Karla's Cottage

The WRONG Way to Dry Hydrangeas, oops

This season, my hydrangeas did poorly.

Not just poorly- they sucked.  Most didn’t survive the winter, even though I brought pots into the breezeway, and the newer plants hardly produced blooms.

But look at what my sister let me picked from her bushes!

I harvested them, smashed the stems and put them into water for a few days.  It should’ve gone well, and the color would’ve held since they were picked at just the right time.

But…

While trying to protect the delicate flowers, I ruined them.

Wouldn’t you think that a hard sided cooler would keep them safe on a long drive?  Uhm, no.

Apparently the moisture content along with being in a closed space in a hot car, was the wrong way to go.  They were a soggy, dripping mass of brown when I freed them from the humid box.

Dang it.

But they did dry and keep their shape, they just lost that beautiful, fall toned glow over night.  Still pretty, but not gorgeous like they were.  

Dang it.

(The two larger China pieces were found on my trip, $10 each!)

 

 

 

My favorite planter

Quite a few years back, we took out a couple of trees.  Being thrifty, we left the stumps, because if you’ve ever paid to have two trees removed, you’d understand why we were feeling the need for thrift.

At first, I used the stumps as platforms to set planters on, but after decaying over time, they started to sink inward. 

So I filled the hole that was developing with dirt and plants.

Over time, it kept sinking and rotting til it evolved into losing the entire front part of the stump.  I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, so I stacked rocks to build a wall and prolonged its use a while longer.

It was honestly much prettier this spring before the baby pups learned how to climb the rocks like a ladder to dig in the dirt.  I’m surprised that any of the begonias survived at all.  As fall approaches, I’m thinking about switching to mums in this, but I cannot kill the flowers that are still hanging on.  Maybe I can transplant them to a new pot.

Because this would look great filled up and blooming bigger.

And this might be my last year to enjoy this particular stump, there might not be much left of it after this winter.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

April Showers Bring May Flowers

My birthday is in May and Mom used to say “April showers bring May flowers” to me when I was little.  I loved it, and thought she made it up just for me.  

This year, May will be hard, but I am focusing on why I have always loved this month and will try to get outside and enjoy those flowers and everything else springtime brings.

While visiting Indiana, my sister gave me her curtains since she switched to new ones.  I thought the lovely, rosy pattern on my favorite blue would be just the splash of spring that I needed, so I turned the curtains into slipcovers for my sofa.

Maybe calling them slipcovers is too generous of a term.... they are just pillow cases, no closures, darts, or anything that takes skill.  Simply rectangles sewn together on three sides with couch pillows in them.

But cheerful, right?  Thanks for the curtains and inspiration, Sissy!

 

 

There is more to Florida than beaches, seafood, and amusement parks?

Usually, when I go to Florida, it’s either beaches, Harry Potterworld, or Disney.  And I go to lots of seafood restaurants.  On this visit, I saw more of the inner parts of the state, but I did make drives to the beaches on most days, and still ate more than my fair share of seafood.

Our plans changed and our trip was delayed because we got our Covid vaccines, a happy reason to reschedule.  But because of that, I couldn’t book the best camp spots we wanted and had to make the best of it since the reservations were last minute.

We accidentally stayed AN HOUR from the beach in Bradenton.  It was a great KOA, but much further away from the water than I wanted to be.

We were in the heartland, and the campground felt almost like we were back home in Kansas.  I guess I didn’t realize just how large Bradenton was, and only thought of it as a gulf town.  (Maybe I should’ve looked at the map, huh?)

Hunsader Farms had a lot to offer, even if it wasn’t what I had thought I was getting.  

I have to admit, that I was a tad bit cranky when I realized exactly how isolated the place was when we arrived.  But after hanging out, it grew on me.

There was a U Pick Em zinnia field and strawberry patch, and I not only got to eat juicy berries to my hearts content, and fill the camper with fresh flowers, I was able to walk the dogs to the colorful field and get some portraits of them.

It really was pretty there.  Once I let myself enjoy it and stop being resentful about my booking mistake, I was glad to be there.

We even found a seafood tiki bar nearby on the water.

It was a lake, not my beloved ocean, but the place was delicious and fun.

Plus an hour to get to Point of Rocks at Siesta Key is much better than 20 hours from Kansas.

And we weren’t any further from one of the best off leash dog beaches I’d ever been to.

We all loved that leg of our journey.

 

I ❤️ these people

The wing project the Miss Tree gifted the family with at Winter Solstice is a gift that never ends.  Not only did we have day after day of fun with creating the wings, I made captured and framed fairies for the mantel from one of our two adventures in fairy dress up parties.

She has become a master wingmaker (Katie, you need an Etsy shop!) and crafted these for my son, to look like oak leaves.

He and Dewdrop were here for a much too quick visit, and while at the cottage, he took the time to remake my garden entryway.  The vines put up years ago had started to fall, and most of the twinkle lights had given up their glow.

More native grape vines were gathered in the woods and he came up with the idea of forming a heart instead of just a random design.

See how he incorporated the scrolls of the fence to complete the point of the heart?

I’ll have more pictures of our dress up night, and of the projects I make with the photos later on.  Because like I said, the wing party from Katie just keeps on giving.  I can’t wait to add more fairies to my fireplace mantel.

Plus pics of the fabulous heart with blooming vines growing around it this summer!  Won’t that be lovely?

Thank you, Katie and Adam, for the beauty you bring to my world.

 

 

In a painting frame of mind

Lately, I’ve been getting some furniture painted.  I’ve enjoyed it so much, that I am considering painting some pieces to frame too.  I hope I get around to that.

A “painting with thread” project got started too.  Those are drawn on a shirt with washable marker to start with, and the marker is more of a guideline than anything else.  I liked this sketch, so will try to follow it.  Sometimes things change a lot once I get started.

Here is a photo of the dresser, not all the way before, but near the beginning.  It is in Angie’s booth at Good JuJu and we went in there one afternoon while the building was empty for me to paint while Beth and Angie redid their neighboring spaces.

It had been a while since I’d added roses to furniture.  I had planned something completely different, but this is how it turned out.  

 

 

Painting with thread on black

Once the puppies were living in their new homes in November, I found myself at a loss on what to do with my time.   Those babies were pretty much a 24 hour a day job for me for months. Those guys needed so much care they really kept me hopping and I had no time for creativity.

Molly just did not understand when I went from Puppy Servant back to my own life, she had only known me as the lady who spent every waking hour (and some during the night) catering to the needs of her and her fluffy sibs.

Not that she wasn’t still getting plenty of attention, but I was also doing some things just for me too.
 She soon figured out that she could lay on my feet while I stitched.  As long as I was close, she accepted that I wasn’t playing with or petting her.

I am still not completely caught up on sleep, Molasses needs to potty a couple of times during the night, but I have convinced her that 5am wake up calls are not acceptable to me and that she needs to go back into her kennel until at least six.  

Some days, she has even made it to seven, if I put Honey in there with her!

 

She is a very mild mannered, calm girl.  But when she needs to go out at 3am, she is quite insistent.  
While I am not sleeping as much as I wish I was, It is enough that my spark is returning.  I had this shirt to embroider for my sweet, hippie kid who loves flowers.

Since I mailed his gift box to North Carolina, and he surprised us by hiding under the tree and popping out on Christmas Eve, I don’t know if it fit him, or if I got a little too dainty with the flowers.  If it isn’t what he wanted, he can pass the shirt along to Sugarwings and I will stitch another.

It felt good to be working on a project again and I’d enjoy an excuse to do more.  But not a black shirt.  That was more difficult than any other stitchery I have done.  Typically I use a washable marker to draw on the fabric, but on black, none showed up.  I was making it up as I sewed with this one.

I’m sure Molly would be happy to keep me company if I need to work on another shirt.  And I appreciate the warm toes on a cold night when she does.

Natural themed holiday mantle with dried hydrangeas

Earlier this year, my husband helped me gather some vines in the woods to make a wreath.  I’d added a few dried hydrangeas and turkey feathers to it for fall.

When it came time to redo the mantle for Christmas, I was still enjoying the look.  So my changes are minimal.  The feathers were plucked from the wreath, and more dried blooms were tucked into the branches.  Nothing is glued or wired, so redos are as simple as sticking stems into the twisted vines.

The plan was to hang some ornaments on it too, but I decided to keep it simple.

For sparkle, I did add a few ornies to the candle holders next to my Great Aunt Caroline’s clock.

A flocked garland was laid along the oak mantle, and I thought I was done.
But then, I had to figure out a safe place to store all of the hydrangeas I’d dried from the garden and displayed around the house.  I’d taken them down to make way for Christmas trees and didn’t want them to get smashed.

For the twenty plus years we have lived here, I desperately tried to grow hydrangeas.  I have no idea the body count of plants that I killed over the years.  I figured I should just be planting twenty dollar bills and save myself some effort.

Then 2020 rolls around.  The year that sucks for the entire world.  Everyone but the hydrangeas in my garden!

My harvest was gorgeous and plentiful.  And I am happy to have the mantle focused on one bright spot of this year.

Goodbye to the Garden

After what felt like endless days of bleak, cold weather, feeling like I am ankle deep in puppy pee, we are getting some sunshine!  Yay, pups will get to run outside and have fun, I can thoroughly clean their living quarters and air it out.

The countdown to freezing cold has us getting done as much outside as we can.  My husband and Guncle Randy cleared the garden of tomato cages and stepping stones, then set the chickens free in it to scratch and salvage.  

Earlier, I dried a lot of marigold seeds to plant next year, and I think that the hens are helping spread some that will grow later on their own.  Maybe a tomato or two also.  

This photo is from summer’s heyday.

With the garden in its lushness.  I had a bell pepper plant taller than me this year and it was a constant producer of sweet, yellow peppers.

This was one of our best garden years, ever at this house.

I guess 2020 had a good point or two after all?

This is the view from Ryan’s patio, we redid an over grown bed in the center of the garden and made the parking area bigger.

It made an excellent spot to park the camper.

I think for what we have spent on replenishing layer upon layer of gravel for 28 years, we could have paid for some really nice concrete.

But isn’t fresh gravel pretty?