celebrations – Page 27 – Karla's Cottage

I’m a lucky mom!

By Karla Nathan / May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

Sugarwings and I started the day by pampering her mommy. This is the first Mother's Day without Nanny, and I was feeling very empathetic for her, I remember my first Mother's Day after my mom passed.

We had planned to take a basket of goodies to their home, but both of the girls had a sleep over with us last night. Instead I gave her the basket of croissants, jams, jellies, coffees, lotions, flowers, and chocolates to enjoy later.

The fairy grand baby helped me wrap up a dark chocolate bar in a photo of the two of them together, and we put ribbons and bows on all of the treats to make the basket festive.

Since the girls were here, we fixed up breakfast in bed, and of course, Sugarwings was ready to hop up and join in, so I brought her a plate too. She is only allowed to eat at the family dining table or at her little table, so this was a BIG deal to her.

We had chocolate dipped strawberries, blue berries, cinnamon rolls, and eggs scrambled with roasted yellow peppers, spinach, and cream cheese. I don't make the rolls from scratch, the frozen ones from Rhodes are just too good and too easy. Sugarwings and I snazzed them up a bit by putting organic butter, brown sugar, chopped pecans, and sunflower seeds in the pan before adding the rolls and baking them.

I just adore having girls around to do all this kind of stuff with, and its fun to spoil them. Now, boys are wonderful too, of course. And my two are the sweetest and most loving men you'll ever meet. Ryan never leaves a room without kissing me on the head. Adam is Mr. Zen, calm, thoughtful, sweet, and caring. Both have quirky senses of humor and can make me laugh.

Mother's Day is a good time to reflect on family and think about how lucky I am to have these people in my life.

Its also a good time to announce the newest, upcoming family members! Yep, grand baby #2 is on its way!! But I should say grand baby # 7, because this tiny little sprite is already a mommy to FIVE kids! Where did that little slip of a girl keep them???

This means more family to spoil and love on for me.

I'm going to surprise the expectant mom today with a little bundle of gifts, including a onesie with a tree painted on it. Since she and Adam are avid tree huggers.

And another onesie with a frog and some dragonflies, along with a couple other gifties.

This little mama got some extra treats today for her Mother's Day too. She got a serving of eggs with cheese. Later today, I think she might be in for some peanut butter on dog biscuits. She deserves it, she's been working pretty hard lately!

I think my sons and husband are going to do yard work for me today. I bought 6 fruit trees for Earth Day and my Mother's Day gift will be them doing the hard work of planting them. I might go get a few more trees while they have a post hole digger rented for the job. I also am hoping to get the new Charlaine Harris book as a surprise today. I've left a lot of hints, plus out right told my husband that I want it. I usually wait for paperback versions of books, but Mother's Day seemed like the perfect excuse to get a hard cover. And its just too hard to wait to see what is next in the adventures of Sookie. Its bad enough that True Blood won't be on again till June! If I don't get it as a surprise, I'll just go and buy it for myself this afternoon.

If you didn't get everything you wanted for Mother's Day, there are new sparkly things in the Boutique right now!

I'll leave you with some photos of what is new.

Plants, Pups, plus the Broccoli Queen, oh, and two winners!

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, give away, Sugarwings, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 6, 2010

Thanks for all of the wonderful birthday wishes! I had a good day, and the garden is planted! My son and Sugarwings, as well as a few pups were there to help.

We had big plans for going out to dinner, but while we were on a roll with the garden, we just kept working. My birthday ends up being the hardest working day of the year, because my family offers to pitch in and help with a big job. I never fail to take them up on the offer, its good to get some manpower put to use out in the landscaping! Since my husband was going to be out of town for the day, he helped me in the flowerbeds over the weekend.

So after days of "help" I am exhausted from all the yard work!! Its good to get the place cleaned up and get flats of flowers and herbs out to enjoy for the rest of the season. There is still more to do, but these last few days really took care of the major chunk of the work.

Sugarwings is a natural gardener, she loves nothing more than being wet and dirty. Her job was to play with and misplace the tools, and spray everything with the hose.

We crowned her the broccoli queen when she decided to wear the garden marker as a necklace and it was too small, so got stuck on her head.

I figured I wouldn't need a marker to recognize a head of cabbage, so made her a necklace to wear from that marker.

I was as wet and dirty as she was, and it was getting late, so my sweet son whipped up one of his great dinners for us while Sugarwings and I got cleaned up. His cooking is better than going out to dinner anytime! He made spinach and red pepper fettuccine with crab. Not bad for something he just whipped up in a few minutes while I showered.

We had a mini birthday party in the afternoon, before my son came by to help. Some friends dropped in to say Happy Birthday and have some carrot cake and blueberry ice tea on the patio and a walk on the Fairy Berry Trail.

They brought their kids, so I enlisted them help feed pups. We made up a bowl of puppy cereal and all the kids got a spoon to feed the babies with.

It was a birthday full of fun, friends, sweet babies, and help. Not to mention all the thoughtful well wishes I got from you. Yep, I'm pretty lucky!

Walmart has never been my favorite store, but it seems like sometimes you just gotta go there. When I do I usually find some spectacular deals. Like these tees. They are pure cotton and soft as if they had been worn for years. And only $4. I treated myself to a stack of them for my birthday and today I am embellishing a few with some of the trims I got from my Great Aunt Caroline's estate.

As much as I dislike sewing, I seem to be doing a lot of it lately, and I have to say, its been kinda fun…

Of course, my sewing is as simple as can be. Straight stitches only! And nothing that has to be perfect. Only decorative things like these pouches made from flocked wallpaper, or embellishing the tees, nothing that is measured, fitted, or complicated.

Speaking of these pouches- I need to announce the April Giveaway winner. The prize goes to:

Holly

She gets the pouch on the right, that is filled with my shard necklace.

Also, I have another 50 sign ups for my Google Friend Connect and need to give away a Peat Pot Pretty for that. I'll give away another at 250.

Please note that if you are already signed up for Friend Connect, you are in the drawing. But if you are a follower else where, I don't have a list for other following sites to draw from. If you want to enter, you have to sign up for Friend Connect.

The winner of a Peat Pot Pretty is:

Rose

Doing the birthday dance

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 5, 2010

The cuddle pups had their first bath last night. Now that I am feeding them puppy cereal, they are getting crusty! Those guys dive head first into the food dish and wear more than they eat.

So, I took advantage of having company last night and had all the little kids help me bathe the babies. It was good to have lots of little hands to hold bundled up pups until they were dry and warm. I think that helped make the first bath experience a good one for these guys.

The house was full for my birthday dinner! It was a beautiful night and we grilled, then ate outdoors. I baked a carrot cake and it tasted way tooooo good after two weeks of mostly liquid and soft foods since my snore-er snipping. (Which seems to have cured the snoring, by the way!!)

And look at what my husband gave me for my birthday, this ruffly dream from Anthropologie! Its so pretty, I might just keep it hanging on the door to enjoy instead of hanging it away in the closet.

The dress is a comfy tee shirt type material with chiffony ruffles. I hope its not too young for me. But I intend to be one of those grandmothers who wear and do what they want and not worry about looking silly. You should have seen my birthday extravaganza dance that I made up with Sugarwings! We twirled and spun around the yard and threw in a few Ginger Rogers moves. Of course, you have to know that I am a klutz and I probably looked more like Gilda Radner than Ginger Rogers.

We celebrated a day early because my husband had to go out of town today. But I get Sugarwings after school and we will be having some friends over and then doing some gardening together.

Until I pick her up, I'm getting some work done. I have a ton of photos taken of things to list in the Boutique (like this great, old buckle).

But honestly, the sunshine is calling my name and its really hard to concentrate on getting much listed…

Heck, I've just convinced myself to go and plant my vegetables instead of working! It didn't take much convincing. That sunshine is just too much. I think I'll take the puppies out to the garden patch with me and see how they like playing in the dirt.

They have no idea what adventures are waiting for them!

Thank you for all the kind birthday wishes! I'm off to the garden with a basket of veggies to plant and some puppies to play with. Add Sugarwings into the mix this afternoon and that is shaping up to be quite a special day!

Around the May Pole

antiques/junking, celebrations, collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, I do tend to run on, don't I?, Sugarwings, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 3, 2010

What's the only thing better than scoring over a dozen floral hats at a flea market? Playing with them when you get home! Especially when you have friends who want to play too.

These little guys are starting to get interesting. They all try to come to me (but are still kind of stumbly) when they hear my voice now. It has not been easy to get any work done today, its the first day that the pups really seem to want to spend as much time with me as they do with their mom. Its funny to see how fast they develop and change. Just yesterday, they were mostly sleeping and today they are crying until they get picked up!

Between snuggles, I've been plucking hats. My hat storage is overflowing, so I needed to make space by pulling all the flowers off the newest arrivals. Finding 15 in one day is kind of amazing, even with my hat whispering skills. But I have to admit that I had a little help at the flea mkt, Beth pointed a few out to me and was nice enough to let me at them.

She and I are good shopping partners. I try to point out things I know she'll love. Even if I love them too. We kind of let things go to who ever has the most passion for the item, or take turns with the greatest stuff, or even share. We started a wallpaper pact years ago to prevent jealousy. If one of us scores big on wallpaper, we always share with the other.

(The hat with the brown ribbon only had a few flowers on it, but LOOK at that fabulous dotted Swiss ruffled ribbon that rims it!!)

See why I can't resist these guys? They are finally starting to look around and observe their world and its so cute when they just stare into my eyes. I don't know if I've ever been more in love with a batch of pups… its going to be hard to say goodbye in just a few weeks!

Its always hard to say good bye to the flowers too… I fall a bit in love with each bloom. I was reading Jenny's blog the other day and drooling over some flowers she used on a May basket, then she mentioned she had bought them from me!

Its never easy to say good bye to Sugarwings when she goes home to her mommy or daddy either, but its easier knowing that her parents are generous with letting us have time with her and with them too. We are so blessed and lucky that our extended family can all "share" her and get along. Even though her parents aren't together, we are all still family. I'm hoping that her Daddy's new family will be able to blend with us all too.

My theory is that you can't have too many people to love.

We celebrated May Day together by going to a carnival at her school, then my handsome husband and I did hours and hours of yardwork.

The school is out in the country, and was a lovely setting for all of the events. The big kids did a May Pole dance, there were arts and crafts, live music, and a hula hoop class. (That's my husband showing his moves)

Our tiny little hooper had a blast.

Especially with the glue and scissors. Sometimes I wonder if she really cares about creating anything, all she cares about is cutting and gluing. That kid is obsessed with scissors and glue.

And when I buy her clothes at Goodwill (this is a $4 dress) I can relax and enjoy watching her go wild with the glue.

I probably shouldn't go so many days without posting, I tend to have too much to say as it is, when I post every day or two! It was such a busy and fun weekend that there is just too much to blather on about. Flats of flowers, working in the garden, redoing a guest room, parties, boating, puppies to play with, May poles and more. No wonder I didn't have a chance to do a post!

I'll leave you with some photos of the flower packs I added to the shop, stop running on and on!

The secret to having it all

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

By Karla Nathan / April 30, 2010

My finds from the fantastic flea mkt yesterday still aren't unpacked yet. But I did pull a couple hats from the bags to play with.

Some how, today got away from me I had a lot of errands to run before picking up the fairy grand baby from school. Then, Sugarwings and I baked brownies and invited some friends over to hold puppies. Playing with all the babies seemed much more fun than getting all my stuff unpacked, cleaned, photographed and listed for sale.

I'm pretty lucky to have the flexibility to spend a day like this, aren't I???

Not a lot of real work got done today. I did squeeze in time to make some more wallpaper folder/bag things to pack stuff in. Every package that I dropped at the PO was packed up in a pretty little pouch today. The little pink flocked wallpaper one in front contains April's Giveaway and is all ready to mail as soon as I draw a name on May 1st. You can still enter to win it by leaving a comment today.

Next to the pouches are some of the hats that I scored yesterday.

I really can't believe that tomorrow is May already! In a few days, I turn FIFTY TWO.

Birthdays make me think about life. I really am very lucky to have the life I do. When I was in my 20s, if you had tried to tell me that I'd be where I am now at this age, I wouldn't have believed it.

Of course, if you'd told me that I would have posted a photo of myself with no makeup, uncombed hair, and wearing gym clothes on the internet, I would have been shocked. Then, I might have said, "what is an internet?"

Of course, in my 20s, I never left the house without makeup, and would have screamed at anyone who tried to photograph me that way. But now I know that being comfortable with who I am and liking my own skin, no matter how saggy it might be getting, is a key to a happy life. I don't take myself or my looks (or lack there of) very seriously.

Enjoying and excepting what I have and what I am, and being more aware of the world around me than of myself is something that I wish I'd learned when I was younger.

Last week, I won a giveaway from Myrna and had a choice of her gifts. When I saw this phrase on her tag, I had to chose the little book it was on.

What great words to live by. Happiness is what you make of it. There are many ways of looking at your everyday life, and I chose to look at mine through what a friend used to call my "Karla Goggles", which meant rose colored lenses, I think. Well, you can look at the gloomy side of things and never be satisfied with what you have. Or you can look at the good stuff with a smile on your face and feel like the luckiest person on the planet.

Life goes by so quickly. Just a couple weeks ago, these guys were tiny as mice and all piled in their nest. Their world is expanding by the moment as they start to explore and experience life.

Yes, that is dust on my floor in this photo. Just like those were wrinkles on my face in the earlier photo. But that is just a part of life and I'd rather focus on the the joy of seeing the pups take their very first steps out of their nest and of the happiness on my face when I hold Sugarwings.

I have a feeling that in the next 50 years of my life, I'll be a LOT more wrinkly than I am now, and my house will not be much cleaner. But I sure am excited about seeing all the good things those years bring, dust, wrinkles, and all.

How to paint and distress furniture

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Hand Painted Furniture, how to's, how-to projects, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 25, 2010

Twinkle's babies are still all curled up in their nest. Even with their eyes opened now, they aren't ready to explore or do much but sleep and eat.

They are still living in a box in my bathroom at night, and come out to the studio with me during the day. As soon as they are big enough to need more space, the studio will become their full time home.

I haven't had a heck of a lot of time in the studio lately, with or without pups. I've been working on some indoor projects, plus celebrated Earth Day by buying 6 fruit trees to plant in the yard.

After that, I went with some friends to an Earth Day fashion show, where all the clothes were 2nd hand, redesigned or re-purposed. To my surprise, Sugarwing's Hippy Chic Mommy was in the show with her hula hoop group of performers. The whole show was more performance than fashion, really fun to watch, and kind of funky.

My big indoor project has taken a big chunk of the weekend, but now is done. I've repainted my dining table and chairs, along with a buffet to match (kind of). Its been something I've wanted to do for a long time, but hadn't had a chance to get around to it.

Of course, if I could just snap my fingers and have all the projects done at once, what kind of fun would that be? Its the journey of redoing and tweaking, and finding just the right piece or color that makes me do it, not really the finished product.

The buffet (hardware and all) got painted with bonding primer tinted gray. Then white washed with ivory glaze, and that was wiped off with a soft, damp cloth.

Then, I took the cloth with the white glaze on it, wadded it up, and patted the buffet, to make a marbled look. When dry, I sanded a bit here and there, not much, and clear coated it for protection.

Here is a little tutorial on how to paint distressed looking furniture:

Please note that the trick to doing this technique is to NOT BE PERFECT. All the little imperfections are what make the finish interesting.

I started with this factory finish from the 60's. Not bad, but not exactly to my taste. I wanted an older look and thought this dining set looked dated.

The first step was to brush on tinted gray bonding primer. I used Glidden Gripper. It came already tinted gray.

I used a cheapo, flat brush about 2 inches wide. Kind of bristly and rough.

The primer was brushed on in a messy way, not covering up the whole surface.

I'd recommend taping off the edges and covering fabric if you don't have a steady hand.

Second step same as the first, but with creamy white paint ( I use eggshell finish). Messy, uneven coverage is the trick!

Next, rough it up with sandpaper, as soon as it is dry to the touch. If you wait too long, you have to sand harder and it takes the paint off to the bare wood. I wanted the original colors of ivory and gold as well as my gray layer to show through.

After sanding here and there, cover with a top coat. I like Minwax Polycrylic. Its water based and goes on easy for a durable finish.

The table was done the exact same way, with one addition. Before putting on the top coat, I brushed it with a heavy coat of porcelain crackle glaze. Not the entire table top, just random strokes here and there.

I'll be on the look out for new accessories for the room and will have some after pictures to show you once I've finished. My favorite flea market is this week, so the timing is just right!

Here are some of the supplies that I used.

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!

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!