family – Page 28 – Karla's Cottage

Golden summer skies and goldendoodles

Dew Drop, dogs, family, Garden, puppies!, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 22, 2017

Sugarwings keeps a ladder under the mulberry trees for the whole berry season, for easy access when she needs a snack.

What on earth is better for a kid than running in the clover fields with puppies and climbing trees to eat berries on a sunny, summer day?

The grand fairies and the babies raced across the field, collapsing onto the ground for wriggling hugs when they got worn out.

It really doesn't get any better than this.

Perfection!

PS- Happy birthday, Guncle Randy!

Dewdrop and the doggies

Dew Drop, dogs, family, puppies!, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 17, 2017

While Guncle Randy was here, pet butlering and then hanging out in the studio with me, we had a room full of pups, along with one grand fairy. She saw us taking photos of pups (and being a bit of a ham herself,) she scooted off to her dress up closet and wriggled into a gown that would be properly eye catching for a photo shoot.

Nope, not exactly a wallflower, huh? She was into posing.

And made an adorable model, huh?

Her furry friends were slightly cute themselves.

Oh, this baby looks so sweet and tiny here! The puppies are growing so fast! This was such a short time ago, but they look nothing like this now.

Time with babies is precious.

The time slips away so quickly.

A creekbed fairy in Missouri

family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / June 11, 2017

The Steve Miller concert and Sacred Circus acts were cancelled due to monsoons, but the weather didn't dampen our whole weekend. By Sunday morning the rain was gone, and we ventured out of the little trailer we'd tucked ourselves away in all night.

The rain was gone but left behind plenty of mud. Which the grand fairies found as soon as they left the camper.

There was a creek right by us, so we went down to rinse off.

And stayed most of the day!

Sun had come out, the humidity was shooting upwards, but the cool creek bed was shady and inviting.

There were about a dozen kids playing down there, and I offered $10 to anyone who could find a heart shaped rock.

The winner?

Sugarwings!

She found a few other ones too.

So did my son, who stacked them up in a gravity defying tower.

I found the right rocks to make a fairy on the mossy shore.

With some help from Dewdrop.

It was quite disappointing for the family to miss out on performing due to weather. And I hated not getting to see the Space Cowboy.

But the weekend was still magical. I'll take rockin it with the grandfairy babies over rock and roll any day!

But it was nice to get home to our other babes after the adventure was over.

Randy the Pet Bulter

dogs, family, guncles, puppies!

By Karla Nathan / June 4, 2017

Deciding to have pups is a major commitment of time. We had a window of time where we had no travel plans, the weather was warm, and it was ideal for babies, and we decided to go for it.

Then, my son and his Sacred Circus family were asked to perform at a big music fest, right after one of my faves, Steve Miller!

So, what do you do, when you are knee deep in fur babies that need constant care, but your human baby has a big deal show that you HAVE to see?

You call the Pet Butler!

I knew the babies would be in better hands with him than just about anyone else, including myself. He was great, just as I expected. We had some airline points, so flew him up from Florida and we were free to attend the concert with no worries.

(Although, we should have been worried about weather, storms canceled the show and we arrived at the tail end of a huge storm, that turned into a constant drizzle for the rest of the night)

All of the puppies were in good hands while we were gone, and Guncle Randy stayed on a few days for some fun time too. Although, he was still mopping up after, cuddling, and feeding puppeesh even though he was no longer on the clock.

We had time with grand fairies, and got in lots of studio time too. A perfect visit.

I always love it when my baby bro comes to craft and hang out, but everything is even better with puppies.

My Own Birthday fun

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / May 28, 2017

This year, I had quite a birthday. It was such a jam packed week of celebrating, that I've probably used up my quota of birthday fun for the next few years. Seems like there was one special thing after another, it was really something. If my birthday gets forgotten in the future, that is just fine because I got more than my fair share of celebrating this May!

Caike baked a white chocolate flourless cake, Thia made a sculptured edible rose to go on top of it. My husband's boss sent flowers! Honey had puppies. The whole family came over and Adam treated me to a wonderful shrimp and pasta dinner that I didn't have to help cook., then he gave me some new paint brushes too.

Some dear Birdsong friends took me out to lunch, cupcakes, and shopping, Tami even made this necklace for me. (notice the little birdie?)

My friend, Shanna, made a fairy garden, and sweet treats for her craft day party. Earlier in the week, a group of friends had me over for a dinner party. Ryan took me out for pizza another night. the little grand fairies and I went out to the T Rex cafe for a big meal to make use of the $25 gift card that the Landry's club gives on every birthday if you sign up for a membership, and I bought myself a tee shirt with the $10 that Kohls gives out on birthdays. I still have a free popcorn coming from the movie theater and I will not let that go to waste.

Cards came in the mail, too.

From the family, I got the mixer I'd been wanting for years and years.

I was kind of overwhelmed by it all. Yep, it was the best!

Cyclone

family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2017

Our girls were in a wonderful show recently, based on Oz, and titled Cyclone. Avahni was a Poppy.

Kia was a flying monkey.

They are part of an ariel troupe in KC, this is the first performance of it that I've seen, and I was impressed by the quality and professionalism.

And of course, I'm always smitten by any version of Dorothy's story.

And doubly smitten by my flying fairies.

Especially when I get to have the littlest fairies on my lap while watching the show.

Portraits from the past, thinking about Mother’s Day

family, paintings, puppies!

By Karla Nathan / May 21, 2017

I used to do a lot of portrait sketches. This was one of the very first ones, a charcoal pencil drawing of my grandma (Dad's mom) when I was 16.

These are colored pencil from a few years after the first. My other Grandma and my Mom. All of these pictures are on a shelf hanging in the stairway landing, in a grouping with other family pictures.

This shot from my wedding is one of my faves, it is the only picture I have of my mom and grandma together (along with my sisters and I).

The wall is a mix of paintings, drawings, and photos. None of the art is all that great, but it is sentimental to me. This watercolor is of a photo of my husband's grandma, Gladys, with one of her quilts behind it, and a gladiola in front.

The area is a quiet corner of our home, we rarely use the upstairs unless we have guests, or the grand fairies are sleeping up there. So, the mix of portraits aren't a focal point in our cottage, some of the frames are cheap and cheesy, like the one from the 80s on the drawing of my grandma, but the collection means a lot to me.

I take time to stop and look, sometimes will go upstairs just to think about the pictures and the people in them. Especially on Mother's Day.

Speaking of mothers- I can't leave you without pics of Honey and her pups, can I?

And of Twinkle, who has had her own share of puppies, wishes these babies were hers.

Mother’s Day

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / May 18, 2017

Our Mother's Day was a full one, with a cottage brimming with loved ones.

Miss Tree's mom, aunt, grandma, and dad, along with my husband's brother and many of his family joined our regular bunch of kids and grand fairies, for a pretty, spring day to hold puppies and feast on a big Mother's Day lunch.

I don't think those pups were in their nest for more than time to nurse, throughout the day.

Before everyone arrived, Sugarwings whispered an idea in PopPop's ear- they should mow the word,"MOM" into the field.

The O was even a heart!

Sweet, huh? I hope your day was special too.

Rainforest fairies

family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / April 17, 2017

The origin of our trip to Florida was to drop off Dewdrop to her mommy for Spring break. It grew from there, with heading to Disney for a couple of days, to my husband and Sugarwings both joining me while I waited for the week to end and to pick up our littlest fairy after her visit.

My husband travels a lot for business, and his points on Southwest add up fast. So, with the flying part free for all of us, we decided to make a special 10 days of Florida fun out of the trip.

I'd hoped to spend more time with our Gypsy, who now lives in Sarasota, but ended up getting some sort of bug while there, and having kind of a laid back trip while at the beach. We met up at Disney, and I arranged for her to spend a day there with her little one, then had another day together at the Botanical Garden.

Which was filled with laughs.

And rainbows.

Even though I was feeling a bit peaked, (and looked it) it was good to hang out with someone special that I see rarely.

And to see our littlest fairy so happy to be in her mommy's arms.

There is a fantastic, kids' area there, with drums and chimes to play, trees to climb, dress up things, swings, and a rope bridge.

Along with the gorgeous gardens and statues, that all made it an ideal spot to spend an afternoon.

There were pretty paths, benches in the shade, and a view of the bay. Plus a cute, little French Bistro with an outdoor seating area.

A beautiful day with beautiful company!

The Phantom and the Pirate

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / March 25, 2017

My life growing up in Indiana wasn't one where I was exposed to Broadway plays. I was 40 before I saw my first one, and it was The Phantom of the Opera, at a beautiful theater in San Fransisco. From that I was hooked, and I've seen a lot of other plays and that same show in St. Louis, NY, and now in Kansas City with my girls.

Sugarwings and her big sis, Avahni, the circus star, both love listening to the Phantom sound track and wanted to see the show as much as I did.

It makes me very happy to know that these kids are growing up with a head start on appreciating culture. I hope they are beginning a lifetime love of attending theater, and I'm glad to have a part in developing a love of theater.

We all got dressed up for a big Sunday afternoon out on the town. It was such a special event, that I even wore my Great Aunt Caroline's pearls. If any occasion called for wearing my best jewelry, this was it!

And Sugarwings looked lovely with her glittered hair style.

Dewdrop is not fond of plays like the rest of us. She was a bit too young for this particular play anyway, she stayed home with her daddy.

She didn't care for the local plays (Cinderella and Rudolf) that I took her to over the holidays, asking to skip on Peter Pan, so I gave her ticket to a friend.

I 'm taking a step back, and not forcing anything on her. I will give her some time and see if she'd like to try again when she is older. Making her sit still through a show she doesn't want to watch is not the way to get her excited about going with us.

Maybe next year, she will be more interested in attending.

For this trip, I splurged on seats under the chandelier. Every time I have seen this show, I've been way, way up in the cheap seats and thought to myself how cool it would be to be in the front for that dramatic moment when the chandy drops.

And it was certainly worth it!

Please keep checking back, I do have new stories pre-posted for you to read while I am away. Also, any orders from the Boutique will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!