May 2015 – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

Serendipi-TEA at The Whitmore Ranch Retreat

By Karla Nathan / May 10, 2015

The Downton Abby themed, "Serendipi-Tea" that Stacy Seely hosted for Karen, was filled with beauty. Of course, anything Karen touches is beyond FAB, and Stacy has a lovely setting to throw a party in. The Whitworth Ranch Retreat is cottagey cute, and when it is gussied up with a Downton Theme to compliment Stacy's skills in whipping up British cuisine, you can't beat it.

Stacy, her mom, and crew worked their bottoms off to create this atmosphere for us to play dress up in, and we sure took advantage of the stage they set for us.

Guncle Randy, handsome as ever, wore this steam punk crystal pendant that my son had made for him, along with a debonaire, linen suit. He looked so suave, I told him that I couldn't refer to him as just "Randy". He was his full name, Randall Paul to me all day.

See what I mean?

That boy cleans up well. As does his partner in fabulousity, Karen.

Part of the group dressed for the current season of Downton, and were all flapper-y and sassy like Cousin Rose.

And some of us were making the most of the style of the earlier seasons.

I was so glad that my Sissy came along! We had the best laughs together. It was good to have a carefree weekend to relax and be totally pampered.

Speaking of being pampered, Stacy made these apple roses I'd been dying to try myself after seeing them on Pinterest. She'd posted a photo of them on FB, Sissy saw it and casually said she wanted some too, but without cinnamon (it causes a migraine for her), not knowing that Stacy was making them for our upcoming party.

And guess what? There they were, in all of their rosy goodness, waiting for us at our tea party. And a special plate of them with no cinnamon was on our table.

I was so excited to see these in person. Oh my, they were so pretty and so tasty!!

It was such a special treat to be fed so well, and to be treated so special. And to hang out with such a nice bunch of friends, old and new. This was at our High Tea.

Then we had a second opportunity to dress up for our formal dinner.

And we had the perfect spot for posing, courtesy of Stacy.

Sara surprised us with this below stairs costume she whipped up.

Cute, isn't it?

Oh, there was LOTS of cuteness! Here is my new friend, Molly. She was one of the teachers, I'll show some pictures of her pretty project later.

My pal, Linda made this for the night. I always think of her as a rainbow artist, she is very boho, and loves bright colors, I often wish I had her skill for creating with color. And now, I have to be jealous of her touch with the neutrals too!

Everyone was just beautiful!

With this beautiful scenery behind us.

Info about the ranch is in my previous post, along with a nugget of an idea about concocting a get away to Texas. Contact me if you'd like to attend and we'll see about setting it up.

Of course, we won't be all Downton-ed up, but I'll bet we can throw on a cowgirl hat and some boots for a Texas style wingding!

Whitworth Ranch Retreat

celebrations, Food and Drink, guncles, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 8, 2015

What can I say about my visit to the Whitworth Ranch Retreat??? Oh my, where to start? What a pretty place. Comfy, great food, hospitable, and fun. Stacy Seely is owner and chef of the retreat on an acreage in Scurry, Texas and she threw a party for my FABULOUS buddy, Karen Hillman.

But this wasn't just a party. It was an extended weekend BASH. With a bevy of beauties all dressed up like visitors to Downton Abby.

Stacy not only decorated to the hilt to make photo ops for us, she hosted one little party after another. Each elaborate, gourmet meal had its own decor and all featured British foods to keep with the Downton gowns we wore.

Her food was as delicious as it was pretty, and I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the fancy meals against the backdrop of the Texas landscape.

We were surrounded by a few hundred acres that were home to herds of cattle.

The interior is nicely shabby chic-ed. This was our attic room, with four little Snow White and the 7 Dwarves' beds.

Sissy called them Goldilocks beds.

I think there were 4 or 5 rooms of 4 sets of beds, each with a different cottage style. And spacious bathrooms, with big, fluffy towels. I liked our attic room best because it was pinkalicious.

And because I got to share it with these guys! Regina, Sissy, and Guncle Randy. I brought them each a set of fake teeth to go along with my gappy smile. And we put them in our mouths, composed ourselves, and calmly called a person upstairs, telling them we wanted to show them something. When our guest got up to the top of the stairs, we gave them each a wide grin, then rolled on the floor laughing. We pulled this prank over and over, til we had a room full of people rolling around with us.

Some meals were served in the main house, while some were poolside. Continental breakfasts were available in either building, and were self serve, with plenty of fresh fruit and home made pastries.

The main house was the original, Whitworth family home.

This addition is fairly new, and is where I stayed.

It holds the craft room, as well as two guest rooms, a large sitting area, a kitchen and two baths. We wanted to be here, so we could craft till all hours of the night, and we sure made use of it. I was up till after 1 each night, cutting and gluing. And maybe sipping a tiny bit of wine and snacking on some of the best cookies I've ever had in my life.

I'm not the only one who thought so, although I did my share of emptying out the cookie jar!

And see what I mean about the beauty of the decor?

Stacy went all out.

No detail was left untouched. For High Tea, we were served these specialty teas from Highclere Manor.

With tea sandwiches, fresh baked scones, and clotted cream. I'm very surprised I was able to control myself around that clotted cream. It took all of my will power to not lick the jar clean and risk getting the container stuck on my nose while trying to get to the bottom.

There is nothing as good as one of Stacy's home made scones topped with clotted cream.

Unless maybe it is her chocolate pudding made from a recipe handed down through 7 generations…

Or the champagne jello…

Or the fish and chips with Mushy Peas…

I'd never heard of mushy peas, and now they are my favorite food.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the prettiness. And soon, I'll post about about the crafts. With a craft room like that, I couldn't get in enough arty time. I was enticed to go in there and work whenever I got a free moment.

I really hope to go back. Preferably around Canton time or McKinney flea market days.. Stacy asked me if I want to teach sometime, I wonder if anyone would like to join me?

(photo by Karen)

She only charges $230 per person to stay there (classes, if offered, are not included in that fee), and that is from Thursday at 10am til Sunday at 3pm, with continental breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 3 dinners included. (Plus whatever classes are being offered at the time, or else you can just treat it as a B&B and rent it for a vacation, not come during classes)

The cost kinda blew me away. I kept asking her again, in case I got it wrong, and then finally wrote it down just to be sure. Really?? Only $230 a person for the whole time, not for each day? And those meals are included? The food has to be much more simple than what we had, right??? NOPE. Elaborate, home cooked, gourmet meals done fresh, with any theme you'd like. Stacy has a culinary degree and knows her way around a kitchen. She says she can cook any style food that is requested. Italian, TX BBQ, or pure British bliss like we had.

I just go this message about a Mother's Day special, if you have free time in May, you should make plans to go! What a deal and what a friendly, welcoming place!!

Mother's Day Special, Treat your Mom, Sister, Daughter or Best Friend to a weekend away of fun, relaxation, crafting, sewing and great food!

I have 2 weekends available in May that I am offering at a discount in appreciation to all the Mom's out there!

These weekends are Thursday 10:00 AM to Sunday at 3:00 PM

May 14-17 and May 28-31

Cost is $185.50 and includes lodging and all meals.

Upcoming Retreat with Shanna Noel with Illustrated Faith is coming to Whitworth Ranch Retreat on Thursday October 22 to Sunday October 25th. This fun weekend will be packed full of devotionals, journal techniques and more. Deposit is $200.00 to reserve your spot. More details to follow. You can follow Shanna on Pinterest and Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/shanna.noel.5?fref=ts

https://www.pinterest.com/shannanoel/

A Fairy Egg

fairies, family

By Karla Nathan / May 6, 2015

Recently, when I gathered eggs, I found an itsy bitsy one nestled in amongst the regular eggs. This one was so little, it looked like a sparrow had snuck in and played a joke on us.

Some of our hens are young pullets and are new to laying. That could explain the size of the jelly bean egg. I looked it up online and read that is common in youthful hens. And a friend on FB mentioned that these are called "Fairy Eggs" or sometimes "Witch Eggs."

Well of course, I liked that!!!!

I saw online that is actually the name used for these mini shells. So, it wasn't a sparrow who pulled a prank on us, it was a fairy!

This egg had to be saved, so I poked holes in each end, and blew out the center, washed it and left it to dry overnight, then brushed on glue and sprinkled it with pixie dust.

I wanted to pack it up and take it to Sissy when I met her in Texas, and was afraid it was too fragile, so I did what any mother hen would do, and built it a nest. I started with a tiny tart tin, and added some tan paint to the metal, then filled it with moss and holographic Easter grass.

To cover the holes on each end, I glued down velvet leaves. Then, topped it with some of teeniest flowers in my stash of old millinery.

Sissy loves all things fairy every bit as much as I do. This egg came along just in time to be a gift for her on our trip.

Following Links

paintings

By Karla Nathan / May 4, 2015

Hope helped me clean up my side bar recently. I asked her about adding some little buttons in a block that held all of my "follow me" links instead of having the long row of ugly connections that were on there at the time.

She suggested that I draw them instead of using the official symbols. Thanks for the good idea, Hope!

After Hope got them on the side bar, she thought the text was a little too small, and we should change the box to hold two buttons across a row instead of three. But that would make the box uneven, so I decided to add a Typepad follow button for symmetry.

Which is a good thing to have anyway, I just never added one before.

So…. if you aren't a follower, it's pretty easy to become one now. Just click on your preferred venue and sign up!

And if you are already a follower, thank you.

May Day Blessings to you

vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 1, 2015

When I realized I'd be in Texas on May Day, I knew I had to make up some baskets for all of the guests at the Whitworth Ranch Retreat. Dewdrop and I had just been discussing May baskets and I was very happy to have a reason to whip some up.

These are all made from painted peat pots, (I can't get enough peat pot crafting) with a wire handle, and some old lace with a Downton-esque picture. (Our party at the B&B has a Downton theme.)

I lined them with lace cut from an old curtain, and Sissy is going to fill them up with goodies before we pass them out to our friends.

Top Hat Mercantile posted this photo and I knew it would be perfect for Guncle Randy's May basket. I layered the picture over a legal document from 1917 that was the perfect shade of blue.

The scraps from that document were used to line the pot in place of the lace I used for the girly baskets for the others.

Sissy and I are co-gifters of the baskets, but I had to make a special one just for her.

It means a lot to me that I get to spend this weekend with my sis and with friends, old and new. Many of our Birdsong Peeps will be at the art retreat, I'm so looking forward to seeing them all. I'm pretty busy at Birdsong, zipping around doing 30 things at once, so I'm happy to have an arty weekend with friends and family where I can relax and enjoy hanging out.

Thank you, Karen and Stacy for the invitation to this event!

And happy May Day to you all.