dogs – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

A good detour

By Karla Nathan / February 10, 2024

On our long, meandering, and full trip to Florida, we took a slight detour on the way home to visit some of our North Carolina family. While there, we decided to park our trailer at Rich’s brother’s home for a while. That saved us the effort of hauling it right back out that way again this spring.

Driving without a trailer is soooooooo much easier than hauling that hulk across country.

Do you know what isn’t easy? Backing a camper up an icy hill in mountain country. I rolled down the window and hung my body out of it to see where the fishtailing, slip sliding trailer was headed and to give Rich a heads up in case it decided to slither over the drop off. I couldn’t stand in the driveway to help with directions because this thing had a mind of its own and I didn’t want to put myself anywhere near where its path might take it.

After getting it in place, the rest of the trip home was a breeze. And now we have it located in one of our favorite places, tempting us to zip back out again soon. Thanks for the parking space, Bro!

While in Boone, we took the doggies to the nursing home to see Rich’s mom.

And had a great night out with his brother.

It was a quick trip, after another visit with the dogs to see Joan the next morning, we were right back on the road. With our load lightened, we made the 14 hour drive in one swoop. If we’d been pulling that trailer, it would’ve meant a break over night and a two day drive.

I was touched to see some of my artwork in Joan’s room.

And the dogs adored all of the attention they got there. Honey especially. She has that classic, golden retriever personality that craves petting and attention. She figures everyone she meets cannot wait to love on her. And at the nursing home, she was right.

She doesn’t always get it right. When she is at the dog park, dripping mud from head to toe, she isn’t as popular as she thinks she should be. But visiting the assisted living center? That is a dream come true for a golden retriever.

Escaping the cold

dogs, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 21, 2024

There has been some biting cold and downright dangerous weather all over the country. Between hurriedly packing up and zooming out of town earlier than we planned then driving through snow anyway, family members missing Disney time due to storms, and shuffling flights around for Sugarwings, we have been on the edge of succumbing to the horrid cold ourselves.

We have been so lucky to get to our destinations and avoid the worst of the chill. Jackets on the beach? Who cares? I’m at the beach! And thrilled to be here.

The pups love it as much as I do. They have ran full speed into the waves, rolled in the sand, and happily trotted alongside us for hours.

Our first day was windbreaker over jacket type weather, and a bit gray, but the second? Up in the 70s and the water gleamed in a tropical aqua blue.

Both days were uncrowded. January in Florida might not be the most popular, sun drenched, time of year to be vacationing in. But to me? I love the low crowds.

And being away from MINUS TWELVE DEGREES in Kansas.

And having to wearing a windbreaker while dining outside with a view of the ocean is not something I will complain about. We spent our first morning at Walton Rocks dog beach, then took a meandering drive down the coast to find a place to eat on the beach, then headed to Jupiter dog beach for a couple more hours.

I gather shells, look for heart shapes and chat with the dogs as I walk, and couldn’t ask for much more.

In the evenings, we grill a piece of fish back at the camper, then watch Netflix or whatever sounds good on streaming while I craft and the dogs fill the floor of our 19’ rv space.

At this point the dogs are more sand than fur, and don’t quite get all the way dry, and of course the floor of the camper is as sandy as the dogs.

We have blown some fuses, still can’t get hot water to work, and our spot is a little too close to the highway. Not a perfect trip, but a very good one none the less.

Are vacations ever perfect? They don’t have to be, to still be perfectly nice.

While I was with Mickey

dogs, guncles, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 18, 2024

While I was exploring the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and visiting the Evil Queen with her nemisis, Snow White at the enchanted forest, the guys were wrangling 8 dogs while ripping out the Guncles’ back fence wall and rebuilding it.

We have a tradition of staying with our bros during part of our camping adventures in Florida and helping with a project.

One year it was redoing a deck, then another was the other side of the fence.
I might have been a little more helpful with those than I was this time. I skeedaddled my way to Orlando to meet up with two grand fairies and my boy for some Disney fun. It was MLK weekend, so the kiddos had an extra day off.

Sugarwings flew in (Barely. With the country wide weather problems, this was an iffy enterprise and some flight shuffling was required). Dewdrop rode down from NC with her daddy. They were delayed due to weather, but made it eventually.

The guys were nice about letting me off the hook for the big job, but I did come straight back from Epcot to help with finishing touches while the kids had some time together with their dad to go meandering in Daytona Beach.

I was happy to give the kids time together while I arranged flower pots and garden furniture. Look at how we are fed while working in the yard! Never ending fresh seafood prepared by first class cooks - those Guncles both are experts in the kitchen.

The only trouble is that we have completed most of the rebuild at this point. Only one more side of the fence to go. If we want to be invited back to the paradise of Guncleness seafood dinners, my husband is going to have to learn a few new building skills beyond patios and fences!

Heck for the special treatment they show us, maybe I’ll learn how to build something.

Molly goes pumpkin shopping

dogs, Goldendoodle Puppies, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 21, 2023

Now that my grand fairies are growing up, I need to treat my dogs more like kiddos. We took Molly to the punkin patch and I let her be my little kid instead.

Ha, not quite true! While the doodle enjoyed our trip, this child (verging on 17-1/2) seems to have inherited my joy in outings that other people might consider “for kids” and had a great time too.

My partner in crime.
No, in adventures. Especially silly adventures.

I hope they never outgrow that. I can see us at 80 and 30, exploring together.

This pumpkin patch has such gorgeous vistas. It feels like you can see forever into the Kansas horizon. Doesn’t the sky look limitless?

Well, it felt even bigger after we claimed our perfect pumpkins and hauled them across numerous fields in a driving wind (with tiny dust tornadoes swirling around us and aiming at my eyes). Somehow, even with the wind, and a couple of too hefty gourds, we had some laughs and enjoyed the walk. We did not linger at the maze or other attractions, though, by the time we left, that blowing dust was making rethink my commitment to contact lenses. And doubt my upper body strength. I should’ve gotten a wagon…

Molly didn’t mind the wind, she met a new buddy who hung out with us for most of our walk.

She met someone who did not want to be her buddy too.

And kept her distance from these potential pals.

We had just picked her up from the groomer before taking her to the driving dust bowl, I mean, pumpkin patch. After her hairstyling and bath, she was given a Nightmare Before Xmas scarf. Sugarwings admired it so much, the groomer gave them one too.
One of our goals for the day was to find a pumpkin to match Molly’s fur. This was as close as we could get.

The cutest company

dogs, family

By Karla Nathan / August 9, 2023

A grand fairy came to visit from NC last week and brought not only the sweetest boyfriend any grand mother could ever wish one of her kids could fall for (I call him her “Care Bear”), but this darling pup too.

He was only 8 weeks old, they picked him up on their drive to spend their week’s vacation bonding with him.

The original plan was to get him on the way home, after the trip. But I convinced them that traveling with a fur baby was an excellent time to get to know each other. The week off of work meant they could work on his potty schedule and not be rushing off to work and leaving him alone before they had a chance for him to know who they were and that he belonged with them and would be okay.

No worries on that point! By the time they got to Kansas, he was firmly attached to his new folks. We babysat for him a few times and he asked me quite often when they’d be back.

We have the perfect yard and house for dog watching, and I was so happy to have him around. Little Bear is a smart fella and learned Sit right away, and is doing well on Come too.

It was such a nice visit from them all. On our trip to NC last month, we missed getting time with these guys because of the truck accident. I was lucky to get a do over, and even luckier to meet Bear.

Rich and Sugar’s first flea market

antiques/junking, dogs

By Karla Nathan / May 8, 2023

Last week was my favorite flea market, Sparks and White Cloud. It is a far cry from its heyday of the past, but I still love it. And I always fill my cart multiple times.

As well as refilling my junk jewel stash.

I see future bejeweled Christmas trees hiding in this pile of sparklies!

And for some strange reason, I purchased this entire tub of rubber doll parts.

I was picking through it to find vintage Christmas elf heads and the owner told me that I should buy the whole tub. Uhm, no thanks. Especially at $50. Well, his price kept dropping and my pile of elf heads kept growing.

He said he would throw in the tub, and I always need more clear tubs, who doesn’t? But wait, had he previously expected me to fill my pockets with faces? I had figured he was sending the tub too.

I have no idea what I’ll do with the hundreds of heads in this bucket of weirdness. But another dealer talked me into buying a pile of ugly dolls for only $2. I can possibly copy the John Travolta/Nic Cage FaceOff movie and put new faces on the bodies to create some cuter dolls.

I shall consider it a challenge, not a waste of space and twenty bucks.

For the first time, my husband came along to the flea market. He isn’t into vintage, but hey, he is into me and I just hit 65, so I guess he likes some vintage stuff.

It was Sugar’s birthday and the weather was exactly what you’d want when you describe a perfect spring day in Kansas. So we loaded up Sugar in the truck and the two of them wandered around while I shopped. While Rich took a cart full of purchases to the vehicle for me, I had that sweet dog.

She was so well behaved. I simply laid the leash across my shoulder so I had free hands to shop, and my pup stayed right at my hip the whole time.

We rewarded our birthday girl with a walk down by the Platte River in White Cloud. The only thing missing from making this an ideal adventure was a funnel cake, which I missed out on getting. As I was watching the river flow by, I thought it would be quite the spot for a picnic, and wished I’d picked up a treat to bring along.

Funnel cake or not, I sure enjoyed our outing. I ran into lots of other junker friends there and had conversations with sellers I’d been buying from for years. I didn’t convert Rich into an antique shopper, but he had fun. He was intrigued by the idea of “mantiques” but not enough to look at any. He mostly liked the word.

Sugar got tons of attention and many compliments on her behavior. Yep, a very good day.

Puppy Sitting was just what I needed

dogs

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2022

Before I went on my many legged trip, I had a little baby sitting gig.

A friend was called out of town and needed a puppy wrangler.

Since I have such an ideal set up for a back yard dog nursery, I offered to watch them.

Tending to little ones was just what I needed! I miss having little doodles around and these 7, little (big) Great Pyrenees help fill that gap in my heart since it has been too long since we’ve had pups of our own.

It had been a particularly rough week, after watching the devastation in Florida and worrying about people and places I love there.

Also, the day these guys arrived, I was in a terrible wreck. I was not injured, my car is pretty jacked up, but the event itself was devastating. A 16 yr old boy on a dirt bike, was speeding through an intersection, whipped illegally around a car in a round about and slammed into my car. He was taken in an ambulance, but was up and walking before he left. I have no idea how he is and it haunts me to think of him.

It only takes a second for a life to change. Sugarwings and I were together, and were happily planning a Hocus Pocus watch party, when out of the blue, our car was hit. Seeing this child on the ground after the collision was just awful and such a contrast to our laughter from a moment before.

I was extremely proud of my grand fairy and the calm way they called my husband, talked to the police, and to other witnesses while I help tend the injured motorcycle driver.

You can see why I was so ready for the uplifting puppy snuggles.

Too bad I can’t fill my bag with pups to take with me to Florida because they could use some puppy hugs there too.

I debated whether or not I should even follow through with my plans. Vacationing in an area that just missed being wiped out by a hurricane like the surrounding areas felt wrong. On the other hand, I know that tourism dollars are important there. And Siesta Key is up and running, ready for guests, we won’t be in anyones’ way.

The pups left the day before my flight, and I am very glad I had the trip to distract me from their loss.

Hidden Hearts

dogs, family, Hearts, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / September 19, 2022

I have always enjoyed finding shapes in nature. Especially hearts. Or fairy wings.
Typically, I take a photo of the heart and leave it, but some I pocket, like this one from the dog park.

They have taken on even more meaning since we lost Ry. He used to be enthusiastic about the ones I’d see when out on our walks together. I can hear his voice every time I find one now.

“That’s so cool, Mom!”

So this broken heart really stood out and caught my eye. It shows how I’ve felt since Ryan left. Still holding it together, but forever broken.

And lookee here at this one! On Molly’s hip. She’d had an ouchie and as it healed, the hair grew back as more golden retriever hair than poodle/doodle hair. And a darker color too.

“That’s so cool!”

Molly got a haircut

dogs

By Karla Nathan / August 15, 2022

We had kinda let Molly’s do become undone. That poor dog was a fuzzy, matted mess. A no-no with doodles. I made an appointment for her to be shaved, but was actually turned away because she was matted!

So, we bought a good pair of clippers and I did it myself. This little dumpling was such a good girl, she stood very still, was calm and sweet.

And I think she looks beautiful. I know she is more comfortable now. This dog spends a lot of time in the woods, where she gets burrs, plus it has been HOT around here.

Now that she is sleek and trimmed, she is an excellent lake dog.

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.