family – Page 17 – Karla's Cottage

Adjusting our quarenteam and adding to the quarentainer cottage

Corona virus, Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2020

Quarantining had been going fine for us. Sharing Sugarwings with her mom’s household, had added their home to our “quarenteam” so we didn’t feel too isolated or lonely. Plus, meeting friends for social distancing walks and zoom calls, kept me in touch.

I guess that I had walled off many of my loneliness for the rest of our family, to get through this period.

But when Dewdrop and her daddy arrived for a visit, and the big girls came over, my heart swelled like the Grinch’s did when he discovered the meaning of Christmas and realized that he loved the Whos.

We all said that our big sleepover felt just like Christmas. The grandfairies and I were thinking of little acts of kindness we could do as gifts for each other.

Welcoming them in wasn't a simple process. Sugarwings’ mom is an RN and researched in-depth some protocols to keep their arrival as safe as possible.

They all waited outside, then one at a time, each emptied their bags onto an outdoor table to be wiped down.

And ran over with an ultraviolet wand.

Sugarwings helped with hand sanitizers before each person came inside, stood in a tub, took off their clothes and went to the shower. Gloves were used to carry clothes to the washer, while fresh clothing was sanitized to wear after the shower.

While this virus rages on, we each have to figure out how to cope. We know that total isolation and never leaving the house can probably keep you safe. But as humans, that can only sustain us for so long.

We figured we had to make some choices to be as safe as we can be, and still make it work for our own needs.

Not everyone has the same viewpoint. We took our boat to the lake, and it was more crowded than I had ever seen it, in the decades we had been going there.
Boating could be a good thing to do for social distancing, one family, one boat, right? Out on the lake, far from other people?

It worked that way for us, we were not near anyone on our trip.

But while out, we saw so many parties, of multiple boats tied up together with groups going back and forth from boat to boat, kids all splashing together in the water.
But who am I to judge? I am sure that there are plenty of people who are much more stringent with their guidelines than I am, and would think that allowing family houseguests is pushing the limits.

Being judgey never helped anyone. I hope you are finding what you need to keep safe as you reasonably can and still find some happiness and comfort.

This isn’t over yet.

Birthday Party Decor Without a Trip to the Store

celebrations, Corona virus, cottage, family, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 9, 2020

There are many things that social distancing has made more complicated. And hosting a birthday party was one of them. Sugarwings spends time between our household and her mom’s, so our two groups have been able to mingle, but sadly, we could not have other family members over to celebrate with us.

We also couldn’t pop into a store for last minute items, like the balloons that Sugarwings wanted for the table. She loves planning our family parties, and is the one who set this up.

We did have one last package of water balloons leftover from last summer, the kind that come in a big bunch, that you hook up directly to a faucet to fill up.

She could have taken each off its stem and blown it up, but we decided balloons filled with water could be extra fun. We floated them in clear glass bowls and used them as a centerpiece.

There were some banner pieces packed away, but not anything personal, so the Grand Fairy printed some dragons to hang onto the banners. And we agreed that the colorful dragons tied in the color of the balloons to the banners.

But the best part of the meal was the dolce de leche cheesecake that our Hippy Chick spent all afternoon working on. She came over to our house to bake it, and that added to the festive feel of putting a party together.

We missed the rest of our big family, but know that staying away, and staying healthy now means we will be celebrating with them later when all of this ends.

A Decorated Loaf of Flatbread

Corona virus, family, flowers, Food and Drink

By Karla Nathan / May 6, 2020

Lately, I have been seeing some lovely loaves online and thought I would give it a try myself.

I made a batch of dough, same way I usually do, then pressed half of it flat onto a cookie sheet.
I used basil, rosemary, and thyme for the stems and leaves. Grape tomatoes, zucchini, and slices of peppers were the flowers.After putting it together, I thought it needed more, and added slices of black olives to the center of the zucchini flowers.

I probably should have taken more time to cut the peppers into better petal shapes, but these were fine, if not exactly right.

It got sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray, sprinkled Italian seasoning over that, and let it rise before baking.

The bread baked up nicely, and we sliced it with a pizza cutter. The full branches of thyme made nice stems, but were a bit much. Although easily picked off before eating. The sticks came away, with the leaves still mostly on the dough.

Sugarwings wasn’t a fan of most of the toppings. She turned the other half of the loaf into twisted breadsticks and a single piece of flatbread with just basil, which she does like.

It turned out better than our Easter Bunny Bread, which was cute as a dough rabbit. (Before rising)

After it rose, it looked like Burl Ives in Rudolf.
After baking, he looked like Burl had been beaten up.

I might stick to floral scenes….

The Grandfather Tree Resin River and Rock Table

Corona virus, cottage, family

By Karla Nathan / April 23, 2020

I don’t think that I ever followed up on my story about our Grandfather Table. I shared the process of creating it, and there have been photos of it in the background here and there.

But I haven’t shown you the complete finished product.

Last fall was a full, and emotional time for me. With my son’s family splitting up, trying to get their house (that we owned) fixed up and listed before the real estate market hit its winter doldrums.

(There is not a day that goes by, that I am not thanking my lucky stars and feeling blessed that we sold it before winter, because this spring’s selling period? Oh, I think you know how the corona virus has affected that!).

A lot was going on, throughout the heartache of the family readjusting to its new arrangements and relationships. My husband retired, we had family trips, I hurt my shoulder, had a concussion, hosted A Snowbird’s Song, and well, just kind of hung in as best as I could.

But now? Life is on a much more laid back course for us here at the cottage. And the problems that I thought were so huge last fall seem petty now.

All of that stress about my husband quitting his job? Gone. Even though our savings sure took a deep dive now, with the suffering so many are going through without jobs, I have nothing to complain about.

We have a home we won’t lose.

We have food.

We have each other.

Having my husband home, by my side while we go through this together has made me love the fact that he retired so early.

Who knows what might happen with our retirement savings, we might both need to find jobs when possible, but it is something we will face as a couple.

Sitting together at this table, each morning, drinking coffee, looking at the wildflowers he picked for me in the woods, I am comforted.

The history of this table, and my husband’s sweet, sentimental reasons for having it built mean even more.
(You can read the background HERE)

To my husband, the tree reminds him of telling stories to the grand fairies under the old oak it was built from. Family stories of his grandfather.

To me? I was fearing that it was going to always remind me of that rough time last Fall, when I was heartsick and injured, worried and tired. Facing much bigger problems in my life now, and not just in mine, but world wide devastation from this insidious virus, this table has come to represent something else to me.

A solid relationship, as strong as the oak.

And hope for the time ahead, when family can once again gather around this table together.

Little bunnies hopping away

Corona virus, family, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / April 6, 2020

This afternoon, I bundled up some bunnies and dropped them off at the post office.

I had snipped quite a few of this critters out of foam. It felt a little bit like whittling.

Well, I think it did, I have never actually whittled before…

Anyway, they were a fun craft for me, when I wasn’t feeling up to spending time in the studio. I was glad to have something to work on, and even happier to share them with some kiddos I know.

After writing out some instructions for painting, and for making their own with some foam included in a few packaged, I added some flowers and tidbits for decorating and got them all boxed up in time for Easter.

One went to Angela and another to Gail, from giveaways on FB and IG. I kept this one, that I had painted for my own Easter decor.

Our holiday display is pretty low key so far, but if Sugarwings has anything to say about it, our home will be strewn with rabbits and eggs from one end to the other.

Actually, that sounds kind of cheerful. I hadn’t really planned on doing much besides gifting these squishies, but I am liking the idea of having the grand fairy decorate for me.

A Later in Life Career Change

Corona virus, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 19, 2020

Before spring break, in what seems like a lifetime ago, Sugarwings was in the school play.

And we picked up one of her friends for our family outing to the Shriner’s Circus.

Now, we are adjusting to social distancing, and no school in Kansas, even possibly past August.

Mr. Pop, my husband, is the new Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, and PE teacher.

For now, we have asked Bill Nye the Science Guy to telecommute lessons in his area of expertise, because we can’t handle that one.

I got lucky and was hired to teach Art. Our first lesson was about the color wheel, and complementary colors, displayed in Sculpy.

I am called, Mrs. Gram and will also be the lunch lady. Sugarwings made the schedule and has been a model student. I can already see her making the honor roll if she keeps it up.

One day down..

Good luck to all of you out there who have surprisingly become teachers, too. If you have any tips, I’m listening.

A Stop Along The Way

dogs, family, paintings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 9, 2020

On our long, long drive to Florida, we made a side trip to Helen, GA. We had family to visit, and were excited to see them, not even knowing what a gorgeous, little tourist town they lived in.

We had unpleasant weather, not the best to be pulling a camper along twisty, mountain curves. But the scenery was still spectacular, if spooky.

Being in a truck with three freshly bathed dogs on a long trip, started out as an adventure.

The rain soon turned it into a wet, muddy mess.

Luckily, our family was made up of understanding, dog people. It all worked out.My SIL, Sharon keeps a mop handy for their big dogs too.

She and I got out to explore the town a shop a little.

The town is on a river in the mountains, and I hope to return in nicer weather for some hiking and floating.

On this visit, we stuck to indoor activities, and I found these fantastic, vintage beaded pieces at the local antique mall.

Most of the trip was spent catching up and chatting in their new, hillside cottage. I was touched to see a plethora of things I’d made over the years.
Like this kitchen island.

Way back when I had a furniture business, I was always building pieces out of scraps of this and that.

I used to paint a lot of trays too.

So many trays, boards, signs, cabinets, whatever had a blank space, got all flowered up.

Well, not always flowers. This cabinet was damaged so I added a mouse hole.

She had an old watercolor of mine too.

It was sweet of her to keep these around.

At the moment, I am recovering from knee surgery. If you tried to get ahold of me to sign up for Bluebirds Song, I will be getting back to you soon.

St Augustine isn’t exactly near Disney, but it really isn’t all that far away…

family, Food and Drink, paintings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / February 27, 2020

I took advantage of being in Florida and made a day trip to Orlando. My sis, Terry and her fun husband were there on a spur of the moment trip.

It was pretty dang cold out for that part of the country, so we thought we would try something different. Instead of going to a park, we had a sightseeing day.

And we based our wanderings around whatever reservations we could get for meals. If you know much about Disney, you might know about the big hoopla around making reservations for meals 180 days in advance. They book up that quickly, especially character meals.

I’ve discovered that people hoard those reservations and make as many as they can, deciding at the last minute which to keep.

You can usually snag a good one with the 24 hour window there is to get refunds on deposits when cancelling.

We were lucky to get into tea at the Grand Floridian for lunch and dinner at Storybook Woods with Snow White.

Along with the Evil Queen.

Both restaurants are in hotels, not in a park, so no ticket was required. But we still got to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks over Wilderness Lodge when we arrived to dine with Snow and Dopey.

The rest of the day was spent riding the skyline and monorail to sightsee at hotels along the way.

I’d never seen the Grand Floridian before and loved all of the details.

Of course, Disney is all about the details and art. This giant mosaic is at the newest hotel, the Riviera.

Keeping with our laid back attitude, we took a break at the Riviera in the kids’ craft room. Dale got some hot chocolate, we watched a movie on the big screen, and I did the day’s project.

It was a lesson in doing an animation cell, where you paint on the back of the clear plastic, then flip it over when done. This is what the back of mine looked like.

We took the time to watch a bride arrive for her wedding, a teeny girl dressed as a princess get a photo shoot, we meandered through lobbies, gift shops, and looked around Disney Springs.

You never know what sights you’ll see when you slow down and take the time to look.

Like a biker paying tribute to Walt, or a cross eyed Elsa made of crystals.

I can’t say that I have ever had a bad day at Disney, but this lazy, no plan, wandering around day, sure was extra special.

The Great Camping Adventure

Dew Drop, family, guncles, Travel

By Karla Nathan / February 24, 2020

We have only had minimal beach time so far, but when we made it to the shore, it was the best!

Some trips required jackets and were quite short.

But even a chilly, brisk walk on the beach is uplifting to the soul.

The dogs agree.

And so did Dewdrop. She and her dad drove down from North Carolina to see us, and get a bit of Florida sunshine.

Uhm, at least that was the plan…

Our camper is TINY.

Or should I say tiny?

We have two adults, two big dogs and one little Twinkle living in it. Add a cold, relentless rain and two more people? Since one was a little fairy with a bad cough, it simply wouldn’t work.

The solution? We found the only hotel with an indoor pool that had a single room left (it was Daytona 500 weekend, and not only were the hotels full, they were doubled in price).

And we could check in at 9am so we had a place to get the kiddo out of the rain and take advantage of the free breakfast that morning as well as check out day. (Two free breakfasts that I didn’t have to make in the camper took away some of the ouchiness of paying twice the cost of a room that night.)

Did I mention how teensy weensy the camper is?

A meal outdoors is nice, but indoors, impossible. it was even nicer after Guncle Randy gave me a box of lace curtains from an estate sale, and our “dining room” had a bit of privacy.

I have never done anything interesting to the interior of the camper, it is not only on the extra small side, it is dark and gloomy too.

If we decide to do more of this, I see a makeover coming.

And do I think I want to do this again?

Yes, I think I do…

Camping is a affordable way to travel with our dogs. Bad weather complicates things, but that can happen on any trip. You just have to adjust and make the most of it, and I feel like we have made this work.

After being here almost two weeks, I’ve got lots of ideas on how to do it better next time.

Such as not bringing as many clothes with me. Traveling with dogs means hitting the washer and dryer a lot, so I shouldn’t need to bring that much along and take up valuable packing space.

I was doing laundry quite often. (Thanks, Guncles! They live near by and welcomed the whole crew, dogs, laundry and all.)

And feeding us royally!

While the kids were here, we stayed in Guncleland a few days and helped rebuild their deck.

The family bonded over hard labor, good food, laughter and togetherness.
And it was a welcome break from what I was calling, “The Crappy Camper”

So was exploring old town St Augustine.

It hasn’t been a perfect trip, but there have been moments of perfection.

Yes, I’d do it again.

Highlights for 2019 of trips, redos, art events, and more

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / January 1, 2020

While 2019 had some very rough moments, there were some major highlights for me too. Sugarwings and I have spent maybe about 10,000 gajillion hours together in the studio, and this year, she seemed to come into her own with coming up with well executed, interesting projects.

There were many times that she would show me something and I'd be surprised a kid had done it. Like these hot glue roses. Really nice!

I also got to host a few gatherings, like "Love Bird Song" for Valentine's Day, where I became addicted to cutting carrots into heart shapes and made up excuses to have visitors just to serve more heart shaped carrots.

Sadly, though, the day after the class, I slipped in the studio and conked my head. If you are going to be keeping track, this is Concussion #1.

And Art Event #1

My buddy, Karen came to the cottage to teach in August, and we had a great weekend with friends.

Art Event #2 (these aren't in order, I am just counting them)

Then, one big ole, wonderful, weekend happened in November with A Snowbird's Song, and I am still feeling happy thoughts thinking about that get together!

(And yes, I am planning on doing one again in November 2020, please come and join the fun!)

Art Event #3

In February, I taught at the Cozy Castle, with two Valenting projects.

And guess what? I will be doing that again this February!! It will be a bittersweet experience, her gorgeous home has sold, and this will be my last visit to see her while I happen to be in Florida vacationing. I am quite glad to get one more night in that lovely place.

Art Event #4

In April, Jenn Hayslip invited me to teach at Jekyll Island where I roomed with my Honey Bunny, Guncle Randy.

Art Event #5

We laughed our fluffy little bunny tails off, and had a great time with great people.

After I taught at the Cozy Castle, my husband and Sugarwings met me in Orlando, and we drove down to Ft Lauderdale for some winter getaway beach time.

Then, he played golf with friends while she and I hung with Mickey.

And if you are going to be keeping track, this is Disney #1.

After Jenn's event in Georgia, I was flying home from Jacksonville, and of course, had to spend time at Guncleland while there. And when in Florida, I thought it would be smart to meet up with Terry and Dale to make a lil visit to Disney again..

Disney #2

We spent a day at Universal too.

And oops! See the forehead starting to turn color?

Yep.

Concussion #2, I got dizzy on a ride and fell face first into a wall of lockers.

June held a trip to Park City to Terry's grand masquerade/family reunion.

Where we had some exciting dress up time, and bonding with loved ones.

All of the other trips were flying (mostly on free flights from Southwest points) but I took a cross country trip to pick up Dewdrop by car and stopped in Indy to see my family there.

And I got to spend a night at my fab friend, Lori's beautiful home in Louisville too.

During a roadside antique mall stop, I found these curtains that inspired a bathroom redo when I got home.

Redo count? #1

A huge moment in last spring was redoing my studio. I straightened, sorted, painted, and rearranged to make a much more useful space. It was a week of nonstop hard work, but I still am uplifted by the redo everytime I walk in there.

Redo count #2

Redo count #3 A not so interesting redo, but one I was proud of myself for tackling was power washing and repainting this garage all by myself. Although, if I knew what was ahead of me, I probably would have just taken the time to rest up instead…

Because that is when my son's family broke up and we had to do a major redo on this house to get it on the market before the brief, fall selling season was over. We tore down out buildings, repainted the shed, cleaned out the garage, repainted ceilings, bathroom cabinets, stairs, and all but two rooms. Then hauled gravel and shovelled it into the driveway, redid flower beds, mowed and mowed and trimmed and trimmed, and hauled off all of the household of filth and junk and everything else the temporary renters had left including maggots in the kitchen and well, I won't get into that, I am letting it all go….

The house looked homey and welcoming after our nonstop month of work and it sold with multiple offers in less than a week, so, as I said, I am letting the rage and exhaustion go.

Or at least trying.

Redo count? #4- to #4,000?

It felt like more.

Having a houseful of doodle babies to come home to every day, sure made me feel better. I loved every second of time I had with these wonderful pups, they were my smartest, sweetest litter, ever.

After we finished the house, we flew the kids to Clearwater Beach and to Disney. We wanted them to know that even though our son wasn't with their mom, we loved them and they were family. Also, we wanted to celebrate my husband's retirement.

He left his job just as we started working to get that house sold.

Disney count #3

Clearwater is where this happened.

Concussion count #3

My Dr. says that if I were an athlete, I would be benched.

After A Snow Bird's Song, I had one more trip, another reunion. This time, for our annual Sister Trip to Florida, we were joined by my sister's kids. It was such a joy to spend time with them, even though the weather at home in KS was warmer than it was in Sarasota most of the week. We just wrapped up in lots of blankets and layers and enjoyed the patio anyway. Luckily, before the time we had to go home there was sunshine and a couple of perfect days.

But for the Disney count? Nope, I didn't sneak out for a day at the park, the count ended at 3. Each was loved and appreciated, but I think that might be the end of my Disney days for a while, our trips will be different now with my handsome husband happily retired.

The year ended with a room full of love. I had cried my heart out while getting that house ready to sell, not thinking we would ever have another big family dinner together.

But, I am lucky to have these people in my life. And even with the changes, disruptions, unheavels, and moves, they came together for the holiday and that meant the world to me. This year had its rough times.

But it sure had its good ones too.

Thank you, 2019 for the lessons and for the love.