antiques/junking – Page 18

Its the Process that Counts

antiques/junking, celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, swaps, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 7, 2010

Lately, one of Sugarwing's favorite games is playing bride. Today I was lucky to find a vintage dress up bridal gown at a flea market, still in its original box! She spied it in the studio immediately and had to marry her puppy as soon as she could shimmy into the dress.

The dress is about 10 sizes too big for her, and kind of fragile. I'm not sure if its the right outfit for my little wild child to play in. Plus, now that she and the dog are already married, she doesn't really need to wear it anymore. It was a quick ceremony, but lovely and heartfelt, so the dress has had its use.

And we have the wedding photos from the day. Of course, she might want to save the gown, hoping that her daughter (or puppy?) will someday want to wear it, but it seems to me that most daughters want to pick out their own gown, and rarely wear mom's.

I might hang on to it for a while, to see if she asks about it again. If she's forgotten about it in a week or so, I have a feeling it will end up in the Boutique.

Another game we had fun with today, was "Find the Picture". My copy of Somerset Home has arrived, and it has the article about my home in it (with photos by Carol Spinski). Sugarwings looked at the pictures in the book and then found the spot in the house where they were taken.

She is much better at that game than my husband is. One time, when his mom was visiting from out of state, he was proudly showing her an article that I had written for Country Victorian and talking about the house and how these photos were of the room upstairs, and those were of the kitchen before we remodeled. I looked over his shoulder and saw that the article wasn't even mine.

The photos weren't even of our own house.

That is why I can do anything at all to my cottage and foof it up any old way I please. My husband doesn't even notice! He could live in a pink cotton candy explosion of a doll house and not know the difference. That gives me full license to foof!

Of course, over the years, there have been a lot of changes and I can't blame him for not being able to keep up with what our house looks like. When I was in the furniture painting and antique biz, the look would change weekly sometimes. If I found something wonderful at a garage sale, it would go right into the house and the piece it replaced would go to the mall.

Now that I don't sell furniture, the revolving door has slowed down. But I do like a change now and then, and mostly get it by repainting and rearranging.

This photo is of my studio a few years back. I've added it and a few more pictures to the Where Bloggers Create Studio Tour (hosted by Karen Valentine) post I did a while back, and added a button to my side bar with a link to that posting, if anyone wants to see some of the past looks I've had in the room.

As a matter of fact, while out junking and scrounging today, I found a new glass door cabinet to fill with supplies, so my studio is getting another mini redo this week too. I'll have some more pictures to add in the next couple of days.

Since I don't have the antique business anymore, I try to keep myself entertained with smaller foofing projects. Gift wrapping has become a big hobby of mine. This is a package sent out this week, it was a Bible Quotes booklet, so I wrapped it in hymnal sheet music and tied a little cross to the ribbon.

No matter how big or small the project is, its "the process that counts". Beth and I quote Jenny Doh to each other with that line a lot since we heard her speak at Kim's event in California. That phrase struck us both, as good words to live by. As an artist, its not always the end product that counts, its the process and the love of creating.

So, if I can't remake a room on a monthly basis anymore (yes, I was pretty bad, Beth called me a serial painter), I can get my fix in the little things I do and love the process, no matter what I am spending my time on.

Simply being creative brings joy. To paraphrase Horton the Elephant, "A project's a project, no matter how small."

If you feel like being creative with me, I hope you'll join us for a small project. 6 tags with a Dorothy theme in a collaborative tag book swap. Email me if you want to join! Just click on the button on my sidebar for more info.

We have 40 some people entered to swap so far, and room for YOU too!

3 Dorothys

antiques/junking, Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, swaps, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 2, 2010

What a nice weekend we had. Of course, any weekend when Sugarwings comes to stay is a good one. We spent as much of it as possible out on the lake, and I have no pictures from there because my pocket camera is MISSING. I've turned the house and studio upside down searching for it.

I bought the handy little thing so I could take it with me to places where I don't want to haul out the big guns. That Rebel is wonderful, but heavy and I also don't want to get it wet on the boat or beach. I always kept the little Cannon (seems like they have the best lenses for a small camera) in my bag so I could always be ready to snap a shot if something interesting popped up.

I miss it!

And since Sugarwings was mostly naked while we were at home, I didn't take any pictures of her with the big camera. She seems to be in a stage where it is awfully hard to keep her dressed. But the weather is so hot, that I really don't blame her.

When she is here, she is either outside being filthy dirty in the mud and dirt and jumping in the little pool or sprinkler, or else smearing paint and clay all over herself. Not exactly a dainty girl. So naked isn't bad for her, it sure saves on laundry. But I don't think I should post pics of a little muddy girl smeared with neon orange paint running around in her panties.

So here is a dog picture instead!

And here is a naked dog picture.

This is Twinkle's pup, Dorothy. Her name is Josie now, I gave her to my niece and Josie is named after my mom, Martha Josephine.

All yorkies are born black and then start to change colors as the puppy fur grows out. The baby fur is so fine, that it gets all matted up and nasty, and has to be shaved off to let the silky adult fur grow in.

I haven't shaved my little Agnes Rosebud yet, because I'll miss that fuzzy, floppy puppy look. But after seeing how silvery and pretty her sis is, I just might get out the clippers.

This morning, I have been adding goodies to the Boutique.

At a recent flea market, I was lucky enough to find a big box of old flowers. ALL ROSES!

Yes, these are the flowers that the puppy has been laying on in the big bowl.

One more tidbit about Yorky fur, these guys don't shed. So the flowers aren't hairy.

What do you think of this one? Its lovely, but is it old? It seems so perfect. I usually buy hats to take apart, so can date the flowers by the hat itself. These flowers were mostly corsages and single flowers, all in a big box. The others were old, but I'm iffy on this one. Either way, its nice!

I've been going through some of my jewelry supplies too, and bagged up some vintage glass beads and findings to add to the shop.

Along with an assortment of some other fun stuff.

I'll show you some pictures of what's new (well, old- but new in the Boutique) while I ask you about something else.

At the flea where I found the flowers, I also picked up a ragged Wizard of Oz book from 1920. This year is the 75th anniversary of the movie, and the story is a big favorite around my house.

Am I the only Dorothy fan, or would any of you be interested in doing a tag swap similar to the Alice tag book swap that we did earlier this year?

If there is enough interest, I'd enjoy putting one together and scanning some pages from the book for you to use, like I did with the old Alice in Wonderland book that I had.

There are just soooooo many ideas that could be cute tags with a Dorothy theme!! Witches, picnic baskets, Toto, slippers –ruby or silver like the original-, rainbows, gingham, greens, lions, tigers, and bears, oh my- I could go on and on.

What do you think?

I hope there are enough of you who would enjoy making Dorothy tags as much as I would! Let me know, and I'll come up with guidelines and some scans of the book.

Before I go get to work for the day, I need to announce the winner of the July giveaway. The pearl earrings go all the way across the ocean to another Dorothy- Dorthe.

Blather

antiques/junking, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / July 15, 2010

While I am away, frolicking with mermaids by the sea, I'm leaving you with a few pre-written posts. This one is nothing but shameless huckstering.

All of these pictures are of things I've been listing in the Boutique.

Slowly, but surely, I've been making my way through the Giant Tub-o-Fun, that is filled to the brim with stuff I've been meaning to get around to trying to foist off onto you list in my online boutique and offer to my readers.

So, there are quite a few new things in the shop, and when I get back from my trip, I'll have LOTS more to add. That tub doesn't seem to be emptying out very fast.

There isn't much to this post, huh?

After listing all of this, and writing a handful of posts in advance, I'm slightly burnt out from being at the computer ALL DAY. This is the last one that I've written, but it isn't posted in chronological order.

Its one of the first that will come up while I'm away, even though its the last I've written.

Hopefully, the others will be more interesting. I wasn't suffering from computer burn out when I wrote those.

I might even had something interesting to say in those other posts. Well, maybe not. I do tend to ramble on and on about nothing, on a regular basis.

Geez, I'm lucky any of you EVER come back to read this blathering, aren't I? Thanks. I do appreciate you for being there!!

A Rosy Redo

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, paintings, redos

By Karla Nathan / July 11, 2010

Now that we are in the midst of summertime, I felt like the living room needed to look summery too. I took my background of creamy whites and added a blooming garden of roses to the room with just a few touches in about 15 minutes.

The first step was taking down the Shabby Chic cream velvet curtains (from Target) and putting up these vintage curtains from a garage sale. They had pleats at the top, that I had un-stitched with a seam ripper last year, so that step was already done ahead of time.

These curtains are different lengths, but who will know it with the sofa sitting in front of them?

In the past, I had done this room with browns and had made this sofa cushion seat cover. I've got a few extra covers lurking in the back of the closet for when the mood strikes me. I don't cover the whole couch, just the seat and pillows. Making them is as easy as making a pillow case, and I am NOT much of a seamstress. I keep them simple, by not using zippers or buttons, I just sew ribbons to the back to tie the cover shut.

(I've also just wrapped the cushion in a pretty quilt before too- that works if you don't have teenagers around. Teens just kind of DO things to destroy a couch. They sit HARD)

I also keep a stash of pillows in the linen closet for trading out too. A floral pillow goes a long way towards brightening a room.

I added a dinner napkin (with roses) to the little table, and a retro kitchen table cloth to the side table, along with a plate, and a small botanical print.

When my son walked into the room, he told me that I had a "lot going on" there. Yea, I know. That is what I like about it! Its an explosion of lots of roses ranging from pale pink to cherry red.

The fastest way to add some color to my white room was to set out some fresh cut flowers from my garden.

And I already had a white millinery bloom tied to the lamp shade. I just slipped a pink rose in on top of it.

Over the years, I've had many colors on my walls, but I think they'll be like this for a while. I've washed them with layers of glazes in colors ranging from ivory to deep tan, with hints of gold and bronze. I feel like its a good background color to anything I add to the room.

Keeping the basics of the room neutral means that I can add splashes of color here and there and have a whole new look in a matter of moments.

On the TV cabinet, I draped another rose curtain and added two rose plates and a tray to what was already up there.

On the other side of the room, all I needed was a couple of throw pillows on the white chairs and 2 vases snitched from the guest room. Oh, and a table runner that matches the dinner napkin that I used on the little round table. I'm not a fan of matchiness, but this is what I had handy.

There are always hints of roses in every room of my house, like on the floor mat that I painted to set the dog dishes on, and the table and small hutch that the dog bed is under.

But even with some roses here and there, the room was predominately white and cream, and these pinks just became background until I added all the rose patterned textiles. Now, this stuff seems to stand out too.

The dog's bed is a lid to a Rubbermaid container that I put a pillow on. By sitting the pillow (in a washable sham) on the lid, it keeps it up off the ground in case the puppy pees on the floor, or Twinkle steps in the water bowl and spills it, or some other of the millions of ways that the dogs mess up the floor and would get their pillow wet. I look for shams on sale at TJMax, sometimes I can find them for under $3.

And by slipping the bedding under the table, the dogs feel like they have a cozy den to hide in, and I have a bit more space.

As much as I love my creamy whites, I just need an infusion of color now and then. Plus, I just enjoy a change of scenery. I have some old, powder blue toile curtains that are nicely aged and slightly yellowed that I want to try next. Especially if I find some pretty bark cloth rose material at garage sales this summer for making pillows.

Geez, I just redid the room today and am already thinking about the next one?

Yep, that is what makes it fun! The planning and creating and the thrill of the hunt for new bargains.

Happy 4th! and unhappy hair

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, holiday decor, jewelry, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2010

We've had a bit of much needed rain, but not enough to spoil any fun. Yesterday, we had a family cookout and a trip to the lake.

Sugarwings has taken off like a little mermaid this summer, and swims circles around us in the water (with a life jacket). Just a week ago, she was clinging to us like an octopus when we'd get in the lake together. Now, she is dog paddling all over the place and we have to try to keep up with her to keep her in sight!

We aren't the only ones trying to keep up with her. Little Agnes Rosebud is always following her around the yard.

That pup doesn't seem to mind the treatment she gets from Sugarwings and keeps coming back for more playtime, even though she is the toy.

Have I introduced you to Clover yet? She is one of our expected grand baby's big sisters. And she is a kid who LOVES to play dress up. I can see lots of fun times ahead for the two of us. Sugarwings likes to put on a pretty gown, then go play and get dirty in it. Or strips down naked and throws the dress in the wading pool. She is okay with the game, but it is just a small part of her play time. I think she indulges me sometimes because she knows I like it so much.

Clover takes it much more serious than that. To her, dressing up is the main event.

In a couple of years, she and I will have to teach the new baby girl to appreciate the fine art of dress up.

Please keep the new baby in your thoughts, she will be having a high def sonogram on Wednesday to find out more about her development. We need her to be strong and healthy for future dress up games!!

Bottoms Up was a blast yesterday. Well, anytime I get to visit junking buddies is a good time. Carol and I went straight to Beth's booth where I filled up a bag (and she gave me a discount on top of her already great deals, thanks Beth!) I'll have some pics of the loot later.

Then, we headed up to see our Texas friends, Linda and Ludmil of Willow's Nest and shop a bit with them before exploring the show.

Seeing Linda's glorious white hair makes me want to embrace my gray and go natural. Especially since I hate my new hair color. It is supposed to be highlighted and blond, but looks more mousy brown in the photos.

I rarely care about how my hair turns out at the beauty shop. I'm old enough to know I can do something different next time and can enjoy a look that might not be exactly what I wanted since I know its only temporary anyway. Too short grows out. Too dark can be lightened. I just wait till next time.

But this time, I just am NOT happy at all. It just feels blah. And I am not in the mood for blah.

I am going back for a redo and asking for a blonder look. When a trip to the salon costs about $140, I'd like to get the color I asked for. What do you think? Would you go back for a redo and complain? I'll do it politely of course!

Here are some of my favorites from Willow's Nest. I treated myself to a sparkling little shoe that Linda made. They remind me of Dorothy's slippers from the Wizard of Oz. In the books, the shoes are silver, they were only ruby in the movie.

I hope you have a wonderful Independence Weekend!

If you travel, be sure to buckle up!!

I'll leave you with a few new bits in the Boutique. I'm trying to add to it a little each day this week. Mostly vintage and flea market goods, but I will have some altered books coming this week too.

The June Giveaway Winner and some pictures that aren’t what I’m talking about

antiques/junking, flowers, give away, jewelry

By Karla Nathan / July 2, 2010

Does everyone have some fun plans for the 4th? We hope to do a bit of boating this weekend. But for me, today is the fun day, I'm going to Bottoms Up with Carol Spinski.

This show is a new gem for Kansas City. Its organized in part by my pal, Gwen. She is an expert in French antiques and lived in France for years while serving our country as a big shot FBI agent. Gwen is fascinating, and not at all what I expected from someone who is a lawyer working for the FBI. (of course, she is the only one I've ever met, in my circle there are mostly artists and junkers). She is also an artist and has one of the best trained eyes around for antiques. (her bottles were featured on the last cover of Somerset Life)

If you are in the area, or can get here this weekend- here are directions:

Not only will Gwen have her French goodies there, but my pal Beth will be there with her beautiful bargains (she is known for some of the BEST prices in KC, but hurry, the dealers clean her booth out right away!!).

Not only that, but Willow's Nest will be setting up too. Oh my, their booth is beyond dreamy. I'll have some photos for you tomorrow for sure!!

The pictures I have today have nothing to do with Bottoms Up. They are of new items that I listed in my shop this morning before I go shopping with Carol. I figure that while I'm giving my pal's show a plug, I could throw in one for my own stuff.

Beth has some photos from Willow's Nest on her blog. They are just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I'm always so impressed with Linda and Ludmil's displays.

On Saturday, my husband will be playing golf, so I hope to have time to list more in the Boutique.

Also, there are LOTS of new markdowns in my shop. You can find them here.

And this is the beginning of July, so I'd better announce my June Giveaway.

It goes to Lori

If you didn't win this month, remember, every month starts a new giveaway. I'll see what I can scrounge up for July.

And if you are a follower, I have a separate giveaway for Google Friends. But, please remember, you HAVE to be on my Google Friends list to enter that. Following on Google Reader doesn't add your name to a list that I can see to draw from.

Losing a dark corner and gaining some work space

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 30, 2010

Do you notice anything different in this picture? Its probably not all that plain to anyone but me. Everyone who came over for craft day yesterday could feel the difference, but didn't know exactly what the change was until I told them.

Before, I had a makeshift closet behind the large hutch. It was dark, dreary, and cluttered all the time. With barely enough room to squeeze back there between all the shelves, I got to the point where I was simply piling stuff up and forgetting it was even there.

This photo was mid way through the emptying out process. I forgot to get a before shot. Besides these two shelves, there were 3 others, plus tubs of stuff piled up.

A car load of accumulated junk (good junk, but I just DID NOT need it) went to Goodwill. Another carload went to Beth for her antique booth and a few boxes are going to another friend's store. The tubs of Christmas decor went to a stack under the stairs in the garage instead.

I had about 8 large mirrors back there, from when I used to have my own shop. Since I don't do big shows and no longer have an antique booth there was no place for them and I wasn't going to be selling them from my online shop, I only like to sell things that will fit in a padded envelope!

The rest of the junk got resorted and my cabinets got reorganized for it to be stored in a more convenient and attractive way. And I now have an extra 6 feet of space in the main room. Its not just the extra space that I love about the redo, losing the gloomy pit of a junk graveyard is the best part.

Of course, there was all of this to deal with first. I was kind of wondering about my timing, doing this the day before I had friends coming for craft day. But with friends coming, I had to keep focused, so that I couldn't just give up and walk away.

All of this got sorted out and I was ready for craft day with a clean studio and loads of space to play in.

Beth brought Button for a play date with Agnes Rosebud while we all had our own play dates with glue.

They seemed to be happy to see each other.

I know that I was happy to see the little guy! He seems to remember me and be happy to visit, but he sure has bonded with his new mom and followed Beth everywhere. Shawn brought her new baby, it was good to see her back at craft day, we'd missed her. I don't know why I only have dog baby photos and no human baby photos. Shawn has pictures of the day on her blog, you can see the cutie there.

My day was productive. For some reason (typical of me) I had the dates of my trip to California wrong and thought I was leaving next week instead of in two weeks. So I was in a frenzy to get all my mermaid things for Kim's event done.

Well, now I have plenty of time. I'm making up two ephemera packs of goodies for door prizes at the party, plus have swappy stuff and hostessy things to get done. I zipped through a lot of it yesterday thinking I only had a week to finish.

(by the way, Kim has some openings for the Flea Market Expidition left. If you and in the area and can't make the whole art weekend, at least join us for a bus trip from one shopping paradise to another!)

I also made a framed collage. This one is done in lots of layers with sanding in some places to peek through to what is underneath.

Some areas remind me of old houses with layers of peeling wallpaper. This 8×10 framed piece is a fun change from doing smaller things, and I have two more frames (found when I de-cluttered the back of the studio). I hope to work on them this week too. Since I now know that I have an extra week to get ready for my trip to CA, I can go back to waiting till the last minute to get ready for it!

A Polka Dotted Princess

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), jewelry, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 22, 2010

Before Sugarwings came over to play with me today, I got a few things listed in the Boutique. The jewels that I found recently are really nice, and in great shape. Someone took such good care of them, that you wouldn't even know they were at least 50 years old.

See what I mean? Nice sparkle to the rhinestones.

This picture is made from one of my teensiest frozen Charlotte fairies, in a vintage frame. I love it when a project can be made from ALL vintage materials. Usually, something, somewhere in it needs to be newer. Like a tag, or a bit of card stock. This little lady is all OLD. And as an older lady myself, I appreciate that about her.

Sugarwings and I have the afternoon to play. Her Hippy Chick Mommy came by to do some laundry and is going to watch DVR-ed episodes of True Blood while she washes her clothes, so that means I get to snag the fairy baby to work in the studio with me.

I'm not sure yet what we'll make. She did ask if we could make a polka dotted dress for her puppy to match her own dress. I'm not much of a sewer, but I think we can paint polka dots onto a hanky and tie it around the pup's neck. Sugarwings isn't very picky, that should make her happy. Especially if we use glitter paint.

The last time we worked with glitter, she had it crusted all over her and kept saying, "I have Project on me!!"

Not that she is fussy. That wild child is usually encrusted with something.

This tag book is listed in the shop too. Its two large tag covers and 5 small tags inside, all wallpapered up and ready to be embellished. I'm including scraps of the papers to finish it with.

Don't forget that I have a Peat Pot Pretty with a frozen Charlotte fairy as June's giveaway prize! Can you believe that June is almost over??? Geez, where did it go. I have two articles to write by July 1st, and am not usually a person who waits till the last minute to do things (well besides taxes, uchk) but the time just got away from me.

My husband is going to be gone all week, so I should be able to get them both done. When he is around, I tend to stop work early to fix dinner or just hang out. And we come up with excuses to see Sugarwings and play with her. I can be more disciplined when I am on my own. Well, kinda- I am playing hooky this afternoon to make a polka dotted dog dress.

And as a prize for the drawing for new followers, I have some of that nice old rhinestone jewelry. I'll draw from ALL of the followers, not just the new ones. I appreciate you signing up, thanks!! When the number hits 250, I'll give away the earrings.

Being inspired by other’s studios

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), parties, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 21, 2010

Thanks for all the nice comments about my studio!

Wow, what a TON of people participating in that party. I've not seen all the blogs in it yet (that's going to take a while) but I sure had a good time peeking into a chunk of them. As much as I adore my own studio, I was experiencing some studio envy
while looking around. There are some fascinating ideas and places out there. The more I looked at, the more I want to see.

I'll be hopping through more as I have time this week. Thanks for hosting, Karen!

And as much as I do love my own studio, sometimes its good to get out and go to another place to work. Beth invited me over on Friday for estate sale shopping and hanging out in her craft room. I'd brought stuff to work on, but she offered me a box of goodies to rifle through and I couldn't resist.

Its so much more exciting to play with new (old) stuff! I think that is why I keep shopping for more to add to my own stash instead of just working with what I have. Because I sure do have plenty, you might have noticed from my previous post!

New supplies are inspiring. So, I bought more goods while at estate sales that day too…

And I also found this wrought iron bench. For now, its setting outside the back door to my studio. I'm not sure if that is where it will remain.

None of the sales that day were over the top wonderful, but we found a little something here and there all morning. At one house, I got a broken vintage crystal necklace.

I divided it up, and listed some beads in my boutique ($2.50 an ounce), and will keep some for myself too. There is more to list from that day's haul, and I hope to have more time to add it tomorrow.

One of Beth's boxes is labeled "images" and is full of some great stuff. I made this tag with a picture from that and really wanted to make a matching set with another girl that was in the stash, but ran out of time so Beth sent it home with me to finish.

What started out as an idea for a tag became an ephemera book instead. Its in an old cabinet card folder and is filled with an assortment of old papers, ready to be used as an art journal.

It should be in the shop soon. But if you are interested now, please let me know. It will be $24.

Playing in Beth's studio got me all fired up to make some stuff in my own when I got home. It was Father's Day weekend and we had a lot going on, but I managed to squeeze in a little bit of creative time here and there between boating and baking with Sugarwings and petting and playing with Agnes Rosebud.

For Father's Day I took Sugarwing's Daddy and my husband to see Toy Story with our little fairy grand baby. I'm a sucker for Pixar, our whole family is. But man, this movie was extra good. I thought the plotting for breaking out of the day care was right up there with something out of Ocean's 11.

And Big Baby could be more terrifying than Chucky.

And the end tugged at my heart so much, with Andy going away to college, that I sobbed. I don't think any mother of a grown up son could have prevented herself from crying at that ending.

Speaking of boys growing up and leaving the nest… I got to visit Button at Beth's. Here he is up on the craft table, bounding across the supplies to come and see me.

Seemed like he was glad to see his baby sis too. This was the first of many play dates for the two little fuzz balls.

Lucky charms

antiques/junking, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, Sugarwings, Travel, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 14, 2010

We had a great trip to Indiana! Traveling with 3 puppies and one 3 year old made the drive challenging, but unique. Instead of stopping for typical roadside breaks, we needed to find spots for all the little ones to stretch and play. Lunch was a quick trip to Trader Joe's in St Louis to pick up a picnic, then take it to a city park to eat it and play for an hour or so.

And for one break, we found a giant field of clovers to run in.

Adam's loved one has magical four leaf clover hunting skills. I've spent a life time trying to find just ONE. She says its all in the way you look at them. I consider myself a lucky person, and I have sharp eyes, but I can't find a lucky clover for anything. And I search!!

Its been a quest of mine since I was a little girl. Other goals, I've had to leave behind. Like trying to go one full mile on a pogo stick. I spent an entire summer when I was about 8 years old on that one, and had to give it up. Or the summer I tried to learn how to do a back flip into the pool. My body just doesn't do those and I gave up that dream too.

I'm not giving up on the clover search, and now I have a Clover Master to teach me her skills.

My poor little car was filled to the brim on the way there, and we had to half unload it every time we got the pups out.

But it was not too full to add some purchases along the way! My hat whispering skills were in fine form and I found so many (cheap!) along I70, that I am almost embarrassed to tell you about it.

These are just a few that I have unpacked so far. The rest are in my suitcase with all the dirty laundry and I am avoiding that. Its hard enough to admit a vacation is over, doing up the laundry and unpacking is just too much to face.

(The wallpaper covered box is full of old corsages. I got a bag filled with them for $11.)

So, I maybe my lucky charm isn't a four leaf clover its a millinery flower?

All the puppies are settled into their new homes now. We are down to Agnes Rose, who I am calling Rosebud instead of Rose now. She is just too little to be a big flower, she's just a bud.

I'm adjusting to the fact that we actually KEPT one. A couple days ago, she was one of the pups, now she is MY dog.

Well, that point is debatable. Someone else claims Agnes Rosebud.

They kept each other company for most of the drive home.