always Karkie Jo.

The silk flower umbrellas from my April Showers Bring May Flowers theme at Good Juju got another go round as garden party decor.  I’ve left them up outside a while, they somewhat survived a 24 hour deluge.  I’m not sure how many more uses I’ll get out of them, but I have enjoyed every bit of our time together so far.

We had dipped strawberries and lavender honey  dark chocolate for dessert.

I fixed honey butter toasted croissants, individual quiches, and fruit salad. 
Even though it was their birthdays, Angie brought sparkling soda and Beth brought a salad.  

Happy Birthday to two of the funnest people around!

 

April Showers Bring May Flowers but DO NOT try to spray paint your umbrellas

At Good Juju, I want to make use of ALL my space, floor to ceiling.  My plan is to hang various items  up high to make seasonal displays.  For Spring, I decided to go with umbrellas.

My first thought was to spray paint used umbrellas and add greenery.

Well…

After going through two cans of spray paint that ended up runny, not covering up the underlying color, and just looking like a drippy, blotchy, poorly done mess- I soon discovered how bad that idea was.  

Umbrellas seem to be made of a material that repels liquids.

Who’d have thought of that?

Well, I was trying to be thrifty about it and was happy to get free umbrellas from a friend, but do you know how much spray paint costs?  That was not going to be a cheap way to do it.

After looking on Amazon and other places and seeing that affordability was not going to be applicable to this project, I almost gave up the idea.  Then, I found five, white paper umbrellas at a thrift store for a couple bucks each!  

So, I started looking for fake white roses and greenery, and was attacked again by sticker shock.  I once again was about to give up on my plan.  Then friends brought me grocery bags of flowers they’d gotten at estate sales and didn’t need.

Plan April Showers was back on track!

I was also given a naked, vintage umbrella in bits and pieces.  The handle was so pretty, I just had to put the thing back together.

So the skeleton was rebuilt with duct tape, wire, and string.  It will never open and close, but none of this set does after adding the flowers to them.

The one with the great handle was so nice, I thought it deserved vintage florals and pretty fabric, so I spent a lot of time on it, as well as plucking an entire rose covered hat to finish it with.

Sadly, I was careless with my glue and when you hold it up to the light, you can see the clear blobs of dried glue on the transparent fabric. 

None of the results are anything like my plans. I was going to take down the stained glass window, and have just greens in white umbrellas hanging.  But since that didn’t work out and I went with what was available, I think I like the colorful display even more!  

Distractions

While putting away my endless forest of Christmas trees, I decided to clear space in an upstairs closet to stash a tree that just did not want to go into the under stairs storage. I came across some old paintings.  This drawing was done about fifty years ago from a family photo I found at my mom’s.  But I have no idea who the people are and the piece was in the back of the closet for decades.  So I’m taking it into Good Juju to try to sell.

It can honestly be categorized as vintage!

There was an ugly painting lurking in the closet too.  It was flowers with a hummingbird and butterflies. I looked at it and thought, decent frame, pretty colors, just needs work.  So I thought I’d “touch it up”.  Haha, so much for that!  A few hours later, it was entirely covered with a landscape.

There is not an inch of the original painting left.  It did not get a makeover or touch up, it got a cover up.  It’s still not done, the flowers in the foreground are just roughed in.

But I had a fun day - much more fun than cleaning out closets.  The distraction of painting means that there is still a half cleared storage area that needs attention.  Maybe next January when I need to find a space to cram a tree into.

 

A friend’s garden and thoughts on house colors

Diane’s home was on the garden tour last year, and all of their hard work still shows, it looks like it permanently belongs on the list.  

Before the event, some friends gathered to make mosaic stepping stones for it as a birthday gift for her.

The stones are interspersed with natural rock in the pathways.

The yard is laid out in such a welcoming design, it intrigues you to want see around the next corner.  As all great landscaping should.

There is just the right amount of sculpture and yard art to add to the ambiance and not be cluttered.  I tend to over do that and junk things up, but this yard has an understated elegance that I could probably never pull off.

The stained glass artwork hanging inside the window adds to the overall feeling of curated beauty too.

Sitting on the upper deck, drinking wine, and listening to the frogs in the pond is an ideal way to spend an evening.  Adding a tour on top of it? Perfection!

They are remodeling the decks soon and making them larger, then painting the house.  The cedar planks have always been stained in this natural look, but they are ready for a change.  My suggestion of color was a grayed blue.  Diane’s interior is filled with shades of blue, some more sky and aqua, but enough different varieties of blue that I can tell it’s her favorite.  And at our regular mosaic parties, she tends to go for the blue pieces of glass. 

That said, blue can be tricky on an exterior of this style of house.  You don’t want to be too cute with it. There are some terra cotta bricks in the trim and chimney, natural stone around the house, with a roof similar to the stone color.  

The closest neighbor’s home to the right is a medium gray, the next is a sage gray, I think.  I can’t remember the color to the left, but there is an empty lot between, if that matters. 

In my opinion, the right shade of blue would be a good companion to the terra cotta bricks, and also compliment Diane’s airy personality, while fitting nicely with this neighborhood.  

While dark blue could also be a good choice, it seems to me like she needs a lighter, cheerier shade to reflect her more.  Now, I like the house in it’s dark, natural stain, and I’m sure a navy would look good too, but I’m still leaning more towards a light, softer shade.  Not true blue, but grayed and warmed a bit.

She has used blue accents throughout the the inside and outside of the home, so there is the thought that a color pulled from the landscaping stones would also give the house the lightness it deserves, while complimenting her blue touches and looking nice next to the terra cotta bricks.  

And the brick color could be a fine choice, but to me, not enough of a change.  Although, I’d pick that over a gray or a dark shade.

Of course, I love thinking about colors and this puzzle has kept me entertained.  I can’t wait to see what she picks.  What do you think?

I wish I’d gotten more photos of the yard and veggie garden, it was really a magical place to be on a pretty evening.  

Repainted roses

I recently repainted the flowers on the shutters by my kitchen door.

The “shutters” are actually parts of a byfold door, found at a garage sale that I took apart and painted to look old.

Years ago, I added roses to them and they were fine.

But I decided the flowers were too simple and I wanted more.

So, here they are, touched up.

And I like them soooooooo much better!

It was a quick project, since it was sort of an overlay on top of a previous design.  I just added to what was already there.

Now, I can’t wait to tackle the matching shutters on my studio doors.

More fun from St Augustine and the Guncles

Our five week, meandering trip included 2 single and one four day visit to Guncleland, where the family pitched in and rebuilt some of the fencing.  While guys were busy sawing and hammering, I took some time to clean up the pathways, reset stepping stones, and spread mulch.

They replaced two gates and one length of fence, then added a privacy fence for trash cans and storage.

After a dozen years or so, the garden stones had all sunken down under the earth.  So I un-earthed them and reset the pathways along one side of the house and the garbage can storage area too.

 Which is where I found these!  I felt like an archeologist, digging up ancient ruins.  Apparently, they had been on the ground there, and like the stones, had worked their way deep down under the dirt.

But I preferred to think of them as from an earlier inhabitant of the land.

Our evenings were spent relaxing in the Guncles’ unique home with all eight of our combine canine family having some cousin time.

Oh and eating! There was lots of eating!  That’s what you do when you go to Jax and visit the Gunks.  They feed you endless, yummy, seafood.  I thanked them with a pie.

But it wasn’t all manual labor and big meals.  Randy and I took a mini road trip down to St Augustine to meet up with my sister, Bobbie who was visiting elsewhere in the state.

Where we met some interesting new friends.

In some cool places.

See what I mean? This steam punk  store is a cool addition to George Street.

My favorite thing I saw downtown was this wallpaper in a shop.

Or was it this wallpaper?

No, my FAVORITE thing from the day was this.  I love those two so much!

 

Gideon’s Bakeshop and a Jam Packed Disney day

We had a whirlwind trip through Orlando.  No, more than that, it was like a Kansas tornado going through!

There wasn’t a lot of stopping to enjoy the flowers during our one day at the parks, but our evening before and morning after were pretty mellow.

The visit was a later add on to our trip, we had planned on being home about then.  But, Sugarwings was starting spring break, and her dad offered to meet us in Florida, so we flew the grand fairy on their very first solo flight and met the brave kid (who did just fine) in Orlando.

And if you know me, you might have noticed there is something about Orlando that I just love.  Yep, I indulged myself with a Disney visit.  We camped at Ft Wilderness, on an off and on rainy couple of days.  The temps were warm, and we had ponchos, plus the rain thins out crowds so we were just fine.  The pool was practically empty, and not a single other person was in line at the food truck we went to.

Terry met us at Epcot and the frenzy began the next morning with an early entry for resort guests.  And man, did we ever hit the ground running. We “rope dropped” (going to the most popular rides early before lines got to be hours long) then between Terry’s and my booking skills and Disney knowledge, we became power mad. Scheduling and layering ride reservations faster than a bluebird can find a Princess who just broke into song.

Seriously, we over did it.  Our prowess in maneuvering ourselves out of standing in lines had us pushing ourselves to the limit to ride every single thing we could at Epcot then buy a park hopper pass over to Magic Kingdom.

Now, I am not saying I didn’t enjoy our adventure, it was amazing!  But in retrospect, it might have been slightly crazy to start at 8 am and go to midnight, non stop.

We had a blast.

And we stopped when the kiddo wanted to, Terry and I enjoyed sitting while Sugarwings explored some areas.  It wasn’t complete competition to set a record for most rides rode in one day.  Terry hung in with us til evening, and I was skeptical about staying ourselves, we had a few moments of exhausted irritation, but we rallied, snacked, and kept rolling. I’m glad we did.  Late nights at Magic Kingdom, when the crowds thin after the fireworks are pretty, well, magical.

There was very little shopping til the rides closed at 11pm, and stores stayed open til midnight.  But we aren’t there for souvenirs.

(By the way, the two little buildings on each side of the castle, make for ideal photo ops)

Here is our breakdown:

Over 25 rides

Over 33,000 steps

16 hours

2 parks

And yes, I woke up slightly tired the next morning. But we had some time to spend between when we had to leave the campground, drive to St Augustine and check into our rental house.  

Disney Springs has RV parking around back, and seemed like a good place to while away an hour or so.

It was still early, and Gideon’s Bakeshop was just opening, already with a 30 minute wait.  Later it becomes so long that they take your name and call you back, sometimes hours later. Really?  Hours to wait for a cookie?!

Oh, but it is quite wonderful inside.

Quite.

Since we avoided lines all day at the parks, I figured 30 minutes for a cookie wasn’t bad.

I would show you the cookies, but they were so good, they disappeared before I got a photo.

If you get a chance, you should get one.  And one to share is probably plenty because they are 1lb each.  

Genuine gemstone mosaic

This mosaic backsplash felt like a huge job, but actually was completed in bits and spurts over the course of a week.

The boards were set out on my table like a jigsaw puzzle that I pieced together whenever I had a spare hour of time.  

First, I measured the spot, then I had Masonite cut to fit the area.  I drilled holes where I wanted to screw it into the wall, and left those spots blank while adding stones.

Then, I used a sharpie to draw a design that I promptly ignored and started placing stones in posy shapes.

I started with the largest flowers, working out from the center of the board, where the faucet of the sink would be.  Then spaced large flowers throughout the Masonite.  

Next came medium flowers, then small ones, and finally the darker pearls, petals, and leaves.

The stones are glued down with silicone.  After the adhesive dried I brought the mosaic in to see how it was going to look and decide on grout color.  I had been proud of myself for having a continuous design in the corner from piece to piece, but didn’t allow for the thickness of the beads.

oops

When I first measured the materials, the boards butted up against each other, now with grout and beads, they don’t.  Oh well, caulking fixed the crack, and it doesn’t really bother me too much that the backsplash is about a 1/2” longer than the vanity top. 

Grouting was HARD.  Really hard, because of the different heights of the stones.

 I worked on 6” sections at a time so I could get each bit polished up nice before it dried too hard.

The grout is Bone, and I used a matching caulk to seal the Masonite, trim out the edges, and cover the screw holes.  Honestly, I think the flowers would’ve stood out better with a darker grout, more like the color of the board they were on, but I needed it lighter to flow with the rest of the room.  And that was important.

Grout can be such a mystery to me.  I don’t do enough mosaics to know exactly how the added background color will affect the piece.  No matter what color though, it sure makes it look finished and professional.  Adding grout to a mosaic is the equivalent of adding mulch to a flower bed.  It just makes it look more pulled together. 

My sis, Terry, has recently moved and cleared out her craft supplies before going.  She gifted me with an amazing stack of jewel filled boxes, that inspired this creation.  I had many of the beads myself, but getting her largesse gave me the idea to make a project with it instead of necklaces. 

I thought I’d feature a few flowers and use mosaic glass as a background. But once I got going, I loved the gemstones so much, that I made the entire piece with just those.  I found bags of real pearls and some other extras at an antique store nearby, and that was just what I needed to complete it.  I would hate to know what these gems would cost retail!  Terry and I had both shopped wholesale markets and catalogs for the ones we had.  Still, this would’ve cost me a pretty penny if I hadn’t been gifted with such pretty beads.  Thanks, Terry!

Here is a list of what I used:

• labradorite
• opal
• moonstone
• mother of pearl
• pearl
• larimar
• herkimer diamond
• quartz
• agate
• amazonite
• topaz
• aquamarine
• shell
• flourite
• abilone