Karla's Cottage – Page 40 – by Karla Nathan

Pie Art

By Karla Nathan / February 8, 2022

Crust has always been my favorite part of a pie. My mom used to take the leftover bits, spread with cinnamon and sugar, roll up, slice and bake them. Growing up, I thought these were what cinnamon rolls actually were, not the big, fluffy pastry goods.

Her version of cinnamon rolls were crispy and delicious, and I loved them even more than the pies she made. And she made good pies. (Especially the lemon meringue that she was famous for) Since she was using the trimmed remnants of the crust, there were usually just two or three bite sized tidbits for us to share.

That made them even more special. They were best warm from the oven!

Her crusts were always home made. If I remember correctly, with lard from my uncle’s farm. My crusts are the premade kind.

I’m big on saving time when I can, and you can buy a delicious ready to go crust. My favorite one is from Sprouts, it has a lot of flavor. I like most things from Aldi’s but I do not care for their crust. It seems dry and too thick. Kroger’s has a great one in their store’s organic brand and after Xmas, they were on clearance for 75 cents each, so I filled a corner of my freezer with a stack of them.

I see a lot of pies in our future!

These two were made with a frozen crust that came in a pan for the bottom, (not the best) and a refrigerated rolled dough in a box for the top. I prefer the box kind for both.

I let the top piece of dough come to room temp, and open it up on a cutting board, then start cutting out shapes with a knife, and placing them onto my filled pie. I discovered that you have to place chunky fruit, like apple slices in a very uniform design so there aren’t sink holes that the shapes fall down into and ruin the design.

I also found that roses made out of dough get pretty heavy. You’re better off with thin layers of petals, like daisies or sunflowers.

And that you should save a few little remnants to create some of Mom’s tasty cinnamon rolls. That’s the best part!

A seashell framed mirror

cottage, how to's, redos, Sacred Circus, sea shell fairies

By Karla Nathan / February 5, 2022

After repainting my bedroom, I also moved artwork and mirrors around. This was a mirror that hung in the studio, and it had a carved shell at the top, so it fit in nicely with my beach paintings.

But it was a little blah and a dull tan color.

So I gaudied it up a bit!

I used shells collected on our last vacation, mother of pearl and pearl beads, and Beth gave me a huge box of seashells she’d gotten from an estate sale.

My first move was to lay them out in a pattern to accentuate the carving at the top.

Then removed a few shells and I spread tile adhesive in about 6” areas. Kind of like icing a cake, not the way you’d lay tile on the floor.

It went on nice and thick, so I could smoosh the shells down into it. While it was still wet, I pushed pearls and smaller shells into the adhesive that wasn’t covered by the main shells.

I worked my way around the frame, in those 6” patches at a time.

After it dried, I filled in bare looking spots with the Diamond Glaze and sprinkled crystal quarts chips into it.

It may look like a jumble, but there was a plan. Big shells at the top, then black and gray ones down the sides, starting with darker at the top and going lighter towards the bottom. The very bottom is all cream and white.

I go back and forth, wondering if it is glorious or just too gaudy. But since I do enjoy some over the top foof, I think I like it.

Being cheap but not looking cheap with a redo

cottage, dogs, redos

By Karla Nathan / February 2, 2022

This isn’t exactly a beautiful corner of my home, but it sure is better than it was before!

The ceiling here is two stories, to repaint the walls, I’d need to hire someone with scaffolding- I don’t do heights.

It’s a dark area, so I wanted to keep the paint light but the lower walls were constantly a mess because we stupidly used flat paint on the original job and every mark showed. And I was out of the original paint. It was something I’d mixed myself to save money, I’d bought multiple gallons of oops paint and other clearance paints from the Habitat store, dumped them all into a giant bucket together and sprayed the ceiling and walls with the conglomerated color. So, touching up was a gamble, I tried so many shades of white and never got close.

And to add to the screw up? Yep, it was flat paint and every mark made by every hand that touched the wall waved at me for years.

NEVER USE FLAT PAINT ON STAIRWAY WALLS IF HUMANS (or dogs) GO UP THOSE STAIRS!

Saving money is wonderful. My mistake was in not saving any of that mix to match up later on. And in using a flat sheen. Big oops.

The compromise was to add trim about 4-1/2 feet up, and paint the lower portion to match the room upstairs. This color and sheen will be easier to care for. If I get marks that don’t wipe off, I can open the leftover paint and touch up. And I can easily reach to do the touch up, no ladders would be needed on the stairs.

(Eeeek, a horrid thought! I’m dizzy just contemplating ladders on stairs!)

I am so relieved to have an inexpensive solution to this problem. After doing a big redo, I was ready for a budget friendly fix!

Here is another do it yourself, easy on the wallet fix from when we first built the addition. To save money, I decided to tile the entryway myself. The area was concrete, so no backing was needed.

My issue was that I couldn’t use a saw, or didn’t even have the right kind of saw. So, I bought different sizes of tiles plus those little flat rocks that coordinate with them and put the floor together like a puzzle.

No cutting needed!

We had discussed changing the stairs when laying the new floor upstairs, but the carpet was in good shape and seemed safer than slippery steps. It’s an industrial carpet and held up pretty good on the stairs.

And along the lines of trying to be budget prudent, if it is okay, you do not have to change it.

For now, the wall and door colors in the entry way are from a previous redo and also seem fine. For now. But I’d like to repaint the walls to match the freshly done ones and give that door a pop of color. Maybe like a deep, but grayed down turquoise?

How are you? Seriously, how are you doing?

Corona virus, Current Affairs, jewelry

By Karla Nathan / January 30, 2022

This pandemic seems to never stop.

Daily, I hear that multiple people I care about have gotten ill, or can’t get a test, or were exposed. Not just a few people here and there, but

every

single

day.

The never ending contagion is always lurking in the back of my mind, a constant, “what’s next?”

It isn’t so much waiting for the next shoe to drop, it feels more like waiting for the next elephant to drop.

There is just a lot of sadness and worry rumbling and grumbling around in the backgrounds of our lives that sometimes we don’t even notice, it’s just a part of things.

But it’s there. Like having bad elevator music as the new soundtrack of your daily activities, you try not to listen, but then you find yourself humming some abhorrent song that you can’t shake.

Stir in a little inflation, a pinch of supply chain struggles, a big dollop of potential school closings, flavored with the hard to swallow taste of politics and there you have it- underlying trauma brewing and simmering in your brain.

Then, the regular ups and downs we all face are added over those underlying, relentless worries. No wonder you read about people snapping, they are stretched too tightly!

I'm so lucky to have a wonderful network of friends and family who support each other, and are there to talk to. But when so many of them have sad news to share, sometimes it just feels hopelessly sad all over.

I consider myself an even keeled person. Someone who rolls with situations, does what they can to improve what can be improved and deals with what can’t. And I vent, things don’t stay bottled up. If you know me, you know every thing that has recently delighted or disappointed me because I am sharing it all.

But the other day, my spring was sprung.

Something that should not have turned into such a huge moment did, and I was so angry that my heart was racing, my head felt as if it might explode. I talked myself down, made plans that could take care of the issue if it arose again, then decided I would craft some jewelry to give away, taking my thoughts off of myself and onto creating and thinking of others.

As the day went on, my shakiness and headache became worse not better, and I thought I should take my blood pressure (which is usually maintained at a nice, low rate). It was high, but not sky high. So I took Advil and a needed nap. When I woke up, I felt worse and the BP was now at that sky high point.

After a few hours at the ER, it came back down, no damage done. The nurse and doctor I saw, were stretched to their limits but compassionate. I felt silly taking up their time during a pandemic, but they told me not to feel that way, that stress can cause physical problems and that when it affects you that strongly you are in the stroke/heart attack danger zone.

So, take care of yourselves, don’t ignore the stress that eats at you, it can gobble you up if you let it.

I thought I had a handle on things, but did I? Do you?

Ryan’s birthday

celebrations, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / January 27, 2022

Today is Ryan’s birthday. He always loved that day. He didn’t expect much, or ask for anything, he was a guy of simple pleasures.

He often took his week’s vacation from work around this date, just to relax.

Our family does a big dinner for the birthday person, not always on the exact date, but when we can all get the same day free. Many years, it would just be myself and Ryan, sometimes Sugarwings too on January 27. So he and I would get a double celebration, once with the group, and another with just us.

It seems like there was always snow on those evenings. Bitter cold nights, that neither of us liked to face, but we were glad we did. It seemed to be Jayhawks basketball time too, which neither of us like. And with his sensory disorder, the loud games were upsetting. So we’d find a quiet restaurant with no tv blaring a game, or people shouting for their team. It was often Mexican food, and we would eat too many chips and guacamole, drink Diet Cokes, laugh, and plan what show we would watch when we got home.

Simple evenings with my buddy, having fun, just being together.

Grief is a odd thing. How it can morph from joyful memories to deep despair, shoot out at you with no warning with unexpected jolts of pain, or of sweetly remembered pleasant thoughts.

Grief is also layered when you lose a child. I miss my companion of the later years, my friend. My guac and Diet Coke buddy who I watched my favorite shows with, critiquing, laughing, and guessing about the plots throughout.

He and I could talk for hours about nothing and be entertained.

But then there are the flashes of his childhood that come after me with a fury. When I remember that the tiny baby I held in my arms was dead. That the silly little boy who loved to dance would never dance again.

A new look for the office

cottage, dogs, family, paintings, redos

By Karla Nathan / January 24, 2022

We finished the transformation of Rich’s office. Well, almost. We need a different sofa.

And for right now, the little nook that he is using as a computer area is just a board screwed to the wall, not a desk or table.

The rest of the room is all done, and everyone is enjoying the pool/ping pong table.

Most of the workout equipment is in the spot where all of the file cabinets and desks used to be.

The treadmill is behind the seating area, facing the tv, and there is room for an exercise bike next to it.

The walls are freshly painted and patched.

I filled the knotholes in the barn wood window sills with turquoise chips and clear coated the wood. After years of sunshine pouring in, they were cracking and dull.

We added new blinds and lighting, my son replaced the flooring.

The newly framed “ancestor” pictures hang below a sign pulled from the wreckage of the gas station Rich’s grandfather owned.

Some of these family photos were updated and reframed. I still need to get a few others up there. I think I have room for four more, a smaller one on each side of the bottom and top rows.

I have wanted that carpet gone for years, and am very pleased with the new, cleaned up version of the room! All of the hard parts are done, now I get to go furniture shopping for a new couch.

Light and bright white

cottage, dogs, redos

By Karla Nathan / January 22, 2022

While I had all of my painting paraphilia out for redoing my husband’s office, I thought it would be a good time to repaint my bedroom and master bath.

Of course, I had completely forgotten that I am a senior citizen. And that after painting a huge room, stairway, and bathroom, maybe I needed a break?

Less than halfway through the bedroom, I remembered.

Yep, I was exhausted. So, I only repainted the doors, trim, wall, and sink area bathroom cabinet. I didn’t make it around the corner to the master bath.

I am taking a little break from the physical labor!

And enjoying the tranquility I created in that room.

One of the reasons it was so hard, was that I used a very pure white. If I’d softened the color, I’d have gotten better coverage. The pure white wore me down to a nub, it took sooo many touch ups. Plus I had snow blindness from staring at the glaring, blank, white walls, trying to see where skips showed through and guessing if that area needed a touch up or was actually a shadow.

The color isn’t a huge change from the soft gray/blue that was previously on the walls, but it feels like it because everything is so fresh, bright and clean. I think that painting the doors and trim the exact color of the walls (with a different sheen) makes the ceiling stand out, while also giving the room a feeling of being bigger.

The old curtains were tan, as were the doors. Changing those made the biggest difference. And were an inexpensive purchase on Amazon. Man, they have cheap curtains, and it was so easy to get 108” ones, unlike shopping in person!).

With four dogs and ten acres for them to run on, maybe I should’ve painted the entire room the tan color instead of getting rid of it. Soon, there will be muddy marks all around the room from happy, wagging tails slapping everything.

I’ll enjoy the pure white I tried so hard to apply as long as I can.

Keeping the winter woes at bay

cottage

By Karla Nathan / January 19, 2022

After repainting my bedroom and redoing the sink area in it, I decided to switch out bathroom mirrors.

Mostly because midwinter sucks and I needed some entertainment.

I can endlessly entertain myself by moving stuff around to different rooms. Of course, it would probably be even more fun I was buying new things to add instead of recycling my existing junk.

This mirror switcheroo is a good one. My redone sink area is all white now, the doors used to be darker and there were red roses on the vanity. I like the clean lines and pure whites.

This big mirror was fetched from the studio and with it right behind me as I stand at the sink, I can see the back of my head with the folding sides of the white mirror.

The one in the guest bath now, never really went well with the granite countertop in my bedroom. I think it looks better with the white, wooden vanity in the other room.

Little things like fresh flowers and mixing up the crap in the house from one room to another are going to help get me through these cold days.

I am such a winter whimp!

A little dinner party

cottage, friends, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / January 16, 2022

After all of the holiday entertaining, January was feeling a little flat without any. Plus, while we had some gorgeous days here and there, I was busy repainting a couple of rooms and missed going for walks. When it got cold again, I was done with the big jobs, and I really needed to get moving, the city’s activity center was closed due to the shortages of staff that everyone is suffering from now. I couldn’t go for an indoor walk when I was ready to.

So, I was feeling a tad down.

A party was just what I needed to beat the January doldrums!

To be extra festive, I made place cards . Not that I cared where anyone sat, I just thought it would be fun to do.

Rich and Jim are both beekeepers, so theirs got honeybees.

I made a peach pie and marinated grouper fillets that Rich caught in Key West in some Caesar yogurt and breaded them with panko, flour, salt and pepper. Then sautéed the fish in avocado oil and butter.

As I was cooking them, I thought it looked like it needed something more, so I whipped up a lemon, white wine and caper sauce to go over it. My first taste of it puckered my throat, it was so lemony, so I quickly added some chicken broth and milk.

It turned out okay, but for a few minutes I thought my typical, making stuff up on the fly way of cooking might backfire on me, as my friends were eating their salads and waiting for the fish to be ready.

I did screw up the pie. My glass pie pan broke, and I had to use a metal one. I don’t typically time things, I cook til they look done. But I was used to being able to peek through the glass to see if the crust was browned.

It was a bit doughy since I couldn’t visually check it. I might need to become a cookbook/timer person if I keep making mistakes. But I don’t take cooking very seriously, so maybe not.

The evening really was just what I needed, it is hard to feel gloomy with a roomful of best buds!

In praise of gallery walls

cottage, family, flowers, Hand painted

By Karla Nathan / January 13, 2022

As an artist, I seem to have a proliferation of stuff to go on my walls. As a person who enjoys taking pictures, and has very cute grandfairies, I also want their photos up there too.

So, groupings are how I usually handle that. The trouble is, I hate to get rid of old pictures that I love, but new ones keep coming along. On this wall, I added a few of our family fairy pictures to the existing collection.

We are in the process of redoing Rich’s office. My talented son put this floor in over the holiday, and it has been a huge improvement over the old carpet.
Previously, Rich had a gallery wall of barn wood framed family photos that he wants back up again. While they are down, I’m sprucing them up and switching a few out. (Photos to come when the room is done.)

Then, he had another request.

He wants our parents and grandparents on display too.

It is sweet of him to want this, so I have been working on a display that complements the other family wall but doesn’t match it.

I’d had big plans for painting some large landscapes to hang up there (we are out of room everywhere else) but like I said, this is sweet of him to want. He also wants to hang work mementos that I thought would be leaving, so I guess I won’t be painting landscapes for the room.

Looks like I’ll be sticking to roses to hang elsewhere. He deserves a space that is just as he wants it, since he deals with my stuff running rampant through the rest of the house.

And I have learned that he has some good ideas, too. I hated the thought of getting this dining table, to replace my all white one, and now am happy to have it.

Rich had a favorite tree fall down, and wanted to keep a piece of it forever, so we had this made.

See what I mean? He is very sweet.