A memorable visit and a memorial to some we’ve lost

family, Ryan
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Years ago, Rich’s brother, Steve, brought us an old, rusted lantern and hung it in this elm.

The tree is in our view when we sit in our rockers by the wind chimes Ryan hung in our gazebo.

Over time, the tree has encompassed the lantern.  It’s become an enduring element of our yard and along with the chimes, it’s a daily reminder of people we have lost.
I tucked a Rose of Sharon bloom into the crook that squashes the lantern for Steve’s wife, Sharon, while  she and her kids were visiting us.

We had a mini memorial for Steve and Ryan during the gathering, and sprinkled some of their ashes at the root of the tree and under the wind chimes while each of us expressed thoughts and told stories about these two guys we all miss so much.

Before carefully spooning some of Ry’s ashes out to use, I wiped down the urn, remembering how I’d wash his little face off when he was a baby.  This didn’t feel morbid at all to me, it was a cherished moment, thinking about his cheery smile that was pretty much always smeary with food or dirt for the first few years of his life.

When Ryan died, I started writing him letters, tucking the notes into his urn.  For this ceremony, I blindly plucked one out of the jar to read to the group.   It’s the first time I’ve opened any of them.

  I think I’ll start reading one to myself on days my mind is heavily filled with missing him.

It was moving to be with people we loved, people who also loved the men who had died.  Being together to honor them was deeply meaningful.  And our laughter and fun times over the too short visit that the group was here, was just great.

Our families do not live near us, so visits are a treasure even when they go by so quickly.  Just as we never forget the special guys we lost and hold them close in our memories, family near and far are all wrapped in forever hugs in our hearts.

Like the lantern squeezed into the tree.

Pretty creepy

holiday decor, jewelry, Uncategorized
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Throughout most of the year, I’m not exactly a fan of arachnids.  And even when fall comes around and the Halloween decor starts to creep into my home, ugly spiders are never welcome.

But when a frilly tutu is wrapped around a spidey skelly, I’m all in.  I love the eight legged ladies when they get gussied up.  And this season, I’ve been obsessed with the beaded beauties that have filled my feed, and thought I’d try to make one myself.

There was a little learning curve to it, but each one got a bit quicker than the one before.

My trouble is, that I’m kinda over scheduled right now and had to limit my time for crafting them.   I gave myself some snuck in hours to indulge my newest hobby, then had to let it go.

But just wait til next autumn.  2027 will be the year of the spider for me.  I’ll be sure and plan for some free time to make whatever I want and not bury myself into having too much to get done and not leaving open time for play.

Well, that’s not exactly what happened this season.  Maybe I played too much and didn’t get my needed chores done.  I’ve had trips, visits, and days off, after months of recovering from shoulder surgery and did not get my inventory prepped for the last quarter of the year when retail is at its peak.  Now I’m down to the wire, knowing there are more trips planned and that I’d better pack up these beads and get my own self out of this tangled web of work before it’s too late.

So, no more spiders for now.  I enjoyed learning how to make them, and look forward to more in the future.  Right now, I’m headed to make price tags for my bins of holiday inventory.

And I have a feeling there will be some Christmas crafting time while getting it all together.

A bevy of beauties

paintings
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I’ve been on a swan makeover kick lately.  Here is an after photo.

This is how they looked when I spotted them at Sparks Flea mkt.

They were beady-eyed.

I repainted them white, and primed the heads, then added a black base to the face.

Next, details in metallic copper, and some back and forth layering with black and white.

I have two horses that I repainted a few years ago, and would love to figure out how to make a carousel of these four creatures hanging from my booth ceiling, with lots of gold ribbons.   That might not work out, but I’ll be using them all there somehow for the ho,I day season.

This gal is a paper mache swan that I redid to use as a centerpiece on my dining table.

She was fine before, but I wanted a more striking face on her, she was plain white.

Now, I’m on the hunt for more birds to transform, they are such graceful beauties, I am hooked.  (I looked up the name for a group of swans and was disappointed to see it was a “bevy”.  Seems like something more lyrical should apply, huh?)

My boy came to visit

family
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I never get enough time with my son.  He lives in North Carolina, and our visits are too far apart.  And the last few times he has been here, our house needed a major repair.  Which was lucky for us that he can rebuild foundations, redo soffits, replace joists, but it does keep us tied to home repairs instead of just hanging out.

We are a family that isn’t scared of pitching in to do hard work, but on this visit, he was recovering from an injury and we spent the entire week being lazy, eating in restaurants, and going to explore some spots in KC.  Like Atlas 9, where we saw this, whatever it is.  Oh, and celebrating Sugarwings turning TWENTY.

I never figured out the game the venue was based on, but I loved joining in and playing along.

The space was intriguing.

And fun to explore as secret agents.

One day, we visited Prairie Fire Museum, and got to design our own Dinos.  The beasts then appeared on the giant screen in the atrium, where we could attempt to pet them.

They move slowly, so you have some time to get to know them.

That museum was a regular hangout for the kiddos and I back in the day, but my boy hadn’t been there.  It was a weekday, so not everything was open, but still a nice stop after checking out the community college that Sugarwings was getting ready to attend.

There was a full week of easy going days of ambling downtown, trying some restaurants, and being together.  What a great lil vacation.

 

(oh, and he wasn’t off Scott free, he did fix a chandelier that I’d knocked loose from the ceiling with over zealous cleaning.)

A short, but sweet visit

Food and Drink, guncles
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We had such a nice visit with Guncle Randy and our pal, Karen.
When you get any of the Nathan’s together, good meals become a big part of the get togethers.  Same here, and I barely needed to do anything myself.

 It was Good Juju weekend, and I was working.  Our thoughtful guests made most of the food for us, and it was delicious.

Karen treated us to a concoction of edible flowers and cherry blossom syrup in prosecco with the meal.

It had been years since we’d had a chance to visit, and it was a delight to have Karen here at the cottage.

After resting up from my busy work days, we had a relaxing studio day to create.

I love my studio even more when I can fill it with friends.

The two of them came to visit me at the store while I was working too.  Guncle Randy tried to look angelic by trying on my wings, but I doubt if he fooled anyone.

The time passed way too quickly, but we enjoyed every moment.  The only thing missing was Guncle Kevin.  Hopefully, we will see him next time!

It’s mostly but not all spooky

Good JuJu, holiday decor
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Not every bit of my booth is dedicated to Halloween.  There is a large section designated for my jewelry boutique at the front of the room (sorry, no pics).  And this hutch is more fall, than fright.

See, full of vintage pretties!

Including this to die for alabaster lamp. (Oops, I went a little dark with my phrasing there)

But on top of the cabinet? Ghoulella is reigning over the room from her black, vintage wicker chair.

I don’t have her before photos.  Probably because they were ugly and I don’t want to embarrass this queenly beauty, garbed in vintage lace by showing you what a hideous guy she used to be.

But wait, I was saying that my spot at Good Juju wasn’t all gothic or ghoulish.

See?

Even though there is a plethora of black and white, it’s not all scary.  Like that cute pitcher with the kitty handle.

This shelf is witchy, but not scary, right?

I give up trying to find non spooky pictures.  I’ll leave you with the rest of the closeups I have of the booth.

Some spooky season crafts I’ve added to my booth for Good Juju this weekend

Good JuJu, Halloween treats, holiday decor
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There were so many ideas flapping around in my head like bats in my belfry, that could barely contain myself while planning my kick off to spooky season at Good Juju. Starting with vintage dolls, or just parts, painted ghoulishly.   And tiny notebooks dressed up like grimmories, complete with eyeballs on the cover.

I have poison toadstools, ghost fairies,

painted cat figures, more altered books,

a baby witch,

cake toppers for ghost brides,

ghosts with teeny pumpkins,

and brooms.

My broom salesperson is wearing a hand dyed wedding gown.

Oh, did I mention pumpkins from vintage fabrics?

And pumpkin paintings too.  And glittered crows with crowns, a ghoul queen, and on and on.

I have made myself stop.  Time to go hog wild on Christmas decor now that my space is set and ready to welcome shoppers for September and October’s First Friday Weekends in the Historic West Bottoms of KC.

But I still hear teensy, glittered skellies calling my name.  I think more of them wanted to be ballerinas.  I might just have to help them out.

Honey’s new job with Loving Paws

dogs
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Our Honey is earning her vest as a therapy dog.  This was her first trial run and it was a doozy.  After an hour and a half of nonstop lovin from almost 400 new college freshman at KU, this dog still wasn’t satisfied with how much petting she got.  She could’ve done another session easily.  That girl cannot get enough attention.

At first, she did not believe her luck and was happily greeting each guest, trying to make her way through the crowd to get to each one.  Eventually, she learned that the line of willing petters would come to her.  So she regally leaned back and waited for her entourage to take turns telling her how soft and beautiful she was, and soaking up all the cuddles.

There was a group of four doggies at the event, and the students made their way around the room, visiting each one.  They told us stories about their own babies at home, who they missed so much already in just the first week of college.

Earlier in the day, we visited the library and watched while kids read books to the dogs.  This was our “shadowing” visit and we didn’t have Honey with us.  (We needed training ourselves)  She will get to go the next time.  I think those visits will be my fave, it was so adorable to see the toddlers hug their new  friends and the bigger kids seriously reading the story books to the furry audience.

We will also visit nursing homes, more venues at KU, and plenty of other places.  There are up to four possibilities each week that we can sign up to take our girl to.

The first step in this adventure was for Honey to earn her AKC Good Citizen ribbon by passing a series of tests that included staying with strangers after being told to sit as we left the room for three minutes.  She had to greet but ignore other dogs on leashes, not pull or jump, then accept the sounds of pans banging.  She needed to not be afraid of walkers or crutches and be happy to meet people, beyond just the normal commands of sitting, staying, etc.

She passed with flying colors.

After that, she had to pass a similar test with the local organization, Loving Paws.  Once again, she did great.

If a dog doesn’t do well on the tests, a six week class is required for each.  Which I would have enjoyed doing, I love dog training classes.  Which is why Honey probably did okay in the first place.

Although, I doubt if any of our other dogs would be suitable to join the organization.   Molly can be too needy, Sugar only likes people, not dogs she doesn’t know, and Dorothy is so enamored of Rich, she can’t stop staring at him or demanding that she gets to be on his lap.   But Honey?  This is right up her alley.  She was born for this gig.

A Summerween Birthday

celebrations, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party
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Sugrwings celebrated the BIG TWO-O with a Summerween birthday bash.  While the decor was all ghosts and skellies, the mocktails were an edible flower topped, sweet concoction of sprite, lemonade, and cherry blossom syrup.   Not spooky at all.

The food made up for the eeriness that the drinks didn’t have.

 It was build your own pizza night in the kitchen, then we carried our plates upstairs to the den to fill up with fruit and snacks and watch a scary movie.

Sugarwings put a lot of attention to details,  the carrots are were cut like pumpkins.

The tangerines matched.

Even the ping pong balls got faces.

We had spooky lighting everywhere, and I couldn’t even tell you how many tissue paper ghosts haunted the room.  There were dozens hanging from the ceiling.  I don’t know what was the best part and most fun for the kiddo, crafting ghosts and decorating for a week or having a happy night with loved ones.

It was all pretty special to me.

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