holiday decor – Page 36 – Karla's Cottage

What’s scarier than ghosts?

celebrations, holiday decor, parties, Silver Bella, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 16, 2010

I need to thank everyone who has signed up to join us in our Romantic Gothic Ghost classes. A few people were calling it an EZine and you know, I do think that is what it evolved into. When Beth and I began, we were just doing some simple projects. But it was so much fun, and the ideas just kept coming and coming and the tutorials grew into more than we had planned!
We threw in some extras, like completed collages that you could print as is. Quick videos with tips, and Beth even gave a book review of some Gothic novels.

After finishing all the blog posts and instructions, I found a few more images I loved and had to go back and add those, plus instructions for this bonus project.If you'd like to join, you still have plenty of time to make some sepia decor for Halloween. (plus the site stays up as long as I have a Typepad account, so you can refer back to the posts next year too!

We've included every image you'll need for our projects, plus lots of extras for you to chose from, or to save and use for other creations.We have had giveaways through out the "real time" class, and I think there is still one coming. I think that if we still are getting newbies joining in, it would only be fair to add a couple more giveaways too. We've been mailing out some tidbits of our favorite supplies like lace and millinery for the winners.

After watching Hoarders for the first time, I'm happy to clear my studio out a bit and share my own stash.I always thought that Criminal Minds was the scariest show on TV. Now, I know its Hoarders.

The studio cleaning is for a party I am hosting on Saturday. I've invited all Bellas who are close enough to attend to come play in my studio and meet up for a craft day and pitch in lunch. So, I've tried to get some yard work done, as well as spiffing up my art space.

Trouble is, I threw out my back and that has slowed my progress. I broke my back in '92, falling from a horse and will always have trouble with it a couple times a year or so. But I don't mind a few days of pain, because years ago, when I had chronic pain and saw no end in sight, I'd have given anything on the planet for a day of no pain at all.

Luckily, I'm pain free most of the time and I will never take that for granted. Now, when I have issues, they are always temporary and the episodes are far between. I don't let the recurrences get me down, because I can compare them to what I suffered in the past and know that nothing is as bad as that was!

Plus, I have a son who is a massage therapist and does energy work. That helps.

I have a feeling that my guests will forgive me if I don't repaint the breezeway like I had hoped to do before company arrived. And they might not even care if I only planted 4 of the 5 hydrangeas that I'd planned to set out.

The tables are cleared, the Bellas have a space to work in and we'll have a fun day. I'm not the type to get crazy about details. I like things pretty, but I like things FUN even more. No stress entertaining is the only way to go. Right now, I'll call it all "good enough" and go rest my back, do some stretches and be ready to have a great time when my Bella Buds arrive!

A furry transformation

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2010

Little Agnes Rosebud got her first hair cut this week. All Yorkies are born black and as they grow, their puppy hair gets fuzzy and matted over the new silky, adult hair underneath. And I mean matted. Her hair was so bad, that when I tried to just snip off a bit, I realized it was all one big, connected mass. Ugh. So, I slid my tiny scissors beneath the knots and started to snip.

It all came off in one hunk. Like a pelt. Or like a little old lady's wiglet. You know the ones that you see in every closet at an estate sale?

Yea, gross. I'd rather think of it as her cocoon. She emerged from it as a beautiful butterfly. It certainly is a transformation. Her brother, Button and sister, Lili Bella, got theirs cut this week too. Teresea has cute before and after pictures of Lilli, I didn't since my hair cutting was unplanned. I just snipped a bit away and realized I was trapped and couldn't stop.

I don't think this poor dog has two hairs the same length on her entire body. Maybe I should stick to using my scissors on old paper…. but she still manages to be pretty durn cute.

We spent some time doing yard work over the 3 day weekend, and I planted some late summer to fall blooming hydrangeas. For about a decade, I couldn't get a hydrangea to grow for anything. I could have just as easily been planting dollars in the ground instead, it had the same result.

But I seemed to have found the secret to keeping them alive and now can't get enough of them.

And of course, I can never get enough of old jewelry. Beth and I spent last Friday at one of my favorite places in the world, Sparks Flea Market. Its always good for a big bag of jewels!

I've yet to go through my pile of goodies to sort and see what I bought. Hopefully, later today, I'll get a chance. I'm making cuff bracelets today, and will need to at least pull some blingers out of the pile for those, even if I don't get to sort them completely.

When I buy piles of jewelry, I sort it into these categories:

Too Nice- add to Boutique
needs minor repair
broken, missing stones, not worth repair but great for crafting (some to keep, some to sale)
single earrings
suitable for making jewelry

Then there are sub-categories:

clear rhinestones
colored rhinestones
flowers
shapes/figures
cameos
buckles
lockets
pearls

See why it takes a while? Plus, its so fun, I feel like the King in his counting house while I play with it all. So, I don't like to be rushed.

One of the new brooches from the flea has already found a home on this wall hanging that I made for Romantic Gothic Ghosts. I thought this would be nice on a door, in place of a wreath. Its a quickie, and simple to make.

Its a BONUS tutorial! I've added it to the end of the class. I've had so much fun with the class, that its hard to stop, I had to make another piece for it! We've included lots of extras in the class, videos, giveaways, lots of images, and decor tips.

The tutorial blog will be up for as long as I have a Typepad account, and many of the ideas can be used for more than just Halloween. But, if you want to enter the giveaways, you need to play along in "real time", because they will end this Sept.

If you'd like to see what some of our artists have made with their take on the class, you can look here.

And if you'd like to win one of the projects I've made, please leave a comment. Sandy at Quill Cottage is giving away one of hers too!

Oh, you are NOT going to paint THAT are you???????????? Yep, and here is how.

Hand Painted Furniture, holiday decor, how to's, how-to projects, redos, show and tell, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 8, 2010

Thanks for all the compliments about my pretty little fairy baby at the Renfest! I have to agree, she's a cutey.

We had her most of the holiday weekend, along with my mother-in-law here for a few days from Green River, WY. Chasing Sugarwings kept me busy most of the time, but after she left, I had a day to spend with my husband's mother. She sat at the dining table and embroidered and at first I was up and down doing little chores here and there, and tidying up the place (after Hurricane Sugarwings has blown through, there is a lot of picking up to do).

But I did spend a bit of time sitting at the table and the more I sat, the more I stared at the buffet and the painting above it. The buffet had been maple finish and I painted it gray with a cream glaze over it last spring. And the picture was one that I have loved for years but always thought about lightening up.

For the last few years, EVERYONE told me not to paint it. And I rarely leave things as is, but I knew that this frame was worth money the way it was.

But honestly, was I ever going to sell it? No, I've had it for a long time and always plan on keeping it. I figure that I deserve to look at it and enjoy it, without debating whether or not it should be painted.

I know, there will be gasps of horror. But I'm glad I did it. And I didn't just slap some white on it, I took my time and made the frame look old. Well, "took my time" is all relative, I guess. I paint fast, I had the buffet, the small mirror frame, and the large, antique frame done in about 3 hours while I chatted with my mother-in-law.

Here is what I did:

Primer, good bonding primer. I just tucked some wax paper behind the frame and painted it on the wall right where it hung. The wax paper protected the wall from my brush.
A coat of ivory/bisque eggshell paint
Thick coat of porcelain crackle finish (I worked on the buffet while this dried)
Next, I brushed on and wiped off coffee with cream colored glaze
After that dried, I lightly sanded all raised areas. I was careful to do this lightly with a sanding sponge, because much of the ornamentation was plaster. I wanted to get down to the gold paint, not the white plaster.
I added another layer of crackle glaze.
As the crackle glaze dried, it had a chemical reaction with the exposed gold paint and turned a greenish tint, like a copper patina. (this is a trick I discovered accidentally a while back and love to use. Its unpredictable but pretty)
Over this, I brushed on and rubbed off an ivory glaze and a sepia glaze, randomly putting them over the frame, some over lapping, some spots one color, some spots no glaze.
After it all dried, it was a little too green, so I dry brushed the ivory/bisque colored base paint over the areas that were too vivid.
Then a little more sanding to bring out the dark wood and more of the gold paint underneath.

This was a lot of steps, but I think they paid off, the frame looks like it was out in someone's shed being stored away for years.

The main trick is to not be too perfect. Nature doesn't age things perfectly. Sometimes the trick to a good faux finish is to be messy.

I did NOT cover this with clear coat. If I had, there might have been another chemical reaction with the newly sanded spots with gold paint showing through. It would have turned more green after the clear coat dried.

The buffet got a very similar treatment, with a creamy white painted streakily over the existing gray, so the gray showed through.

Then, crackle glaze, and sepia brushed on and wiped off over the crackle, after it dried.

I used the sepia very heavy in corners and edges.

When it was all dry, I used an acrylic clear coat over the entire piece.

I love crackle. Its tricky and unpredictable, but wow, when it comes out nice, it is really something. Don't ever use too much, use it selectively in spots. Not on every single inch of the piece. And feel free to add another coat or two if needed, and you're not thrilled with the first. (this only applies to porcelain crackle, weathered crackle is a different product. Read your labels!!)

After repainting, I re-foofed the top of the buffet, using some of the projects that I made in the Romantic Gothic Ghosts class. This cone was done from Beth's images and tutorial. I didn't have a cone handy, so I used an upside down party hat.

I'm so glad that I have the class pretties to display in my "new" dining room for fall! The moody, wistful shades (with NO orange!!) are just what this room needs to look festive and still look like "my" house- not the Halloween party store.

We are adding some little videos, giveaways, and decorating tips to the Gothic Ghost blog. The posts will be left up as long as I have a Typepad account (and I don't see me leaving any time soon), so you can take the classes at your leisure. But if you want to win any of the prizes, those are time sensitive. There are still three to give away.

Often, I see the beautiful posts up for White Wednesday, but I'm never in time to enter. Well, today seems to be a good fit and timely too. So, I'll be linking with Faded Charm.

As much as I love whites, I really should make more of an effort to be a part of it regularly!!

There are so many link parties now a days… Here are more that I joined. I usually don't get around to it, but they are always fun when I do!

Power of Paint

Transformation Thursday

Older, wiser, more tired

fairies, holiday decor, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / September 2, 2010

Today, I've been working on a little fairy picture. So far, so good, but now I've run out of time. Its always so hard for me to stop a project midway…. but as I get older, I get wiser. Or more tired? Maybe that is it. Once upon a time, I'd have stayed up all night to finish it. Now, I know that I need some sleep because tomorrow is a big day.

The best kind of day, a flea market!

But I did finish this- its Beth's first project for Romantic Gothic Ghosts. She made this mini journal easy for us, you have the option of following the directions and making it step by step, or just downloading the cover as is and embellishing it! That was my choice. Quick and easy!!

I copied and printed it exactly as she made it, then added inks and marker. After that, I used "Paper Glaze" on the girl for a bit of a shine and to make her stand out, then I gave her a crown.

There was a mouse on her shoulder in Beth's version, and I turned it into a more 3-D look by printing the same mouse picture, ( provided in our image collection), and gluing it directly over the other mouse with a bit of folded cardboard underneath to raise it up. It's eye is a little black crystal and its tail is a bit of twine.

After that, I added a key. One of the images that I scanned and provided was a cool, gothic style key, but I had a bunch of keys on my work table so I used one of those.

It was easy to finish, I printed some of the papers we had in the collection onto cardstock and cut them out with Beth's pattern.

Beth's tutorial for the book starts Friday. Then, over the weekend, we have some Halloween decorating tips coming up. Information to join the 12 days of classes (including tips, giveaways, and LOTS of good images) can be found here.

This book is in the mail now, to the winner of my August giveaway, Debbie. I'll offer another one of our projects from the class to the September winner. If you are interested, just leave a comment!

Last week while shopping my way across Ohio, I found another old Wizard of Oz book. Not as old as the first one, and not as many illustrations, but hey, it was only $2! And its pages will be great for wrapping up the Dorothy tag books as I make them up and package them to send out to everyone.

My lollipop charms are done and ready to tie onto the tag books. I made them with paper clay, stuck them onto vintage stir sticks, then painted and sugared them.

Some are better than others, no two are quite the same. They are far from perfect, but I think they'll be fun to have on the tag books, some books will get lollipops, some will get ruby slippers.

I'm also looking for "emeralds" to foof some up with. I found these two pins at the same store I found the book, and they were only $1. Heck, I couldn't go to Hobby Lobby and buy charms for that. And these are nice, old rhinestoney bits.

Here are some images from the Oz book I just got in case you still need pictures for your tags. Or just like Oz images, help yourself! Click on the images to open the pop up window and save that one to your computer to print, it will be a larger version and print more clearly.

And here is a site with free Oz images to use too. Amy reccomended it to me.

Falling for pastels and the August giveaway winner

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Tutorials, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2010

Beth and I had the best day on Tuesday with our craft day/photo day. We sat up a few displays using the finished products we made in Romantic Gothic Ghosts so we could add some posts with Halloween decorating tips. Orange-FREE tips!

We also made a few little instructional videos, and it took a bit longer than planned because we had to scrap most of them due to giggle fits. After that, I was able to work on one of Beth's first projects, and she made it easy for all of us. Not only did she include how-to's, she provided the entire collage as a finished piece. I printed it as it was and just embellished the piece.

Some of the classmates are posting their projects on Flickr if you'd like to take a peek. If you want to join the class, please do! Its open indefinitely, but all the giveaways end when we post the last set of instructions. To win the prizes, you need to be enrolled during the "live" part of the class. (The millinery pack is just one of our presents to be offered during the class)

Today I was able to get around to adding some things to the Boutique as promised.

Maybe because I've spent so much time working with the warm tones and sepias of the Romantic Gothic Ghost class, I've been especially drawn to pastels and sweetness.

As I was flipping through my stash of things that needed to be photographed for the shop, I kept going back over and over to florally pastels.

And cutie pie baby things.

Like this 1940s baby book.

The can of Mennen baby powder still smells so fresh, like the top of a new born's head. Funny how long that powder scent lasts.

And can't you imagine this pillow being under a tiny baby's head years and years ago?

In honor of fall, I did list some more neutral tones too.

Can you believe its September???? Sugarwings is back in school and doing well. I think that for her, the Montessouri school is a better fit than the Waldorf. She seems happier there.

And since Sept. is here, I need to announce the winner of the August giveaway-

Debbie Berracha!!

I'll be sending her one of the projects I completed for our Ghost class. I think I'll do the same thing for September. If you'd like to win one of my Romantic Gothic Ghost Halloween decorations, just leave a comment on any post all month. I'll get some pictures soon.

Here are Button and Agnes Rosebud, enjoying yesterday's play date while Beth and I set the table for a fake dinner party to take pictures of it. But we didn't mind, we got to eat the chocolates afterwards. And the dogs had fun watching us!

Some pretties

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, holiday decor, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2010

Did I mention how wonderful it was to be home with little Agnes Rosebud? She is the sweetest pup, ever. Cuddly, devoted, and always right next to me. Here she is only a few months old, and calm enough to be a model for my pictures. She is helping me out with selling this vintage pillow. I've been getting photos ready to do a major list-a-thon of new products in my Boutique.

I'll let you know when I get them up for sale. In the meantime, there is too much other excitement going on.

Beth is coming over today with Button for a play date with Aggie Rose. Which means that Beth and I get a play date too.

We are going to foof around with our Romantic Gothic Ghost projects and come up with some ideas for Halloween decor that is moody but won't scare the socks off of you when you see your lovely home all decked out in garish orange. That's right, we are lobbying for an Orange Free Halloween this year.

As part of our online tutorial, we want to offer decor tips and little videos too. We'll be posting a few between classes.

As well as a few giveaways. I thought it would be nice to offer some of my favorite supplies to participants. For the Banner class, I'm giving away my extreme fave, these Stardust Gelly Roll clear sparkle pens.

Next, a selection of old velvets and blooms that would be great to use in any of the projects we are doing.

After that, I'll probably do some rhinestoney things. None are big giveaways, but just little sweet treats to aid in finishing the projects. I figured it would be more fun for the people who have signed up to have lots of little door prizes, instead of one big one. Beth has plans for goodies too.

And while I am on the subject of goodies- here are some extra good ones! My pal, Heather whipped up this bracelet and hand stitched the bag for it, especially for me before our lunch last week.

She has recently opened an Etsy shop if you are wishing you had one of these… she makes the prettiest jewelry.

Hypocritical colors?

collections, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / August 22, 2010

This week, I'll be taking a little road trip with my honey. But before I go, Beth and I are going to get the class description for "Romantic Gothic Ghosts" open and ready for you to see. I'll also write some posts ahead of time, so I won't be gone a week with no postings. You can still leave a comment to enter the August Giveaway for one of my completed Gothic Ghost projects too.

EDIT- Registration is open now!! Check out the class info here.

My projects are done, and I've got my instructions ready to go. Its that durn pixel thing that is getting me, I don't have the scans of the images loaded yet. I want to get them just right, so that when you print them, you will smile. Not curse at me.

To free my mind from all the pixel problems, I played with pretties. Here are some things listed in the Boutique.

See what I mean? Really pretty! But since I will be out of town for most of the week, I can't fill your orders till I get back. All packages will ship out on Tuesday, August 31. Please, shop away! I'll get your new goodies to you as soon as I can.

There are lots of fall colored flowers in the Boutique right now. Agnes Rosebud and I had a hat plucking frenzy going on in the studio today.

As soon as all the blooms were pulled off, Agnes got the naked hats to wrestle to the ground and fight with. She was so worn out, that she curled up in one to take a nap.

I don't think she realizes just how much she has grown.

She might be needing a bigger hat.

Our "Romantic Gothic Ghost" tutorials will be all tone on tone, neutrals and sepia and I just love that look.

But, as much as I've been making anti-orange and purple Halloween statements lately, I have to admit, that when it comes to millinery, any color can look good!

The way I see it, if you are going to be making Halloween colored things, you should be using beautiful supplies to do it with. Take at look at these and tell me if you agree!

I've started a new category in the Boutique too, "Halloween" is filled up with stuff you might need for fall swaps, scrapbooks, and other projects. Its not too soon to start. Especially swaps….

Geesh, where did summer go?

Pixies and Pixels

fairies, holiday decor, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2010

Getting ready for this online tutorial has kept me hoppin! But between counting pixels and trying learn how to make pdfs, I took some time off to make a pixie too.

This one is on its way to Somerset, but in it, you can see two tricks that will be taught in my Romantic Gothic Ghost class…. Actually, there are 4 separate things in this picture that I will be giving how-to's for.

The technique I used in this Sugarwings creation is one of them.

She is also going to Somerset Life today. I'm always honored to hear from them.

All of my projects for the class involve a Gothic arch, moody colors, and NO ORANGE! Oh, what a pretty Halloween it will be this year!

Okay, now back to the hard part. I can make things like crazy, I actually made a book, a tag book with 6 original tags, a wall hanging, and a banner with five 8-1/2 x 11 collages for the classes yesterday. Plus two collages to send to Somerset Life.

When I'm on a roll, I can whip stuff out.

Its the pixels that kill me. Everything I used in all the projects has to be available to the students to click on and print to use themselves. Now, that is a spooky Halloween for me.

Oh, the horror of it all!

Happy 4th! and unhappy hair

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, holiday decor, jewelry, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / July 3, 2010

We've had a bit of much needed rain, but not enough to spoil any fun. Yesterday, we had a family cookout and a trip to the lake.

Sugarwings has taken off like a little mermaid this summer, and swims circles around us in the water (with a life jacket). Just a week ago, she was clinging to us like an octopus when we'd get in the lake together. Now, she is dog paddling all over the place and we have to try to keep up with her to keep her in sight!

We aren't the only ones trying to keep up with her. Little Agnes Rosebud is always following her around the yard.

That pup doesn't seem to mind the treatment she gets from Sugarwings and keeps coming back for more playtime, even though she is the toy.

Have I introduced you to Clover yet? She is one of our expected grand baby's big sisters. And she is a kid who LOVES to play dress up. I can see lots of fun times ahead for the two of us. Sugarwings likes to put on a pretty gown, then go play and get dirty in it. Or strips down naked and throws the dress in the wading pool. She is okay with the game, but it is just a small part of her play time. I think she indulges me sometimes because she knows I like it so much.

Clover takes it much more serious than that. To her, dressing up is the main event.

In a couple of years, she and I will have to teach the new baby girl to appreciate the fine art of dress up.

Please keep the new baby in your thoughts, she will be having a high def sonogram on Wednesday to find out more about her development. We need her to be strong and healthy for future dress up games!!

Bottoms Up was a blast yesterday. Well, anytime I get to visit junking buddies is a good time. Carol and I went straight to Beth's booth where I filled up a bag (and she gave me a discount on top of her already great deals, thanks Beth!) I'll have some pics of the loot later.

Then, we headed up to see our Texas friends, Linda and Ludmil of Willow's Nest and shop a bit with them before exploring the show.

Seeing Linda's glorious white hair makes me want to embrace my gray and go natural. Especially since I hate my new hair color. It is supposed to be highlighted and blond, but looks more mousy brown in the photos.

I rarely care about how my hair turns out at the beauty shop. I'm old enough to know I can do something different next time and can enjoy a look that might not be exactly what I wanted since I know its only temporary anyway. Too short grows out. Too dark can be lightened. I just wait till next time.

But this time, I just am NOT happy at all. It just feels blah. And I am not in the mood for blah.

I am going back for a redo and asking for a blonder look. When a trip to the salon costs about $140, I'd like to get the color I asked for. What do you think? Would you go back for a redo and complain? I'll do it politely of course!

Here are some of my favorites from Willow's Nest. I treated myself to a sparkling little shoe that Linda made. They remind me of Dorothy's slippers from the Wizard of Oz. In the books, the shoes are silver, they were only ruby in the movie.

I hope you have a wonderful Independence Weekend!

If you travel, be sure to buckle up!!

I'll leave you with a few new bits in the Boutique. I'm trying to add to it a little each day this week. Mostly vintage and flea market goods, but I will have some altered books coming this week too.

Hippity Hoppity Fairy Berry Trail

celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 4, 2010

On Saturday, we got our boat out of storage and took it to the Marina for the upcoming season. Sugarwings offered to help and since we weren't going to see her for Easter, the bunny hid a little basket for her on the bank of the lake.

But sadly, her mommy's plans for driving to see relatives in Missouri today changed when Sugarwings woke up with a fever. The two of them came over here instead, where they could cuddle up and watch movies and rest, but still be with family.

While the two of them were all tucked up on the couch, the we took advantage of the spectacular, 80 degree, sunshiny day and got to work on the Fairy Berry Trail. All the fairies came out of the shed where they had hidden for the winter. And the bunny came over to hide a few eggs.

The poor kid had a fever of 104 earlier, but was feeling a bit better, so we carried her down to the woods in her jammies to visit her fairy friends and the other creatures who live on the trail.
At first, she was so happy to see her favorite frog prince, that she didn't even notice the trails of carrots.

But she has spent enough time with her Grammy to always notice the sparkle of glitter and be attracted to it! So, she soon noticed some of the hidden plastic eggs.

She didn't want to eat any of the jelly beans inside because she thought the fairies might be mad at her.

Then, she saw her new play house. My husband is the world's best grandfather and we worked for a long time to put this together today, but forever and ever, the Easter Bunny will get all the credit for building her a "Glitter House" as she calls it.

We mowed a 12 foot area between two trees that were draped in vines. Then, I sprinkled glitter all around on the ground, and set up a little chair and table for her (later on, we'll get a picnic set big enough for all of us).

Then, we gathered fallen branches from all over the woods to build "walls" to make a little room.

Over time, we'll foof it up even more. But for a spur of the moment idea using what was laying around, its pretty fun.

I could possibly go broke if I try to keep the ground glitter covered, so I think we'll switch to mulch. I can't wait to see this with all the leaves budded out, it will really feel like a fairy house in the trees then!

After a few jubilant dance moves in her new play area, our poor little fairy grand baby was worn out and didn't even look for the rest of her hidden eggs. And she never did eat a jelly bean, so we knew she must be feeling pretty bad.

In the short time we had her out doors, her fever spiked back up and she said her back hurt. It got back up to over 104 again, so we took her to the ER, we could tell she was feeling awful. I'm glad we did, she has a urinary track infection and is now on antibiotics.

By the time we got back home, her fever was gone again and she was hungry. I whipped up an impromptu Easter dinner
with chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, asparagus and broccoli, while my husband grilled some ruby trout for the vegetarians of the group.

We were glad to see Sugarwings eat a bit, but she still isn't quite herself. She and her mommy will stay all night tonight and hopefully, she'll be up to hopping down the fairy trail tomorrow.

While its sad that she is sick, and she missed out on a family reunion with her mom, it certainly will be an Easter we never forget. I hope yours was a memorable one too!

ps- No pups yet! Twinkle kept up with us all morning clearing brush in the woods and foofing up the bunny trail. Maybe all that hard work will throw her into labor tonight!