celebrations – Page 3 – Karla's Cottage

Rainbows and Fire Dancing for Pride Night

celebrations, family, guncles, Sacred Circus, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 22, 2022

On Randy and Kevin’s night to cook for the family reunion, they wanted a Pride Night theme.

They had rainbow everything to go with the grilled chicken and salads. I don’t know why I didn’t get more pictures, it was quite the festival and the decorations were bright and fun.

Our Hippie Chick brought rainbow, glitter face paint and many partiers got all sparkled up.

There was even a fire dancing show.

Featuring our professionals.

And crowd members could take a quick lesson too.

There was a great view from the balcony. These two were on the lighting committee and did a spectacular job with it.

The night ended with a few 1am stragglers sticking their forks directly into the rainbow cake.

We had different events throughout the weekend, but I think pride night was the best.

I am going to leave all of those lights strung across the courtyard, and possibly add more as I find them at garage sales for a very pretty reminder. Thanks, Guncles!

A reunion

celebrations, dogs, family, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / July 19, 2022

It has been so busy around here. This could be the first time since I started my blog that I did not have a spare moment to post anything for this long.

I was busy getting ready for our Nathan, Neibaur, Nichols family reunion and while making up beds for 20, yes, 20 people, to sleep at our home and preparing to feed about 30, we saw our peaches were ready to harvest. And those beauties couldn’t wait, we needed to get them done before everyone arrived.

Then we realized the honey also needed to be gathered. Luckily the Guncles came early to the reunion and helped out.

I figured that I’d have time during the get together to do a couple of posts, but I was much, much busier than I had expected to be.

Truly, I don’t know if I have ever been busier. I was up by six every morning and then stayed up late for our parties. We had a dance party, a Pride Night fire show, karaoke, boating, ax throwing, BB gun competition, tie dying shirts, plus all of the cooking.

So much cooking!

Individual families took turns with meals. Did I mention there were lots of meals? Three big ones each day along with snacks and desserts.

It was all quite special.

And fancy.

I’d set up tables outside, but we were in a heat wave, so seating for 30 was squeezed into the cottage.

We made it work.

There were plenty of hugs too. My dogs were happy to have extra people around for lots of petting.

In their opinion, there is never enough petting. A crew of twenty sets of hands almost satisfied them, though.

Now that the festivities have ended, I hope to get caught up soon. But first, we will be disassembling all the extra beds and putting the house back together.

And before that? We have to deal with a issue I am calling Adventures in Sewage..

See the waterfall? Well, actually, there were a few waterfalls.

It required a weekend, emergency plumber. We thought the clog that caused the flooding was fixed and all was well.

Uhm, not quite. Adventures in Sewage, Part Two, was a second clog that caused an even bigger flood.

Wish us luck, this one is a bit more complicated. We will be tackling it tomorrow, and then, the resting up will begin. And I need that rest. I think that the weekend finale of fighting floods put me over the edge.

Happy 4th of July!

antiques/junking, celebrations

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2022

It was a festive weekend at Good Juju, and every month I am enjoying the venue more and more. I even got into the spirit of the holiday and put together a mini, red, white, and blue display to fit in with all of the other patriotic arrangements around the mall.

My itsy bitsy wagon with a couple red and blue doodads in it wasn’t much compared to the rest of the mall’s July tones. There were varieties of these colors used throughout the mall.

And Uncle Sam on stilts even came by to say hello to us.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the place, and then I’ll be headed outside to watch the colors in the sky.

We live right by the I70 overpass and every year, I walk up to the bridge to watch all of the neighbor’s fireworks being set off.

It’s a pretty low key way to celebrate, but it’s a tradition I look forward to. Sugarwings and I have been doing this since she was tiny.

As I get older, holiday traditions mean more and more to me.

I hope you are enjoying yours this weekend too.

A special celebration in the country

celebrations, Food and Drink, friends

By Karla Nathan / June 16, 2022

Isn’t this deliciousness just beautiful? Well, EVERYTHING at Julie’s house was. Don’t ask me why I didn’t take more pictures, because I just don’t know.

I am kicking myself that I can’t share it all, every detail was more special than the one before.

From the moment we pulled into the drive.

The food, the displays, the home tour, the company, the gifts, well, on and on. What a delightful day. We gathered to celebrate Tami’s birthday and her buddies, Nora and Julie hosted this delectable day of friendship.

Julie not only has a perfectly edited and designed farmhouse filled with vintage treasures, she has a she shed.

And an event barn.

And a pond.

And well thought collections.

And gorgeous landscaping.

Do you know what I had? A camera that I barely used.

Here is a little bit of the event barn.

They host weddings and other parties there.

We sat in the barn for our bird nest craft. Nora provided silver vessels to choose from and moss to form a nest.

That’s it on the photos for the day. Take my word for it, absolutely everything was wonderful.

Peeps Day

celebrations, cottage, drawing, Food and Drink, friends, holiday decor, wallpaper, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2022

We had a little get together for a Peeps craft day at the cottage. Angie brought a cookie display that was so pretty, it had to immediately become the center piece for our luncheon.

Sadly, three people had other things come up and couldn’t make it. Beth offered to bring a salad at the last minute so I wouldn’t have find a side dish for the quiche and homemade bread I’d prepared, which was very helpful of her.

She always makes the best salads, too.

I’d tried my hand at making brioche bread, and while it’s a lot of extra work compared to the kind I typically whip up, I think it is way worth it. But- there is almost a whole stick of butter in it opposed to the tablespoon of heart healthy oil I usually use, so maybe I won’t make a habit of this decadent bread that feels more like a pastry than a slice of bread.

The remainder of the loaf home was sent with the gal pals, thinking I would save myself from all that butter. But then, Nora left some of her cream pie tarts, Angie left cookies, and well, here I am having both for breakfast and feeling pretty happy to have them.

Lunch was only a little part of the day, the main event for me is always the projects.

We had vintage album mats and little girls images to make Easter wall hangings. This one is mine, and since I’d previously made a yellow daffodil one, I wanted a different style, but this might be too dark to be springy. I also don’t like the green pattern in the brown wallpaper and might peel up the girl to add another layer beneath her. Maybe some blue ledger paper…

This one is Nora’s next to her cute picnic basket that came full of tarts and fruity, sparkly wine.

(It did not leave full)

Everyone got a hand drawn placemat. Well, since only half of the group could come, they each got two.

I might make a habit of these. When I host real events, not just get togethers, I usually draw on tablecloths. But lately, instead of plastic table cloths that tickle your legs, and are pretty flimsy anyway, I’ve been covering my work tables in poster board and using large scrap book paper as place markers.

While these quick cartoons aren’t exactly major pieces of art, they are a little different. Plus, I really like drawing, so, yep, I think it might become something I’ll be doing more of.

Although the square size isn’t ideal for dining room placemats, a rectangle would be better.

Once we finished our Easter pictures, everyone had something else they’d brought to do. I made some little people to use on something else some day. Just because I love making little people. It reminds me of all the hours of playing I spent with paper dolls as a kid.

After the last couple of years that we have had, days like this mean more to me than ever. It was the best!

Ryan’s birthday

celebrations, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / January 27, 2022

Today is Ryan’s birthday. He always loved that day. He didn’t expect much, or ask for anything, he was a guy of simple pleasures.

He often took his week’s vacation from work around this date, just to relax.

Our family does a big dinner for the birthday person, not always on the exact date, but when we can all get the same day free. Many years, it would just be myself and Ryan, sometimes Sugarwings too on January 27. So he and I would get a double celebration, once with the group, and another with just us.

It seems like there was always snow on those evenings. Bitter cold nights, that neither of us liked to face, but we were glad we did. It seemed to be Jayhawks basketball time too, which neither of us like. And with his sensory disorder, the loud games were upsetting. So we’d find a quiet restaurant with no tv blaring a game, or people shouting for their team. It was often Mexican food, and we would eat too many chips and guacamole, drink Diet Cokes, laugh, and plan what show we would watch when we got home.

Simple evenings with my buddy, having fun, just being together.

Grief is a odd thing. How it can morph from joyful memories to deep despair, shoot out at you with no warning with unexpected jolts of pain, or of sweetly remembered pleasant thoughts.

Grief is also layered when you lose a child. I miss my companion of the later years, my friend. My guac and Diet Coke buddy who I watched my favorite shows with, critiquing, laughing, and guessing about the plots throughout.

He and I could talk for hours about nothing and be entertained.

But then there are the flashes of his childhood that come after me with a fury. When I remember that the tiny baby I held in my arms was dead. That the silly little boy who loved to dance would never dance again.

Stretching out the cheeriness and overcoming teen apathy, ending our Christmas on a sweet note

celebrations, dogs, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 5, 2022

About halfway between Christmas and New Years I am itching to take down the holiday decorations. The gifts are unwrapped, chaos has occurred with all of the celebrating, cooking, sleepovers, and piles of stuff here and there. I am ready for clean lines and tidiness.

Instead of flipping the switch from over the top, non stop Christmas that started in November to the simpleness of January right away like I want to, I make myself wait until the grand fairies either go back to Mom’s house or to school, because I want them to enjoy their winter break to the max, and atmosphere matters.

But just a couple days after our big celebration, I saw that Sugarwings was curled up in the couch nest (that was claimed as their permanent spot when Covid hit and school was online) being a non involved teen just looking at tic toks, and I saw no reason to keep it festive around here.

So I started hauling out boxes and setting up a ladder, preparing for the big, annual packing up.

Then it occurred to me that the fun didn’t have to end if I didn’t want it to.

So, in the messy midst of all of the boxes and bins, with some things half pulled down, I declared it was time for a cocoa party by the last lingering lights of the trees.

We turned on a Christmas movie marathon, plopped ourselves down to a tray full of our favorite cocoa party goodies and the two of us had one of my favorite days of the holiday break.

Funny thing, I barely like hot chocolate. I just looooove the festive-ness, tradition, and ceremony of serving it. And I love Sugarwings.

We missed our little Dewdrop, and it was a different sort of holiday with no little kids around. But I know that a celebration is what you make it, it can be special and exciting if you make the effort. And even teenagers can be invested and joyous when that effort is put out there.

A year of fairies, family, flowers, and furry friends

celebrations, Corona virus, family

By Karla Nathan / January 1, 2022

Last year might have ended in worry and cancellations but it began in hope. And ours started on the wings of fairies, which was pretty special.

We were blessed to be with our fairy family for Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2021. After what 2020 had put us all through, we were ready to face a brighter future.

Rich and I volunteered at vaccine clinics, where I was the coldest I have ever been in my life. On a day of 14 degrees, I worked outside for six hours, something my family still can’t quite believe that a person as terrified of being chilly like I am, could do.

Volunteering at this event not only showed me that I was tougher than I thought, it brought hope to me that our lives could be somewhat normal again.

We headed south for a few weeks to the beach where I got to make lots of fairies to give thanks for the blessings in my life.

We took four dogs with us in a 19’ camper, which isn’t as bad as it sounds. They are every bit as much underfoot in our home as they are in the trailer. Two doodles, a retriever and a Yorkie provide many tripping opportunities, no matter how small the kitchen I am cooking in is.

And what is better than being somewhere warm and blooming, away from a cold, Kansas winter?

Coming home is always hard for me. While I am away, it’s easier to not expect to see Ryan. He rarely traveled with us.

Returning to an empty house without his happy grin of welcome is rough to get used to.

These furry bundles of love came along in the spring. They fill my heart up, in a bittersweet way.

I can almost feel Ryan by my side laughing at their silliness like he used to do. He loved the puppies as much as I do. Having them around was a help in getting through the anniversary of his death.

For two months, I did nothing but care for the babies. When they slept, I’d do paintings of them, and talk to prospective families. I got very little sleep and picked up mountains of poo.

But I also had weeks of furry snuggles and joy.

The babies helped me through the loss of two of our Yorkies. The pups were right there with me when Twinkle had her stroke. As I held her in my arms during convulsions, those little dogs watched with compassion and care. I could tell they would grow up to be loving pets when I saw how they wanted to comfort Twinkle and I.

The very next week, we lost our boy, Albie. I don’t know what I’d have done without armloads of furry, warm puppies to get me through it.

There is so much joy in these little bodies, that you just have to smile even while in pain!

We took another camping getaway to the mountains of North Carolina.

Where I crafted riverbank fairies of rocks instead of seashells in the sand.

This is the year that Sugarwings grew up and became a teen, not a child.

And our Hippy Chic got her Master’s to become a midwife.

Painting flowers and landscapes got me back into the studio. I still haven’t added to my Boutique or planned a Birdsong event, but both have been on my mind. I’d started feeling out the prospect of an arty weekend, and then, BOOM, along came Delta.

So, I’ll be sticking to my solitary studio time for now. It would devastate me to host a Birdsong and have anyone become ill while visiting.

On a second trip to Florida, I got to watch countless dolphins, see sharks up close, and find amazing piles of shells on a teensy island.

There was a lot to be thankful to nature for.

It was also kinda nice to have the dogs cared for by family while we stayed in hotels instead of a camper.

I even got to visit Tinker Bell!

After a spectacular Disney adventure, I headed to Indian Shores to be with sisters and nieces. It was a beach I was unfamiliar with, and was surprised by the lack of larger shells. So, I used itty bitty shells to leave a mosaic fairy on the shore.

This might just be a new favorite art form for me. Painting with seashells!

Thanksgiving brought us a visit from Dewdrop and a great family weekend to be plenty thankful for.

Stories of the proliferation of Omicron made me value every moment of holiday celebrations we had.

And to remember to appreciate those around me and what is important.

I am wishing you a safe and happy 2022. With this horrid curse of a virus fading away.

A book club party with bookish party favors

antiques/junking, Books, celebrations, collections, cottage, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2021

The annual holiday party for our book club was at my house, well, I have to admit that it always is at my house. I tend to hog the date because I love parties so much.

And I love party favors! I decorated the table with the book page/paper ornies that I’d made and sent one home with each person. You can’t see it in this pic, but each ball has a tiny, book charm dangling from it.

Here is the table before my friends arrived.

I have been collecting 49 cent Christmas plates from Goodwill all year, there are a few different patterns, but I like the mix.

It’s all a bit of a mix match. The water glasses almost all are the same, but the silverware, wine glasses, napkins, and plates are all over the place. The placemats are pages from the Grand fairies’ outgrown Christmas books.

Here is what I have learned about hosting a party:

NO ONE CARES IF IT MATCHES!

But they do appreciate an effort to make things pretty for them. I doubt if they cared that the plates were only 49 cents each and were various patterns. Or that to have enough wine glasses, I had to use a very non traditional, purple one.

They might have cared that the pie was a little dry.

Durn it. I used frozen blueberries, but made it the same as I usually do with fresh ones. That just isn’t the same, I love the juiciness of the fresh ones. Frozen requires more sugar, liquid and some lemon, I think.

The peach pie was better. I used pecan flour, eggs, some juice from the canned peaches, cinnamon and brown sugar in it.

This was my first time using Aldi’s crust (I never make my own crust). It was so-so. Not very flakey, and a little dry. I’ll stick with Sprouts, their crust is always ideal. Plus it is vegan, which is good when I am feeding my family.

Also, this might not be the prettiest place to set out desserts, but it worked.

I found some “Vintage Tinsel Sprinkles” at Homegoods and happily glittered all the treats. I love them so much that I had some glittery, festive-ness on my peanut butter toast today. Using my holiday plates.

One very nice thing about my big stack of thrift store plates is that I don’t have to be gentle with them. They are special, but they aren’t worth anything, so we have been using them daily since Thanksgiving.