Karla's Cottage

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?

 

An all natural fall wreath from gathered pieces

Years ago, when my son was working at the Renfest, he planted a magic wand tree in my yard for future projects.  It’s about as tall as I am now, and since he is no longer making wands, I decided to harvest a few of its curly branches.

Aren’t they cool?  

Great curves and twirls!

My husband went for a walk in the woods and clipped the other vines for me, then helped as I wound them up together and twisted them into a wreath.

Usually, I cover my bluebird and rose topiary painting for Christmas time, since the picture is so springy.  This year, I thought I’d get an early start and give it a fall treatment with burlap and a wreath.

The frame of the painting is half of a Victorian door, and is so heavy, it has been bolted to the wall.  The only way I can change up the look is to insert a piece of covered foam core board over the glass.  I like having the option to change things up for the season, and this has worked out pretty good for me.

The heavy mirror is also bolted down, so I hang items over it, for now a bird print.

This year might have sucked for many, many reasons, but 2020 has had a couple bright spots.

One is that it has been the year of hydrangeas that I always dreamed of!  I’ve gathered and dried armloads.  Some got tucked into the vines of the wreath along with feathers from a wild turkey, shot by my friend, Karen Hillman (she also treated me to some of the juicy, turkey breast and it was just the best).

With all the puppy activity around here, it was relaxing to have a quick redo to work on.  The wreath itself was simple as can be, just twisting and tucking, no wire or glue.

I might take the dried blooms and feathers out for Christmas and add ornaments when the time comes.  This wreath will be very versatile since nothing is permanently attached. 

And now that I think about it, that magic wand tree is going to be good to have around too.  Maybe I should craft some witchy wands for Halloween.

 

Bringing a Taste of Autumn to the Cottage

Kindnesses sparked redos

While my friends and I have gotten to be pretty good at meeting up for walks, socially distant porch parties, and other safe activities where we can visit in ventilated places somewhat apart from each other, we haven’t figured out how to do a Mosaic Day together.

We used to gather most Thursdays in Shan’s basement studio, catch up on each other’s happenings, and glue glass bits from the vast bins of colors Shanna had for us to dig through, onto all sorts of items.

Over a year ago, I started this pot, and since I couldn’t make it there every week, or sometimes brought a pressing work project from home instead, it took a long time to progress.  But just as I was getting excited about completion, Covid hit and all production halted.

Then recently, my sweet and talented friend offered finish the pot for me and I was thrilled!  My design was done, the background and grout were all that was left, and she was going to help with the grout anyway.  
Plus, this way, I could call the pot a collaboration with a master stain glass artist!

(See the stunning piece hanging behind her? Also, please notice the beautiful doodle, one of Sugar’s babies, Shan’s home is full of pretty creations.)

How generous of her to do this for me.

When Ryan died, we received a planter jam packed with greenery.  It has been a couple of months now, and while I’m slightly sure I could’ve kept them alive as is, I  was relieved to have something larger to transplant them into.

While I was at it, I repotted some other plants and spread the arrangement into some extra pots too.

Then, while picking up supplies at Hobby Lobby, I saw these blue coffee pots on clearance and got one to go along with the refreshing of the kitchen I’d started with the new plantings.

Cheerful, right?

And cheery is very much appreciated right now.  Missing Ryan is a constant with me, and I know always will be.  I write notes to him, talk to him on my walks, sit in the gazebo and listen to his wind chimes.  I think of all the boring little details in my life that he would have listened to me telling him about.  And how he honestly would be interested in hearing them.

For the first few weeks, it seemed like we had so much going on, kids to entertain and feed, places to go, chores to do, projects to work on. Dinners to cook, shopping to do.  I complained to myself that I just wanted to be left alone.  

That I wanted to crawl into bed and not get out.

That I wanted to be alone to be sad and not do anything at all. 

Looking back, I wonder if I was doing it right all along, by just keeping going.  Not just keeping busy, but being active and part of the world around me.  Which isn’t easy to do in the Age of Corona. And it isn’t easy to do when I am sad.  But for me, it probably was the best thing I could do.

Heart break will always be with me.  But it also makes me realize that the good that surrounds me might not always be with with me.  I work to treasure my blessings, appreciate what I have, and to keep my home as much of a pretty, and peaceful sanctuary as I can.  To reach out to friends and family that I love.  

To not curl up in the darkness.

 

 

 

A place to hold hands and reminisce for our 35th anniversary

For our 35th anniversary on Monday, I wanted to find a meaningful gift for my husband.

Since Ryan died, we have spent a lot of time sitting in our gazebo, listening to the wind chimes and thinking about our boy.

We watch the chickens play in the sprinkler, talk to the dogs, and hold hands. It has become our place to remember Ryan, and to be together.  
Oh, and drink some wine, too.

So when it came to picking out a gift, I figured that a matching set of  cozy rockers to sit in together would be ideal.  I searched online for something just right and wasn’t having the best of luck.  Then, I saw this set (on clearance, too) at TJMax and knew they were just what I had been looking for.

When we remodeled Ryan’s apartment for his 40th birthday, he chose everything in the rooms, and had gone with a lot of grays in a kind of modern, farmhouse style (he watched a lot of TV decorating shows for ideas).

These rocking chairs would look equally good with Ryan’s color scheme as they do in our garden.

I think he would approve of them.

Once I set them in the spot, I realized that rocks aren’t great for rockers... so I went back online and found a matching, outdoor rug. From Walmart, and it seems to be of a nice quality and looks pretty good there.

It is a peaceful place that has become very special to us.  I can see us sitting there together, holding hands and reminiscing throughout our next 35 years with each other.