Karla's Cottage – Page 44 – by Karla Nathan

At Disney

By Karla Nathan / October 18, 2021

I can’t even remember which leg of our multi faceted journey I am on right now. Whatever number it is, it’s Disney World! I’m tired, but having a blast.

Terry and I are here together, she made these Minnie costumes for us to wear to the Boo Bash.

We have also attended the fireworks dessert party, looked for hidden Mickies, and tracked down the 50 golden 50th anniversary statues.

And I still have two more days to go.

So for now, it’s time for a handful of my Boo Bash trick or treat candy and an early bedtime.

Guncle-ween

guncles

By Karla Nathan / October 15, 2021

Leg three of our vacation was a stop at Guncleland, where Randy and Kevin served up a seafood feast in a fall setting.

They know the shrimp boil is always my fave.

Randy says he is in the middle of decorating for Halloween, but to me, it looked like he had plenty done, there were spooky elements all around us.

Including the guest room. Uhmmm, thanks guys…?

Not all the decor was spooky, some was simply lovely.

It was all a very nice mix.

Marco Island

Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2021

We are in leg four of our multi-phased getaway. First Asheville, then an emotional family wedding in Charlotte, Guncle time, now an idyllic rest at the beach watching dolphins from our balcony.

And what do I spy with my little eye? A sunset wedding below us!

I ❤️ The Dog Park

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Goldendoodle Puppies

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2021

Our city has a magnificent dog park. Miles of trails through fields and the woods. Some of the trails are paved, some dirt, some gravel. Lately, I’ve been lucky enough to find heart shaped rocks in the gravel, like these two little ones.

I thought it would be cool to use my blue crystal heart as a bowl to collect other rocks in.

This one was in the paved area.

And this little piece of my own heart came running up to me with an exciting greeting. It’s Wally! One of Sugar’s babies, and he seemed to remember me.

He lives nearby, in the neighborhood Ryan and I walked through regularly. There wasn’t a week that went by when Ryan didn’t mention that he hoped we’d run into Wally, who had been one of his faves. He had actually dog sat this boy for a week for the new owners and was pretty fond of him.

We hadn’t come across this cutey in our many walks, but the week Ry died, his brother took me on a “Ryan Walk” and guess who was there? Wally was out on a walk too! I am afraid I cried too hard to be able to greet him. But I made up for it when we ran into him at the dog park. He got lots of snuggles from me.

In the fall, the bales are harvested in the many fields the trails go through and Molly likes to show off her jumping skills by leaping up onto them. Sugar can also leap into the air, but sees no reason to do it.

Dorothy enjoys the view from way up high, and likes to be sat up there with Molly. Someone her height doesn’t often get to see the world from this angle.

Another thing from the flea market dollar table and a $16 mini redo

antiques/junking, cottage

By Karla Nathan / October 6, 2021

Surprisingly, this oval, floral print was only $1. The frame was beat up, but a coat of paint made it look charmingly beat up instead of just messy.

Sissy had given me her Waverly curtains, and I’d made pillows for the sofa with some, but decided to use those in the breezeway instead and cut up another panel to make curtains in there too.

The oil painting of the girl was a gift from the Guncles, it is vintage and came with a grand frame that I’ll be repurposing.

Aren’t the curtains cozy for fall? Previously, there had been white sheers. These floral ones make the room seem more finished.

The large oval picture is a gift from Sissy too. It had a gold frame, which I changed to white with an umber glaze to fit in more with my stuff. And I am liking the way the new rounded pictures go well with the two smaller ones I already had.

All of the new-to-me pretties in the space made me want to do some fall updates on the exterior too, so I added warmer, autumn tones to my door wreath with about $15 worth of blooms from Michaels.

This wreath gets random, seasonal makeovers by simply switching out flowers. I don’t attach the stems, they are simply poked into the grapevine and stay pretty good. The wreath is in a slightly protected area, and isn’t fully exposed to wind, but some flowers blow a bit loose here and there. No problem, I just tuck them back in again.

My Sissy also gave me this print (the three sisters). I always admired it at her house. She is building a new home and making some changes, and I was lucky to be visiting during the early part of the process and could bring the items home with me.

Very lucky, because I love her style and she has been a major influence on me developing my own sense of design.

You can tell just how pretty the fabric is in this close up. I had enough panels to make curtains around the grand fairies’ bunk beds in the camper too. I am in the middle of a redo of it, and will have more pics when I am done.

From the Flea Market Dollar Table

antiques/junking, jewelry

By Karla Nathan / October 5, 2021

Yep, a dollar.

The $1 tables at Sparks Flea Market are where I make a bee line to the moment I park my car. But this year, I did even better than normal.

When I bought this blackened, dirty bracelet, it was with plans to chop it up and use pieces in projects. But after cleaning it, I discovered it was sterling and Topaz!

Here are more dollar items from the day. Including the painted porcelain heart that was marked $20. I pointed that out to the booth owner, and he said he meant for it to be in the dollar box.

Same with this pretty pitcher. It was marked ten. But he said, nope, it was correctly placed on the $1 shelf.

These curtains were more, and while most of the panels had a lot of tattered areas, two were in good shape, so certainly worth the $50 I paid for the stack of 6. (You can’t even get two panels at Target for that price)

These lovelies were not from the bargain table, but weren’t much more.

We didn’t make it to the second half of the semi annual flea mkt duo, White Cloud. I was pretty satisfied with what I’d found in Sparks, so didn’t really care.
A few sparkly baubles and some rose patterned beauties and I was blissed out.

The WRONG Way to Dry Hydrangeas, oops

flowers

By Karla Nathan / October 2, 2021

This season, my hydrangeas did poorly.

Not just poorly- they sucked. Most didn’t survive the winter, even though I brought pots into the breezeway, and the newer plants hardly produced blooms.

But look at what my sister let me picked from her bushes!

I harvested them, smashed the stems and put them into water for a few days. It should’ve gone well, and the color would’ve held since they were picked at just the right time.

But…

While trying to protect the delicate flowers, I ruined them.

Wouldn’t you think that a hard sided cooler would keep them safe on a long drive? Uhm, no.

Apparently the moisture content along with being in a closed space in a hot car, was the wrong way to go. They were a soggy, dripping mass of brown when I freed them from the humid box.

Dang it.

But they did dry and keep their shape, they just lost that beautiful, fall toned glow over night. Still pretty, but not gorgeous like they were.

Dang it.

(The two larger China pieces were found on my trip, $10 each!)

Reuniting

celebrations, friends, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 29, 2021

Way back when, in Jr High, these two became my people for life. They both moved to different coasts while I settled in the center of the country, but over the years, we have met up when we could and it always felt like it had been days not years in between.

They indulged my need to go to our high school reunion, even though they had many other suggestions for places we could have a mini reunion instead.

It was a quick trip, but conversation never lagged, and it was fun to see our other classmates as well.

Sandy brought some old photos, here we are at a past reunion. (I think I still have that dress, I should look for it. In my opinion, if you love something, it doesn’t go out of style)

As a matter of fact, I’d wear this “vintage” dress from my senior picture again in a snap if I had it. Looks like I have always had a thing for rose patterned fabrics, huh?

Thanks, Debbie and Sandy for such a perfect weekend and for being my lifelong friends!

And thanks to all the people who put the reunion together for the class of 76. I sure enjoyed seeing everyone and loved having a reason to push me to come back home to Indiana.

A loopy and winding road trip

antiques/junking, family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / September 26, 2021

My trip to Indiana had many different loops woven into it, a craft day with buddies and a junkin trip across country, an afternoon at a rock and mineral show, sister sleepovers, family time, a night at a state park lodge, then a meet up with VERY old friends- my 45th high school reunion, ending with a day of sightseeing in downtown Indy.

Whew. That is a lot in 7 days including the 8-1/2 hour drive each way.

A bit like this cool spiral in Sissy’s yard!

On the way to Brown Co. park, we had some junking time and stopped at a mega antique mall.

It had some oddities…

But it also had decently priced millinery. Not so cheap that I bought it all, just reasonable enough to make me pick out a few faves.

I also snapped up a $10 rosey vase/pot, a $16 rosey tablecloth, and a vintage Hawaiian shirt to wear to the Hawaii themed reunion I was attending.

We had perfect weather everywhere we went, and so many laughs, I needed to start using my asthma inhaler again.

The state park had a contest to visit each scenic overlook and take a photo to win a sticker. I agreed to do it with trepidation, thinking it was going to be miles of walking.

Turns out, you drive to the sites (sights?) so my sissies came too. And everyone agreed to model some of my pretty purchases.

My nieces and I took off on a hiking adventure after our scenic quest to win stickers.

That was pretty dang scenic too.

The lodge has been newly redecorated, there is an indoor water park and a country style restaurant too. We were the only ones using the water slide and lazy river. Which is good because I screamed like a banshee all the way down the curly slide and the lazy river wasn’t so lazy. It was a crazy river, and we knocked into each other as we bopped along like we were bumper boats at a carnival.

And yes, it was so much fun, the inhaler had to be used.

My hometown is a charmer. A one block, yet vibrant downtown and an adorable park that I have always loved.

Since I moved away, lots of trails have been added, you can walk for miles out there.

This is from behind the lighthouse. Don’t ask me why a small pond in central Indiana even has a lighthouse, but there it is, glorious as it was 60 years ago.

And I wonder if these ducks are from the same lineage of the ones I used to take my kiddos to go feed?

The trip went much too quickly. But was as full as my heart was.

Tiny, Baby Ryan

family, Ryan

By Karla Nathan / September 23, 2021

My pal, Sandy, brought some old photos to our high school reunion. One was of little, baby Ryan (and little, baby me).

Not long ago, I had found something I wanted to add to the special album I had made with Ryan’s photos. It was ideal to glue a picture to and hang from the book. I thought to myself that I’d add one later when I got another, because I’d used all the pics I had.

Then it hit me.

I would never have another new picture of my son.

Those are the moments that hit the hardest. When I forget. When I think to myself that I have to tell him something funny, or that a new season of one of our shows is starting, or show him the dog’s new haircut. To simply share joys or jokes with him.

That is when I tearfully write him a letter and fold it up with a kiss and tuck it safely into the urn. And miss him all anew, with a fresh pain. At first, it is pleasant to forget and to think of him like he is still here, but then, the ache that slams into my heart when I remember that he is not, just about knocks me to my knees.

I was thrilled to get this new photo. And to see how my baby was looking at me with love.

I miss seeing that expression, he was a loving guy.