family – Page 12 – Karla's Cottage

Into the Sunflower Fields

By Karla Nathan / September 16, 2021

Sugarwings’ mama has graduated from her midwifery school! After about 16 years of of working full time and continuing her education, (while getting excellent grades throughout), she has her degrees.

She needed some photos in her cap and gown, and the sunflower fields were just hitting their peak.

Perfect timing!

Not only do sunflowers make a beautiful backdrop for pictures, the huge expanse of yellow blooms that rolls off into the distance is magical.

When you first arrive and see the other cars parked, The number of people already there is deceptive.

I usually feel like I’ll have to go way out into the blooms to find a private area for photos.

But no. Once you step inside, you are surrounded and it can feel like you are in your own private, yellow world.

All of the other families who are visiting just disappear. Unless they brought a flying, super baby with them, who can skim across the top of the flowers.

Some years, the weather doesn’t comply and the farmer isn’t as successful. Others, like now, the flowers are massive and the fields are full.

It’s free to visit, but tips are appreciated, and if you pick flowers, you should leave a dollar for each.

I have only taken Sugarwings twice, and what a big difference seven years makes!

Why have I only been a handful of times, when I get so much joy out of going? Well, weather, timing, many things get in the way, durn it.

This time, the weather was beyond perfect. We headed out at about 6pm, on the Thursday before Labor Day. The lighting was ideal, the mystical “golden hour” was adding a soft glow to the air, and best of all, there were no bugs or mud.

Our timing was ideal.

And what a lovely place for a graduate from Kansas to have a photo shoot. We are the “Sunflower State.”

Plus, it just plain, old makes me happy to be there.

Farewell, Summer

dogs, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2021

It has been hot around here, more than usual for a KS summer, but also, green and vibrant. It has been a wet summer too, without the typical blowing dust that the heat usually brings. Our garden and flowers are still thriving.

More so than I have, even though I try to not let the extra hot days get to me, because I know I will miss summer and wish for some extreme heat when the seasons change and the cold creeps back.

The dogs and I have spent as much time outside as we can. Molly has spent the summer learning to perfect the art of digging.

She has some impressive skills.

We have been attending adolescent puppy classes and she did well there too. I enjoyed the classes so much that I hope to sign up for the next step in classes.

I’d love to master some dog training skills myself and am considering keeping litters an extra month for further training. I’ve also contacted the local shelter to offer myself as a foster home for litters (no answer so far).

This probably makes me sound like a crotch edgy, old lady, but why the heck does school start so early? “Dagnabbit, back in my day” schools began after Labor Day. Sugarwings’ school starts up mid August, and I’m never quite ready to lose her company so soon.

But there they go, off to high school! (With a grown up, hairstyle!)

My hair got a makeover too.

Although, between the humidity and my lack of hot iron skills, it only looks good the day I get it done at the beauty shop. Maybe with Autumn arriving, it will cooperate more, most of the summer, I’ve sported a frizzy mass of messy, limp curls.

Or just lake hair. Which might not look great, but feels pretty good.

The prettiest rock, ever

celebrations, cottage, family, Hearts

By Karla Nathan / August 19, 2021

My last post was about this lazy Susan crafted from sliced geodes, that I felt was an extravagant, but happy purchase. Well, my husband topped that gift that I gave to myself, with a beautiful surprise for our anniversary.

It is the ultimate in heart shaped rocks! A blue crystal geode that seems to have a natural shape that has been enhanced with polishing.

That makes my own heart pitter.

I promptly displayed it with some other special rocks and think it is an ideal addition to my lazy Susan.

This is a quartz crystal heart that I have had for years, but had never noticed the shape until the puppies flipped it over in a flower pot. When they showed me that it was a heart, I brought it in the house where it belongs.

One edge is a little sharp, not softly rounded as it should be, but since it was pointed out to me by dogs, you have to give it some leeway, right? It might not be perfect, but I thanked them for it and forgave them for decimating my flower pot.

And do you see the broken heart outlined with a dark vein in the tall geode? Top right. That one is from an estate sale earlier this summer.

I only gave Rich an Apple Watch for our anniversary and he gave me the prettiest rock I have ever seen. Poor guy, he didn’t get nearly the personal gift that I did.

Catabwa Falls, Asheville

Corona virus, dogs, family, Hearts, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / August 13, 2021

We took both dogs up the trail to Catawba Falls to see the waterfall.

Along the way, my son watched for edible treats the woods had to offer.

While my eyes scan for heart shaped rocks or stones to craft a riverbank fairy, he is on the lookout for mushrooms and berries.

While he found very few on this walk, he marks the spots where they were to check back later.

Molly was a perfect trail dog. Dorothy needed a lift for a great deal of the way.

Although she did enjoy the trip, even if her tiny legs needed a break. I am going to get a sling/carrier for her for future trips. Since her littermate and mama died, she can’t be left behind, the poor girl needs to have us around.

I see more hiking in her future.

While we found the scenery scrumptious, we were far from the only viewers. This place was packed as you got up toward the higher spots. The trails that led upward weren’t bad, but once you hit the start of the falls, it gets crowded as everyone stops to enjoy them.

Because of the Covid upticks, we wanted to avoid being in a mass of humanity, so we settled into a little rocky pool, not too high up where we had a private place to enjoy the river and still see the falls up in the distance.

I applaud people for wanting to be in outdoor locations now, but man. That was a lot of them! Still, we had many peaceful moments. You can skirt crowds if you make an effort.

And if there are going to be multitudes of hikers passing by, I probably should consider wearing makeup. Oh well.

Downtown Asheville is equally busy, but we managed a scenic hike through it while keeping mostly distant, and masking.

It’s been years since I had time to check out the area, and it’s not just vibrant and bust, it’s funky and fun too.

My favorite building?

My son did the carpentry trim on this one, of course it gets my vote!

He also made rock fairies with me while we relaxed at the falls. What a sweet son.

I 💚 North Carolina

fairies, family, Hearts, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / August 10, 2021

It was hard to say good bye to NC (and to my kids there).

Especially when we returned to a sweltering, soggy, heat wave in Kansas.

The mild, mountain weather almost made me forget what humidity felt like.

Oh, but I had a very quick reminder on our return!

As much as I hate having Dewdrop and Adam living so far away, I certainly understand why they do.

I fell in love with the region too.

It’s Just Some stuff

Corona virus, cottage, Current Affairs, family

By Karla Nathan / July 28, 2021

Having the puppies leave for their new families is rewarding.

No matter how many times I tell myself this, it doesn’t make it any easier, I miss my puppies! A few days after they went off on their new paths, we had family come to visit. That was a welcome distraction.

Especially when they brought their own cute doggies along.

And of course, I still have this pup.

Who looks all grown up with her new haircut.

We have had one problem after another. So many that they are blending into one another, to form one big blob of problematic messiness. But none too big, just an ongoing onslaught.

I tripped and cracked a rib, one puppy got sick, another got slightly injured, but all are okay. I had a three year old washer break, replaced it with a brand new one that didn’t work, was lucky enough to get that one replaced and the newest one floods my laundry room. I wasn’t shopping for the best deal, or certain options on the machines, I was just taking what the store could get and was glad to get one. But man, none of them were working?

Of course during the pandemic, we are used to shortages and I figure that if my biggest issue is having trouble replacing appliances (I am looking at you, 8 month back order on a dishwasher), I am doing okay.

Our hot tub died on us last year, and one turned up to buy last week. It was not the one we wanted, but it was the one we could get. It worked and we were glad to get it.
I started to climb in the other day for a relaxing soak on my achey rib after pulling weeds in the garden, had my shirt half off when I looked up to see a workman in the tower.

He had a bird’s eye view of a grandma starting to strip. Poor guy.

Our hot tub area is typically private, but a couple times a year, some brave soul climbs the tower to work on it. I am not complaining about that either, that tower has been lucrative to us.

Our desk top Mac needed replaced, I was able to get one, not the one I wanted, but one I needed. iPads were in stock, Rich could replace his along with his broken Rigid drill (whose ID number was blurred and the warranty wasn’t honored). We needed a new microwave, tires for my car, three new outdoor and two indoor faucets replaced. Our camper has developed a weird electrical thing and hundreds of dollars later, is still not right. There are more little broken issues, big issues, sad things, annoying things, but I am trying to look at it from the point of view that somehow it works out and we are lucky to afford the repairs, replacements, and to find something in stock somehow to get that done, even with shortages.

Then, our 7 month old truck broke down in Southern Missouri while Rich was camping. The pandemic shortages became hard to ignore when we discovered it could be up to six months to get the part to fix it. And I spent hours on the phone with rental companies trying to find a way to get a truck to the Ozarks to pick up Rich, Honey, and the RV.

Our local dealership came through and loaned us this shiny, blue savior and I drove 6-1/2 hours to fetch them and scoop them up to bring home.

So far, the GM dealer is treating us very well and we hope to get this solved in a way that we don’t miss the rest of boating and camping season by not having a truck for months.

Except for a sick puppy, who is better, and a sore rib which is getting better, it’s all just stuff right? (Expensive stuff, but just stuff) I know that and have been rolling with it as good as I can.

Believe me, I know that I am speaking from privilege and that my life is good, these are minor things. I’m quick to thank and commiserate with the salesmen, clerks, repairmen, and parts people who are dealing with the brunt of not being able to get the things that are needed. My problems are small.

After losing a son, losing a truck doesn’t seem like much.

But, a series of stresses does add up and I felt pretty dang sorry for myself yesterday. My rib hurt, I’d been in the truck for 13 hours, and I just didn’t want to think about the deeper reasons that there were so many empty shelves and so few choices when shopping. Driving through parts of Missouri where the virus is spreading like wildfire and hospitals are over filled, and seeing that no one is wearing masks was the final straw.

While I work on being grateful for what I have, it is painful to know that the virus is still spreading and the healing our world needs has slowed down and instead things are getting worse again, not better.

Happy 4th of July!

family

By Karla Nathan / July 4, 2021

The last puppy left yesterday, and luckily, I had a houseful of grandfairies and a sunset at the lake to distract me.

Sugarwings will be spending the rest of the summer with her dad, so the emptiness of the house will be hitting me soon.

But for right now, I am relishing the chaos and laughter of having everyone here and feeling quite pleased to have been able to sleep in and not be up with the furry babies at 5:30 am.

Fresh paint

cottage, dogs, family

By Karla Nathan / June 27, 2021

We have had some cheerful, fun relatives visiting for a few days, just what we needed after the loss of Twinkle and Albert.

I thought I’d spruce the place up a bit before they arrived and get a much needed coat of paint on this swing.

While I was at it, I spray painted the old, metal chairs white and used some of the blue paint on a few flower pots around the yard. Those rusty chairs have so many coats of paint on them, I’d say they were more paint than metal. But that wouldn’t be true, because they flake off so much.

Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to be a person with brand new stuff instead of junk…

But new stuff wears out too, right? It needs painted after years of wear. IF it holds up that long. These chairs are probably from the 50s. So, I guess I’ll stick with them.

I guess the swing has been painted a lot too. This is the first time it’s been blue.

It has had many incarnations in white and one in cream. Blue is a pleasant change.

(Little Buddy, on the left has become available again, if you are looking for a mellow ball of fuzzy love to snuggle)

Our family just left this morning, and we missed them already. We went boating, out for a run, did some paint pours, belted out some karaoke, but mostly played with puppies.

It was relaxing to hang out in the courtyard after dinner and watch the pups wear themselves out.

Every family reunion should feature puppies!

He was a good boy

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family

By Karla Nathan / June 23, 2021

Before we could recover from the loss of Twinkle, Albie had a sudden illness and died also.

He was Twinkle’s son from her large litter of nine. Dorothy was from that same batch of puppies, as well as my sister’s Frodo, my pal Shan’s Oscar, and our neighbor’s Scruffy.
So many good babies!

Albie and Dorothy were lifelong besties.

Albie was an odd little guy, a mix of worry and adventure but full of devotion.

He was at the same time, hanging in the background and being first to join in on any activity.

He never wanted to be left out of anything, and was worried that he might be. We went out of our way to reassure him and in the last few years, his confidence grew to the point where he thought he was one of the big dogs, not part of the group of Yorkies.

His nickname was “The River Dog” because he loved kayak trips. We feel that separating him for things like this, and giving him alone time away from the five other dogs was part of helping him find his inner big dog and making his personality bloom.

He spent most of his free time perched on the back of a chair, where he had a good view of what was going on in the house. He liked to be on a chair with us, so he could be nearby, but he wasn’t a cuddler. He watched every move we made, always on alert for what he could do to join in and stay close, but didn’t want to be held.

I think he thought he was our protector and always had to be on guard to keep us safe.

Albie watched over us all, including the puppies.

He was vigilant when there was a new litter, keeping an eye on them, but never venturing too near.

From the very beginning, he was closest to Dewdrop. I think he might have thought he needed to watch over her like he did the puppies.

He might have a worried look on his face in this photo, but he was pretty dang happy. She was one person who he liked being held by. He followed her everywhere when she was at the cottage.

That boy loved coming to work with me in the studio, too. He had a habit of jumping up into whatever chair I just got out of. If I was at the computer, he was on my chair in my work station. When I came back to the table, he’d hop in my desk chair.

When we got Honey, he wasn’t too happy with us and there was a long adjustment period, with the Littles against the Bigs. Eventually, they all became one pack and Albert was right out front when running with the big dogs in the woods. He thought of himself as a leader, although I don’t know if any of the large dogs acknowledged his role as boss. They indulged him, and let him think what he wanted.

But no matter how important his role was in guarding the family and telling the other dogs what to do, he always had time for the girls, and enjoyed the special attention they gave him.

I will miss his subdued enthusiasm in joining everything anyone was doing. His quiet joy in being a family leader. The unending love he had for us all.

When I buried his mommy, Twinkle just a few days ago, he sat by my side the entire time, and watched me put her in the ground. Afterwards he sat there a while, like he was taking care of her, watching over her body like he watched over us.

He never complained, he never demanded. He was 9 lbs of bravery and sweetness, with a little bit of worry and a lot of caring thrown in the mix.

He died very bravely too. Rich had been out of town ten days, and Albert stayed strong until his return. I think he was hanging on to see him.

We held Albie and his sister in our arms together as he slowly faded away, whispering his favorite words to him, telling him how much we loved our River Dog.

I will miss my funny, weird little guy. He was a good boy.

Pretty stones

Corona virus, cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, flowers, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / June 19, 2021

When Twinkle passed, I brought her home from the vet’s office to show her to the other dogs. I knew they would look for her if I didn’t. You might think it’s odd, but we showed Ryan’s body to our pets too. They were overly excited about a room filled with paramedics and other professionals during a pandemic when they hadn’t been around many people, so it wasn’t exactly a moving moment.

But at least they knew why Uncle Ryan wasn’t around for ear scratches and walks any more.

It would’ve been easier to have Twinkle cremated, my husband was out of town and it was 100 degrees that day. But I hated to think of the other dogs always looking for her and not knowing where she was.

I buried her next to Ryan’s memorial tree.

A dear friend and her daughter had engraved and painted rocks for me and I’d been planning on placing them by this oak. I am glad I hadn’t done it yet, they were just what I needed to top Twinkle’s grave.

I used some of the rocks in planters too.

Ryan is never out of my thoughts, but I still like to have little trinkets and mementos of him around me.