dogs – Page 16 – Karla's Cottage

Around the cottage in August

By Karla Nathan / August 17, 2015

How on earth can anything grow as fast as a puppy? She is doubling in size by the hour, I think.

And doubling her sweetness too. She is pretty smart, potties on command from the first day, sits, fetches, and heels.

Let's see, what else… I got a new iPad cover. I call it 'camouflage'.

We had some repair work done on the driveway and the grand fairies were just chomping at the bit all day til it was time to write in it. We were hoping for subtle markings, but Sugarwings went big, so we all did.

We were going to have Honey make baby prints in it, but she decided to run across the whole thing. So, we let all the little dogs have a turn too. Then a kitten. Who sat right in the center and stayed there (and who did NOT like getting her toes and tail washed after)

Of course, the ladies had to be represented too, right? So we brought out our friendliest hen (who also didn't like having her feet washed- there is a reason that "madder than a wet hen" is a saying)

She strutted to the center of the cement, just like the kitten did.

Then pooped.

Which I don't think would have left a mark if my husband hadn't tried to knock it away. Now there is a poo swish mark, dead center of the new concrete.

Speaking of that handsome guy, we celebrated our 30th anniversary. There was talk of going out, but after three days of working on the kitchen, then doing some major garden projects, we were beat. And we had our big celebration, with vow renewals back in June.

So, we did what we really enjoy, grilled out on the porch and eating tomatoes from the garden, then cozied up with a good movie. We had the house to ourselves for a few days, so we simply enjoyed each other's company.

To me, that is much more fun than a big night on the town.

A visit to see Snow White and the dinosaurs, just a regular day with the Nathans

Dew Drop, dogs, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 3, 2015

We are all infatuated with Honey. Playing with her has been our favorite activity.

We have had to tear ourselves away to do other things. Last week, we visited the Prairie Fire Natural History Museum to see the dinos.

There is an interactive screen where you can build your own dinosaur. Or dragon. That confused me… Dragons at the museum? You find a fossil in the wild, and work through what you think the live animal would have looked like, guessing coloring and skin textures.

Wait a minute, dragon fossils? Yes, that confuses me a little.

We didn't realize that the creatures you built showed up on the screen in the lobby. We were enjoying the giant TV screen with animals projected over the video feed from the room, and didn't know the two things were connected.

We were just having fun taking our pictures with the dinos.

And pretending they were coming for us.

Then we noticed that the dragons and other monsters had names. And some of the names matched the ones we had made ourselves.

Fun, huh? And totally free. We played with these and hung out in the lobby for an hour or so before we bought tickets for a session in the children's discovery room.

Where I had another surprise. Tea party stuff? At a natural history museum? Dewdrop was thrilled. Of course, there were tons of other things too, animals to look at, rocks and crystals to examine, things to look at under microscopes, a fossil scavenger hunt in the bricks of the balcony, and much more.

But I really didn't get the whole section of different style tea services. Maybe it was supposed to be about different cultures?

While in the neighborhood, we stopped by and visited Snow White.

At last year's Halloween party at Lions Gate Club, one of the coworkers was dressed as Snow White. She not only looked the part, she was so kind and sweet to Dewdrop, and spent so much time with her, that this little girl still talks about her on a regular basis. Snow is her favorite princess and none of the Disneyworld princesses quite measured up.

So, we polished some apples and wrapped them up pretty with nice notes, and filled a basket for Dewdrop to take to her. Before going in, I told her that Snow White probably wouldn't have her party dress on, she'd be wearing work clothes.

And Dewdrop got very shy when seeing her buddy again. She was tongue tied, and star struck. But she did get brave enough to give her a hug and as we left, called out, "I love you, Snow White!"

Yep, a very nice day.

Pet pics and what is new in the Boutique

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), kitties, photography, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / July 31, 2015

Honey is fitting in better than I had expected. She pees on command, fetches, knows to go into her kennel when told, and has stolen everyone's hearts.

She is even learning to pose, but isn't the best at it. This photo is a fluke, she isn't very patient with the camera like Twinkle is. Of course, Twinkle sees a camera in my hand and thinks all photos are of her. She jumped right up in the chair next to her blonde nemesis to make sure she got her share of camera time too.

Actually, they are getting along pretty good. Twinkle has her jealous moments, but as long as Honey remembers that Tinks is alpha dog, they seem to enjoy each other's company. Albie isn't happy with her at all, though. He takes every opportunity he gets to nip at her tail.

I don't know if Twinkle likes being around her, or is just making sure that the new dog doesn't get more time with me than she does.

These guys are champion posers. The puppeesh are almost as talented at modelling as their mom. Although they do it just to please me, they don't care about being in a photo. Twinkle likes to think that the camera is always pointed her way. Sometimes, I have to agree to take her photo to get on with my business of snapping what I had meant to in the first place.

Honey doesn't get the point. Most pics of her look like this.

Or this.

I have to act fast to get all four of them together. I'm going to keep trying. It will be fun to have a record of how big she gets in comparison to her peers. I'll try to get a weekly update of the group as she sprouts up.

Even if Honey can't keep her eyes open in the shots. Poor dog, I know what it is like.

Not everyone can pose like Twinkle, of course. Pumpkin's kittens can be elusive. And this one, Gourdie, always has RBF (Resting B**ch Face). She is a perfectly nice cat, she just looks cranky.

PS- I've added quite a few ephemera packs to the Boutique.

Wallpaper scrap packs, ephemera, paper dolls…

Fairy book kits, and more.

Oh, did I mention wallpaper? I loaded a few packs of that too.

Plus, a completed Fairy book over at the Etsy shop.

As well as an art journal with an included ephemera pack, ready for you to fill up and create in.

A spur of the moment trip to Chicago

dogs, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 27, 2015

My husband has been in Chicago quite a bit for business. The other day, he asked if I wanted to join him, but last minute plane tickets were too high, so we decided against it. Then, the next day, I got to thinking that I should just drive up. Within about an hour, I was packed and out the door.

Too bad I didn't think of that the night before, I wouldn't have stayed up til 1 am getting caught up on "Unreal."

Stopping at a few antique shops and doing a little hat whispering on the side kept me alert during the drive. I didn't shop much at all, mostly I was stretching my legs and waking up.

Instead of going straight to Chicago, I stopped over night in Indiana to stay with Bobbie.

Sissy took the morning off and came to visit, as well as her two daughters. We had a nice breakfast, then I continued to Chicago, where I was meeting my husband DOWNTOWN at about 5pm.

uhmm, I'm a bit of a wimp about downtowns and traffic.

I can drive cross country all by myself with no worries, (as long as I have a book to listen to and stay on interstates) but get me into a city I don't know…. a big city… with people who honk (there isn't much honking where I live), I slightly freak out.

Well, maybe I freak out a lot. But I just cry a little. And drive around blocks forever trying to find the address, even though the GPS is clear, I have trouble with making the correct turns with traffic downtown. And there was a lot of that. I spent 45 minutes with the GPS saying I was ten minutes away from the hotel, til I finally made it into the parking garage.

We had a beautiful, king suite at the Trump Tower over looking the city. While I am not, and never have been a fan of Donald Trump, but I have to admit, he has a spectacular hotel. Luxurious, and detail oriented. With the world's best sheets and most comfy pillows.

I was a little too overwhelmed by my traffic dilemma to take photos, though. I did snap this one. See the black square in the mirror? It's a TV screen! That hotel is a pampering palace, with a magnificent view.

Especially from the outdoor terrace bar, way up above the city. Where we heard a helicopter going by, and I of course, looked up, like you do when you hear one close. But it was railing height, not up above us and I missed seeing it right there at our level,

We went to a friend's restaurant for dinner, and when the taxi pulled up, I kind of wondered if this was correct.

No worries, once we stepped inside, it was an urban, hip, wonderland.

With a bar made of old suitcases.

Funky art.

And even a resident artist who paints in the dining room.

After a beautiful walk through the city, back to our hotel and up to the bar with a view, we talked about trying to find a puppy while in that part of the country. I'd looked within a couple hundred miles of Lawrence, and had no luck.

So when we saw a post on Craigslist about a horse ranch an hour out of Chicago that had 8 week old pups, we gave them a call to see if we could take a look on our way home. But the rancher had to deliver a horse that day. My husband really wanted a puppy and this one sounded exactly like what we were looking for.

We had another night booked at this fab place, and reservations at The Mid America Club for dinner, which I was very excited about.

But, a puppy was waiting for us….

You know what we chose.

Luxury and pampering don't hold a candle to snuggling a fuzzy, new friend with puppy breath. We checked out a day early, cut our trip short and headed out to the farm to get this little girl and take her home.

Honey

dogs

By Karla Nathan / July 24, 2015

We have a new baby, her name is Honey.

She is a happy, little, calm, ball of fluff. So far, she seems to have a mellow personality.

She is about Yorkie sized today. Probably only today. By tomorrow, I'll bet she will already be larger than they are. It has been ages since I've had a big dog. I wasn't quite sure I was ever going to be ready to have another large dog again, but my husband was. After a year or so of discussion, I relented. At first I tried to convince him to get a Golden Doodle since they don't shed. But, he had his heart set on a lab or a golden, and this is HIS dog, not mine.

Out here on the farm, over the last 20 some years, we have taken in lost dogs, dogs needing homes, or just adopted adult dogs. We have never, ever had success with any of them. It might just be us and our training skills, or it could be the wrong fit with the dogs, but we decided we had to start with a puppy, not adopt a full grown, big dog.

We wanted her to grow up in the fences and accept them, not look at them seeking a way out. We live on two highways, and a dog who digs out of or climbs over a fence isn't destined to be here long.

And we love to have puppies around.

So, please don't lecture me about a rescue dog. We've done that. And we do a LOT of nice things for others, we aren't evil just because we adore puppies.

With a yard full of cats, small dogs, and chickens, we wanted to start from the beginning with a baby, too. Plus, this might not be a good thing to acknowledge, but it was hard for me to taken on a large dog. After having little bitty ones around, I honestly didn't like the idea of a big guy. I had a feeling that if we took on a full grown dog, I would be resentful.

Yes, an ugly thing to admit but the truth.

I knew I needed a baby to bond with and get used to it small before it gradually became an 80 lb shedding machine.

And it is working. She has my heart. What a sweetie she is. I think she is going to be a good fit for our family.

The kittens aren't quite sure about her yet.

Twinkle is bossy, but not mean, and she doesn't really care for dogs much. Albie is terrified, and Dorothy is worried but intrigued.

Sugarwings, Dewdrop, and my husband are smitten.

I might be too.

Some of our Cottage Critters

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), kitties

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2015

These shrubs were planted in front of our farm house decades ago, and bloom abundantly in the spring.

The rest of the year, they are just overgrown bushes that are a bit overwhelming. I used to cut them back to waist high every fall, but they grew so fast, it seemed like a sisyphean task, and I decided that I should just grow to enjoy them as they wanted to be- giant and shaggy!

These two kitties are soul mates, Pumpkin and Joy Joy are the best of friends. While their cuddling looks adorable from inside the window, I'm not thrilled about their choice of snuggle spots.

And neither is this newly planted lavender in the window box. Their habit of using this box as a perch might not be an easy one to break.

Unless I plant cactus? Nah, probably not a good idea…

Sometimes, you just have to let it go and give in to nature. Giant, overgrown shrubs might be a bit much, but the blooms they share in the spring make them worth it. And while I'm not pleased about the kitties taking over the planter box, it sure is funny to see them up there taunting the short, little dogs and it is cute as a bug to watch them curl up together and purr.

Time to replant the lavender, I guess.

Farewell to a furry friend

dogs, paintings

By Karla Nathan / April 8, 2015

Miss Pearl, best friend to Debbie Dusenberry was a Kansas City antiquer's icon. Debbie is a queen of the vintage scene and everywhere she was, there was Pearl. I'll miss seeing her fuzzy little face around town.

Here is a photo of her when she was a visitor at the cottage one time. Pearl always came along when Debbie visited us here.

My heart goes out to Debbie for her loss.

I used my Hello Watercolor ap on iPad to do this finger painting of Pearl..

The ap is very interesting, and you can more tell from the rough sketch that I started with, just how much it looks and acts like real paint. Except with no brush. You use a fingertip or stylus to paint with. You can chose different brush-like features, and sizes, and whether you are using wet or dry, to get just the look you want. My problem with it, is that I can't quite get the paint detailed enough, so I switch to the colored pencils function to add the finer details and sharper lines at the end.

I think a lot of people get to this point of a painting (the sketch) and think it looks awful, or nothing like what they want it to. Sometimes newbies don't realize that most artwork is all about the details or the layering. There is often a point near the beginning when you are horrified at what is on the page and think about stopping. The trick is to not give up, and to not judge the end by the early stages.

This painting has a heavy use of white pencil over the underpainting. In real watercolor that doesn't really happen, you need to save your white paper. The ap can be much easier to use than real paint. It even has an eraser.

A Cottage Bedroom Makeover, brand new dark oak gets lightened up, or why I will never use chalk paint again

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Hand Painted Furniture

By Karla Nathan / January 28, 2015

We needed a new mattress. So, headed to Nebraska Furniture Mart to test a few out. While there, my husband spotted a bed filled with drawers underneath and he had to have it.

Now, he is NOT a shopper. We almost ended our marriage once at that same furniture store over a recliner. It is now and forever known as the Crying Chair. Long story, but basically, he hates to shop. He walks in, glances about, buys stuff, and leaves as fast as he can.

He prefers letting me make choices 99% of the time.

When shopping for a mattress, though, he had to go along and approve the fit. and we discussed that it had been a good life together, and if Nebraska Furniture Store succeeded in ending our marriage like it tried to do before, we knew that we'd at least had almost 30 years of happiness together.

Bravely, we decided that we could face the challenge. It was a quick trip for a mattress, right?

Then, he spotted this bed. When he does shop, and sees something he likes, he never hesitates, or looks around. He likes it, he buys it. And when he saw this bed filled with storage options, he thought it would streamline our lives.

I thought it was DARK. And too new. But figured, hey, it's his house too. I wasn't going to let the Crying Chair incident repeat itself. We bought the bed.

I repainted it within minutes of its arrival to our home. And found these great handles (at Hobby Lobby) to replace the heavy ones that came with the drawers.

Everyone raves about chalk paint, so I thought I'd give it a try. Hobby Lobby now carries this brand, it is $8 for a little bitty jar, but I made multiple trips with a 40% off coupon to get enough to tackle the job.

I'd heard that you don't have to prime, it covers well, uses very little paint, and is easy to sand through to see the previous layers of paint.

Hmmm….

Well, yes, I was able to paint without priming. (But a coat of primer and a coat of paint is an equal amount of work as two coats of chalk paint, and cheaper)

But- the coverage was not good. I had to go buy more paint. It took much more than I had planned.

And- I took a lot of care, layering colors, thinking I could sand through them for a varied look. Nope, when I sanded, I hit wood. You could not see the layers of colors underneath. I had to dry brush the colors over the white to get the look I wanted, after doing all those layers, and sanding.

Also, chalk paint simply must be sealed. You either wax it or use a sealer like Polycrylic. And I don't think everyone realizes that wax is not permanent. Just like on floors, it wears off, you need to re-wax. So, I chose the Polycrylic top coat (water based).

If I'd used a bonding primer, painted it gloss white, and drybrushed acrylic craft paint over that, it would have cost much less, I wouldn't have to seal it, and it wouldn't have taken as long.

For the exact same look. Oh well, I'd been wanting to give chalk paint a try. I won't be spending that much on paint again. And I like the bed now, so all is well. Lesson learned, and it still looks pretty.

My Handsome Husband also made another purchase that day. After buying the oak bed, and walking out, he saw this velvet bench and said it would be ideal for the dogs to be able to use to get up and down with.

I think I might just have to take him shopping more often, whether he enjoys it or not. He is pretty good at it! I love the new bed and bench, (after they got lightened up).

I'll show you details of the rest of the room next time. We had to come up with a plan for bedside tables, because what we already had blocked the drawers on the new bed.

Pretty Puppeesh

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), puppies!, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 27, 2014

Albie is crazy about his sister. She is the center of his world, and he shows his devotion to her. If he could, he'd probably place a crown on her head himself.

But this time, it was Sugarwings who did it.

The dorkies finally got their hair cut mid September. Poor pups, I should have shaved them earlier when it was hot out. At least they are ready for the "dog days" of summer and any last blasts of heat wave that Kansas might throw our way.

Redoing the Fairy Berry Trail tree house

Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, Hand painted, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 21, 2014

We haven't had access to the Fairy Berry Trail for a while. First, a big storm turned some dead branches into widow-makers, dangling from the top of the trees. Then, my husband and son did some dangling from the treetops with the chainsaw, and trimmed it all up, leaving piles of debris blocking the trails.

This week, we cleared it up and repaired the Fairy Tree House by rebuilding its walls from the downed limbs and some grapevines.

It kind of looks like a big brush pile behind those two large trees.

One of those trees has grown crookedly down, to form a roof. We entwined branches into a dome shape over the crooked branch, creating kind of a igloo shaped structure.

Here is a picture looking through the archway "door" into the room. And a picture of one of my dogs sniffin the other's butt, apparently. Sorry.

After all the branches were in place, we wove fresh grapevine in and out of them to anchor it all. Hopefully, as the vines dry, they will keep the branches in place. The vines were laden with clusters of grapes, so I'm crossing my fingers that they will drop seeds and more vines will grow up the walls that we built today.

The grand fairies have always loved their tree house, but it is even more beckoning now. Very cozy, with full walls and a roof, made up of woven branches with sunshine peeking through. And I created an archway entrance out of grapevines, that is low enough that an adult needs to duck to get in, but just right for the kiddos.

After a day of construction, well, most of a day. We trimmed up some other trees and cleared the paths in the woods while we had the chainsaw out, but a big part of Sunday was needed just for building the tree house.

Anyway, once it was done, I decided it needed a little something. So, got my paints and thought I'd turn the big knot hole by the entrance into a face.

Then, I thought, no, some eyes looking out from the darkness.

That morphed into two sets of eyes, with the lower ones looking up.

And that made me think of the two fairy girls who will be playing in that tree house.

So, I thought I'd make the faces into those girls. This green sprite is supposed to be Sugarwings.

And here is Dewdrop.