dogs – Page 6 – Karla's Cottage

There is more to Florida than beaches, seafood, and amusement parks?

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2021

Usually, when I go to Florida, it’s either beaches, Harry Potterworld, or Disney. And I go to lots of seafood restaurants. On this visit, I saw more of the inner parts of the state, but I did make drives to the beaches on most days, and still ate more than my fair share of seafood.

Our plans changed and our trip was delayed because we got our Covid vaccines, a happy reason to reschedule. But because of that, I couldn’t book the best camp spots we wanted and had to make the best of it since the reservations were last minute.

We accidentally stayed AN HOUR from the beach in Bradenton. It was a great KOA, but much further away from the water than I wanted to be.

We were in the heartland, and the campground felt almost like we were back home in Kansas. I guess I didn’t realize just how large Bradenton was, and only thought of it as a gulf town. (Maybe I should’ve looked at the map, huh?)

Hunsader Farms had a lot to offer, even if it wasn’t what I had thought I was getting.

I have to admit, that I was a tad bit cranky when I realized exactly how isolated the place was when we arrived. But after hanging out, it grew on me.

There was a U Pick Em zinnia field and strawberry patch, and I not only got to eat juicy berries to my hearts content, and fill the camper with fresh flowers, I was able to walk the dogs to the colorful field and get some portraits of them.

It really was pretty there. Once I let myself enjoy it and stop being resentful about my booking mistake, I was glad to be there.

We even found a seafood tiki bar nearby on the water.

It was a lake, not my beloved ocean, but the place was delicious and fun.

Plus an hour to get to Point of Rocks at Siesta Key is much better than 20 hours from Kansas.

And we weren’t any further from one of the best off leash dog beaches I’d ever been to.

We all loved that leg of our journey.

Family photos with dogs

dogs, family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / April 8, 2021

On the way back from Florida, we made multiple stops to see family. One was in Indiana and I got to see not only my own fam, but Sugar’s baby too. She lives with my niece, JoRenda.

At first, I tried to get a selfie with her.

This is about the best one, it was windy, she was wiggly.

So, I handed my camera over to someone else, and kinda got a pic of us together, but that girl was curious about her doggie family and they were all ready to play, so we let them run together.

After they tired themselves out, we tried again.

It took a few snaps…

Then, ta-dah! All mostly posed. But all were very pretty, even though it’s hard to get a picture of a black dog in a shadow.

Lighter ones are easier. Which is too bad, because I think it hurts the sales of the black pups, even though in person, they are gorgeous dogs and people stop me on the street to tell me how striking Shuggie is.

Sometimes, when the lighting is right, you can see her pretty face in a photo.

Mostly, she just seems to be a black blob.

Her daughter, Ryder, is a pretty girl too. She still has her fluffy, puppy hair, and it was as soft as it was when she was tiny. And she is every bit as sweet as she was then.
At just a few weeks old, she was a dog who didn’t care for humans much. But when you get one like that, you need to reassure them that human touch means LOVE. I gave her so much extra attention, and carried her in a sling with me as I swept floors. It seems to have paid off, she is a cuddler, and a very loving girl.

While the dogs over took most of our vacation, it wasn’t 100% about them, like they thought it was. Having sister time was sooo nice.

Farewell, Florida! Seashells at St Augustine Beaches

dogs, fairies, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 30, 2021

We sure enjoyed the St Augustine beaches!

We were able to drive on the sand, and could haul a day’s worth of tents, dog kennels, chairs, etc. so we had everything we needed with us.

With three dogs, we couldn’t have carried it all and managed them too. At other beaches we chose to take the pups for long walks then leave. Being able to have a vehicle near where we wanted to hang for the day completely changed how we could spend the days.

Oh, those dogs still got plenty of walking, too. And we had all the comforts and shade we needed to enjoy our books in the sea air. We had lots of time for relaxing and making seashell fairies!

Is it the dogs’ vacation or mine?

dogs, Goldendoodle Puppies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 25, 2021

My girls love the dog beaches.

Especially the puppy.

The off leash parks are the faves of all of us.

Of course I have never met a beach I didn’t like. But I have to admit that Jupiter’s off leash beach is ranked up there with Siesta Key as a perfect destination.

The seashell fairy ingredients are abundant!

Rockin rocks

dogs, family, sea shell fairies

By Karla Nathan / March 17, 2021

A bird shaped rock! Isn’t it cool? Well, the front is head, back and wing shaped, the tail part is a second rock and they just kind of slid together perfectly to create a bird.

I was so excited to see it on the shore of our lake.

Then I found a dinner plate sized heart rock with a hag stone hole in it. This was my lucky day.

And a beautiful day at that.

A great afternoon for the trails around the lake.

The dogs thought it was their lucky day too.

A little cabin in the woods

Corona virus, cottage, Current Affairs, dogs, family

By Karla Nathan / February 21, 2021

It has been a long, cold week here in Kansas, as it has been in a large part of the country. We were only without power for a few hours, and our pipes froze up until we (meaning Rich) tucked a tarp around the bushes in front of where the pump goes into the basement.

My heart goes out to the Texans who went through much worse.

We built a big fire, piled our dogs and blankets on our laps and were just fine. When we heard the weather forecast of bone chilling cold and about the possibility of rolling black outs to protect the grid, we did what we could to protect ourselves and pets.

I charged all of our devices and extra power packs, filled the bath tubs with water to use for flushing, and Rich brought some five gallon water bottles in from the garage. We had plans in place if things got worse, but never needed to start hanging tarps up in the hearth room or lighting candles in terra cotta pots for extra warmth.

Our dogs were very excited to see that the hens came to live in the basement for about a week or so during the coldest stretch. And the cats were happy to be tucked into the hen house with all of the warmers and heated water out there, plus a cozy, insulated little box full of cushions to snuggle up in. While I was not quite as happy about chickens as house pets with hay tracked all over the kitchen from Rich’s boots and the dog’s feet, I was glad to know they were safe.

And that they didn’t really smell that bad. Just a tad of a whiff now and then.

But I did enjoy hearing their chatter and singing coming up through the vents.

We did just fine, and I hope you are okay too? Days like that can sure make you appreciate what you have, huh? And remind me that I am blessed.

That we have a cute long cabin just for fun, and not as our actual shelter.

Well, it is fun to have it now. It was not an easy thing to build. Maybe emotionally as much as physically for Rich.

Chopping, hauling, and stacking the logs, coming up with the design and crafting the building throughout a long, hot summer was his way of working through the pain of losing our son. I think a lot of tears mixed with the sweat of the hard work.

The project was mostly completed before winter came. He still needs to gather fieldstone to enclose the chimney and is waiting for the logs to settle before chinking between them.
The fireplace is functional, but not usable yet because of all the gaps between logs, the draft pulls too much smoke through the interior.

See what I mean about drafts?

For now, it is a little garage for our mower. Later on, he will build a table from some wood leftover out of our grandfather tree (a special oak that he used to tell stories to the grandfairies beneath. It fell over and was used to make our dining room table and dog crate) and add a hammock too.

I froze my watch off

Corona virus, cottage, Current Affairs, dogs

By Karla Nathan / February 17, 2021

The dogs are so happy with their new, furry, chair protecting, throw that they do not seem to notice the cold. This weather is scary cold, and the rolling blackouts make it a crap shoot for keeping warm. We woke up to no power on Tuesday, with minus 16 degrees outside.

It was only three hours for us, and we have a good fireplace with a heat blower on it, indoors, the temp only dropped to 56. Other parts of our land aren’t doing as well, I hope that these temporary blackouts stop the problem from getting even worse!

Last week, I volunteered a second time at the Covid vaccine drive through and it was only 14 degrees at the highest point of the day. This weather has gone beyond “cold snap” to “frozen smashed and broken”. Or something like that.

I hate cold with a passion and my family knows that I am a cowering mess of fear when I think the swimming pool water might be a tiny bit more chilly than I like.

Yes, quite the wimp.

I really didn’t think I could take being outdoors in that weather for six hours, but it is a cause that means a lot to me and I was so proud of myself for doing it.

It took:

3 pair of Cuddleduds leggings
2 Cuddleduds shirts
a fleece vet
a jersey lined, long lace skirt (because I could’t fit another pair of pants on)
wool socks
Ugg boots
a fleece gaitor/hood
fur lined hat
fleece scarf
lots of Toasty Toe warmers
fleece gloves (I had mittens to wear over them, but was handling paperwork and couldn’t use the mits, dang)
puffy jacket
Pretty mask

Did I mention, LOTS of warmers? I stuck them all over me.

I knew that all would show was my eyes, so I wore a ton of eye makeup. But didn’t realize that the fleece gaitor would cause my mask to steam up and I’d have a wet, red, icy nose all day. And that it would cause my mascara to melt into puddles that not only ran down my cheeks, but smeared in ragged half circles and froze above my eyes.

As if I had drunkenly drawn on weird eyebrows with a black sharpie.

And no one told me that I looked demented, as I greeted hundreds of drivers.

The cold was so bad, that my poor Apple Watch couldn’t take it. I had it buckled to my vest, because I couldn’t get to my wrist through all of my layers. The frigid air shut the watch down.

After dealing with freezing my watch off outdoors as a volunteer, a few hours in front of a fireplace, under a blanket with the power off didn’t seem so bad.

My next volunteer date is supposed to have temperatures way up to a balmy 21, so I am looking forward to the heat wave!

Hopefully you are warm, safe, and healthy. If you are, please turn down your heat a tad, turn off extra appliances and lights, and conserve what you can so that the grid doesn’t crash and the power stays off a while. Take care out there!

A bowl full of sweetness

dogs, Goldendoodle Puppies, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / February 7, 2021

No matter how many dog beds I have strewn around the studio, every pup I have had wants to curl up in these bowls.

Back when I stored lace in the bowls, Twinkle decided that it was really meant for her instead.

Once she had her own pups, she showed them just how cozy a hard, ceramic bowl was.

Dorothy and Albie have spent their lifetime sleeping in bowls, so eventually I gave up on trying to get them to use doggie beds and put pillows in the dishes.

And I provided a second one for them. Twin beds.

I doubt if Molly will fit hers for very long. She is already 30 lbs and according to her DNA results, has another 25 to go.

My favorite part about seeing Molly share bowl beds with Dorothy, is that it shows how well all the dogs get along. When we first got Honey, war broke out between the Bigs and Littles.

It was ugly.

Then, Honey had her babies and we kept Sugar. I worked with Honey extensively on resource guarding, but the Littles were still leery of her. Sugar adored them and wanted to play, but they didn’t trust her for a long time. It started to get better.

War had ended, but there wasn’t much love between the two factions.

And now there is Molly. Sweet, gentle, Molasses, who could resist her?

After years of adjusting, or maybe just finally giving up? The individuals are now a pack. Littles and Bigs snuggle together, whether in side by side vintage bowls, in the dog beds, or on the sofa where I tell the Bigs they aren’t allowed.

Trying to be creative

Corona virus, cottage, dogs, family, Painting with thread, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / February 4, 2021

The malaise of 2020 is spilling over into 2021 for me. I have made efforts to be creative and busy, but haven’t had any project consume me, like they have in the past.

Lots of embroidery happened, because it’s kind of a mindless task, just to keep my hands busy in front of the TV.

I’ve had some studio time, but it is all a lot of simple projects, like doodling on this tag.

Or trying to make my own dog tags. I have also painted a lot of things, repaired and reorganized. But most were “one of”. Nothing prolific, as I have always been in the past. Typically, if I make something, I can’t stop and next thing you know, there are twenty of them.

I made a scrapbook for Ryan, fairy wings with the grand fairies, and added a vinyl floor to the closet/laundry room.

That was a long delayed job, and has made the floor much warmer.

I even decided that I’d start grooming the dogs myself.

At least the little dogs.

So, I’ve kept busy. I’ve gone for long walks, had socially distant visits with friends, and stayed active. I think the unease and uncertainty in the world because of the virus, and the unimaginable loss of my son who was also one of my best friends has dampened my drive.

We have a camper trip planned, and I hope to clear my mind and refresh my soul with some sea air. When I get back, I’d like to work on reopening my shop. It’s not exactly closed, but it is ignored right now. It would be good for me to revamp and restock for spring.

It has been important to me that I don’t lose myself to the sadness, that I keep crafting, creating, contributing. And while nothing will ever be the same, I am slowly trying to rebuild my world.

A Dog Crate That is a Piece of Furniture

cottage, dogs, Hand Painted Furniture

By Karla Nathan / January 10, 2021

Ta Dah!

The crate is finished and I am thrilled with it.

It’s very spacious inside, actually a bit larger than our wire crate.

And a whole heck of a lot prettier. We keep a crate by the back door so we can send dogs with muddy feet right into it until dry. I was so tired of looking at that eyesore. I tried covering it with a tablecloth, but it just looked bulky.

The crate was exactly across from my seat at the dining table, my view every day when I sat and had my morning coffee. And over dinner.

I was over it.

Still, an ugly view was better than a muddy one that I had to mop up.

We still are using the wire cage until the polyurethane smell is gone, we don’t want to have fumes affecting the dogs. So for now, the wire one is still in the room and a hepa filter is running in the new one for a few weeks.

I think I’ll probably need to keep the metal crate out for a while after the fumes are gone, though. When I ordered this, we hadn’t planned on keeping a puppy. I am sure that no matter how good of a pup little Molly is, she would be tempted to chew on wood if locked inside. It’s probably safer to use it just for the big girls, not the baby.

And look at this!

From my seat at the table, this is what I see- the corner of the cabinet creates the silhouette of a bird!

Do you see it?

The front is a vintage floor grate. The top is from the same tree that that our table is made from. There is a door on each end with four metal medallions from Hobby Lobby as air vents.

I’d been worried about the hardware since there were no flea markets to go to, due to Covid. But I found some vintage styled ones on Amazon that worked out fine.

My dogs have always loved their kennels, I hope they like this one as much as I do.