family – Page 9 – Karla's Cottage

Rainbows and Fire Dancing for Pride Night

celebrations, family, guncles, Sacred Circus, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 22, 2022

On Randy and Kevin’s night to cook for the family reunion, they wanted a Pride Night theme.

They had rainbow everything to go with the grilled chicken and salads. I don’t know why I didn’t get more pictures, it was quite the festival and the decorations were bright and fun.

Our Hippie Chick brought rainbow, glitter face paint and many partiers got all sparkled up.

There was even a fire dancing show.

Featuring our professionals.

And crowd members could take a quick lesson too.

There was a great view from the balcony. These two were on the lighting committee and did a spectacular job with it.

The night ended with a few 1am stragglers sticking their forks directly into the rainbow cake.

We had different events throughout the weekend, but I think pride night was the best.

I am going to leave all of those lights strung across the courtyard, and possibly add more as I find them at garage sales for a very pretty reminder. Thanks, Guncles!

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.

Grandfairy Time

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 7, 2022

It’s after the 4th and we just got our boat out on the water for the first time this season.

Partially because Rich has been traveling. He has been vacationing as well as shuttling kids across country for family visits. And look what we got in return! Yep, he brought Dewdrop to be here with us for a bit.

Between her time split up with other family in the area, I’m making the most of her being with us and getting out to go to our favorite places.

I always wonder if it is my last year to do our traditional activities, if they have out grown them or are heading towards that stage where they might be too cool for silly outings.

But then I think, hey, I enjoy this stuff and I’m 50 years older than they are! There is no reason to ever outgrow it.

We’ve filled carts with craft supplies at Hobby Lobby, and our stomach with popcorn at a 3D movie. We’ve shopped for clothes and for fireworks, and headed toward the zoo.

Before going into the Topeka Zoo, we stop at the 100 plus year old carousel, and I had a moment of thinking that the time I’d been dreading had come.

Had Sugarwings turned into a moody teen and was not enjoying our day? There was a very unhappy look on her face halfway through their ride and when they got off the ponies, I was asked to take them home and not go to the zoo!

Oh no!

Was it wrong of me to be relieved that the poor kid simply was feeling a bit ill, not bored? (Sugarwings feels better now, nothing major).

We followed our typical 4th of July habits of watching the neighborhood spend thousands of dollars on fireworks while we had a few snakes and sparklers. Then, Fin, who worked at a firework stand this year came by with rockets and set a few off.

Surprisingly, the dogs were fine with the never ending booms coming from surrounding homes for days. Poor little Twinkle used to be terrified, but without her this year, there was no need to comfort any dogs.

The kiddos and I have limited time to make plans and do our regular excursions, so I hope to make it back to finish our zoo day. Soon, we will have even more fun coming, though. We are hosting a family reunion starting next week and will have a houseful staying here with us.

Before they all arrive, I am trying to take advantage of having my little ones here together. Because I know how fast things can change. I have been blessed with so much fun with them and am enjoying seeing how they grow and change. Whenever I try to choose a “favorite age” I always go back to right now, because they just get better and better as they get older.

I am lucky they still like to go on adventures with their Grams, but am also enjoying watching them grow up and change their perspectives. Like after all those years of going to this merry go round, they just now noticed this extremely odd thing on the back of this wooden horse.

WTF?

And I appreciate them still enjoying an outing, but in a more grown up way like discussing the movie together after leaving it, looking at make up together while shopping, not just toys. Laughing about things that would’ve been over their heads when they were younger.

With Adam and Dewdrop both moving to North Carolina, we have limited time together. Kia has moved to Oregon. And now Fin, who I have been so happy to have back in our lives and living nearby, is moving away too and his adorable sister, Clover, is heading to college. There are rumors of Avahni leaving.

It isn’t easy to be grown up about other people growing up. And to be happy for them to move on and find their own happiness. The trick is to appreciate the time I do have with them. After losing Ryan, I understand how fleeting it could be. And watching them all grow and change becomes a delight when viewed properly.

But please, please, little grandfairies- always remember to look for the fun, don’t outgrow the ability to enjoy silly outings!

I’m proud of my boy

family, redos

By Karla Nathan / June 19, 2022

What a cool old barn! It’s an event center and my talented boy has been doing the carpentry there on the remodel.

But should it just be called carpentry? How about wood artistry?

Especially this pedestal sink!

It started as a stump, and he burnt out the center.

So that there was a hollow for the plumbing. And isn’t the trim on the bottom cool!?

And look at how he incorporated the twisty vines on this shelving.

This is such a creative space, and I’d love to walk through and admire the details.

I’m sure he doesn’t send me photos of all of it, but I really appreciate the ones I get.

It’s hard having part of my heart living so far away, but seeing what he is doing and knowing that he has found a place where he can use both his creative and wood working skill talents eases the pain. I’m so proud of him.

Some painted shirts

family, paintings

By Karla Nathan / June 10, 2022

Way back when my boys were little, I used to hand paint tee shirts for them. Then, later on, it became a business for me and I’d sell tees and sweatshirts wholesale to local boutiques and to Silver Dollar City. After years of it, I burnt out and went on to other endeavors.

When the grandfairies came along, I painted a handful of shirts for them, but not many.

Funny, that I never took the time to create more than a couple for them. I guess that burn out ran deep.

Every once in a while, I do some as baby gifts because babies in onesies are about as cute as anything can be. I love onesies, but they can be kinda boring as a gift, so I add something personal. Like this fish for a nephew who lives by the shore.

And this pup for another nephew who has two yellow labs and a new baby. I painted a six pack of shirts as baby gifts, but forgot to take photos of the rest.

The best part was that I really had a good time doing them. Maybe the exhaustion from the year that I painted over a thousand has finally dissipated.

At the beach

family, Ryan, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 4, 2022

Last week, I spent five days at Indian Rocks with my sisters. We had very pleasant, although a bit windy, weather.

And lots of time to sit on the edge of the water and let our toes wiggle into the disappearing sand that washes out with the waves.

My niece was also visiting with her family, so we had good company to hang with. I actually had someone there who liked getting in the surf, and at the same time that the temperature was ideal for swimming! The only trouble was that my head is still wonky from Sugar plowing into me, and I didn’t want to jostle my brain by getting flipped around too much while wave jumping.

So I mostly just waded out into about waist deep water and made the big girl choice of not body surfing back in.

Ugh. Being practical and safe sucks.

Indian Rocks is relaxing, which is what I needed. My Dr. told me that I should be resting, so that is what I did. Most of the time, I was sitting on the beach or the balcony wearing dark glasses and not reading.

By mid week, I actually was feeling better. I still avoided going out much, and stayed in when others went out to eat a few times.

Typically, I walk for hours when in Florida, but this time, it was pretty low key, with shorter strolls. On one trip up the shore, I came across this dead bonnet head shark, about 2’ long. That was something I’ve never seen before. He looked about the way I felt, after dealing with weeks of concussion discomfort, fog, and kind of an overall flatness. I simply have not been myself.

Still, I did get out to explore the area, it wasn’t all droopiness and exhaustion. We went antiquing and exploring a couple times too. The beach we stayed at had a serious lack of shells.

I mean, sadly so. I am always glad to find broken bits to use in my sea shell fairies, but dang, this place mostly had shapeless crumbs.

So my sisters took me to Passé Grille beach after I did some research on nearby beaches to hunt shells on. You really can’t tell from this photo, but behind me are piles and piles of shells, like snowdrifts. We went to the tip of the island, which was rocky and excellent for catching all the ones that washed up.

Another morning, we played tourist at the Don Cesar. We have stayed there before, but it’s pretty pricey, so this time we were visitors, not guests. And you know what? That works out pretty well. Honestly, the rooms there, while being elegant, are too small. Renting a spacious condo, driving to and spending time walking through the Pink Palace, strolling their beach, then having some ice cream is a better way to go for us.

We were there before it got hot, then did some antiquing after.

Shelling wasn’t great, but better than Indian Rocks, (which could be said about any beach because Indian Rocks is about as bad as it gets). I found enough to make a heart for Ryan.

It was the anniversary of his death.

I listened to his song and sprinkled a handful of ashes. I always take a little bag with me when I travel. I know, pretty weird, but Ryan was always such a good travel buddy. Funny, he hated, absolutely hated to travel, but when we made him go on family adventures he had the best attitude of anyone there and was helpful, thoughtful and fun to be with.

So I like to find a quiet spot, sprinkle some ash and tell him how much I’d have enjoyed having him with me.

Florida Friends

family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 29, 2022

As we always do, we had a good time on our Florida Sister Trip.

We tend to meet interesting friends along the way.

We are people who stop the car to make use of the delightful props the state of Florida provides for us.

And this spot in St Pete next door to an antique mall was full of opportunities to mingle with the local critters.

We also gravitate toward parking lot signage.

By the look on this mermaid’s face, I’m not sure if she enjoyed meeting us as much as we did meeting her.

The ice cream store mermaids at John’s Pass are always happy to have us visit, though.

But I think my favorite new buddy is the 20’ tall flamingo at the Tampa airport.

Another redo for Ryan’s apartment

cottage, family, redos, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / May 11, 2022

For Ryan’s 40th birthday, he wanted his apartment fixed up. He chose the paint colors and flooring, we got light fixtures and ripped out his bathroom to replace the shower, toilet and sink.

There had been a kitchenette that he never used in the living room, so we pulled it out and covered up the plumbing hook ups.

After he died, we switched it up a little, and purchased a new bed, but mostly left it as it was. We just enhanced it and made it more fitting for a guest to stay in.

Then for various reasons, it was occupied by family members all between leases and waiting to move to their new places.

As they brought their belongings in and out, Ryan’s things got shifted and resettled, we gave his couch away to make space, finally took some things to goodwill, sent his gaming systems to others who might use them, and well, it just didn’t feel the same afterwards.
We used to go in there sometimes to feel close to him, and no longer could do that.

Now that it is empty again, I wanted to honor Ryan by using some things he cared about, but make the room even more functional as a guest room. Also, I got a new sofa in my own living room, and to save money, took my old one up to the apartment.

It’s a very different style than the previous couch. But I think it still works in the room.

Amazon had a stretchy, seat cushion cover that warmed up the white on white look, and I found some great pillow covers there too. And ticking striped curtains! I really liked those, and since the other ones had been attacked by kitties and had to go I had a good reason to splurge.

Hopefully, these additions make the couch less foofy/girly than it was when I had it covered in floral pillows for the last 15 years while using it in the cottage.

His coffee table needed the top repainted and I went with gray, but then didn’t like that with his Black and Tan rug, so I got this runner to tie in the colors better.

People were so generous with floral arrangements after he died. I’ve saved each vase and have been covering them in mosaic glass.

And while this sounds pretty silly when I tell you about it, it’s very meaningful to me. Ryan was always the first one up after every meal, clearing dishes, scraping the glass cook top with a razor and wiping out the microwave. He also used to hang out and chat while I did pour paintings, even though he didn’t make any himself (I wish I’d pushed him to try!)

So here is the silly part.

When our microwave needed replacing, I saved the glass tray, primed it, and made it into a painting. It is now a tray in his room.

Half of his space was set up as a home gym, which we took down because my husband already has a workout space in his office. To honor Ryan’s dedication and in apology to him for taking out the gym, I placed this stone that says “strength” on the microwave tray.

Its all just symbols, Those little things were not here when he was here. But they are chocked full of meaning to me, none the less.

Same with these two pictures. They were not his, but they remind me of Malarkey, the red bird that drove Ryan bananas by dive bombing the windows. That bird was a regular part of our conversations and Ry went back and forth between laughing about him and hating him.

I hung the vintage prints so the story will be a part of this room.

The area that held the gym, now has a table and chairs.

They also, have nothing to do with my son. But I painted them in the colors he chose when we redecorated the room on his birthday.

His guitar hangs on the wall. It has a pretty, mother of pearl inlay and he loved it.

There are so many changes to his space.

Just like there are so many other changes since he died. Things do continue to go on and to morph, don’t they? But the memories are there and the love is forever. While this room no longer looks like it did when he lived in it, to me, his light will always live on in there.

More fun from St Augustine and the Guncles

family, flowers, Food and Drink, Garden, guncles, Travel, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / April 2, 2022

Our five week, meandering trip included 2 single and one four day visit to Guncleland, where the family pitched in and rebuilt some of the fencing. While guys were busy sawing and hammering, I took some time to clean up the pathways, reset stepping stones, and spread mulch.

They replaced two gates and one length of fence, then added a privacy fence for trash cans and storage.

After a dozen years or so, the garden stones had all sunken down under the earth. So I un-earthed them and reset the pathways along one side of the house and the garbage can storage area too.

Which is where I found these! I felt like an archeologist, digging up ancient ruins. Apparently, they had been on the ground there, and like the stones, had worked their way deep down under the dirt.

But I preferred to think of them as from an earlier inhabitant of the land.

Our evenings were spent relaxing in the Guncles’ unique home with all eight of our combine canine family having some cousin time.

Oh and eating! There was lots of eating! That’s what you do when you go to Jax and visit the Gunks. They feed you endless, yummy, seafood. I thanked them with a pie.

But it wasn’t all manual labor and big meals. Randy and I took a mini road trip down to St Augustine to meet up with my sister, Bobbie who was visiting elsewhere in the state.

Where we met some interesting new friends.

In some cool places.

See what I mean? This steam punk store is a cool addition to George Street.

My favorite thing I saw downtown was this wallpaper in a shop.

Or was it this wallpaper?

No, my FAVORITE thing from the day was this. I love those two so much!

St Augustine Seashell Fairies and Gnomes

Dew Drop, dogs, fairies, family, Food and Drink, sea shell fairies, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / March 27, 2022

You have to love the beaches of St Augustine, and well, just everything about that city.

Technically, I guess it was Butler Beach, a tad south of town. The dogs needed to be on leashes, which wasn’t quite as much fun for them, but the place is soooo pretty, we adore being there.

Shelling for fairies wasn’t as easy as our previous stop, but I managed to wrangle a few sprites into shape to place on the beach our last day.

Tide was coming in soon after these were made. My husband asked to see the fairies, and as we walked over to them, they slipped out into the waves.

He said he’d always been confused by why I spend so much time hunting for the shells to make something that has no permanence, but now got it. That it was the joy of creation, not the creation itself. I don’t think those were his exact words, but it was a sweet conversation, however he phrased it.

It has been pointed out to me, that this gal has three boobs.

hmmm

Not what I was going for, but I sure see it now. I just thought it was a pretty gown with a ruffled bodice. Her striped socks are my favorite part, they look like pieces of the same shell but were found at opposite ends of the shoreline.

One thing I appreciate about this area is the long, flat stretches of sand. Ideal for walking. And there is a “road” along the back where you can drive, so we bring our truck with all of our paraphernalia for the day. We can easily haul a tent, chairs, and coolers to settle in and spend an afternoon.

And I have never seen it too busy. The weather wasn’t perfect, but even when it is, it hasn’t been crowded when we have visited.

After living in a 19’ RV with four dogs for a few weeks, we decided to find an Airbnb while our boy, Dewdrop, and her mother came to see us. It was sorta last minute, so we took what we could get. And we got pretty lucky with this spacious, new house.

I was sold when I saw photos of the fence. What a luxury to just open a door to let dogs out, after being in an RV park and needing leashes!

Oh, and the pool was a bonus.

I already mentioned that our weather was less than perfect, but the grand fairies still spent time out there. Then they’d run to the hot shower and I’d have warm towels waiting for them in the dryer. So the pool wasn’t wasted, even if we couldn’t enjoy it as much as we’d like.

Renting the house was a good move, I cannot imagine what our trip would’ve been like in hotels or another, smaller rental we’d looked at. This one had spacious areas and a covered porch. We sat on the patio while it rained to drink our coffee in the mornings, and it felt very vacationy.

The house was around the corner from some cool, but swampy walking trails. I doubt if I’d take dogs over there on warmer days when gators are active.

We were right down the street from the beach access too. Now, would I have preferred a home with the surf as a backyard?

Well, dur.

But- this one was close. We could zip down quickly between rain spurts if we wanted. And that fence for the dogs? Such a pleasant thing to have when you are crazy enough to travel for five weeks with four mutts.

Most of the trip, we avoided big crowds. Except that rainy Saturday when we, like the rest of the spring breakers thought they’d put on raincoats and go visit the historic downtown. But even then, we avoided the biggest rush of them by looking for a place to eat on side alleys, not the main road, George St. We also took a drive north to Vilano Beach to go to a place that didn’t have a two hour wait like most places in town. I guess I’ve spent enough time in the area to know the ins and outs and avoid the most touristy spots.

You never know when you plan a trip what weather you’ll get. All you can do is hope for the best and be flexible, look for fun where you can. We had planned a big day kayaking out on a crystal spring, but had to cancel. We even scoured the weather map looking for a break in the clouds within a couple hours of driving time.

Nope, no weather break for us. We hunkered down and made the most of our time.

Enjoyed the beach when we could, went to the seafood market and cooked, played games, and just enjoyed each other.

Fresh, local food to cook together, lots of long walks and giggles. It was a great visit, even if I was wearing a raincoat.