Karla Nathan – Page 226 – Karla's Cottage

Pansy Pendant Prize and getting my snorer-snipped

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, jewelry, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 21, 2010

Did I mention that I LOST the pendant that I told you was going to be the giveaway for April? Well, maybe misplaced, not totally lost. Its somewhere in my studio. Who knows when it will turn up. So, I'm subbing this one. In the Mid West, pansies are one of the first things you can plant, and I'm always excited when they start showing up in front of the grocery store and in the parking lots of hardware stores.

So, to replace the previous pendant, here is a pansy shard necklace to welcome spring. Its from a really nice English bone china bowl that I was sad to see break.

All comments all month are entered into the drawing for the pansy pendant. All sign ups on Google Friend Connect are entered into the Peat Pot Pretty drawings (multiple pots are being given away).

Look at how big our cuddlepups are getting! Their eyes are not open yet, but we've hidden the markers for now. Sugarwings is still pretty worried that they can't see. I guess I should hide her package of googly eyes and glue too. We don't need the pups to turn into art projects.

These guys are getting big fast. Next week, they'll need a bigger box. I'll have to dig out the puppy pond. We use a kid's wading pool as a play pen when the pups are big enough to run around. Its easy to wipe out and keep cleaned up, and keeps the kids contained, yet gives them space to run and play.

We had a mini craft day yesterday, only Beth and Mary could come. Beth had just returned from her Grandmother's funeral, so I picked some lilacs and made a little arrangement for her. I rarely order flowers from a florist, I'd rather do something personal when someone passes.

This was a simple arrangement. I wrapped lilacs in a wet paper towel, then in plastic wrap, and next in ephemera. To the ephemera, I glued an old button (Beth is a button person) and a small banner with her Grandma's name written in purple glitter ink.

Then, I dropped it into the jar onto some moss and added a glittered bird.

The jar is from a garage sale, I'd found two of them over the weekend for $4.50 each. She'll be able to empty the stuff out of it and use it for storage in her studio later on.

The pin that I clipped to the gross grain ribbon (taken from an old hat- when I take apart a hat, I use ALL the pieces!) is a pair of bird scissors! I'd found it in a jar of junk jewels and had been saving it for Beth, because I know she loves sewing supplies. Too bad it was such a sad occasion for me to finally get to use it.

She can take it off the ribbon and wear it on a jacket if she'd like.

In case you were wondering, my husband lived through the tree trimming above the house. You can see from this angle why I was worried about both him and the roof! And the air conditioning unit that sits right below the limb.

From this photo, I noticed that the storm window in the attic guest room is up. I have to wonder if it was up all winter. No one opens that window… Geez, no wonder we pay such huge propane bills.

This afternoon, I'm having a minor surgery. My snoring has gotten so loud, no one in the house can sleep and I have decided to have something done about it. From what I've been told, I'm louder than the chainsaw.

I'm crossing my fingers that it works! But I may be away from the computer for a few days, so please forgive me if I don't have a chance to respond to emails or comments.

I'll get all orders from the Boutique filled and mailed before I go in for the snipping. Anything that is ordered after won't be mailed till Saturday or Monday depending on how big of a wimp I am.

New dogs, old dogs, the sheriff, and some fairies, its been a good day so far

Uncategorized

By Karla Nathan / April 19, 2010

Today, I made a get well card with a fairy portrait for a little girl who is having spinal surgery this week. I wrapped up one of my Grumpy Fairy books as a gift for her too. She's 10, but I think she still likes fairies. Heck, I'm almost 52, and I sure like them.

Here is your obligatory puppy pic for the day. Twinkle is still all snuggled up with her cuddlepups and they are getting fatter and starting to grow.

Their eyes aren't open yet and that worries Sugarwings. I caught her taking a blue marker, preparing to draw eyes on one of the pups to help them out.

Sparkle has been hanging out with me a bit more than usual since Twinkle has her paws full. Normally, Sparkle spends her time on a pillow with Bookie, both are elderly. She is blind and mostly deaf, so isn't too adventurous, but this time of year makes her feel young again, and she's happy to be outdoors sniffing around while I do yard work.

Spring makes me feel younger too, until AFTER I'm done with the yard work. My aches and pains let me know that the youthful feeling was just an illusion. About now, I'm wishing I could crawl up on that pillow with the old dogs.

We've had some drama today. We hired (and gave a down payment to) some tree trimmers. Well, weeks later, no work was done.

They finally showed up last week, and trimmed this tree down to one limb. Trouble is, that is the limb that hangs precariously over our roof, the one branch we wanted gone before the next storm did it for us.

They have not been back, but the sheriff and the guy who owns the equipment they left here came to see us today.

It all ended OK (so far), with my husband (on the left) hiring the lift's owner to help him finish that branch the tree guys left. My husband loves to play with his chain saw. This is new though, he's never taken out a branch over our cottage, normally, he cuts firewood out in the Fairy Forest. I'm terrified of the whole process, heights and chain saws both are big on my list of things to avoid at all costs.

But, I'm lucky they don't frighten him, this tree needs to be fixed and we are already out a few hundred bucks. But a little fear wouldn't hurt him, he worries me up there. I over heard the lift operator call him a mad man.

I own a small hedge trimmer that is battery powered and can hack away at shrubs and small branches with that myself, but always feel like I am in danger while doing it. There is no way I'd pick up a chain saw. I've been known to cut through the cord of my trimmer more than once. Imagine the damage I could do with a real weapon like a chain saw!

Around town, lilacs are blooming in a magnificent way. This is the best year I can remember for them. My own plants are bursting, for the first time in the 20 some years we have lived here. I kind of thought our old bush was done for, but this year it surprised me.

Its been a productive day, I've wrapped packages of purchases from the Boutique, done a little fairy picture, some yard work, and dealt the sheriff. Not only that, I got some new items listed in the shop too.

There are a few Peat Pot Fairies in there, as well as some kits to make your own.

Or you could just sign up as a follower on Google Friend Connect and be entered to win one...

Right now, I'm going to go out and make sure my husband and his chain saw are still doing well. And the roof of my house.

If all is safe, I'm going to get a few more things listed, that is unless I've curled up on that pillow with the old dogs to recuperate from the yard work.

I'll leave you with some pictures of what's new.

A little Zero Dollar decorating, a cute puppy, a give away, and an adorable baby in a flowered hat

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 16, 2010

Its been kind of lonely around here for me, Twinks hasn't left her babies for more than a minute or two. I'm used to having her at my feet all day. Right now, she has a few little guys at her feet instead! She's a happy mama, and honestly seems to enjoy her pups. I've had dogs that are good mothers, but for them it was all business. Twinkle likes the company of her babies.

Luckily, I still have this buddy to keep me company. I scored a bumble bee and a lady bug costume at garage sales today for $2.50 each (both still were in the packages and marked $34!). So we dressed up and went for a walk in the woods. I got to be the lady bug. The dress didn't quite fit, so I had to go with just wings and antenna.

(and my clothes, of course, that didn't sound quite the way I meant it. No one wants to see a Lady Bug Grammy naked in the woods)

Does blog surfing inspire you to make changes? I had a colorful, pastel, faux finished guest bathroom that was perfectly fine. But every time I saw photos of gray or white rooms on someone's blog, I'd sigh and wish it was mine. The guest bath seemed to be the easiest place to make a big change with just a few adjustments and very little cash.

So, I mixed up a dove gray for the walls, and a mushroom color for the floor. Then I took down the floral shower curtain and put up some dumpster drapes after repainting the room. I dug these out of a dumpster a few years back and have used them over and over in different areas. There had been 12 panels at one time, and I sold most of them. These are the last three and I'm glad I kept them, they were just what I needed to finish this room on a budget. Since they are lace, and were a bit too long, I just folded them over on the top to shorten them and looped the curtain ring right through the lace.

(they are pretty old and kind of tattered, but I like that look)

After painting the floor that mushroom shade, I realized it would always look filthy. So I splattered some dark flecks around to camouflage any dirt we track in. I might distress it with sand paper a bit too.

The ceiling stayed a soft purple, the door is painted gray like the walls, and the trim is bright, shiny white. I found a rusty ceiling tin piece in the shed and sat it on top of the built in cabinet. It could use some thing else up there, but I'm in no hurry. I redid the room for the cost of the paint, so far, and really don't want or need to spend much more on it. Maybe I'll find something cheap but fabulous at garage sales.

I guess I'm in the spring cleaning mood and ready for some more Zero Dollar Decorating like I was into right after the holidays.

I'll leave you with a few photos from our Cupcake Tea Party, that turned into a walk down the Fairy Berry Trail and to the creek. It was such a beautiful spring day!

Please don't forget that we have the regular monthly giveaway going, a china shard necklace is the prize. Its open to anyone who leaves a comment.

If you want to win a Peat Pot Pretty, please sign up as a Google Friend Connect follower.

Twinkle’s shameful secret???

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2010

Aren't they sweet? Yorkies are always born black with tan, like an itty bitty Doberman. You don't know until they shed their puppy hair and their adult coat grows in if they will be silver or black. Those are the only accepted colors for this breed. Sometimes as babies, they have a little white patch on their chest, but it turns tan or blond as they get older. There is not supposed to be any white on a full grown Yorky.

So, imagine our surprise when we saw this! My first thought was, "Twinkle, you dirty girl, what have you been doing? Sneaking out the windows at night after your family is asleep???"

This pup does NOT look like a Yorkshire Terrier at all! I've heard that a litter of pups can have different fathers for each baby, but she was not unsupervised at all, and Teddy is her only man.

After checking with Teddy's family to be sure they didn't have a beagle or some other spotted male hanging around, I surfed the web and read about Parti Colored Yorkies. These colored dogs are controversial and not very common. Looks like some people are purposely breeding them as designer dogs, but I don't think they are recognized by the AKC even though they are full blooded Yorkshire Terriers, they don't meed the breed standards.

They can turn up in a litter if both parents have the recessive gene for this abnormal color.

Here is a picture I snagged from one of the Parti-colored dog breeder's sites. I think they are just cute as a bug, and am excited to have one of these little "special" guys!

Yorkies have the funniest, goofiest, sweetest personalities. And there is something about the way they look at me with that silly expression on their face when they want to tell me something, that first made me tell one of our dogs that she was acting like a dork. Since then, I've always called them Dorkies.

I raise well loved, socialized, cuddled and nurtured babies. They aren't show dogs, they are pet quality dogs, and I do my best to give them a head start on being a wonderful pet. Lots of attention, lots of varied experiences. They play outside, they play with kids, they play with cats, they spend every day with me in the studio while I work, and are about as social and ready to face the world as any pup can be.

(Another pic from that breeder's site)

So, I don't mind that our parti boy isn't to breed standards on color. I don't expect any of my dogs to win any trophies. But I do expect them to adore their new owners and be great companions.

I have a feeling that this parti boy will get tons of extra attention and cuddles and be an even better dog than most of my babies. And I sure hope Twinkle forgives me for calling her a dirty girl.

Plus, we LOVE parties around here. So a parti pup is right up my ally. And we don't mind showing some individuality. He'll fit right in here at the Cottage!!

Our Cupcake and Tea Party was a blast yesterday. As soon as the pups are big enough for company, I'm going to throw another one, and make sure all the puppies get held and played with by the kids.

Sugarwings had a good time at the party. Since we were in the studio, she slipped over to her art table and did a little painting before coming to the table to create her cupcake. Funny, she worked so hard on making it beautiful, she didn't care a bit about eating it. A true artist!!

I'll have more party pictures and more puppy ones too, later on. For now, I need to go see who was voted off on Idol. That show is getting better, I'm glad I didn't give up on it earlier in the season.

Before I run, I wanted to let you know that Peat Pot Pretty C
harlotte Fairy kits are available in the Boutique now. As well as a new shipment of Charlottes!

Celebrating!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 13, 2010

Time to celebrate! I'm so glad Twinkle and the babies are home safe and settled. She is a happy little mama and won't let them out of her sight. I'm having a party today and will probably keep the babies away from everyone, Twinks is feeling a bit worried since we moved the pups around so much yesterday.

She actually tried to hide them under the porch this morning. So, I am giving her a lot of attention and have her in a quiet spot so she feels like the pups are protected, hopefully she won't run off with them again.

During the all night labor marathon, I stayed up with her and worked in the studio. I don't even know how many of these Peat Pot Pretties with Frozen Charlotte fairies that I made. (as well as 12 kits for you to make your own-6 are spoken for)

Some are going to Somerset Life (yippee!), some to the shop to sell, and a couple I will be giving away as prizes for people who sign up to follow me (Google Friend Connect on my side bar)

But for today, they are centerpieces for a Cup Cake and Tea Party that I am having.

The treat cabinet is filled with everything a kid will need to decorate a mini cupcake (or two).

Since Twinkle is being very nurturing today, I thought I'd try to leave her alone as much as I can, but I knew she wouldn't mind me taking one picture.

cute, huh!?

She is such a pretty girl. I'll have more pictures soon, probably more than you want to see!

A puppy emergancy

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 12, 2010

We've had a rough night, Twinkle and I (Twinkle's night was a lot more rough than mine was!). She went into labor but no pups were coming. I stayed up with her all night, she and I hung out in the studio and between cuddles I got the room cleaned up and some work done. She seemed fine, in a good mood and very brave through it all. What a great dog, she just has such a happy outlook on life.

As soon as the vet's office opened, I called to see if she should come in and they had me bring her right away. The Dr. gave her a shot to stimulate contractions, and said he'd give her some time to see if it worked.

Well, she had one pup, and then he worried that she was too tired, so looks like she'll be having a C-section. Its 9:30 and I've been up since yesterday morning, but I can't go to bed until I hear how she is. I'm sad that I don't get to deliver the pups myself and be the first to whisper in their little ears, but now, that doesn't seem as important as getting them and her through this safely.

This picture is from yesterday before all the drama began. We were trying out the new furniture I picked up for the Fairy Berry Trail tree house.

This set was only $65 and is that really heavy, old stuff. Just Sugarwing's size, but still comfy for me to sit in, and perfectly pretty for the space.

Sugarwings is sure that the fairies brought her the new furniture to play house with, and they also get credit for spreading 10 bags of mulch. She's pretty excited about the whole set up, and so am I. Twinkle and I went and sat out there for a while in the afternoon by ourselves. I think it will be an area that I use more often than my fairy grand baby will.

It kind of sounds nice right now. I might go out there and sit while I wait to hear how Twinkle is doing at the vet's. I certainly can't sleep. And am too worried to work. Although, while I was in the studio over night with Twinkle in a basket at my feet, I sure got a lot accomplished. Of course, with no sleep, who knows how good the stuff I made is. My judgment might have been off a bit.

Edit– 11am- (I'm still up!)

I just had to go see Twinkle at the Vet's instead of napping. She has 3 girls, one boy and an Xray shows 2 more on the way. So far, no C-section was needed, but the Dr. is keeping her for the day and keeping an eye on the last two pups as they arrive. I'm feeling much better after seeing the little family and am now going to sleep a couple hours. Thanks so much for all your emails and messages, and concern.

Later- All six babies and mom are doing fine, she delivered 3 girls, 3 boys without surgery. Photos later, they are pretty durn cute.

And I got a nap!

A new look for the cost of a quart of paint and a bit of shuffling around

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 10, 2010

Well, I just had to finish the porch redo, and honestly, it was a quickie. I used stuff that was already here and a bit of paint. Sugarwing's blue and pink chippy chair was in the garage, and I'd
already bought the hydrangea to plant. So, of course, it won't stay
here,it has to go into the ground. Too bad, its just right for the spot.

The only purchase I had to make was a quart of "Birds Egg Blue" paint from Ace Hardware. I fell for the name, as well as the soft shade. I added speckles of brown paint over the blue for an even more egg-like look.

To do this, I watered down a squirt of dark brown acrylic craft paint, dipped in a stiff brush, and then flicked my thumb across the brush to splash speckles over the blue paint.

Its a little messy, you need to have a wet paper towel handy to dab up the most rambunctious speckles, they tend to fly everywhere. I don't cover and tape off anything, that seems to take longer than just wiping up the runaway flecks.

No puppies yet! Twinks is resting up and getting bigger by the moment. We'll both be glad when they are here.

I'm still not thrilled with the white wash on the rockers. I might repaint them later on, or else scour garage sales for something better. Like a glider. Or a porch swing. That's the fun part, always planning for a change, or being on the hunt for a better idea.

The flowers on the shutters had been a deep, magenta red like the door used to be. I pinked them up a little and added some blue hydrangeas to tie all the colors in together.

I was going for a rustic, vintagey feel, so after painting, I used sandpaper for some distressing.

The shutters themselves started out as a pair of black, bi-fold doors from a garage sale for a couple bucks. The other half of the set of doors is painted to match these, but I have those inside my breezeway on each side of the entry way door. (which opens onto the kitchen- we don't use the front of the house. You walk straight into our kitchen or the studio when you come here, the two most loved rooms of the house!)

Its a gorgeous, spring day here, and our niece's church group is busy working on the community garden that we loaned them space for. They've decided to put up a fence, which is smart, we have about 3 billion rabbits and almost that many deer watching through the trees eagerly waiting to see what we are planting for their lunch.

Before I forget, the winner of a Peat Pot Pretty is:

Sasha Girl

And if you want to win one, I am drawing names from the list of Google Friend Connect followers, for every 50 followers I get. You name stays in the contest as long as I am doing this.

The next drawing will be at 200.

Some Tree House fix ups on the Fairy Berry Trail

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 8, 2010

Somehow, Spring has slipped away again, and we are back to wet and chilly weather. But that didn't stop the fairies from sneaking in to Sugarwing's new club house out on the Fairy Berry Trail and adding some new decor.

Actually, it was me filling the branches with bright, sparkly things from Hobby's Lobby's 40% off sale, but Sugarwings is sure that the fairies came to visit and did all the work.

She was mesmerized!

The Fairy Club House is just the area under the over hang of two old Hedge trees. We piled up sticks and logs from around the area to make "walls" on two sides. The third side is formed from the hanging branches and grapevines. I can't wait to see it become a canopy of green this summer!

The fourth side is this opening between the trees. The area inside is cozy and just the right size for a fairy sprite to hide out in. So, for about $40 worth of doodads, and a couple hours of cleaning up and stacking wood, and a little bit of paint, our little fairy grand baby has her own tree house in the forest behind the cottage.

I hope to find fun things to add for her at garage sales all summer. It could use some cute furniture and toys. For now, she only has a bench, a chair a bucket and shovel. She likes to dig and seems pretty happy just that and using her imagination. That is what makes it all such fun for us, she has such a happy attitude and loves everything about of it.

As I was painting this face, it started to rain on me, so I stopped and it isn't exactly what I had in mind. I might work on it some more later, but Sugarwings likes it as it is. (the gold color is metallic paint)

She has already made friends!

I'm linking this with Fireflies and jellybeans , Thrifty Thursday

and Transformation Thursday

Check them out for more redos and bargains!

And remember, as soon as my Google Friend Connect hits 150, I'll draw another prize winner. Thanks for joining!

A so-so redo

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, redos, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 7, 2010

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Our little fairy baby is feeling better, but now we are dealing with trying to convince her that she really needs to take her yucky medicine twice a day for 7 days. I gave her the dropper and a glass of water to play with and that has helped. After giving herself pretend medicine for a while, she is not fighting us as much when we try to squirt the real stuff into her mouth.

My big pile of giveaways from last week are in the mail, hopefully at their new homes by now. The Peat Pot Pretty in the front went to Dawn. The one in the back is listed in the Boutique, and a third one is a giveaway for the first 150 sign ups I get on the Google Friend Connect on the sidebar of my blog. If you want a chance to win one, just add your name. Thanks!

Did you notice that this is not the peat pot pictured in the giveaway post at the top of my blog? I made up a special "nest" pot for Dawn, complete with some fluffy, downy feathers.

No pups yet! Look at that belly. She must have about 20 packed away in there. (not really, she had 6 last time and that was a lot for a dog her size)

You know, I have never claimed to be a math whiz, but you'd think that even I could count 62 days from Feb. 6th to figure out when the babies are due. I was a week off, she isn't due yet. I feel a bit foolish about it, but Twinks is really disapointed, that dog is worn out and ready.

Have you ever done a makeover and then wondered why the heck you bothered? I got an itch to repaint these chairs, but am not happy with the white now. I just dry brushed the white on, for a rustic feel, but I wonder if I'd like them better if I'd spray painted them nice and solid. And green. But- I've been thinking about repainting the French doors blue, that would be better than the red. Nothing seems to go together anymore, when the chairs were black, it all tied in just fine. What I'd really like, is a porch swing… But I wonder if we'd break the window in the door with one?

This Spring weather got me antsy to make a change, and adding a few pansies to the planters in front of my studio was not enough, but painting the chairs didn't do it either. Doing that just makes the porch look like it really, really needs some redoing now. Durn it. And I don't feel like I have the time to complete it right now.

In the past, I've been called a Serial Painter. I couldn't leave my
house alone, was constantly repainting rooms. But since we've had
Sugarwings, and I discovered blog surfing… well, I've slowed down on
the redos, my days seem full already. I'm sure that I could find the time to repaint the French doors blue and add some blue hydrangeas to the shutters so it would match, and now, I'll just have to squeeze it in somehow.

I did find time to add a few little things to Etsy as well as to the Boutique.

This is a note paper holder that I foofed with some of my favorite old wallpaper. Its made like a book, and comes with a stack of paper and a tiny pencil. Its not old-old, but its not new either. I'd say late 60s. I've made it look older with the coverings and velvet ribbons.

Wouldn't it be a cute storage box once the note paper was used up? I could see keeping a little art journal or diary in it… Speaking of which, I told you about Hope's journaling classes the other day, but since it was Easter weekend, I was worried no one saw it. She is GOOD, I love her work, if you are interested in learning about keeping an art journal, she's the person to learn from.

Hippity Hoppity Fairy Berry Trail

celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 4, 2010

On Saturday, we got our boat out of storage and took it to the Marina for the upcoming season. Sugarwings offered to help and since we weren't going to see her for Easter, the bunny hid a little basket for her on the bank of the lake.

But sadly, her mommy's plans for driving to see relatives in Missouri today changed when Sugarwings woke up with a fever. The two of them came over here instead, where they could cuddle up and watch movies and rest, but still be with family.

While the two of them were all tucked up on the couch, the we took advantage of the spectacular, 80 degree, sunshiny day and got to work on the Fairy Berry Trail. All the fairies came out of the shed where they had hidden for the winter. And the bunny came over to hide a few eggs.

The poor kid had a fever of 104 earlier, but was feeling a bit better, so we carried her down to the woods in her jammies to visit her fairy friends and the other creatures who live on the trail.
At first, she was so happy to see her favorite frog prince, that she didn't even notice the trails of carrots.

But she has spent enough time with her Grammy to always notice the sparkle of glitter and be attracted to it! So, she soon noticed some of the hidden plastic eggs.

She didn't want to eat any of the jelly beans inside because she thought the fairies might be mad at her.

Then, she saw her new play house. My husband is the world's best grandfather and we worked for a long time to put this together today, but forever and ever, the Easter Bunny will get all the credit for building her a "Glitter House" as she calls it.

We mowed a 12 foot area between two trees that were draped in vines. Then, I sprinkled glitter all around on the ground, and set up a little chair and table for her (later on, we'll get a picnic set big enough for all of us).

Then, we gathered fallen branches from all over the woods to build "walls" to make a little room.

Over time, we'll foof it up even more. But for a spur of the moment idea using what was laying around, its pretty fun.

I could possibly go broke if I try to keep the ground glitter covered, so I think we'll switch to mulch. I can't wait to see this with all the leaves budded out, it will really feel like a fairy house in the trees then!

After a few jubilant dance moves in her new play area, our poor little fairy grand baby was worn out and didn't even look for the rest of her hidden eggs. And she never did eat a jelly bean, so we knew she must be feeling pretty bad.

In the short time we had her out doors, her fever spiked back up and she said her back hurt. It got back up to over 104 again, so we took her to the ER, we could tell she was feeling awful. I'm glad we did, she has a urinary track infection and is now on antibiotics.

By the time we got back home, her fever was gone again and she was hungry. I whipped up an impromptu Easter dinner
with chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, asparagus and broccoli, while my husband grilled some ruby trout for the vegetarians of the group.

We were glad to see Sugarwings eat a bit, but she still isn't quite herself. She and her mommy will stay all night tonight and hopefully, she'll be up to hopping down the fairy trail tomorrow.

While its sad that she is sick, and she missed out on a family reunion with her mom, it certainly will be an Easter we never forget. I hope yours was a memorable one too!

ps- No pups yet! Twinkle kept up with us all morning clearing brush in the woods and foofing up the bunny trail. Maybe all that hard work will throw her into labor tonight!

Author name: Karla Nathan